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Last weekend the rallycross races moved to the Circuit of the Americas as part of the World RX of USA, the 10th round of the World Rallycross Championship 2018. In the World RX round, Timmy Hansen and Mattias Ekstrom took part, who managed the Nitro Rallycross competition the week before. Circuit of the Americas is located in Texas. There were cowboy hats everywhere! Hands up!
Cowboy Timerzyanov – World RX of USA
Training session – World RX of USA
Andreas Bakkerud was the best during training trips. Mattias Ekstrom was not much worse. Audi S1 showed domination during training but how did it handle later? Johan Kristoffersson only reached the sixth time. The World Champion didn’t have to make any effort. Only a few points separated him from defending the championship title. The drivers of Renault Megane RS managed well! They managed to achieve TOP10 times!
1. Andreas Bakkerud (N) Audi S1 – 35,135
2. Mattias Ekström (S) Audi S1 – 35,162
3. Sébastien Loeb (F) Peugeot 208 – 35,168
4. Petter Solberg (N) Volkswagen Polo R – 35,171
5. Kevin Eriksson (S) Ford Fiesta – 36,189
6. Johan Kristoffersson (S) Volkswagen Polo R – 35,202
7. Kevin Hansen (S) Peugeot 208 – 35,541
8. Guerlain Chicherit (F) Renault Mégane RS – 35,575
9. Jānis Baumanis (LV) Ford Fiesta – 35,733
10. Anton Marklund (S) Renault Mégane RS – 35,882
Flying Loeb and Chicherit – World RX of USA
Qualifications – day 1 – World RX of USA
Sébastien Loeb and Timmy Hansen (+0,935) shot a doublet for Peugeot in race 1. Behind them were Timur Timerzyanow, Robin Larsson and Johan Kristoffersson. The World Champion was at the end! As he said: I’m stuck behind everyone, and overtaking is not possible on this track. I have 13th place and time to come back!
In the second race, Petter Solberg overtook Mattias Ekström, Kevin Hansen, Niclas Grönholm and Grégoire Demoustier. The third race was won by Andreas Bakkerud, although Kevin Eriksson sat on the bumper throughout the race. The list was completed by Anton Marklund and Janis Baumanis. Guerlain Chicherit again with problems! He didn’t finish the last lap!
1. Petter Solberg (N) Volkswagen Polo R – 2.25,031
2. Mattias Ekström (S) Audi S1 +1,860
3. Sébastien Loeb (F) Peugeot 208 +2,481
4. Timmy Hansen (S) Peugeot 208 +3,416
5. Andreas Bakkerud (N) Audi S1 +3,608
6. Kevin Eriksson (S) Ford Fiesta +4,22
7. Anton Marklund (S) Renault Mégane RS +4,732
8. Kevin Hansen (S) Peugeot 208 +4,886
9. Timur Timerzyanow (RUS) Ford Fiesta +4,921
10. Niclas Grönholm (FIN) Hyundai i20 +5,425
So close, so far – World RX of USA
Petter Solberg scored a perfect Saturday at the Circuit of the Americas. The Norwegian also won the second qualifying, ahead of Johan Kristoffersson and 20-year-old Kevin Hansen, who was doing well during Q2. In race 1, Kristoffersson kept up the race. He decided to go through the joker lap on the last lap. No one, however, was able to threaten him. Second at the finishing line was Guerlain Chicherit, who lost almost 2.5 seconds. Next were Janis Baumanis, Gregoire Demoustier and Robin Larsson. Kevin Hasen showed the class in race 2! He managed to beat Niclas Gronholm, Kevin Eriksson, Timur Timerzyanov and Anton Marklund. The time differences were really small! Between the first and last driver was only 2.8 s difference. Saturday’s race ended the race 3 with the same galaxy of motorsport stars. Mattias Ekström, Andreas Bakkerud and Timmy Hansen took the first lap with joker lap. Petter Solberg and Sebastien Loeb took advantage of a longer lap on the third lap. The situation was then clear. Solberg crossed the finish line first, almost a second before Bakkerud. Behind them were Loeb (+2,418), Ekström (+3,120) and Hansen.
Qualifications – day 2 – World RX of USA
Mattias Ekström was the best at Q3 on the COTA track. He slowly approached Petter Solberg, who was at the forefront of the World RX 10th round. In the first Q3 race we had a clash of the French with Robin Larsson and Anton Marklund. Sebastien Loeb turned out to be the best, defeating Janis Baumanis and the rest of the drivers without any problems. Timmy Hansen was unlucky in the second race. His car had failures, the driver did not finish the run. This allowed Mattias Ekstrom to achieve some victory! The competition was far behind. The third race belonged to Volkswagen Polo! Petter Solberg overtook Johan Kristoffersson just before the finish line! Next to the finishing line were Kevin Hansen, Niclas Grönholm and Andreas Bakkerud (+3,897).
