av Webmaster | apr 29, 2018 | News
Just when we thought we had seen it all in the FIA World Rallycross Championship, Christmas arrived to the Portugese championship round. And Johan Kristoffersson and his team PSRX Volkswagen Sweden could enjoy the best gift of them all – Johan finishing on top of the podium.
Round two of this year’s FIA World Rallycross Championship wasn’t a walk in the park, but still it ended in the same way as the season premiere in Barcelona a couple of weeks ago – with Johan Kristoffersson taking the win. This was his second victory in two events and he now extends his overall lead in the drivers’ championship. His team-mate and PSRX Volkswagen Sweden owner, Petter Solberg finished third and these great results also put the team at the top of the team championship.
”What can I say? Today included just about everything! In Q3 and Q4, nothing worked that well for us, but with the crazy weather and very small time differences in the top, we knew that anything was possible. From the second row in the semi-finals, my plan was to follow the leader but after Andreas Bakkerud went wide, I took my chance and was really happy to win the heat” said Johan.
Everyone expected difficult and changing weather this weekend, but no one expected the drivers to race in a snow storm on Sunday. The patient Portugese fans didn’t mind the weather, they simply zipped up their jackets and let themselves be entertained by the performance that Johan gave in the final. Both him and the Volkswagen Motorsport Polo R Supercar were magnificent.
”When the snow started to fall for real, I wondered what would happen in the final – but eventually it all played out perfectly for us” said Johan. ”The car was great and I couldn’t be more pleased. Sure, the fight in the top gets tougher so winning two times in two rounds – and having Petter on the podium as well – is an amazing start to the season for me and the whole PSRX Volkswagen Sweden team.”
av Webmaster | apr 16, 2018 | News
Defending world champion Johan Kristoffersson and his team PSRX Volkswagen Sweden started the new season in the FIA World Rallycross Championship in the same way they finished the last one – with a victory.
”It was a tough start of the new year so taking the victory makes me really happy” said Johan. ”The competition was tough and the weekend was rough. To start with a brand new car in these conditions (on Saturday) was difficult, we struggled a lot with the grip. It was a day where you just tried to survive and to have both our PSRX Volkswagen Sweden Polo R Supercars was a great confirmation for the team after the hard work that they’ve done during the winter.”
The opening day of the FIA World Rallycross Championship 2018 offered grey skies and heavy rain, which made the Catalunya track in Barcelona extremely muddy and slippery. Johan still managed to claim third place after the first two qualifying heats and found himself in a great position for the remaining two heats.
On Sunday, the weather was finally sunny again and a good performance in the morning, Johan stayed in third place and moved on to the first semi-final. The race was tough and after having to fight in the first corner, Johan stroke back, passed Andreas Bakkerud after a fantastic joker lap and finished second.
It was set for a real fight in the final and a dramatic incident already in the first corner caused Johan’s team-mate Petter Solberg to crash into a pile of tyres, while Johan battled his way to second place behind Mattias Ekström. But after investigating the accident in the start, the organizers came to the decision to disqualify Ekström and the victory went to Johan instead.
”The semi-final was good and gave us a good result and position in the final. I’m really sorry for what happened to Petter in the first corner. And like I said, it’s been a tough weekend but we’re coming home with points and that’s what matters at the end of the season” said Johan.
av Webmaster | feb 19, 2018 | News
Volkswagen’s world champion Johan Kristoffersson impressed big time at Rally Sweden, which he completed in an impressively solid way. ”Very important preparation for the upcoming rallycross season” said the PSRX Volkswagen star.
When Johan Kristoffersson entered Rally Sweden at last minute, he stated that it was mainly about getting time behind the wheel and prepare for his upcoming task to defend his world champion title in the FIA World Rallycross Championship.
”It’s important to be in race mode as often as possible. I also think that the rally driving will help me get faster on the joker lap” said Johan.
The versatile champion proved that he not only master driving on a track but also in the woods, in the dark and on snow. During the four days at Rally Sweden, Johan topped his results with two stage wins, one on a spectator stage and one on a classic stage.
”The trotting track was where I thought I might have the chance, but that I also managed to be quickest on the Röjden stage is something I didn’t count on.”
In addition to the two stage wins, Johan set two top three times and finished on sixth place in the RC2 category after a tough fight with Finnish Jari Huttunen on the final stages.
