World RX – Kristoffersson wins at Hell, Loeb on the podium

Johan Kristoffersson (Volkswagen) signed another victory in World RX by winning the final in Hell (Norway). If the Polo RXs of PSRX Team Sweden were behind during the first two qualifying rounds played in rainy conditions, the Swede recovered on the second day by winning the second semi-final.

The Scandinavian took the lead in the final by performing his joker lap at the start, allowing him to take the advantage over Andreas Bakkerud (Ford Focus) who had started from pole. The Hoonigan Racing driver retained the upper hand against Sébastien Loeb (Peugeot ) who signs his second podium of the year, ahead of Mattias Ekström (Audi) and Timmy Hansen (Peugeot).

Timur Timerzyanov (Ford Fiesta) contested his first final of the season, but a difficult start from the Russian condemned him to last place.

Petter Solberg (Volkswagen) seemed to have the potential to aim for victory, but the double World RX champion failed at the qualifying gates for the last race after being slowed down by contact with Timmy Hansen. The Swede was also the victim of an incident with the Norwegian in Q3 forcing him to retire. Ken Block (Ford Focus) also failed in 4th position in his semi-final.

Jean-Baptiste Dubourg (Peugeot) narrowly missed out on a semi-final entry by finishing in 15th place. Guerlain Chicherit (Renault) finished in 19th place.

Johan Kristoffersson leaves Hell with an 8-point lead over Mattias Ekström. Sébastien Loeb is in 5th place, tied on points with his teammate Timmy Hansen.

Discover the report of the World RX at Hell in issue 2118 of AUTOhebdo, available from Monday evening in digital version on all platforms, and from Wednesday on newsstands.