av Webmaster | sep 18, 2016 | News
EVEN Management and Volkswagen RX Sweden’s Johan Kristoffersson once again proved top speed at the ninth round of the FIA World Rallycross Championship, held at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya in Spain. He finished third in the final, but a black flag for contact during the race eventually cost him his podium position.
Just as at the French round of the championship two weeks earlier, where Johan claimed victory in the Volkswagen Polo RX, the Swede was fastest in Q3 and Q4 on Sunday morning in Spain to be second at the Intermediate Classification. Second in the semi-final put Johan on the second row of the grid for the final, where he finished third on track, but was later demoted to sixth following a black flag for contact during the race.
Despite the disappointing outcome of the final, Johan strengthened his position in the World RX Drivers’ Championship standings, by closing the gap to second position in the points. “I had a very good start of Sunday again and the semi-final was good. We made a bit of a mistake in the joker lap otherwise we would have won it. In the final, I had a very, very good start but had to back out of the throttle to avoid hitting Mattias (Ekstrom) in front,” said Johan. “I didn’t close the gap enough into turn two but I pushed really hard and we had good speed. Timur (Timerzyanov) had a problem at the hairpin on the last lap, and going into the next corner we had contact. Fair enough I touched him a little bit, but I believe he would have gone wide anyway, but it is what it is. We had good pace this weekend and we are fighting hard to move forward in the championship.”
Volkswagen RX Sweden Team Principal Michael Schneider was satisfied with the pace of the car and drivers in Barcelona, but was frustrated by the end result of the weekend. “I’m very disappointed at the result of the weekend, especially as we once again showed really strong pace from the Volkswagen Polo RX Supercar here,” said Schneider. “The fact that we are on the pace is very encouraging though. The whole team is looking forward to going to the new track in Latvia in two weeks time where we are aiming to have both Johan and Anton challenging for the podium as we close in on the leaders in the championship.”
The next round of the FIA World Rallycross Championship takes place in two weeks time at Riga in Latvia (October 1 – 2), a new venue for the championship.
av Webmaster | sep 4, 2016 | News
Swedish star Johan Kristoffersson won the eighth round of the FIA World Rallycross Championship in front of a sell-out crowd at Lohéac in France, driving a Volkswagen Polo RX Supercar.
Kristoffersson dominated the second day of competition at the famous Lohéac circuit, setting the fastest time in Q3 and Q4 in difficult changing weather conditions before leading both the semi-final and final from start to finish to score an empathic first victory of the season.
The result comes following Johan and the team’s first podium of the year in Canada a month ago, and moves Johan into third in the World RX Drivers’ championship.
“We have been in a position to win since the first race of the season, and then in Canada four weeks ago were able to finish on the podium. Yesterday we had quite a good speed but didn’t really put everything together, but today it has just been amazing,” said Johan. “The Volkswagen Polo RX and my driving style suit the wet conditions well, and to be fastest in Q3 and Q4 was fantastic. The semi-final was also good, I just got my head down. In the final I made a good start then at turn three I saw Petter [Solberg] in the wrong direction in my mirror. From there I was just pushing, I heard on the radio I was clear behind so I was just trying to stay away from the kerbs and push hard, but not too hard. I have to say a really big thanks to the team, we made some positive changes to the car overnight and it was a pleasure to drive. This is just fantastic!”
Volkswagen RX Sweden Team Principal Michael Schneider was delighted with the victory, for the whole team. “It has been just amazing today. Johan was flying; he dominated Q3 and Q4 as well as the semi-final and the final from the start to the finish line! To win here in Lohéac is really special – it is an amazing crowd,” said Schneider. “We have been waiting for a victory since the first race of the year. The whole team has worked so hard all through the season and each one of them really deserves this win.”
The next round of the FIA World Rallycross Championship takes place in just two weeks time at the Circuit de Barcelona Catalunya (September 17 – 18), where Kristoffersson finished on the podium last season.
av Webmaster | aug 7, 2016 | News
EVEN Management and Volkswagen RX Sweden’s Johan Kristoffersson delivered a fantastic performance to score a podium finish at the seventh round of the FIA World Rallycross Championship at Trois-Rivieres in Canada (August 7).
After setting a strong pace in the four qualifying heats, Johan Kristoffersson made it to the final in his Volkswagen Polo RX Supercar. The weekend had been hot and sunny, but heavy rain began to fall right before the start of the final. These conditions suit both the Polo RX Supercar and Johan, and he pushed hard and chased the first and second placed drivers in the closing stages and almost climbed even higher up the finishing order. The result marks the third podium for the Volkswagen Polo RX in Canada in three years.
The result improves Volkswagen RX Sweden’s position in the Teams’ Championship standings and moves Kristoffersson into fourth in the Drivers’ Championship, just three points behind third position.
