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The first round of the electric era of the new FIA World Rallycross Championship has concluded in Norway at the Hellas Rallycross circuit Ramudden World RX of Norway, in which the current world champion Johan Christofferson won. Timmy Hansen and Ole Christian Veiby also got on the podium. Meanwhile, the Latvian Jānis Baumanis is also on the third step of the podium in the RX1 class of the FIA European Rallycross Championship.
At the end of the first day, Timmy Hansen and Johan Christofferson took the lead in the World RX standings, who equally shared the victory in the two qualifying rounds. Meanwhile, in the Euro RX1 class of the FIA European Rallycross Championship, the Latvian Jānis Baumanis, who had a flat tire in the second race, ranks fifth after the first day.
Four-time World RX Champion Johan Kristoffersson got off to a good start on Sunday, taking victory in his third qualifying race. Meanwhile, in the second run of the third qualifying round, Kristofferson’s main competitor Timmy Hansen was the fastest, but Kristofferson’s result was 1.610 seconds faster in the overall standings. Behind the two leaders was Timmy’s brother Kevin Hansen, while world rallycross championship debutant Clara Anderson was fourth.
After three rounds of qualifying, Kristofferson and the two Hansen brothers were in the top three, with Timmy ahead of brother Kevin. Kristofferson’s teammate Ole Christian Weyby remained in fourth position, followed by Niklas Gronholm and Andersen, while Gustav Bergstrom, who starts with the third car prepared by Volkswagen Dealerteam BAUHAUS, and Rene Münich remained in the final positions. After these results, drivers get the opportunity to choose positions for the progression round.
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With a total of eight drivers competing in the World RX competition, all qualified for the semi-finals, dividing the starting spots for the decisive battles in a progression round. In the first race of the progression round, Kristoffersson, K. Hansen, Bergstrom and Gronholm started. Already in the first lap, Gronholm experienced a collision, breaking a wheel of his car, while Kristoffersson made a convincing drive, protecting the leading position and winning, ahead of Hansen and Bergstrom. In the second race, T. Hansen, Weiby, as well as Anderson and Münich started. Hansen took the lead at the start, while Anderson almost managed to overtake Weibia in the fight for second position. During the race, Weiby began to close in on the leader, however, after a last-lap wild card, Hansen managed to secure the race victory. Weyby was just over a second behind, with Anderson finishing close behind as Munich completed the second progression run.
This year, the format of the semi-finals and finals has also changed – five drivers start in each semi-final and also in the final race (at this stage, four in World RX), of which the first two place winners of each semi-final automatically qualify for the final, while the fastest third place winner after the qualifying results gets the remaining free place.
At the start of the first semi-final, Kristofferson, who started from pole position, got stuck at the start, falling to the last place. Weiby led the way with Bergstrom and Munich following close behind. Kristofferson managed to catch and pass Münich quite quickly, then went wild. Kristofferson continued to chase down the two leaders, but Weiby managed to get back to the front after his joker. Bergstrom held off his wild card until the final lap, then dropped back to third and passed his teammates Weiby and Kristofferson, who took the top two spots to qualify for the final. The Hansen brothers, Gronholm and Anderson competed in the second semi-final. In the first corner, a thorough push, in which the biggest loser was Kevin Hansen, while Gronholm took the lead. Timmy Hansen tried to get higher by going faster in the wild card, but Gronholm successfully covered the Swedish driver on the next lap to take the race win. T. Hansen finished in second place, while Anderson was third, getting a chance to fight for the podium in her debut competition at the world championships.
