Team HANSEN MJP’s FIA World Rallycross Championship campaign contintues in Norway this weekend, with hopes of a repeat of the team’s 1-2 finish at Hell in 2015 to further strengthen its championship position.
Brothers Timmy and Kevin Hansen are currently first and second in the drivers’ championship, while the team extended its lead in the teams’ championship last time out at Silverstone.
Timmy became the first double winner of 2019 with a clever undercut joker strategy in the World RX of Great Britain Final, while Kevin is determined to make amends for a mistake that cost him second place in his Semi Final.
Hell was the site of a breakthrough weekend on the world stage for the team in 2015, taking its first 1-2 result here. Having pulled off the same feat already this year in Spain, Team HANSEN MJP is aiming to repeat the same result on familiar territory.
After four rounds at Formula 1 circuits adapted for World RX, Hell is a step back into old school rallycross. No artificial jumps, no tyre stacks; it’s a track built with RX in mind.
At Hell, the straights aren’t even particularly straight; it’s an open, flowing track where the corners are linked together in an almost seamless fashion. The joker at the start of the lap aside, all the turns are wide in their radius, encouraging the drivers to push just that little bit harder on both entry and exit.
What to look out for
Entry to the joker lap is a potential flashpoint for trouble. Just like Montalegre in Portugal, the racing line for entry is very similar as for taking the first corner normally but with much later braking. Drivers have to be careful not to trip up over each other!
That joker is also a strategy headache. Drivers starting further down the grid and on the outside are often tempted to go straight in on the first lap. But too many drivers taking this option at the same time can cause a traffic jam and compromise what is a high risk but potentially high reward strategy.
Best of all, every corner is a genuine overtaking opportunity. With fast sections leading to open and wide corners, there’s plenty of space to make a move.
Maximising traction is the number one priority around Hell. The set-up window is quite narrow here, so if a driver isn’t confident in the amount of traction the car is giving them, they risk being quite far off the pace.Aside from the crest over the start-finish line where cars catch a little air, there’s no real jumps around Hell, which means no need to compromise on suspension. It’s all about the fine tuning.
21
Timmy Hansen:
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71
Kevin Hansen:
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THE BOSS:
Kenneth Hansen:
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