World RX – Loeb 5th, Solberg winner

Petter Solberg (DS 3) won the first World RX event in Montalegre (Portugal) by winning in the Final against Robin Larsson (Audi A1) and Toomas Heikkinen (Audi S1) who completed the podium. The Norwegian is off to a good start this new season, but he will have to watch Sébastien Loeb (Peugeot 208), author of promising debuts in World RX.

The Alsatian took fifth place behind Andreas Bakkerud (Ford Focus), thus achieving the best result for Team Peugeot-Hansen. His teammate Timmy Hansen failed in the semi-final, while Davy Jeanney also failed to qualify for the final phase, finishing fifth in his semi-final.

Mattias Ekström (Audi S1) saw his hopes of victory destroyed following contact with the 208 of Sébastien Loeb and Timmy Hansen in the semi-final. Ken Block (Focus) failed to qualify for the semi-finals, finishing in 18th place.

Discover the report of the World RX in Montalegre in issue 2059 of AUTOhebdo, available from Monday evening in digital version on all platforms, and from Wednesday on newsstands.