Kristoffersson: “The joker lap can make the difference on a city circuit”

The WTCR returns from Friday July 5 to Sunday July 7, in Vila Real, Portugal. 26 competitors will compete on this 4,7 kilometer route. This 50th edition, however, reserves a particularity for the competitors, who will see the return of the “joker round” : this small portion located at turn 26 (the circuit roundabout) is in reality an alternative path to the original route, 1 to 2 seconds longer than this one.

In the case of the Vila Real circuit, competitors will have the option of turning left (instead of the usual right direction) to take this route.

This initiative is purely strategic: the objective is to facilitate overtaking on a circuit known to be narrower than average. Each competitor is forced to use it once during the three events of the weekend, and not before having completed three laps of the track.

Johan Kristoffersson, double world champion Rallycross (World RX) and participant on Volkswagen of Sébastien Loeb Racing, will participate in this round. The Swedish driver is used to the “joker lap” principle, and he is convinced that this help can be decisive for victory: “I really like this principle. It offers a lot of options : it is possible to use it after a bad start to overtake, but also to attack or defend. It all depends on your racing pace. »

Johan Kristoffersson believes that the joker lap will be particularly useful on a typical “city” circuit as will be the case in Vila Real: « In my first Rallycross race in 2015 in Portugal, I won because I had a good “joker” strategy. I took the joker round in the first round and it was decisive to win that day. »

The device having already been tested during the 2017 and 2018 edition of the event, there should be no problem for the drivers: when using this portion, the driver naturally returns to the track at the end of the roundabout. Enough to add action during these three days of racing.