World RX – Ekström wins at Hockenheim

EKS had a perfect weekend at Hockenheim as the semi-official Audi team scored a one-two finish in the World RX final. Mattias Ekström, who is also taking part in the meeting of the DTM, won ahead of his teammate Toomas Heikkinen. The Audi Quattro S1s have been above the rest since the qualifying heats.

Ken Block (Ford Focus) completes the podium, ahead of Petter Solberg (DS 3) who was slowed down by a turbo failure. Liam Doran (Mini), winner of his semi-final, took fifth place ahead of Robin Larsson (Audi A1) who was able to reach the finish despite a rollover.

The pilots Peugeot Sébastien Loeb and Davy Jeanney failed to reach the final won by Toomas Heikkinen after being caught in several collisions. Timmy Hansen was disqualified before the semi-finals following a non-compliant minimum weight reading on his 208 after it was hastily repaired during the qualifying heats following a fire that broke out in the engine area.

If Petter Solberg retains the lead in the Championship, the double World RX champion is now tied with Mattias Ekström. the two leaders are three points ahead of Toomas Heikkinen. EKS logically remains at the top of the Teams ranking with 43 points ahead of Volkswagen RX Sweden. Hoonigan Racing is in third position ahead of Team Peugeot-Hansen.

Discover the report of the World RX in Hockenheim produced by our special correspondent in issue 2062 of AUTOhebdo, available from Monday evening in digital version on all platforms, and from Wednesday on newsstands.