Kevin Hansen (Peugeot 208 RX1e) won the second leg of the Portuguese double header of the 2024 FIA World Rallycross Championship at Montalegre on Sunday (September 8). In the final he beat Johan Kristoffersson (VW Polo). Also at Montalegre all the 2024 European champions were crowned with Patrick O’Donovan (Peugeot 208) FIA European Rallycross Champion, Nils Andersson (RX2e) FIA European RX2e Rallycross Champion and Nils Volland (Audi A1) FIA European RX3 Rallycross Champion.
In World RX race wins on Sunday were for Johan Kristoffersson and Timmy Hansen (Peugeot 20°8 RX1e) in the first heat and Timmy Hansen and Kevin Hansen in the second heat leading to Timmy Hansen on top of the ranking. Prior to the final the focus was also on Johan Kristoffersson whether he was going to secure the championship. The Swede had a 50-point lead on the second prior to the semi-finals. From the moment he would establish a 60-point lead the championship will be his even with two more events to come. The Hansen brothers were on the front row of the first semi-final and finished first and second. Anthony Pelfrene (Peugeot 208) finished third and qualified for the final as well. Ole Christian Veiby (VW Polo) won the second semi-final with Kristoffersson second and Niclas Grönholm (PWR Hyundai i20 RX1e) third. In the final Timmy Hansen and Ole Christian Veiby ran first and second most of the time. Both went into the joker lap section in the final lap allowing Kevin Hansen and Johan Kristoffersson to overtake them and move into first and second and finishing also a one-two in the final. Timmy Hansen finished third and completed the podium. In the championship Kristoffersson (206 points) now holds a 46 point difference on Kevin Hansen (160 points) who is second and therefore the championship will be officially decided during the last racing weekend in October.
In RX1 Patrick O’Donovan was on top of the ranking after four heat race wins. Championship contendor Yury Belevskiy (Audi S1) was second with three heat race wins and one second place finish. O’Donovan started in the semi-finals with a 16-point lead on Belevskiy. This meant mathematically a fourth place finish or better would be sufficient for him to secure himself the 2024 FIA European Rallycross Championship. O’Donovan was quickest in the start of his semi-final and lead it on the way out of turn one and remained in the lead until the final lap, being comfortable to pass through the joker lap section during that last lap. He came in first and could start the championship celebrations. Damian Litwinowicz (Audi S1) and Mika Liimatainen (Hyundai i20) finished respectively second and third and were through to the final. The second semi-final went to Yury Belevskiy who came in first ahead Tamás Kárai (Audi S1) and Julien Fébreau (Peugeot 208). Fébreau received afterwards a ‘one position penalty’ for track limits in favor of Maté Benyó (Peugeot 208) who was allowed to start in the final.
In the final it was all about the battle for third place in the championship. O’Donovan let it go during the start and Belevskiy was leading after turn one ahead of Litwinowicz and Liimatainen, both battling it out for third. Liimatainen was the first one to pass through the joker lap section in the third lap followed by Litwinowicz the lap after. However, when the latter exited the joker lap section he made contact with Liimatainen forcing the Finn to retire from the final. In the mean time Maté Benyó ran second and was still in the running for third place in the championship as well. Belevskiy came in first followed by Benyó, O’Donovan and Litwinowicz. Tamás Kárai was the last finisher in fifth. In the championship behind O’Donovan (147 points), Belevskiy (135 points) is second and Benyó (106 points) finishes third.
In the RX2e championship Nils Andersson was relatively comfortable after the heats knowing qualifying for the final would be sufficient to secure himself the championship, a second one in a row. This meant finishing in the top 3 of a 4-car race was getting him the title. Andersson did it in style and won his semi-final and therefore became the 2024 FIA RX2e Rallycross Champion. Afterwards Isak Sjökvist won the other semi-final. In the final Nils Andersson won it from Isak Sjökvist and was allowed to climb the highest step of the podium in the final race of the season. Luka Wlömer finished third. In the standings Nils Andersson ends it with 126 points while Sjökvist is second with 110 points.
Nils Volland won the title in the RX3 category holding off championship contendor João Ribeiro (Audi A1) on home soil. Volland won all his four heat races on Saturday and Sunday. Prior to the semi-finals he established a 7-point lead on Ribeiro (129 points vs 122 points). Both drivers were in separate semi-finals with Volland being in the first one and winning it after having it lead from lights to flag. In the second semi-final Ribeiro came out of the first corner leading the field and was able to stay in the lead and came in first keeping the point difference between him and Volland on 7 points prior to the final.