”We did it, but it wasn’t easy” said Johan after being 0.9 seconds quicker than Huttunen on the Power Stage.
Johan’s dad, Tommy Kristoffersson, was impressed with his son and his co-driver Patrik Barth.
”This is Johan’s fourth rally ever, four days at a high pace and not the slightest scratch on the car. Incredibly well done”, said the Kristoffersson Motorsport team manager and continued:
”This makes it even more promising for this year’s battle for the champion title in the World RX with PSRX Volkswagen Sweden.”
av Webmaster | nov 12, 2017 | News
Johan Kristoffersson, this year’s FIA World Rallycross Champion, dominated the last round of the 2017 season and took an incredible seventh victory in Cape Town.
The World RX weekend in South Africa was a nearly perfect event that wrapped up an excitingly brilliant season for PSRX Volkswagen World RX Team Sweden. After a temporary setback at the previous race in Germany, Johan was back on top as the series reached Africa for the first time. With the Swedish super driver’s latest victory, he has been on the podium 10 out of 12 times. It can’t get much better on the highest level of motorsport.
”The season has been nothing but fantastic” said Johan. ”I can hardly believe what I have accomplished. I have to thank Petter Solberg (team owner) and the whole team one more time – together we’ve been so strong throughout the season. I thought it would be possible when we talked about it at the start of the season, but that we actually managed to do it this well is incredible. This was an amazing way to finish the season. My seventh victory means that I have won more than half of the races – not a bad year!”
Definitely not a bad year – Johan’s season was record breaking in many ways. Not only did he set a record of wins in a row, he also set a record of victories during one season. And of course, PSRX Volkswagen Sweden got world champ titles both in the Teams’ Championship and the Drivers’ Championship.
av Webmaster | okt 1, 2017 | News
After an amazingly impressive and record-breaking season with victory after victory, PSRX Volkswagen World RX Team Sweden’s world champion Johan Kristoffersson missed out on yet another win at Estering in Germany. He fought hard all weekend but the fun came to an end in the semi-finals.
Johan Kristoffersson’s first race as world champion in the FIA World Rallycross Championship could not have differed more from the rest of his extraordinary season. The Swedish superstar fought to get his Polo GTI Supersport to a good start in the semi-final but lost it all in the traffic in the first corner.
He came to Estering after an impressive collection of ten podiums in a row, six victories in a row and the record of seven victories in one season – but left slightly disappointed.
”It wasn’t my weekend this time, but this incredible suite of victories has to end at some point” said Johan. ”But you know what, I’m still super happy about my season, what else could I be? It’s been fantastic and we still have one more race to go.”
While Johan struggled, his PSRX Volkswagen Sweden team-mate Petter Solberg managed to take fourth place and defend his second place in the championship – six days after undergoing surgery for a broken collarbone.
”This was Petter’s weekend. He’s a real hero now after what he has accomplished. I saw what went on behind the scenes, how much he wanted this and how hard he worked to make it to the free practice. Trust me, he really is the big hero” said Johan.
One round remains in the 2017 FIA World Rallycross Championship and it takes place at Killarney International Raceway in South Africa on November 10th.
av Webmaster | sep 17, 2017 | News
Johan Kristoffersson is first time rallycross world champion after yet another impressive victory at World RX of Latvia. Five in a row – that’s a record. Six overall this season – that’s another record.
”World champion, I can hardly believe it” said Johan Kristoffersson. ”This is an incredible result. Can it really be true? It feels so surreal – world champion! It hasn’t sunk in yet. I’ve been so focused on the race itself. One corner at a time and just do my job. Just like every World RX event, this was a tough one with tricky conditions and difficult setup.”
Nine months is all it took to turn a dream into reality for Johan, his team-mate Petter Solberg and all the other team members of PSRX Volkswagen Sweden. The Swedish team, based in the city of Torsby, has succeeded all expectation this season. This was Johan’s fifth straight victory, his sixth this year, and the team’s seventh win. That gives them two titles – both in the Drivers’ Championship and the Teams’ Championship – when still two rounds remain (Germany and South Africa).
