Timmy Hansen heads action-packed qualifying in Essay

Timmy Hansen backed up his pacesetting practice performance to head qualifying for round two of the 2019 TitansRX season at Essay.

While the Swede didn’t win any of his individual heat races or top the timesheets in any individual round, a pair of second-place results in Q2 and Q3 and a number of on-track incidents for his closest rivals ensured that he claimed the TQ spot.

Hansen beat Craig Breen, who travelled to the track overnight from the Ypres Rally to take part in his first-ever rallycross event. The Irishman won his his Q2 heat but was pushed into the wall on the exit of turn two in the final heat race by Jerome Grosset-Janin. The incident cost him a lot of time and dropped him to eight in the Q3 round standings, preventing him from claiming a stronger result.

Third overall was round one winner Topi Heikkinen. The Finn went into Q3 at the top of the intermediate standings, but a spin after contact with Kevin Hansen ensured he wouldn’t take back-to-back TQs, despite an excellent recovery drive.

Antoine Masse and Grosset-Janin thrilled their home crowd with fourth place and fifth place respectively, although Grosset-Janin was hit with a three-second time penalty for the contact with Breen in the last heat which dropped him down two positions in the Q3 standings.

Hayden Paddon recovered from a difficult morning, where he suffered a puncture, to once again top Q3 and finish sixth overall, ahead of CsuCsu who, despite a puncture in Q1, has so-far enjoyed a much stronger day than Saturday where he was beset by teething troubles with his Mercedes-bodied Pantera RX6.

Ronny C’Rock and Tamara Molinaro were eighth and ninth respectively, while Kevin Hansen completed the top-10. He initially ended qualifying in first place overall, but was slapped with a 30-second penalty after he failed to take a penalty lap during his Q3 race. The original on-track punishment came after he spun Heikkinen out of the lead on the opening lap of the final heat.

Nelson Piquet Jr. was third fastest in Q1, but fell down the order in Q2, before jumping the start in his final round heat, which incurred a penalty lap. He ended qualifying 11th overall, ahead of Reini Sampl.

In the semi-finals, Timmy Hansen and Heikkinen will line up on the front row in the first race, ahead of Grosset-Janin and ‚CsuCsu‘, with Molinaro and Piquet Jr. on the back row. In the second semi, Breen will start on pole next to Masse. Hayden Paddon will share the second row with Ronny C’Rock, with Kevin Hansen and Sampl starting from the rear.

TitansRX round two qualifying results