The first ever World RX of Great Britain to be held at Silverstone as part of the SpeedMachine Festival has been won by 2017 FIA World Rallycross Champion Johan Kristoffersson in a dominant performance.
The PSRX Volkswagen Sweden driver survived a clash with team-mate Petter Solberg in Semi-Final One to make it to the Supercar Final in pole position. Despite concerns with the car after the Semi-Final race, Kristoffersson lined up on the grid ready to race.
Andreas Bakkerud chased Kristoffersson home as he took second place at Silverstone. Credit: @World / Red Bull Content Pool
Sebastien Loeb lined up on the front row whilst the two EKS Audi Sport drivers of Andreas Bakkerud and Mattias Ekstrom were on the middle row. Kevin Hansen and Niclas Gronholm were on the back row with the GRX Taceno driver in his second Final of the year.
Loeb bogged down at the start of the race as the rest made the getaway to turn one, however the Team Peugeot Total driver was on a charge from this point. As Kristoffersson held the lead, he was pursued by the two EKS Audi Sport drivers whilst Gronholm took his joker on lap one.
Loeb had made his way past Hansen and Gronholm by the time he took his Joker on lap three. Meanwhile Bakkerud was pushing Kristoffersson hard for the lead as Ekstrom laid in wait ready to pounce should contact be involved.
Loeb fought back after a bad start in the Supercar Final to finish third at the 2018 World RX of Great Britain. Credit: IMG / FIA World RX
The turning point of the race was on lap four when Ekstrom dived in to take his joker with Loeb closing down the Audi driver. As they raced to the start of lap five, Loeb pounced into turn one and passed Ekstrom cleanly, taking third place from him into the chicane.
Johan Kristoffersson crossed the line to take his third win of the 2018 FIA World Rallycross Championship with Andreas Bakkerud taking second place.
Sebastien Loeb completed the podium in third place with Mattias Ekstrom coming home fourth. Kevin Hansen stayed out of trouble to take fifth place ahead of Niclas Gronholm in the Hyundai i20 Supercar.
Mattias Ekstrom just missed out on the podium after running third for most of the Supercar Final. Credit: @World / Red Bull Content Pool
After taking his third win from four starts, Kristoffersson maintains his lead in the Drivers Championship with Loeb holding second place fourteen points behind.
Bakkerud is in third place with both Ekstrom and Solberg tied for fourth place after the Norwegian drivers retirement from Semi-Final One.
The 2018 FIA World Rallycross Championship moves onto the 2018 World RX of Norway at the iconic Hell circuit taking place on June 9-10.
