Kevin Hansen went from the back row of the World RX of Norway Final to score a thrilling podium finish in Hell, going toe-to-toe with his championship rivals.
Team HANSEN MJP leaves Hell still leading both championships, with Timmy Hansen a single point ahead of Kevin in the drivers‘ championship, while both drivers contribute to an 18 point advantage in the teams‘ championship.
A tricky start on Saturday, where both Timmy and Kevin were repeatedly stuck in traffic, was turned around on Sunday morning with a 1-2 finish in Qualifying 3. Another strong run from both in Qualifying 4 put them on the first and second row of the grid respectively for Semi Final 2.
But there was a plot twist: a sudden downpour turned what had been a dry and sunny weekend into a wet weather Semi Final. With low grip on the front row, Timmy bogged down and dropped to last, mounting a heroic comeback and almost grabbing third place.
Timmy was beaten to that position by Kevin, whose late joker lap paid off and put him just in front of his older brother. A brilliant start from the back row in the Final put Kevin up to second place at the start, which briefly became first by passing Kevin Abbring for the lead.
Kevin dropped only one place when taking his joker lap and secured a very hard-fought second place, after a defensive masterclass over eventual winner Niclas Grönholm. He fell behind only due to a one second penalty for Kevin’s pass on Grönholm during the first lap in an otherwise faultless performance.
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6th
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2nd
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Qualifying 1 4th
Qualifying 2 6th
Qualifying 3 1st
Qualifying 4 2nd
Semi-Final 4th
Final
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Qualifying 1 10th
Qualifying 2 7th
Qualifying 3 2nd
Qualifying 4 4th
Semi-Final 3rd
Final 2nd |
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21
Photo: Jaanus Ree / Red Bull Content Pool
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71
Photo: Jaanus Ree / Red Bull Content Pool
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“Though the Semi Final didn’t go our way, we scored some good points this weekend. We had a strong qualifying and that built a good foundation in terms of points. We kept ourselves in a good position before the rain came.
“The rain before the Finals was a big shock and turned everything upside down. We went through the entire season without wet conditions and suddenly it was fully wet. That meant we had to guess a few things and so we didn’t choose the right settings for the launch. I had a poor start and tried everything I could to get past, but couldn’t find a gap.
“Having Niclas back for this weekend was good to see, even if he beat us this time! It was nice to have a really good challenge through the weekend. If it had stayed dry we could have had a real battle on our hands. It was just not my turn today. I did my best, but today was not my day.”
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“The first day was tricky. The speed was there but we had to start from the outside, which is really tricky in Hell. For the second day we adopted some of Timmy’s set-up, made some changes, and that seemed to make a difference.
“Looking at what happened when the rain came, starting from the second row for the Semi Final was a lot better than the first, so I was very happy to start there! We pulled off some amazing launches in the wet.
“I had to drive carefully in the Final as there was wiper fluid spraying everywhere inside the car! That also meant I couldn’t clear mud from the windscreen too. But we managed to cope with that well. Gronholm behind me pushed so hard but we kept our cool, did our thing and kept the grip all the way. With a good joker lap we managed to finish P2 but then got a penalty and were P3 instead. It’s not nice when you get a penalty but in the end I think it was a fair decision.”
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Photo: Jaanus Ree / Red Bull Content Pool
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“It was a bit of a mixed weekend for us. Saturday wasn’t ideal with a few mistakes from us as a team and some problems for the drivers out on the track. Sunday went much better but in the end, it wasn’t the result we wanted.
“Looking at the positives, we did learn a lot. We expected to have a little more speed here but we’ve learned a lot and there are some things we’ll do differently for the future, especially the next round at Höljes, our home event.”
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