Two-time World Rallycross champion Johan Kristoffersson took second in the opening round of the RallyX Nordic Magic Weekend in his first appearence in the sport for 18 months.
Kristofferson, who competed on Thursday in an older generation Volkswagen Polo, ended in second place behind the regining European and RallyX Nordic champion Robin Larsson.
Qualifying saw the pair already closely battling together and proved there was only small margins between the every drivers in the class, and it was Niclas Grönholm who set the fastest qualifying time, a tenth of a second quicker than Kristoffersson.
“In rallycross, everything has to be right for it to be fully successful. It’s such a small margin.” Kristoffersson explained.
Q2 saw him hit a marker and was given a three second penalty as a result. He added: “It was completely my own fault and that’s what happens when not everything is 100 percent correct. When I won here in WRX 2018 World RX I ran a millimeter from that stick. Now I hit it instead, but that is what you have to work on sometimes.”
Kristoffersson and top qualifier Grönholm battled closely in the semi-final, but despite putting pressure on the Finn, the double World Rallycross champion couldn’t quite match his pace.
He continued: “It was nice to see that I could be so close and push him. It is in such situations that you can get ideas on where we can make our car better”
The final then saw Kristoffersson again suffer issues after starting fourth position and after taking the joker lap early, recovered to second behind Larsson.
The RallyX Nordic All Star ‘Magic Weekend’ continues this weekend.