”When you are on the start line, everything else around you disappear – you just look at the start lights and you don’t think about anything other than taking care of the car and trying to avoid problems” explained Johan. ”After three laps in the final, I had a small lead and I started to think about what could happen. I thought ’I might be world champion’… So I told myself to stop immediately and just focus and that’s what I did. When I got to the last corner I shouted to the team ’Am I world champion? Did I make it? Am I world champion?’ And I heard a voice over the radio ’Johan, you are world champion now’. It was an indescribable feeling to hear that. As always, we had a plan for the race and today’s plan was quite special: to become world champions!”
The 28-year-old Swede was obviously delighted after securing the title and hugged each and every one of the PSRX Volkswagen Sweden team members. A special hug was reserved for Petter, who crashed in the first corner in his semi-final and was taken to the hospital for a checkup.
Pernilla Solberg, PSRX Volkswagen Sweden’s team manager, said:
”This year has been an adventure in every way. We created this team in January by bringing together two of the best motorsport teams in the world. I’m extremely proud of what the team has accomplished during the season and that we have secured the Team Championship with two events to go. I’m just as proud of Johan’s performance in the Drivers’ Championship when he takes his first title in the FIA World Rallycross Championship the same weekend… It’s unbelievable. It’s a dream come true.”
She also added:
”We have worked perfectly as a team, everything has been so open and we have shared everything. I feel like we have made a team out of gentlemen so to speak. They made an agreement when all this began and they have both been straight forward and honest all year. Petter and I love it, he loves to compete together with Johan and we love to share the team with our new world champion!”
”Pernilla is completely right” said Johan. ”We have been working together. We have talked about it all season and I’m sure some people are getting tired of hearing me say it, but I don’t care – this is the best team in the world. The guys from Volkswagen and the guys from Torsby are fantastic and together they created this amazing car and this team. And today I used the tools they have given me to become world champion. This is a day I will never forget for the rest of my life. I’d like to thank not only the team but also my family who has helped me get to where I am today.”
The 11th and penultimate round of the FIA World Rallycross Championship runs in Germany on September 29th.
av Webmaster | sep 3, 2017 | News
Four victories in a row in FIA World Rallycross Championship – no one has managed to accomplish that before Johan Kristofersson finished on top again in Lohéac, France, on Sunday. He took another big step towards the world champion title as he got his hands on yet another trophy.
PSRX Volkswagen World RX Team Sweden’s driver was sensational on the track of Lohéac when the team took their sixth victory this year. It was Johan Kristoffersson’s fourth straight win, which makes it a record, and also his eighth podium in a row and that makes it another record – a slightly less impressive one since he already had that record in his books since the previous round in Canada.
Johan’s incredible weekend in France means that he still has a good championship lead, eleven points ahead of his team-mate Petter Solberg. PSRX Volkswagen Sweden continues to top the teams’ championship standing and got to experience a fantastic race in front of a record crowd of 75,000.
”I’ve never felt so comfortable with the car in rain” said Johan. ”Yesterday it was sunshine and the track was dry and Sébastien Loeb came very close, but today the team has done an amazing job with the setup of the car. If there was something we needed to improve on our Polo, it was how it behaved in rain and I have to give cred to the team – they managed to do that. I know some people think that I thank the team very much, but you just need to know – they are the best!”
”Petter and I work very hard together to achieve these results. We talked to the technicians and found a setup that I was comfortable with and that worked perfectly in these conditions. When you are behind the wheel of a car that makes you feel confident, you can really go for it and that’s what I could do this weekend. It was a superb feeling.”
Another superb feeling is to finish on top of the podium for the forth time in four events.
”It’s fantastic, I’m so happy about this record” said Johan. ”You never think about setting records when you drive. You are completely focused on every corner and every lap. But when I got out of the car, someone reminded me and I thought: ok that’s not bad! But most important this weekend is that we got more points for the team and took another step towards fulfilling the dream.”
av Webmaster | aug 7, 2017 | News
Sweden’s Johan Kristoffersson took his third victory in a row – the fourth in five races – at World RX of Canada. After the eighth round of the 2017 FIA World Rallycross Championship, he pulls away even further in the standings and has a good grip of the overall lead.
Canada’s World RX is one of the highlights of the season. The first race outside of Europe has a vacation vibe to it and is a perfect opportunity to celebrate. But the party can’t start until the job is done. This weekend, PSRX Volkswagen Sweden did a stunning performance that brought Johan all the way to ultimate top in North America.
