Earlier this week Kevin Hansen was announced to be returning to the wheel of his Peugeot 208 WRX machine for Hansen Motorsport in this year’s FIA World Rallycross Championship. Yesterday, news broke that will surprise nobody. Lining up alongside his brother for the fifth consecutive season is 2019 FIA World RX Champion Timmy Hansen.
Timmy will be hoping to bounce back from a difficult defence to his 2019 title last season. 2020 saw the return of the ever dominant Rallycross force that is Johan Kristoffersson in a Volkswagen Polo GTi RX who took his third title, whereas Timmy saw the year out in third after an up and down campaign.
However, in 2019 Timmy and Team Hansen were the dominant force, taking the Teams and Driver’s titles respectively. The team has the longest-tenured driver pairing since the Championship’s inception and will be looking to pick up where 2019 left off. It won’t be easy though, and Timmy acknowledges that being an independent family-run team brings a whole host of challenges, even making it to the series opener is a challenge, but after eight years in the pinnacle of World Rallycross, the former champ is eager to see how himself and the team will stack up;
“In the last few years since we’ve become a fully independent family team, being on the grid has never been a given each season. I’m very grateful I have the opportunity to come back and compete again this year.”
“Even though this will be my eighth consecutive season in World RX now, I’m as motivated as ever to write a new story this year: will we compete for the title, who will be fast this year, and how will we stack up?”
“We’ve been working really hard ourselves and the car feels much better starting in 2021 than it did in 2020. All the great ideas and talented people working with us have made a big difference, even as a small team that’s improving step-by-step. We might have a good shot at competing for the title this year, but let’s see how it goes!”
Behind the scenes and pulling the strings for Hansen Motorsport is of course Team Principal and Rallycross legend Kenneth Hansen. The 14-time European Rallycross Champion is delighted to retain his son’s in the team and is hoping to take past form into this year’s contest;
“Timmy is a world-class driver – and a world champion in rallycross, of course – so we are very happy to be in a position to keep him with us again in 2021. Having him alongside Kevin to continue the strongest driver pairing in World RX was always our target.”
“It’s also great that we have two drivers who know our car inside and out, and that Timmy can continue the momentum he had in the second half of last season.”
The World Rallycross Championship opener isn’t too far away, with the festivities kicking off with round one in Barcelona (23-24 July). Timmy Hansen and his brother Kevin will surely be one of the dominant forces this season. It will be well worth keeping an eye on them to see how they progress throughout the season.
