av Webmaster | maj 15, 2016 | News
Johan Kristoffersson had a good feeling all through the weekend at the third round of the FIA World Rallycross Championship at Mettet in Belgium. He fought every meter of the way, but a technical problem in the final gave him a sixth place. Still he climbed up to third place in the drivers’ championship.
Johan Kristoffersson once again proved winning pace from the Volkswagen Polo RX Supercar by setting fastest time in both Saturday morning Free Practice sessions and moved up to third in the drivers’ championship standings. He enjoyed competing on the Mettet circuit in Belgium and was fourth after the qualifying heats, but wasn’t able to capitalise from third position on the grid in the final due to a technical issue.
“I had a pretty good feeling through the whole weekend. I like the track here and I know the car suits it well. I came here with good confidence, we had the speed to win both of the first two events and I knew we would have the pace here,” said Johan. “Me and my teammate Anton finished side-by-side in Q1 but after that in every race I started in P3 or worse. The start position here is so crucial; if you get stuck in the dust, there are too many fast guys to make up the one or two positions to score the big points in the qualifying races. It’s just so competitive now. I was driving within myself and we used new tyres for the semi-final and things were looking pretty good. It feels like we still have a big headwind but the team is really great and we know we have the speed, so that is very positive.”
The fourth round of the FIA World Rallycross Championship takes place at Lydden Hill, Great Britain (May 27 – 29).
av Webmaster | maj 8, 2016 | News
EVEN Management and Volkswagen RX Sweden’s Johan Kristofferson once again showed incredible pace at the second round of the FIA World Rallycross Championship at Hockenheimring in Germany. Unfortunately a hit in the semi-final put a stop to his fight for the victory this weekend.
Johan Kristoffersson qualified for pole position for semi-final two, following a run of consistently fast times through the qualifying races. The Swede led into the first corner of the semi-final, only to be hit hard from championship leader Petter Solberg, pushing bodywork onto the left rear tyre, which punctured on lap two.
Using all of his skill, and much to the delight of the thousands of DTM and rallycross fans in the Sachs Arena section of the German venue, Johan amazingly led the race until the fifth lap despite the puncture, but was unable to hold on any longer and only just missed out on qualifying for the final.
Johan was disappointed not to have been able to fight for victory, but knows his recent bad luck will change soon.
“If you bend something on the car you could manage for six laps, but if you have a puncture you can only manage for five … We had a good Q1 and a pretty spectacular start in Q2, which put us in a good position for Q3 and Q4, where I tired to stay out of trouble,” said Johan. “In the semi-final we had a pretty clear strategy, to try to stay on the inside, but I got a really big hit from the rear and on lap two I got a puncture. I just tried to hang on as long as I could and make it hard for the guys behind, but lost out on the last lap. We had the speed in Portugal and we had the speed again here. We don’t need to change what we are doing, we just need some luck. We will stay focused of course, sometimes you have a headwind but this is a long season and things will change for us soon.”
Despite not being able to secure the desired result at Hockenheim, Volkswagen RX Sweden Team Principle Michael Schneider is satisfied that the Volkswagen Polo RX and the team’s driver have the pace to win this season.
“We were first in the first corner of the semi-final but we were hit for the second race in a row by [Petter] Solberg. Johan is doing an amazing job. It was incredible from him, how he fought in the semi-final to keep the others behind for three laps was very impressive. That really shows his skills and capabilities,” said Schneider.
The third round of the FIA World Rallycross Championship takes place next weekend at Mettet, Belgium (May 13 – 15), where the team has been victorious for the last two seasons.
av Webmaster | apr 17, 2016 | News
In an event that began wet on day one and dried out for day two, World RX event winner Johan Kristoffersson set the fastest time in Q1 and qualified on the front row of the first semi-final. He proved the performance of the Volkswagen Polo RX by winning the semi-final ahead of Sebastien Loeb.
In the final, Kristoffersson made the best start and won the Monster Energy Supercharge Award for being first to the first corner. He took his joker on the first lap before setting the fastest lap time of the weekend (38.979) as he pushed for a podium finish. On lap four, Kristofferson received contact from later event winner, Petter Solberg, after his joker lap – the resulting mechanical damage causing a sixth place finish.
“The weekend started well in Q1, it was very, very wet but the car was working well and we were fastest. We didn’t have good starts on the first day, they were much better in Q3 and Q4 on day two but still not perfect. The start was great in the semi-final and we managed to win it, which I was very happy with,” said Kristoffersson. “In the final I got a very good start, we had a very clear strategy to go directly into the joker, then I just pushed like mad. I felt I had right of way coming out of the joker lap but Petter (Solberg) banged into my wheel which broke the driveshaft and I had a big spin on the gravel. From there I just cruised to the end. It was ups and downs this weekend but we have the speed and the season is long, so I’m happy.”