Johan once again proved himself unbeatable, this time at the Trois-Riviéres track, and extended his lead ahead of his team-mate Petter Solberg in the Driver’s Championship. 35 points separates the two PSRX Volkswagen drivers, with Mattias Ekström in third place, another 18 points behind. The team still leads the way in the Team Championship.
It is hard to imagine a better result than the current and Johan actually can’t:
”What can I say? This is an unbelievable result, just brilliant. Yesterday the conditions were pretty rough, but that’s when this team gives it their all and we succeeded.”
Saturday’s free practice was delayed by over two hours after heavy rain. Back on the track, Johan fought to find grip but still finished the day on top of the standings.
Sunday morning offered drier conditions and an even more incredible show from Johan in his Polo GTI Supercar. After a first and a second place in the last two qualifying heats and a win in the semi-final, he started the final from the first row with Petter next to him. And there, he had no doubts – he was going for the victory.
”I really wanted to win here” said the Swedish super star. ”The atmosphere is so cool here in Canada and it’s always a great race. Everything went according to plan this time. And once again, the fact that Petter and I were first and second going into the semi-finals was crucial so we could use that to both end up in the first row in the final. It worked and our plan was perfect. Big thanks to the team and Petter for this weekend. We are going home as a very happy team.”
The ninth World RX round kicks off on September 1st, at the Lohéac circuit in France.
av Webmaster | jul 2, 2017 | News
The magic weekend. The one that everyone looks forward to. World RX of Sweden – the one that Johan Kristoffersson has dreamt about winning. And guess what? That dream came true.
Johan Kristoffersson and Volkswagen World RX Team Sweden dominated another weekend with the Polo GTI Supercar on top form on home turf at World RX in Höljes. Johan took his third victory in four rounds and extends his lead in the Drivers’ Championship with the team leading the way in the Team Championship as well.
It wasn’t until the 30.000 Swedes stopped cheering for him that Johan had a moment to reflect on what he had accomplished. His latest victory, the one he really wanted.
”This is the win I wanted so badly” said a delighted and emotional Johan in front of the supporting fans in Höljes. ”It means so much to me to take this victory in front of my home crowd, and of course, this is the whole team’s home track. I’m extremely happy for everyone involved.”
”Yesterday (Saturday) everything went great and we were leading by the end of the day, but I was completely focused on day two – I knew that was when I had to deliver. As always, the car was perfect so I’d like to thank the team, and not just everyone who were here, but also everybody that works so hard for us at Volkswagen Motorsport.”
”When this deal for the season was settled, I had a dream that we might be able to do something special, but could we make magic happen? I didn’t know. But now I think it looks like that’s exactly what we’re starting to do” said Johan.
After the seventh round of the 2017 FIA World Rallycross Championship, Johan leads the championship and is 31 points ahead of his team-mate Petter Solberg with Mattias Ekström another seven points behind Solberg.
The next event in the series takes place in Trois-Rivière in Canada on August 4th to 6th.
av Webmaster | jun 11, 2017 | News
Johan Kristoffersson took a sensational second victory in three rounds and extended his lead over the defending world champion in the FIA World Rallycross Championship, Mattias Ekström, with eight points at the weekend’s event in Norway.
Johan once again proved pace in his Volkswagen Polo GTI Supercar at the sixth round of the FIA World Rallycross Championship in Hell, Norway. He was quickest in Q3, won his semi-final and dominated the final until he could secure the top position ahead of Andreas Bakkerud and Sébastien Loeb. The delighted winner admitted that his win even reduced the pain in his foot after a rather unusual accident. Johan got his right foot run over by a Peugot mechanic before the first heat on Saturday and struggled with severe pain throughout the race. The tough guy from the city of Arvika refused to be examined by a doctor and insisted on driving the race despite his pain.
”This is amazing” said Johan. ”I’ve said it more than once but this team is really special. The way we work together to get these results. It was a tough weekend. It wasn’t easy with the wet conditions on Saturday, but on Sunday our Polo GTI Supercar was just sensational. The final was actually okay, it all went according to plan. I feel for my team-mate Petter though since he didn’t make it to the final, especially as this is his home track. Next time we’re on my home turf in Höljes and I really hope I can repeat this result again. But for now we’re celebrating another victory.”
It was not just the Swedish superstar who left Hell in a good mood. A hat trick in wins for PSRX Volkswagen World RX Team Sweden gives the Sweden based team an 81 points’ lead in the Team Championship.
