Johan Kristoffersson reigned supreme in Latvia as he drove to his eighth win out of nine starts in the 2018 FIA World Rallycross Championship.
The PSRX Volkswagen Sweden driver won three out of the four Qualifying sessions in the 2018 World RX of Latvia with Timmy Hansen being the only other driver to secure a Qualifying session win over the weekend. After taking the win in Semi-Final One, Kristoffersson took Pole Position for the Supercar Final
Mattias Ekstrom took a well deserved second pace in Latvia. Credit: IMG / FIA World RX
“Ekstrom had a slightly better launch than me in the semi-final but I just braked as late as I could to take the lead and from there on we had a race for the first three laps. I did some mistakes to be honest and after that I was a little but more cautious,” said Kristoffersson.
“In the final I had a great launch, we did some small changes on the car between the semi-final and final, it was actually a little bit better so the last one and a half laps of the final reminded me of last year’s win here.”
Sebastien Loeb was one of Kristoffersson’s rivals for the overall win in Latvia, losing out to Ekstrom in the Final. Credit: IMG / FIA World RX
Behind Kristoffersson, the rest of the Supercar Finalists employed different joker strategies to try and stop the 2017 World RX Champion however their efforts would be in vain.
The three Team Peugeot Total drivers of Sebastien Loeb, Timmy Hansen and Kevin Hansen made it to the Final along with Mattias Ekstrom in the EKS Audi Sport S1 Quattro and Niclas Gronholm in the GRX Taneco Hyundai.
Petter Solberg missed the Supercar Final after contact in Semi-Final One. Credit: IMG / FIA World RX
The start was a frantic affair behind Kristoffersson as the three Peugeot drivers were fourth, fifth and sixth placed respectively after negotiating the first three turns, however Timmy Hansen soon passed younger brother Kevin.
After early Jokers by Loeb and Kevin Hansen, Gronholm was looking good for his first ever podium in World RX, however Ekstrom and Loeb would overhaul the Finnish driver after he took his joker on lap three.
Kristoffersson crossed the line to take victory ahead of Ekstrom and Loeb with Gronholm securing fourth place. Timmy Hansen came home in fifth place with Kevin Hansen taking sixth place and completing a big points score for Peugeot.
Liam Doran made the Semi-Finals on his first visit to Latvia, in his second event for GC Kompetition. Credit: IMG / FIA World RX
Petter Solberg, Timur Timerzyanov and Guerlain Chicherit were the big names to miss out in Semi-Final One, whilst in Semi-Final Two Andreas Bakkerud, Liam Doran and guest EKS Audi Sport driver Nico Muller failed to go through to the Final.
Round ten of the 2018 FIA World Rallycross Championship is the brand new World RX of USA taking place at the Circuit of the America’s in Texas on September 29-30 and its the first chance that Johan Kristoffersson has to seal his second consecutive title.
