The Swedish Hansen World RX Team returns to action for the second and third rounds of the FIA World Rallycross Championship this weekend in Riga, Latvia (September 3-4), a venue that will pose a fresh challenge in the new all-electric era for teams and drivers. Following the opening round of the 2022 campaign at Hell in Norway – a traditional Scandinavian rallycross venue – three weeks ago, World RX heads to one of the best venues to be introduced to the World RX schedule since 2014, in Riga.   Not only will the high-grip abrasive surface, immovable barriers that line the course and three jumps pose a different challenge for the drivers on track with the new all-electric 500kW four-wheel-drive machines, but with the event running as a double-header, including a full round of the championship on both Saturday and Sunday, it will be an intense weekend for the mechanics and engineers in the paddock too. In the opening round of the season, racing Hansen Motorsport’s new Peugeot 208 RX1e, former World RX Drivers’ Champion Timmy Hansen finished second in the final to stand on a historic first podium in the brand-new all-electric period for World RX. Kevin Hansen also showed great pace, but contact in the semi-finals meant he didn’t make it through to the final. Both drivers know how sweet it tastes to stand on the podium in front of a hugely passionate crowd in Riga, and will be fighting to return to the rostrum this weekend.   Key Facts | Riga RX Where: The Bikernieki Circuit located on the outskirts of Latvia’s capital city, Riga, was introduced to the World RX schedule in 2016 and is considered one of the best ‘modern’ venues in the discipline. The rallycross layout uses parts of the historic Bikerneiki race circuit, but also heads through the forest on the loose-surface section. The 12-corner, 1.295km lap features three jumps, a last-corner joker merge and a 60% asphalt and 40% gravel split. When: All of the action is broadcast on the RX+ All Live platform this weekend [September 3-4] via the World RX Website. Saturday September 3 Practice: 09:00 SuperPole: 10:25 Heat 1: 12:00 Heat 2: 13:30 Progression: 15:00 Semi-Finals and Final: 17:00 Sunday September 4 Warm-up: 09:00 SuperPole: 09:30 Heat 1: 11:00 Heat 2: 13:15 Progression: 14:45 Semi-Finals and Final: 17:00 Blast from the past Rally legend Sebastien Loeb entered World RX full time in 2016, and, driving for Team Peugeot Hansen, stormed to his first World RX win in Riga driving a Peugeot 208 WRX in wet conditions – the Frenchman celebrating his success with impressive donuts after the finish line. In the same event, newly crowned Euro RX1 champion Kevin Hansen was pushed off the track on lap one of the Euro RX final, but he stormed back through the field to finish second. More photos for editorial use: Red Bull Contentpool

KENNETH HANSEN Hansen World RX Team – Team Principal

“Now we have landed after our first event in this new era. It was a huge trip to get to the first event. We’ve had a little more head space to focus on the details ahead of the second weekend and work with what we learned in Norway, some things were good and some were bad. We struggled a bit with the car at the end of the event in Norway, so we have tried to work on why that happened and move forwards. We were generally pleased with the base performance and reliability we had in Norway and we like the track and event in Riga, so we are pushing hard to challenge for victory again.”    

KEVIN HANSEN Hansen World RX Team – Driver #71

“It will be great to go back to Riga. It’s a track that has a lot of tarmac, is very much like a racing circuit in some way and I think it will suit the new cars very well.  We’re working on improving our car after the first Championship event so we have big hopes for the weekend. Riga is a track where you have to be very precise and there is a high demand on the tyres, and with five laps in every race in the new format, it will be interesting to see how we can manage that.  Riga is a beautiful city with great people, hopefully the weather will be good too so it will be a weekend to enjoy and hopefully I can also bounce back in the championship too.”  

TIMMY HANSEN Hansen Wold RX Team – Driver #21

  “We have been working so much on getting things even better than we had last time in Norway. It’s been a busy couple of weeks of analysing, understanding and adapting, so I think we arrive to Riga with a very interesting package.  We still need to learn more about electric cars in rallycross. Doing it in Riga, with a double header weekend which will be very hectic, will be interesting. I’m very excited to get back in the car and I’m hopeful we will have a good weekend and to put on a good show for the passionate fans there.”