Reigning FIA World Rallycross Champion Timmy Hansen from Sweden has struggled to be right on the top this year but has constantly been working to improve his pace.
Last weekend Team Hansen was in Latvia for rounds five and six, where Timmy reached the final in both rounds. On Saturday he looked set for a chance of the win but was held up in traffic during the final and he had to settle for third place.
The following day Hansen won two of his qualifying races, in the first and third, and qualified in fourth overall in the intermediate standings to pick up a front row start in the semi-final.
He took a second place finish in the semi-final which booked him a spot in the second row in the final. From the start Hansen was beaten by Robin Larsson and Niclas Grönholm, which led to he fell down to fifth at the end of lap one.
Hansen took the joker lap on the first lap to get a chance to have a great fightback, but KYB Team JC responded by sending in Larsson to joker on the third lap that then covered off Hansen.
Timmy ended up with a fourth place finish in the final after he pulled a fine outside move on Grönholm as he merged from the joker lap.
“in general this weekend I’m extremely happy with what we delivered and the results we got. With the pace we had and the launches we had, this was the maximum we could achieve. The team hasn’t made a single mistake all weekend, and I haven’t made any mistakes on track, so we extracted everything we had.” Hansen said on his weekend.
“That said, we also want more, we want to be able to fight for the top step on the podium. To do that, we need to take one more step with the whole package that we have. There have been good signs but we need to put it together.
“Our launches were better today and the car was better this weekend in general, so we’re taking steps. But it’s not easy at this level to gain everything that you need to suddenly be at the front. It’s about making little steps and this weekend we took several little steps. It’s a hard game, we’re a small team, but I believe in the crew we have and we’ll keep on fighting.
“It was cool to see fans again in the grandstand but unfortunately, they can’t enter the paddock due to the necessary Covid-19 protocols. I still miss the support that we get from the fans because we can’t have them in the paddock in a safe manner right now that I wish was possible. It was good to hear them cheering when I was on the podium yesterday and I’m looking forward to when it’s safe enough to have spectators with us fully again.”
“All things considered today was a better day than yesterday, even if we weren’t on the podium this time. We had hope for more of course, so it feels a little odd not to be fighting for victory. Timmy was very close to managing a top three but close isn’t enough. We need to look at what happened, what we learned, and find some further progression before heading to Spain in a few weeks time.” Kenneth Hansen, 14-time European Rallycross Champion and Team Hansen team principal, added.
“It’s very close this year and we don’t have quite the level of performance we would wish for, but we don’t give up. We’re definitely pushing to get to the front and fight for wins again.”
