PoloDriver

After a close finish, Marklund Motorsport has ended the inaugural season of the FIA World Rallycross Championship in second place, behind Ford Olsbergs MSE. The Marklund Motorsport team were leading the Teams’ Championship going into the competition at the Total Rallycross of Argentina.

The Swedish-run team settled for second, after a three-way battle with the Ford Olsbergs MSE outfit and Team Peugeot-Hansen. Only four points separated the three teams going into the final races at San Luis.

Toomas ‘Topi’ Heikinnen claimed second place in the semi-final number two. The Finn came fifth in the final. Former World Rally Championship driver Petter Solberg took the season’s spoils in the Drivers’ Championship, with Heikinnen second.

Heikinnen’s team-mate Anton Marklund completed the season in sixth place in the Drivers’ Championship, after a varied season which has seen the young Swede up his game quite considerably.

Heikinnen’s Polo RX Supercar suffered gearbox failure at the end of heat two, while he and Marklund were in first and eighth positions after heat three. Hot sun gave way to pouring rain for day two, and Marklund made adjustments to his Polo to enable it to better suit the slippery conditions.

‘We made quite a lot of changes overnight to the car to make it better on the gravel. It was starting to rain quite heavily when I was in the pre-grid area before heat three, other drivers were putting the rain tyres on but I stuck with the slicks.

‘Maybe it was the right choice, maybe the wrong choice, I don’t know really. I pushed as hard as I could and was sixth overall and closed the gap to the lead in the guys above me in the intermediate points,’ said Marklund.

But the mechanical maladies weren’t over for Heikinnen. The Finn’s Polo RX suffered engine failure on the final lap of the final qualifying heat, slowing to a stop just before the last corner. The Marklund Motorsport team changed the engine for one used previously in the season, so didn’t incur any penalties for using a new engine.

Overall, though, the team was pleased with its result. Marklund commented: ‘It’s always disappointing to be second but actually our aim at the start of the year was to finish in the top three so this is something we must all remember.

‘I think we have learned a lot for next year and we will be back and fighting hard. Topi finished second in the drivers’ standings to finish the year with two second places is something our whole team are really happy with.’

The 2015 FIA World Rallycross Championship season gets underway on 24 April 2015 with the first round in Montalegre, Portugal.

2014 FIA WORLD RALLYCROSS CHAMPIONSHIP,

DRIVERS’ CHAMPIONSHIP POINTS

1 Petter Solberg, 267
2 Toomas Heikkinen, 221

3 Reinis Nitiss, 210

4 Timmy Hansen, 199
5 Andreas Bakkerud, 193
6 Anton Marklund, 173

2014 FIA WORLD RALLYCROSS CHAMPIONSHIP,

TEAMS’ CHAMPIONSHIP POINTS

1 Ford Olsbergs MSE, 403
2 Volkswagen Marklund, 394
3 Team Peugeot-Hansen, 351
4 PSRX, 261
5 Monster Energy World RX Team, 76

The penultimate round of the 2014 FIA World Rallycross Championship in Instanbul, Turkey on 11-12 October saw strong performances from Polo RX drivers Toomas ‘Topi’ Heikkinen and Anton Marklund, taking Marklund Motorsport to the top of the series’ team standings.

Heikkinen’s drive in his 500bhp Polo RX saw him hold on to second place in the Drivers’ Championship. His command over four gripping heats and battles with Timmy Hansen’s Peugeot 208 RX saw the young Finn score enough points to see him defend his runner-up position.

Former WRC ace Petter Solberg has already been crowned 2014 champion.

‘Volkswagen Marklund are now leading the teams’ standings by four points – we’ve been tied at the top on two separate occasions this year but now we are leading it by ourselves,’ explained Heikkinen.

‘My driving hasn’t been perfect this weekend, I made a few small mistakes but I’m happy to have got some crucial points for the team.’

Ford Olsbergs MSE driver Andreas Bakkerud was the overall winner of the World RX of Turkey. With Ford, Peugeot and Volkswagen all represented on the podium, the fight for the first ever Teams’ Championship will now be decided at the final round in San Luis, Argentina, on 28-29 November.

2014 FIA WORLD RALLYCROSS CHAMPIONSHIP,

DRIVERS’ CHAMPIONSHIP POINTS

1 Petter Solberg, 250

2 Toomas Heikkinen, 200

3 Reinis Nitiss, 182
4 Timmy Hansen, 179

5 Andreas Bakkerud, 173
6 Anton Marklund, 159

2014 FIA WORLD RALLYCROSS CHAMPIONSHIP,

TEAMS’ CHAMPIONSHIP POINTS

1 Volkswagen Marklund, 359
2 Ford Olsbergs MSE, 355

3 Team Peugeot-Hansen, 335

4 PSRX, 237
5 Monster Energy World RX Team, 102

The tenth round of the 2014 FIA World Rallycross Championship at the Autodromo di Franciacorta in Italy over the weekend of 27-28 September saw the Marklund Motorsport team edge closer to winning the series Team’s Championship title. Even though the Swedish outfit’s two drivers failed to make the Supercar final in their Polo RXs, enough points were scored to place the team within reach of the top of the championship table.