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In the final, the first starting place belonged to Weiby, who was joined by Gronholm, Kristofferson, T. Hansen and the first representative of the fair sex in the history of the World RX finals – Anderson. In the first corners, a very exciting battle between all the drivers, even three cars driving side by side in the corner at the same time. Kristofferson left the race as the leader, but Hansen continued to follow close behind. Gronholm went very fast in his wildcard lap, dropping to fifth while the front riders followed closely behind each other. Hansen defended his position from Weyby as the two went into a wildcard race on the same lap and remained in second and third. Anderson performed her wildcard last, returning to the track a few meters ahead of her teammate Gronholm. After a solid ride, Kristofferson was the first to reach the checkered flag, starting the season with a win Ramudden World RX of Norway in the stage, but also Hansen and Weiby, for whom this was the first World RX final race in his career, were also on the podium. A great result for Anderson and a fourth-place finish ahead of Gronholm.
Ramudden World RX of Norway the winner Johan Kristofferson’s after the finish he says: ”It’s great to win the final, especially after the semi-final, where I had technical problems and didn’t know what to do. I am very happy that I managed to win. This first electric car weekend brought both positive and negative experiences, but also everything is completely new for us and there are many new things to learn. Many thanks to the team and I want to congratulate all the cars that are on the grid, because it has been a difficult time for all the teams. It’s also a pleasure to see the audience, a pleasure for Christian and the fact that we are also in the lead of the team standings!”
In the Euro RX1 class of the FIA European Rallycross Championship, Jānis Baumanis made a very fast third qualifying run, winning his race, however Antons Marklunds, Andreas Bakkerud and Fraser McConnell, who started in the last race, were able to show better times, relegating Baumanis to the fourth position in the third round standings. Before the progression round, Marklund was in first place with three wins, while Backerud and McConnell follow him in second and third positions. Bauman’s fifth result after the qualifications, with Enzo Idem ranking between the Latvian and the leaders.
In the Euro RX1 class, there were four progression rounds, of which the three fastest drivers of each race immediately qualified for the semi-finals, while the remaining places were filled by the fastest fourth-place finishers. Baumanis finished in second place in his race, losing only to the leader of the championship, Marklund. Bakerud, McConnell and Ide won the other races of the progression round.
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The drivers were divided into three semi-final heats, with the winner of each immediately qualifying for the final, while the two best runners-up took the remaining two spots. In the first semi-final, Marklund won a convincing victory, beating Sondre Evjen and Attila Moser. Ide also started the race well, however, in the continuation of the race, he had to retire due to damage to the car, which was obtained during contact battles with competitors at the beginning of the race. In the second race, Baumanis, as well as Dāvids Nordgårds, Marcins Gagackis and Frenk Valle started next to Bakkerud. After the start, Baumanis immediately settled behind Bakkerud, while those behind started a contact battle with each other. In the continuation, the two leaders were able to make a stable drive, breaking away from the followers, however, Bauman did not manage to pass the Norwegian Bakerud, remaining in second place. In the third race, McConnell won convincingly, joining Marklund, Evjen, Bakkerud and Bauman in the final.
In the final race, McConnell stayed standing at the start, but Bakerud won the lead at the first corner. Evjens and Baumanis settled behind Bakerud. After the collisions in the first corner, Marklund’s car was also badly damaged, leaving the three leaders in a head-to-head battle. Baumanis tried several times to find a way past Evjen, but it failed, as the Latvian driver ended the race in third position. Bakerud won his first win of the season with a very convincing ride, moving up to third place in the overall standings. At the moment, Marklunds is the overall leader with 52 points, followed by Baumanis and Bakeruds with 35 and 33 points, respectively.
Well known to Latvian fans Andreas Bakerud comments after the race: “Fantastic feeling, originally I didn’t plan to compete in the European Championships in Holjes and Hellas, so a huge thanks to Bakkerud Blue, EKS, especially Matias Ekström, for making it happen. Thanks again to everyone who came out to support. I hope it was a great show. I hope to come back here again next year. Give me a car, I will compete!”
Meanwhile, three weeks later Ramudden World RX of Norway the World RX will be watched in Latvia, where a double stage will take place at the Biķernieku track on September 3 and 4 Ferratum World RX of Riga-Latvia.
Information prepared by:
Jānis Unbedahts
