World RX – Ekström gains height

Mattias Ekström (Audi S1) had a brilliant weekend at the Circuit de Catalunya in Barcelona. The EKS boss-driver, third at the end of the qualifying heats behind Timmy Hansen (Peugeot 208) and Johan Kristoffersson (Volkswagen Polo), won his semi-final ahead of the Scandinavian from the Sochaux manufacturer and Robin Larsson (Audi A1).

In the same race, Petter Solberg (Citroën) failed in fourth place ahead of Kevin Eriksson and Sébastien Loeb (Peugeot 208) which abandoned following contact with the rail.

The pilot of the DTM won again in the final ahead of Timmy Hansen and Johan Kristofferssion and leaves Barcelona at the top of the Championship with a ten-point lead over Petter Solberg while he was five points behind the Norwegian at the start of the weekend .

Timur Timerzyanov (Ford Fiesta) performed well while the Russian had a replacement car following his crash in Lohéac (Brittany). The former Peugeot driver won his semi-final ahead of Johan Kristoffersson and Janis Baumanis (Fiesta) who preceded Davy Jeanney (Peugeot), Toomas Heikkinen (Audi S1) and Andreas Bakkerud (Ford Focus RS), but he lacked success in the last laps of the final and had to settle for fourth place ahead of Baumanis and Robin Larsson.

Ken Block (Focus RS) had a disappointing weekend as the Hoonigan Racing Division boss finished 15th after the qualifying heats.

World RX results in Barcelona

Discover the report of the World RX in Barcelona in issue 2081 of AUTOhebdo, available from Monday evening in digital version on all platforms, and from Wednesday on newsstands.