Spurred on by the disappointment of the previous day, Johan Kristoffersson battled back to record his 43rd career triumph in the FIA World Rallycross Championship at Nyirád in Hungary on 28 July 2024, leaving his rivals eating his dust with a blistering performance in the sport’s ‘Red Cauldron’.
Twenty-four hours earlier, Kristoffersson’s challenge had ended in the Turn One tyre barriers after an acrimonious clash with countryman Kevin Hansen. The six-time world champion found himself in similar strife in Sunday’s second heat following a squeeze with Timmy Hansen and Niclas Grönholm, but even with a damaged car, he still managed to set fastest lap – and in both the semi-final and final, he led from lights-to-flag.
Kristoffersson’s margin of victory at the end of the final was a crushing 10.8sec over his closest pursuer, KMS – HORSE Powertrain team-mate Ole Christian Veiby, as he spearheaded a sustainably-fuelled combustion-engine one-two in the fourth instalment of World RX’s new ‘Battle of Technologies’.
“Yesterday wasn’t a great day, but today was much better!. Big thanks to the team. They worked extremely hard last night to make repairs and gave me a very fast car.
the 35-year-old acknowledged
“It’s been a great first experience here in Hungary and it’s been nice to see so many fans. I got a good start in the final and could then control the race from there – I wasn’t pushing hard. I just tried to drive smoothly and avoid making any mistakes. If I’d needed a real ‘killer’ lap, I’m pretty sure I could have gone quicker…”
Veiby deployed an opening lap joker in the final to undercut several of his competitors and complete a perfect result for the Kristoffersson Motorsport-run outfit, with Klara Andersson best-placed of the electric brigade in third in her CE Dealer Team by Volvo Construction Equipment PWR RX1e. The Swede took a gamble by bolting on wet-weather tyres for the last race of the weekend, and her reward for a gritty display in fending off the two Hansen siblings was a second podium finish of the campaign.
Timmy Hansen hassled Andersson throughout the final, but the former world champion was ultimately unable to find a way past and had to settle for fourth ahead of younger brother Kevin, meaning the rostrum continues to elude Hansen World RX Team in 2024.
René Münnich wound up sixth after progressing to the final for the first time this year, but there was frustration for Saturday winner Niclas Grönholm, whose bid was curtailed when he retired from the semi-final. There was similarly no podium repeat for home hero Janko Wieszt, who secured second place in the intermediate ranking only to subsequently make heavy contact with the wall.
The World RX season continues with another double-header duel at Mettet in Belgium on 17-18 August.
FINAL RESULT: WORLD RX
1. Johan KRISTOFFERSSON (SWE) KMS – Horse Powertrain (ICE) 5 laps
2. Ole Christian VEIBY (NOR) KMS – Horse Powertrain (ICE) + 10.809s
3. Klara ANDERSSON (SWE) CE Dealer Team (EV) + 13.342s
4. Timmy HANSEN (SWE) Hansen World RX Team (EV) + 13.765s
5. Kevin HANSEN (SWE) Hansen World RX Team (EV) + 14.765s
6. René MÜNNICH (DEU) ALL-INKL.COM Muennich Motorsport (ICE) + 19.384s
Full results for all categories can be found at www.fiaworldrallycross.com
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