Niclas Gronholm once again showed that he is a regular Semi-Final contender during during the 2018 FIA World Rallycross Championship after repeating this feat in Norway.
The former Finnish Rallycross Champion put the GRX Taneco Hyundai through its paces as he set regular top ten times during Qualifying. However, Gronholm kept getting faster and finished sixth overall.
Third on the starting grid of the second semi-final, Grönholm got off to a poor start and had to settle in behind Timmy Hansen and Mattias Ekström on the first lap.
Niclas Gronholm pushed hard in Norway to reach the Semi-Finals. Credit: IMG / FIA World RX
Opting to play his joker on the sixth lap, Grönholm emerged in fourth place behind Kevin Hansen and missed out on the Supercar Final by just under a second.
“At the start of the semi, I didn’t have enough revs and stalled for half a second, it was long enough for everyone to pass me,” Niclas explained.
“I did my best to qualify for the final. It was just a small mistake, but the start was disastrous.”
A slight delay on the launch for his Semi-Final race was enough for Gronholm to miss the Final in Norway. Credit: Set Promotion.
Despite missing out on the Final in Norway, the young Finnish Rallycross star was happy with being able to further close down the gap to the Manufacturer based teams as the season progresses.
With development of the car taking place at each round of the championship after missing out on the pre-season tests, Gronholm is fully aware of the task ahead and is working hard to close the gap.
“We have never been as close to the top qualifiers in terms of times. We are not getting our just rewards but it has made me all the more determined, and I can’t wait to get to Sweden!”
