Kevin Hansen scored a dominant third victory of the 2019 TitansRX season by leading from lights to flag in round 10 at Nyirad, Hungary.
The Swede, who topped qualifying and won his semi-final, took full advantage of his front-row starting spot to lead into turn one ahead of Timmy Hansen and title rival Topi Heikkinen who had to resist pressure from a charging Jerome Grosset-Janin.
While the Hansen brothers flew in formation at the front of the field, Grosset-Janin continued to hound Heikkinen, with the Frenchman eventually passing the three-time event winner on lap three. That wasn’t the end of their battle though, with Heikkinen keeping the pressure on until the final lap, although he couldn’t find a way past.
That allowed Grosset-Janin to claim his first podium finish since round one, behind Kevin Hansen and Timmy Hansen, while fourth place for Heikkinen marked the first time he has missed the podium since round five at Montalegre.
In fifth was Abbie Eaton, who was making her first final appearance of her fledgling rallycross career.
The sports car ace scored a fine third in her semi-final, setting up her maiden main event appearance, and at the start she made light work of Andreas Steffen – the German driver eventually retired with suspension damage after making contact with a barrier on the second lap of the seven-lap final.
Ahead of the final, wildcard drivers Tamas Turi, Werner Panhauser, and Ronny C’Rock all failed to advance from the first semi-final, while Reini Sampl, Dietmar Brandt, and home hero ‚CsuCsu‘ were eliminated in the second semi.
TitansRX round 10 final results
1. | Kevin Hansen | 05:25.266 |
2. | Timmy Hansen | 05.25.994 |
3. | Jerome Grosset-Janin | 05:31.059 |
4. | Topi Heikkinen | 05:31.564 |
5. | Abbie Eaton | 05:34.034 |
6. | Andreas Steffen | DNF |
With his third win of the season, Kevin Hansen continues to lead the series standings as TitansRX gears up for its double-points grand finale at Estering in Germany in two weeks time. A strong weekend for Timmy Hansen has thrust him right back into contention, while a difficult round 10 has dropped Topi Heikkinen front second to third, although he trails second place by a solitary point.
Grosset-Janin’s podium coupled with Tamara Molinaro’s early retirement means that he now has firm hold of fourth in the points, although the Italian remains only 18 points behind.
TitansRX series standings (top 15)
1. | Kevin Hansen | 223 |
2. | Timmy Hansen | 214 |
3. | Topi Heikkinen | 213 |
4. | Jerome Grosset-Janin | 123 |
5. | Tamara Molinaro | 105 |
6. | ‚CsuCsu‘ | 89 |
7. | Ronny C’Rock | 84 |
8. | Craig Breen | 84 |
9. | Andreas Steffen | 73 |
10. | Andrew Jordan | 67 |
11. | Hayden Paddon | 58 |
12. | Oliver Webb | 52 |
13. | Reini Sampl | 51 |
14. | Abbie Eaton | 44 |
15. | Perry McCarthy | 28 |