Johan Kristoffersson (VW Polo) was victorious at Mettet in Belgium (Circuit Jules Tacheny) on Sunday (August 18). The Swede drove to victory during the sixth round of the 2024 FIA World Rallycross Championship. He won the final from Kevin Hansen (Peugeot 208 RX1e) and Ole Christian Veiby (VW Polo). In the European championship organized alongside the World championship wins were for Patrick O’Donovan (Peugeot 208) in Euro RX1, Kobe Pauwels (RX2e) in Euro RX2e and João Ribeiro (Audi A1) in Euro RX3.
For World RX the second part of the Belgian double header went underway on Sunday morning. This time race wins in the first heat were for Johan Kristoffersson, beating Timmy Hansen (Peugeot 208 RX1e) and Niclas Grönholm (PWR Hyundai i20 RX1e) who got his car back up and running after struggling with it yesterday. In the second heat the race wins were for Niclas Grönholm, his second of the day, and Kristoffersson. After the heats Kristoffersson was once more on top of the ranking.
In the semi-finals Kristoffersson won the first one ahead of his teammate Ole Christian Veiby (VW Polo) and Timmy Hansen, who said afterwards he went out on the wrong (slick) tires. Grönholm continued his Sunday winning streak and won the second semi-final. Kevin Hansen and Klara Andersson (PWR Hyundai i20 RX1e) were the other qualifiers for the final.
In the Sunday final with Kristoffersson and Grönholm on the front row both had a good start. Kristoffersson, on the inside, came out of the chaotic first turn as race leader. Kevin Hansen made it into second from the third row ahead of Grönholm. Grönholm went down to fifth after he passed through the joker lap section in favor of Timmy Hansen. Kevin Hansen went into the joker lap section in the penultimate lap with the two others doing the same in the final lap. Eventually Kristoffersson kept the lead easily and scored his fourth win of the season. Despite the help of Kevin Hansen during the final lap, his brother Timmy [Hansen] wasn’t able to keep his podium spot and finished fifth. Kevin Hansen came in second ahead of Ole Christian Veiby.
Alongside World RX also rounds for the 2024 FIA European Rallycross Championship took place. In the RX1 category Yury Belevskiy (Audi S1) had three race wins on his conto after the third heat. However in the fourth heat the Audi driver was a little too enthusiastic in the first turn ending up his car in the tire wall. This gave Patrick O’Donovan the top spot in the ranking and pole in the first semi-final. Belevskiy started the second semi-final from pole. Patrick O’Dovovan then drove to victory in his semi-final with Damian Litwinowicz (Audi S1) and initially his dad Ollie [O’Donovan] (Peugeot 208) in third. However he was set back one spot for an incident with Zoltán Konczeg (Audi S1) in favor of László Kiss (Peugeot 208). The second semi-final went to Belevskiy ahead of Máté Benyó (Peugeot 208) and Márk Mózer (Ford Fiesta Mk7).
Patrick O’Donovan and Yury Belevskiy were lined up beside each other on the front row for the final. When the green light was shown O’Donovan made it first to turn one. He went into the lead ahead of Belevskiy and Benyó. O’Donovan and Belevskiy kept running first and second until the final lap when both went into the joker lap section and remained in the lead. Therefore Euro RX1 in Belgium delivered another win for Patrick O’Donovan. Belevskiy and Benyó completed the Euro RX1 podium at Mettet. O’Donovan leads it in the championship prior to the final round with 111 points on Yury Belevskiy with 96 points.
Former Euro RX3 champion, Kobe Pauwels, who participated in the RX2e category in his home country, was on top of the ranking with three race wins ahead of championship driver Isak Sjökvist (RX2e). Given the number of competitors in this category no semi-finals took place as all drivers proceeded to the final. Sjökvist had the better start in the final and lead it from Pauwels for three laps when the latter passed through the joker lap section. Pauwels joined the main track as second again and when Sjökvist went in the joker lap section the lap after Pauwels went into the lead to claim the win at Mettet. Sjökvist finished second ahead of German Luka Wlömer (RX2e). Nils Andersson (RX2e) remains in the lead for the championship ahead of Isak Sjökvist.
