Kristoffersson drives Polo GTI Supercar to World RX of Portugal podium
After a promising first outing in Barcelona, the PSRX Volkswagen Sweden team had reason to celebrate at the second round of the 2017 FIA World Rallycross Championship, the 22-23 April World RX of Portugal. Johan Kristoffersson took his Polo GTI Supercar to third place in the final in Montalnegre, behind current World RX champion Mattias Ekström and multi-World Rally Champion Sébastien Loeb.
Fastest time
Setting a quick pace from the off, the 570bhp PSRX Volkswagen Sweden Polo GTIs were in fine form, and for the first time, sported different coloured roof panels for ease of being seen more clearly when in the thick of the action: Kristoffersson’s car now has a white panel, while Petter Solberg’s Polo is capped in black. The PSRX Volkswagen Sweden machines were even quick in practice, scoring a Kristoffersson-Solberg 1-2, with Kristofferrson setting a new lap record.
The weekend’s races started well for Kristoffersson, as the Swede recorded the fastest time on day one, and lead the fourth race in the first qualifying session. Ex-World RX champion Solberg finished in second, ahead of Loeb. But in the third qualifying session, while Kristoffersson finished first, he forgot to take his Joker lap, and incurred a 30-second time penalty. However, Solberg set the fastest time during the same session and led the intermediate classifications going into the second day of action with Kristoffersson second overall.
‘A simple mistake’
Kristoffersson said: ‘Yesterday was about as good as it could get, but in Q3 we missed the Joker and that was really frustrating and maybe that cost me the chance of a better position in the final, but these things can happen. It was a simple mistake, nothing more. In Q4 we lost out because the track wasn’t as dry. In the final, I had a plan to stay behind Petter but unfortunately he had a slow puncture on the left rear and was losing a lot of time.
‘I managed to get past him on lap three which meant I had three laps to drive as fast as I could and I successfully closed on Timmy Hansen. We’ve made some good improvements with the car since Barcelona, especially with the launch and it feels great to give Volkswagen its first podium of the season,’ said the elated Swedish rallycross star.
Slow puncture
That slow puncture put paid to Solberg’s chances, but the Norwegian still managed a sixth place result: ‘My plan was to get away from the line as quickly as possible. We had the speed all weekend and the plan was for Johan to stay behind me in the beginning of the race. But I picked up a slow puncture on the left-rear and I wanted to get out on the straight to let Johan past me. It came at the worst possible moment; I slowed him down and there was nothing I could do.
‘That’s tough, but these things can happen – punctures are part of our sport. Putting that behind us, I’m so happy with the way things are moving forward with the team and to be leading the championship is fantastic when you consider where we were just before the start of the year! It’s very good for me to have Johan alongside me in the team – he did a great job of safeguarding our position today (Sunday),’ enthused Solberg.
As in Barcelona, EKS’ Mattias Ekström took the overall spoils in Portugal, his second consecutive 2017 victory. He leads Kristoffersson – now in second place – by 14 points. With 42 points, sixth-placed Montalnegre finisher Solberg is two points behind Kristoffersson. PSRX Volkswagen Sweden’s consistent run in Portugal sees the team lead the overall team standings, with a nine-point lead over EKS.
The third round of the 2017 FIA World Rallycross Championship is the World RX of Hockenheim at the Hockenheimring in Germany on 6-7 May, where the rallycross series supports a weekend of German Touring Car (DTM) circuit action.
https://youtu.be/oN6jp__z2GY
2017 FIA WORLD RALLYCROSS CHAMPIONSHIP,
DRIVERS’ CHAMPIONSHIP POINTS
1 Mattias Ekström, Audi S1: 58
2 Johan Kristoffersson, Volkswagen Polo GTI: 44
3 Petter Solberg, Volkswagen Polo GTI: 42
4 Andreas Bakkerud, Ford Focus RS: 30
5 Timo Scheider, Ford Fiesta RXS: 28
2017 FIA WORLD RALLYCROSS CHAMPIONSHIP,
TEAMS’ CHAMPIONSHIP POINTS
1 PSRX Volkswagen Sweden: 86
2 EKS: 77
3 Hoonigan Racing Division: 49
5 Team Peugeot-Hansen: 49
5 MJP Racing Team Austria: 35
[Images: FIAWorldRallycross.com / PSRX Volkswagen Sweden]