Anton Marklund and Toomas ‘Topi’ Heikkinen finished seventh and eighth respectively in Italy, meaning that Marklund Motorsport now tie with Ford Olsbergs MSE at the top of the Teams’ Championship standings table with 313 points – with only two rounds of the season remaining. Heikkinen is second in the Drivers’ Championship, but sadly lost out on the title to former WRC ace Petter Solberg, who finished third in Bresica, taking the top spot. Overall victory went to Timmy Hansen.

A surprise leader at the Autodromo di Franciacorta was Sweden’s Johan Kristoffersson, driving his Volkswagen Dealer Team Sweden Polo RX. Kristoffersson blitzed the opposition to take the lead at the end of day one, finishing fifth overall at the end of day two. The eleventh and penultimate round of the FIA World Rallycross Championship will take place at the former F1 venue of Intercity Istanbul Park in Turkey from 11-12 October.

2014 FIA WORLD RALLYCROSS CHAMPIONSHIP,

DRIVERS’ CHAMPIONSHIP POINTS

1 Petter Solberg, 235

2 Toomas Heikkinen, 175

3 Reinis Nitiss, 167

4 Timmy Hansen, 152
5 Timur Timerzyanov, 148

2014 FIA WORLD RALLYCROSS CHAMPIONSHIP,

TEAMS’ CHAMPIONSHIP POINTS

1 = Ford Olsbergs MSE, 313

1 = Volkswagen Marklund, 313

3 Team Peugeot-Hansen, 300

4 PSRX, 227

5 Monster Energy World RX Team, 85

It was a mixed two days for Marklund Motorsport at the ninth round of the 2014 FIA World Rallycross Championship in Germany over the weekend of 20-21 September. The Swedish team fielded three Polo RX Supercars, with regular drivers Anton Marklund and Toomas ‘Topi’ Heikkinen being joined by German Ronny Wechselberger.

Former WRC ace Petter Solberg won the event – his fourth victory of the season – while second place was taken by Mattias Ekström. Heikkinen finished fifth in the Supercar final, moving him up the overall drivers’ leaderboard to sit under Solberg who currently leads the standings.

Marklund and Wechselberger were victims of the ever-changeable and unpredictable wet conditions at the Estering near Buxtehude, both knocked out in the preliminary heats. Wechselberger drove the car that Patrick Carpentier used to make the final at the seventh round of the series in Canada.

Overall, Marklund Motorsport remains in second place in the team standings, trailing the leaders by just ten points. The tenth of the twelve events in the 2014 calendar will take place in Italy at the new Franciacorta RX track in Brescia over 27-28 September.

2014 FIA WORLD RALLYCROSS CHAMPIONSHIP,

DRIVERS’ CHAMPIONSHIP POINTS

1 Petter Solberg, 212

2 Toomas Heikkinen, 160

3 Reinis Nitiss, 158

4 Andreas Bakkerud, 136

5 Timur Timerzyanov, 128

2014 FIA WORLD RALLYCROSS CHAMPIONSHIP,

TEAMS’ CHAMPIONSHIP POINTS

1 Ford Olsbergs MSE, 294

2 Volkswagen Marklund, 284

3 Team Peugeot-Hansen, 250

4 PSRX, 204
5 Monster Energy World RX Team, 81

It was a mixed result for the Polo RX-powered Marklund Motorsport team at the World Rallycross of France at the 1.1km-long Circuit de Lohéac in Brittany, over 6-7 September. Reporting difficulties in getting its powerful Polos set-up, both Toomas ‘Topi’ Heikkinnen and Anton Marklund made it through the semi-finals but failed to qualify for the Supercar final itself, finishing fourth and fifth respectively.

A difficult first day saw engineers tweak the set-up of Heikkinen’s Polo and he finished fourth at the overnight point. Speaking on day two of the event, the Finn said: ‘There was a bit of traffic in the first two heats yesterday, but things were not as good as we expected with us, too. We were a lot slower yesterday. We changed the whole setup on my car – it was a big change so it was a risk, but it has worked.’

But it didn’t work enough. The truncated action saw Heikkinen slip down the overall drivers’ standings to third place, nine points behind Reinis Nitiss. Marklund meanwhile remains fifth overall.

There was no shortage of thrills and spills for the 70,000-strong crowd, though, as former WRC ace Petter Solberg took a sensational victory at the eighth round of the 2014 season at the home of French rallycross. Round nine of the 2014 FIA World Rallycross Championship will take place at Estering in Germany on 20-21 September.

2014 FIA WORLD RALLYCROSS CHAMPIONSHIP,

DRIVERS’ CHAMPIONSHIP POINTS

1 Petter Solberg, 185
2 Reinis Nitiss, 157

3 Toomas Heikkinen, 147

4 Andreas Bakkerud, 126

5 Anton Marklund, 124