Timmy Hansen has broken his winless streak in spectacular fashion, taking victory at the Circuit Jules Tacheny in Mettet, Belgium, in round 5 of the 2024 FIA World Rallycross Championship. The 2019 world champion took an emphatic lights-to-flag victory ahead of Ole Christian Veiby and teammate Kevin Hansen, securing a double podium for Hansen World RX Team for the first time in 2024.
It was a day marked by challenging conditions, both on the circuit and in terms of the weather. In heat 1, both Hansen brothers had issues with the rear-left tyres, meaning both suffered punctures and allowing Anthony Pelfrene to take victory in their heat race. Both CE Dealer Team drivers suffered in heat 1 as well, allowing the VWs of Veiby and Johan Kristoffersson to take a 1-2. The Hansens’ luck reversed in heat 2, allowing Kevin to lead home a 1-2 finish for the all-electric cars. No such luck for Niclas Grönholm who, once again, was unable to get his PWR RX1e going properly.
The semi-finals demonstrated the “Battle of Technologies” with the electric cars thriving on the straights but struggling in the more technical sections. Kevin Hansen defended from Kristoffersson, deploying electric power to escape from the mighty VW Polo KMS 601 RX and secure victory in his semi-final. Timmy had a much more straightforward time of it in his semi-final, racing against a disgruntled Grönholm and an unlucky Pelfrene, who was battling for victory until a technical issue dropped him to the back of the order.
The final started well for the Hansen brothers. They shot away, having lined up alongside each other on the front row of the grid, to command the field down into turn 1 with Kristoffersson right behind. Timmy pulled ahead, creating a gap as his teammate defended mightily from Kristoffersson for the first couple of laps. Veiby took his Joker lap on lap 2 to try and get the jump on Timmy Hansen for the lead.
Kristoffersson took his Joker on lap 3, forcing the Hansens to Joker on lap 4 to defend. All looked to be going well for KMS – HORSE Powertrain. They couldn’t get ahead of Timmy but they both leapfrogged Kevin Hansen. However, Kristoffersson picked up a front-left puncture while running in 3rd. Veiby tried to chase down Timmy but couldn’t quite do it. Meanwhile, Kristoffersson returned the favour and defended from Kevin to allow Veiby to hold on to 2nd. Kevin was behind Kristoffersson at the final turn but beat him in a drag race to the line, snatching 3rd by 0.029 seconds.
Driver Reaction
“This was 100% a team effort today” an ecstatic Timmy Hansen said after the race. “We came out of the first corner 1st and 2nd, and we know what the goal is. He sacrificed his race and backed Johan up. I pushed as hard as I could from start to finish, but there’s so much risk out there with punctures. I’m very happy. It’s a bit strange with these double-headers that we have another race coming up tomorrow, so mentally we don’t really relax yet. But a win is a win. I’m so proud, and so thankful to my team and my family.”
Championship Update
Kristoffersson still reigns supreme at the top of the standings on 123 points. Veiby remains in 2nd but the gap has been significantly reduced. Timmy Hansen has leapt up the 3rd in the standings, just 2 points behind Veiby, with Kevin Hansen 7 points behind his brother in 4th. Klara Andersson drops to 5th, but it is Grönholm who suffers the most with his disastrous Saturday dropping him down three places to 6th in the standings.
However, all is not lost. With the second half of the double-header event coming on Sunday 18 August, the standings could be set to change once more. In Hungary, it was adversity that spurred Kristoffersson to victory on the Sunday. Can he repeat the same success again? Can Hansen World RX Team maintain their momentum? Will CE Dealer Team get Grönholm back in the mix? Follow The Checkered Flag to find out.