Timmy Hansen has extended his lead in the FIA World Rallycross Championship to 17 points with second place in Portugal, leading home younger brother and fellow title contender Kevin Hansen in third place. A brilliant start to the weekend ensured Timmy Hansen would top qualifying and bag pole position for the first semi-final. Fastest time in the first, second and third qualifying sessions meant Timmy scored an important 16 points for his title bid, following that impressive display up with a lights-to-flag win in his semi-final. But Timmy wasn’t given the opportunity to lead with ease in that race. Kevin had bagged himself a place on the front-row alongside Timmy in the first semi-final by winning the last qualifying session, then went with an alternate first-lap joker strategy to give him clear air to push. Kevin’s plan of attack nearly worked, only just being beaten to the exit on the last lap by Timmy. With 1-2 locked down in the semi-final, the pair would start first and third in a thrilling final. An intense three-way battle between Timmy, Kevin and Johan Kristoffersson for the podium places began from the moment the lights went out in the final, with Timmy defending smartly from Kristoffersson behind him. At the halfway mark an ambitious move for the lead by Kristoffersson at the long, sweeping gravel turn six right-hander didn’t quite work, leaving the door open for Kevin to go down the inside and get second place. Kristoffersson, refusing to back out, cut the exit of the following corner and earned himself a penalty, allowing Kevin to cross the line behind Kristoffersson but move past him for third after the chequered flag fell. That battle for the lead had allowed Niclas Grönholm, who had taken his joker on the first lap, to close right up to the leading trio, then going on to steal the win as the leading trio took their jokers on the final lap. Despite missing out on the win it was still a great result for Timmy, as his second place extended his championship lead to 17 points with 60 left on offer at the season-ending double-header in Germany next month. Kevin can’t be counted out of the fight just yet though, as he’s only a little further behind Kristoffersson with 19 points in arrears to Timmy. It’s looking good for Hansen World RX in the teams’ standings with only two rounds left, as the points advantage over GRX-SET has grown to 61 with only 112 available from the Nürburgring double-header.

Timmy Hansen, #21 Peugeot 208 WRX

“This weekend has been fantastic for me. We scored lots of good results throughout qualifying and that battle with Kevin in the semi-final was so close, decided purely on pace. While the results say I won plenty of sessions this weekend, every one of those sessions was hard-fought and very close. “The final was super tough – Johan kept the pressure on and it’s impossible to close the door at this track given how sideways you need to be on corner entry. “The moment I had some space to Johan behind I did everything I could, both to stay clear of him and also try to build a gap to Niclas further behind. I couldn’t quite manage to find enough to stop Niclas from coming out ahead but regardless, it was a brilliant race. That’s why we love this sport.”

Kevin Hansen, #9 Peugeot 208 WRX

“It’s been an up and down weekend! I had a tough first day with lots of contact and things not really panning out in my direction. But day two was brilliant, with much better speed from the first session that allowed me to mount a comeback. “It was really nice to have the full support of the team in Q4. We had a plan in advance to help me get up the qualifying order and we executed it perfectly at the first corner, so I’m very thankful to Timmy and the rest of the team for their efforts. “It was a very fun semi-final against Timmy and actually I’m a little disappointed I didn’t win it – I wasn’t pushing to the absolute maximum and maybe I could have had him! But it was a good battle nonetheless. “There was a possibility to do more in the final but the first turn didn’t quite go right. I locked up the brakes and stalled, so I didn’t have any turbo pressure for exiting the turn and Johan zipped away after I’d nearly got him for second place. That changed the story of the final. But I’m happy with my weekend overall.”

Kenneth Hansen, Team Principal

“It’s great to be back on a circuit with lots of gravel – and to be back in Portugal! The people here are very kind and enthusiastic for rallycross. I’m glad we were able to put on a great show for them this weekend; the action in the last races was certainly exciting.” “We had great performance this weekend. After some races where we had started on the back foot, it was great to have been able to take control in qualifying and lead from the front, with first and third for Timmy and Kevin.” “We’re happy with the final result even if we didn’t get the win today. The gap Timmy has over the chasing pack, plus Kevin being only two points off second place, is a great position to enter the final rounds of the season in Germany.”