In Euro RX3 João Ribeiro won all of his heat races and finished on top of the ranking with maximum points. Nils Volland (Audi A1), with two race wins on Sunday, was second. Ribeiro started the first semi-final from pole and won it from his countryman André Sousa (Audi A1). Nicolas Geleyns (Audi A1) was the other qualifier for the final. In the second semi-final Nils Volland won it from pole ahead of Dominik Senegacik (Škoda Fabia Mk3) and Libor Teješ (Audi A1). The final went underway with Ribeiro and Volland starting from the front row. Ribeiro lead it from Volland until both went into the joker lap section in the penultimate lap. With Senegacik then leading but still having to pass through the joker lap section Ribeiro was able to stay in the lead as Volland (suffering a puncture) was beaten on the line by Senegacik for second place. In the standings with one more round to come Volland (109 points) is leading it with only one single point on Ribeiro (108 points).
The next rounds (rounds 7 and 8 of the World championship together with the final rounds of the European championships) are taking place at Montalegre in Portugal on September 7-8.
Results
World RX – Final: 1. Johan Kristoffersson (S), VW Polo; 2. Kevin Hansen (S), Peugeot 208 RX1e; 3. Ole Christian Veiby (N), VW Polo; 4. Niclas Grönholm (FIN), PWR Hyundai i20 RX1e; 5. Timmy Hansen (S), Peugeot 208 RX1e; 6. Klara Andersson (S), PWR Hyundai i20 RX1e.
World RX Team: 1. Kristoffersson Motorsport (S), 48; 2. Construction Equipment Dealer Team (S), 38; 3. Hansen World RX Team (S), 38.
Euro RX1 – Final: 1. Patrick O’Donovan (IRL), Peugeot 208; 2. Yury Belevskiy (RUS), Audi S1; 3. Máté Benyó (H), Peugeot 208; 4. Damian Litwinowicz (PL), Audi S1; 5. Márk Mózer (H), Ford Fiesta Mk7; 6. László Kiss (H), Peugeot 208 – DNF.
Euro RX2e – Final: 1. Kobe Pauwels (B), RX2e; 2. Isak Sjökvist (S), RX2e; 3. Luka Wlömer (D), RX2e; 4. Marko Muru (EST), RX2e; 5. Nils Andersson (S), RX2e; 6. Mikaela Åhlin-Kottulinsky (S), RX2e.
Euro RX3 – Final: 1. João Ribeiro (P), Audi A1; 2. Dominik Senegacnik (A), Škoda Fabia Mk3; 3. Nils Volland (D), Audi A1; 4. Nicolas Geleyns (B), Audi A1; 5. André Sousa (P), Audi A1; 6. Libor Teješ (CZ), Audi A1 – DNF.
Standings
World RX (6/10): 1. Johan Kristoffersson (S), 153; 2. Ole Christian Veiby (N), 114; 3. Kevin Hansen (S), 110; 4. Timmy Hansen (S), 109; 5. Niclas Grönholm (FIN), 99; 6. Klara Andersson (S), 95; etc.
World RX Team (6/10): 1. Kristoffersson Motorsport (S), 267; 2. Hansen World RX Team (S), 219; 3. Construction Equipment Dealer Team (S), 194.
Euro RX1 (4/5): 1. Patrick O’Donovan (IRL), 111; 2. Yury Belevskiy (RUS), 96; 3. Mika Liimatainen (FIN), 77; 4. Máté Benyó (H), 77; 5. Damian Litwinowicz (PL), 74; 6. Zoltán Koncseg (H), 52; etc.
Euro RX2e (4/5): 1. Nils Andersson (S), 88; 2. Isak Sjökvist (S), 77; 3. Marko Muru (EST), 64; 4. Mikaela Åhlin-Kottulinsky (S), 62; 5. Luka Wlömer (D), 55; 6. “Luigi” (H), 30; etc.
Euro RX3 (4/5): 1. Nils Volland (D), 109; 2. João Ribeiro (P), 108; 3. Dominik Senegacnik (A), 74; 4. André Sousa (P), 64; 5. Balász Kőrmőczi (H), 59; 6. Nicolas Geleyns (B), 48; etc.