In that all decisive final Volland and Ribeiro, both on the front row, were allowed to go head to head. The start was for Ribeiro leading it after the first corner with Volland only being fifth and thus Ribeiro virtually the champion. Volland then passed through the joker lap section in the next lap. From there he had to chase Ribeiro and the others. He climbed to 4th in the third lap. Ribeiro then made it in the joker lap section in the penultimate lap with Volland climbing already to second in the race and in championship winning position after an incident involving André Sousa (Audi A1) and Dominik Senegacik (Škoda Fabia Mk3). Eventually Ribeiro won his home event but the title went to Germany to Nils Volland. He wins the championship with 5 points (147 points for Volland vs 142 points for Ribeiro).
This Portuguese event concludes the 2024 FIA European Rallycross Championships. However, the 2024 FIA World Rallycross Championship continues with a final double header event on 19-20 October 2024.
Results
World RX – Final: 1. Kevin Hansen (S), Peugeot 208 RX1e; 2. Johan Kristoffersson (S), VW Polo; 3. Timmy Hansen (S), Peugeot 208 RX1e; 4. Klara Andersson (S), PWR Hyundai i20 RX1e; 5. Ole Christian Veiby (N), VW Polo; 6. Niclas Grönholm (FIN), PWR Hyundai i20 RX1e – DNF.
World RX Team: 1. Hansen World RX Team (S), 51; 2. Kristoffersson Motorsport (S), 44; 3. Construction Equipment Dealer Team (S), 29.
Euro RX1 – Final: 1. Yury Belevskiy (RUS), Audi S1; 2. Máté Benyó (H), Peugeot 208; 3. Patrick O’Donovan (IRL), Peugeot 208; 4. Damian Litwinowicz (PL), Audi S1; 5. Tamás Kárai (H), Audi S1; 6. Mika Liimatainen (FIN), Hyundai i20 – DNF.
Euro RX2e – Final: 1. Nils Andersson (S), RX2e; 2. Isak Sjökvist (S), RX2e; 3. Luka Wlömer (D), RX2e; 4. Marko Muru (EST), RX2e; 5. Molly Taylor (AUS), RX2e; 6. Mikaela Åhlin-Kottulinsky (S), RX2e.
Euro RX3 – Final: 1. João Ribeiro (P), Audi A1; 2. Nils Volland (D), Audi A1; 3. Balász Kőrmőczi (H), VW Polo Mk5; 4. Rogério Sousa (P), Audi A1 – DNF; 5. André Sousa (P), Audi A1 – DNF; -. Dominik Senegacnik (A), Škoda Fabia Mk3 – DSQ.
Standings
World RX (8/10): 1. Johan Kristoffersson (S), 206; 2. Kevin Hansen (S), 160; 3. Ole Christian Veiby (N), 149; 4. Timmy Hansen (S), 147; 5. Niclas Grönholm (FIN), 139; 6. Klara Andersson (S), 122; etc.
World RX Team (8/10): 1. Kristoffersson Motorsport (S), 355; 2. Hansen World RX Team (S), 307; 3. Construction Equipment Dealer Team (S), 261.
Final Standings
Euro RX1 (5/5): 1. Patrick O’Donovan (IRL), 147; 2. Yury Belevskiy (RUS), 135; 3. Máté Benyó (H), 106; 4. Damian Litwinowicz (PL), 104; 5. Mika Liimatainen (FIN), 98; 6. Zoltán Koncseg (H), 72; etc.
Euro RX2e (5/5): 1. Nils Andersson (S), 126; 2. Isak Sjökvist (S), 110; 3. Marko Muru (EST), 92; 4. Mikaela Åhlin-Kottulinsky (S), 84; 5. Luka Wlömer (D), 82; 6. Molly Taylor (AUS), 41; etc.
Euro RX3 (5/5): 1. Nils Volland (D), 147; 2. João Ribeiro (P), 142; 3. Dominik Senegacnik (A), 93; 4. André Sousa (P), 88; 5. Balász Kőrmőczi (H), 82; 6. Sámuel Kovács (H), 60; etc.