Janis Baumanis – World RX of USA
In Q4 everything has returned to normal. Johan Kristoffersson, who was slowly getting ready for the big holiday, got the best time! The elder Hansen brothers beat Robin Larsson (+2,634), Anton Marklund (+5,186), Timur Timerzanov (+5,402) and Grégoire Demoustiera (+9,416) in the first race. Timerzyanow and Demoustier didn’t reach the semi-finals. Kevin Hansen and Jānis Baumanis delayed Joker Lap in race 2, which Andreas Bakkerud used. Audi belonging to Andreas Bakkerud passed the finish line of 1,746 s before Hansen’s Peugeot, 2,952 s ahead of Baumanis’s Fiesta. Loeb, Chicherit and Kristoffersson went to Joker Lap on the first lap of race 3. Petter Solberg was in charge. After passing through the joker lap – Kristoffersson came in first. Ekstrom was second, Petter Solberg fell to third place. After qualifying, the advantage of Johan Kristoffersson decreased to 72 points. If the Swede maintains a 68-point distance after the semi-finals, he will secure the second title of world champion. It’s enough for him to finish fifth.
After Qualifications
1. Petter Solberg (N) Volkswagen Polo R – 185
2. Mattias Ekström (S) Audi S1 – 178
3. Johan Kristoffersson (S) Volkswagen Polo R – 168
4. Andreas Bakkerud (N) Audi S1 – 155
5. Kevin Hansen (S) Peugeot 208 – 153
6. Sébastien Loeb (F) Peugeot 208 – 152
7. Timmy Hansen (S) Peugeot 208 – 143
8. Niclas Grönholm (FIN) Hyundai i20 – 143
9. Guerlain Chicherit (F) Renault Mégane RS – 141
10. Kevin Eriksson (S) Ford Fiesta – 137
11. Jānis Baumanis (LV) Ford Fiesta – 136
12. Anton Marklund (S) Renault Mégane RS – 134
Kristoffersson, Solberg, Bakkerud – World RX of USA
SemiFinals – World RX of USA
Johan Kristoffersson was 2nd in first semi-final at COTA. He scored 5 points and secured the second consecutive World Rallycross Champion title. Faster by 0.4 seconds turned out to be Kristoffersson’s team mate PSRX Volkswagen Sweden, Petter Solberg. From the third place, he was promoted to the final of Timmy Hansen. Mattias Ekström and Sébastien Loeb waited with Joker Lap for the 5th lap, in this order passing the finishing line of the second semi-final. Andreas Bakkerud was third and advanced to six finalists.
SEMIFINAL 1
1. Petter Solberg (N) Volkswagen Polo R – 3.31,732
2. Johan Kristoffersson (S) Volkswagen Polo R + 0,457
3. Timmy Hansen (S) Peugeot 208 +1,517
4. Kevin Hansen (S) Peugeot 208 +2,896
5. Jānis Baumanis (LV) Ford Fiesta +6,941
6. Guerlain Chicherit (F) Renault Mégane RS +16,145
SEMIFINAL 2
1. Mattias Ekström (S) Audi S1 – 3.30,822
2. Sébastien Loeb (F) Peugeot 208 +0,465
3. Andreas Bakkerud (N) Audi S1 +1,292
4. Niclas Grönholm (FIN) Hyundai i20 +1.605
5. Kevin Eriksson (S) Ford Fiesta +3,589
6. Anton Marklund (S) Renault Mégane RS +3,986
World Rallycross Champion – Johan Kristoffersson during final battle
Final – World RX of USA
What can We say? Johan Kristoffersson won the World RX of the United States final. For the 29-year-old it’s the 9th victory of the season, 7th in a row. Petter Solberg passed the 0.6 second mark after his team-mate. Andreas Bakkerud completed the cast of the podium.
1. Johan Kristoffersson (S) Volkswagen Polo R – 3.31,118
2. Petter Solberg (N) Volkswagen Polo R +0,600
3. Andreas Bakkerud (N) Audi S1 +1,695
4. Sébastien Loeb (F) Peugeot 208 +2,323
5. Timmy Hansen (S) Peugeot 208 +4,836
6. Mattias Ekström (S) Audi S1 +8,069
