Red Bull Hansen NRX Team faced a difficult weekend at the fourth of five Nitro Rallycross rounds this season, as initially promising pace on Saturday didn’t translate to a podium finish on Sunday for either driver. Timmy Hansen came to Glen Helen Raceway in San Bernadino, CA, narrowly leading the Nitro RX title race over Subaru pair Travis Pastrana and Scott Speed. Kevin Hansen was also in the running to fight for the title and had started strongly on Saturday, winning the battle brackets round by beating all three factory Subaru drivers. Being eliminated in the second round of battle brackets had sent Timmy on a winding journey to the final, having to race through the heats, a semi-final and then a win-or-bust last-chance qualifier race before rocking up on the back row of the grid for the points-paying finale. Unable to match the pace of the frontrunners, Timmy kept it sensible in the final and was rewarded for his patience with fifth place. An early fight with Steve Arpin didn’t last long as Timmy headed straight for the joker lap but he would win the battle later on, as Arpin exited his joker lap near the end of the race behind Timmy’s Peugeot 208. Robin Larsson’s retirement gave Timmy a further leg-up in the final classification. Kevin had also been in the running to defend his status as reigning Nitro RX champion, a title he won back in 2019 at what was then a single-venue event in Utah. His early dominance of the battle brackets round, where he’d defeated all three Subarus, looked set to continue after topping the warm-up session. But a slow start off the grid in the second heat demoted him down to the midfield, putting him into a semi-final race. While Kevin pulled off a solid launch from the grid in the first semi-final, he was forced wide at turn one by Andreas Bakkerud, sending him deep into mud that affected his car’s cooling and, as a consequence, its maximum power output. Fourth place in that semi put Kevin into a last chance qualifier against Liam Doran, where again he was nudged wide and into the turn three hairpin barriers. While Doran was given a penalty by the stewards, Kevin’s time-loss from the off had been enough for Ronalds Baldiņš to get past and inherit the only transfer spot to the final alongside Timmy on the back row. Timmy will head to the final round of the Nitro season 17 points off the top spot, now held by Pastrana, with 54 still available to score in Florida. Kevin remains fourth in the championship but can’t gain any more places at the final round, so will be doing all he can to ensure his eight-point advantage over Steve Arpin grows larger at the season finale.

Kevin Hansen, #9 Peugeot 208

“Saturday was amazing. We beat everybody on an even playing field and the battles were really fun, with close but fair racing that was won fair and square. And then in warm-up this morning the lap times were looking really good and we felt confident of scoring a great result this weekend. “My car’s been so fast this weekend but on Sunday events simply didn’t pan out the right way. In the heat race, my start wasn’t strong enough and that put me on the back foot, and once you’re back in the pack, both dust and losing time battling other cars starts to come into play. “We’re out of the NRX title fight now so when we head to Florida for the season finale I’ll do what I can to support Timmy, as he still has a chance to become champion. But for now I’m really looking forward to Germany in the world championship next week. It’s a much different circuit to this one and also a great chance to strike back with a strong result after this disappointment.”

Timmy Hansen, #21 Peugeot 208

“It’s been a tough weekend for the entire team and unlike Kevin, on Saturday I didn’t have the pace of the top guys either. Fifth place isn’t the result we came here to get but considering the route I had to take to reach the final, it’s a reasonable amount of points and it keeps me in the title race at the last round. That’s what matters most from this weekend.”

Kenneth Hansen, Team Principal

“This weekend looked quite good from the outset so naturally, the outcome is not what we had expected. Kevin had great speed on Saturday but come Sunday, Subaru found something, an extra step, that gave them some more grip and crucially, some more speed.” “Our engineers and mechanics were really up against it this weekend with the conditions. There was so much wind and dust that it was like working in a sandstorm. They were really tough conditions to work in but our guys performed as brilliantly as ever, so thank you to them for always putting in 100%.” “Now the team will crack on and focus on the next weekend in Germany, where we have the possibility to win two world championship titles, before we return to the US for the Nitro finale.”