Johan Kristoffersson has broken his own world record by claiming his fifth world title in the FIA World Rallycross Championship. The KMS driver shook off the disappointment of round 8 and, after a performance which was dominant even by his own standards, wrapped up the title at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya with an event in hand, while his team managed to secure the constructors title too.
After finishing fifth in the final in round 8, also at Barcelona, Kristoffersson really was in a class of one. He stormed to victory in the superpole, completing his lap in 58 seconds, almost an entire second ahead of his rival and 2019 world champion Timmy Hansen. The winner of round 8, Hansen was the only one who could get close to Kristoffersson all day, posting the second fastest time in each race, but always behind Kristoffersson.
Kristoffersson is not only the most successful world rallycross driver of all time, but also the first ever champing in the new all-electric RX1e class. After his extraordinary day, Kristoffersson was naturally emotional, saying “We started out from scratch with this car. It’s our baby, and so many people have put their whole lives into the project. This is such a team effort, and it’s been a real pleasure to have been a part of that journey. Today, the Volkswagen was flying, and I really enjoyed showing off its pace and potential in the final – that was a lot of fun, pushing flat-out for five laps. I think every driver dreams of having a car like that.”
It was no exaggeration to say the Volkswagen Polo RX1e was flying; Kristoffersson finished the final a full 5 seconds ahead of Hansen, a gap of very rare size in a race not marred by major contact. Kristoffersson’s teammate, Ole Christian Veiby, managed to snap himself out of his run of bad luck, taking the final spot on the podium and with it securing the constructors championship as well. The CE Dealer Team duo of Klara Andersson and Niclas Grönholm took fourth and fifth respectively, rounding off a strong weekend for the PWR drivers. If they can carry this momentum into the next round, there is no reason why they couldn’t be fighting for consistent victories.
Elsewhere, two drivers were conspicuous by their absence in the final. The third KMS driver Gustav Bergström once again demonstrated superb pace, but unfortunately the speed of the other drivers was too much for him to contend with and he was knocked out at the semi-final stage. Hansen’s brother and Hansen World RX Team teammate Kevin Hansen also faced elimination at that point, having spun at turn 1 in his semi-final. He managed to rescue the situation, but didn’t have the pace to close down the gap to the other cars.
With just one weekend to go, all eyes now go to the battle for second. Timmy Hansen has a 9 point lead over Grönholm, who is just two points ahead of Veiby and Kevin Hansen who are currently tied in fourth place. A battle royale is brewing between them for when the heads to Germany for the final round at the legendary Nürburgring (12/13 November).