“We’ve been so close to the podium many times this season and had the pace on a lot of weekends. Now finally it paid off,” said Johan, who was also fastest overall in Q3. “This weekend has been really tough. Petter [Solberg] was outstanding in the semi-final but then the rain arrived. I really like the rain and our car is really good in the rain. In the first two laps of the final I was very, very quick and was catching the guys in front. I felt like I was so close to be higher on the podium but it feels really great to finally be here. Now I’m really looking forward to the rest of the season.”
Volkswagen RX Sweden Team Principal Michael Schneider was delighted that the hard work by the whole team this season was rewarded with a podium in Canada, and is looking forward to continuing the second half of the season at the next round of World RX at Loheac in France next month (September 3 – 4).
“It was a great second day of the event. Johan had a great drive in Q3 by setting the fastest time; he confirmed that we have the pace,” said Schneider. “It was very tricky to make the right decision with the changing conditions before the final but we made the right one and we’re very happy to be on the podium, I hope we can continue this through the second half of the season.”
av Webmaster | jul 3, 2016 | News
At his home event – the Swedish round of the FIA World Rallycross Championship in Höljes – Volkswagen RX Sweden and EVEN Management driver Johan Kristoffersson set an amazing pace, topped the standings after the qualifying heats but unfortunately just missed out on a podium.
Johan Kristoffersson finished top of the order after Q2 and remained first at the Intermediate Classification after Q4 to secure 16 championships points and a front row start for the first semi-final, from where he made it onto the second row for the final. A great start in the final was followed by a first lap joker for Johan, who looked certain to finish on the podium at the team’s home event, only to suffer a puncture on the front and the rear with two laps remaining. The Swede finished fifth.
“We came here with some new updates and we proved all through the event that we have been quick in wet, dry and tricky conditions. I have to say that we really had the pace this weekend again, like we did in the first four events of the season,” said Johan. “We’ve found a lot of speed since Hell, which is great. It’s so really boring that we got the puncture in the final. I was in a very good position to get a podium. We lost a bit on lap one but we caught it back and on lap four I was right on Andreas Bakkerud’s bumper, but I landed from the jump at turn two and got a puncture. That’s life. We have to look forward, we’ve had great pace this weekend.”
Volkswagen RX Sweden Team Principal Michael Schneider is pleased with the progress made by the team in recent weeks. “We have worked a lot between Norway and here. We are back in the game,” he said. “Johan proved by winning the Intermediate Classification that we can be on the top.”
The seventh round of the FIA World Rallycross Championship takes place at Trois-Rivieres, Canada (August 6 – 7).
av Webmaster | jun 12, 2016 | News
After fighting hard all weekend, Volkswagen RX Sweden and EVEN Management’s Johan Kristoffersson just missed out on a place in the final at the fifth round of the FIA World Rallycross Championship at Hell in Norway (June 12).
Johan Kristoffersson qualified seventh at the Intermediate Classification and on the second row of the grid for semi-final one. In a close race, the Swede finished fourth in his Volkswagen Polo RX, just missing a place in the final.
“We came here with some new solutions to find more pace but we struggled a bit for lap times compared to the quickest guys. We fought all weekend long, trying to squeeze the maximum we could out of everything,” said Johan. “I was pushing hard in the semi-final and I was quite close to Sebastien Loeb at the end, but we were not close enough. It’s very, very tight in this championship and sometimes you just have weekends like this. We will continue pushing for our home event in a few weeks at Holjes.”
Volkswagen RX Sweden Team Principal Michael Schneider says the team will now fully focus on the next World RX event, in Sweden. “We have three weeks now to prepare and test some updates for Holjes,” said Schneider. “We are very motivated to do that; it’s our home race so we have all hands on deck to make it the best weekend we can there.”
The sixth round of the FIA World Rallycross Championship takes place at Holjes, Sweden (July 1-3).
av Webmaster | maj 29, 2016 | News
Volkswagen RX Sweden driver Johan Kristoffersson once again offered strong competition in his Volkswagen Polo RX Supercar in the fourth round of the FIA World Rallycross Championship at Lydden Hill. He fought for a place in the final when he suffered a puncture, but still keeps his position in the overall classification.
Johan Kristoffersson finished seventh overall at the end of day one, and progressed through Q3 and Q4 on day two to make the semi-finals. He was set to reach the final for the third time in the opening four events of the season, but a puncture put him out of contention.
“We had some small issues in practice which continued into Q1, but we had a good race and finished fifth. In Q2 it wasn’t the best but we managed to be tenth,” said Johan. “We improved the car a lot for Sunday but we’re still missing some speed, we need to find a few tenths. In the semi-final I was in the position to move into the final but we had a puncture.”
Despite a race weekend with some minor difficulties, Johan is still in third place in the overall Drivers’ Championship standings and will be out looking to advance his position at the fifth round of the FIA World Rallycross Championship, which takes place at Hell, Norway (June 11 – 12).
