He is back! Johan Kristoffersson returns with Volkswagen Dealerteam Bauhaus in a single car team for the 2020 FIA World Rallycross Championship.
Even though he took a year out of rallycross to race in the World Touring Car Cup last season, he has to be the favourite for the upcoming year.
Championship number one in 2017 saw him won seven events. That was already pretty mighty.
But Kristoffersson somehow won 11 of the 12 rounds the following year against a field which included Mattias Ekstrom, Petter Solberg, Timmy Hansen and Andreas Bakkerud to name a few. There are no words to describe his almost perfect 2018.
Rallycross is such an unpredictable sport and it is so easy for one mistake or one piece of bad luck to ruin your while weekend, yet Kristoffersson was able to defy the odds and make it a near perfect season.
This is what everyone else is up against, the only difference this time is Kristoffersson is with a smaller team and having a single car team might be his only downfall.
The target is already on his back, but no teammates could see others team up against Kristoffersson to stop his dominance. If he gets to the front after turn one, its surely game over for his rivals, but if not then the other teams will at least be able to battle with him.
In the past, Kristoffersson had Petter Solberg to help out and battle against the other cars whereas now he has nobody. Finding the right setup and balance will no doubt be more difficult with just one car too. There is less data and less track time and he’ll have no teammates to make comparisons with.
All of this will likely mean Kristoffersson will not be able to dominate like he did in 2018.
But if his form in RallyX Nordic is anything to go by, his machine-like form might return. Kristoffersson is such a good front runner and under normal circumstances he is nearly unbeatable.
Without doubt, Kristoffersson is still the favourite simply because of his speed and consistency. His presence on the grid will make every race more intense and the rest of the field will be forced to step up if they want to beat Kristoffersson. He is the favourite and will be tough to beat this season.
Prediction
Johan Kristoffersson: 1st
