Hansen leads the pack into its home World RX round
Hansen World RX Team is heading to its home event of the FIA World Rallycross Championship defending its lead in both the drivers’ and team’s title races, visiting the Höljes circuit in Sweden on August 20-22.
A one-two finish at the opening round of the season in Spain was led by Kevin Hansen, taking his first on-the-road victory at world championship level ahead of his brother and 2019 World RX champion Timmy Hansen.
The team’s incredible result in the World RX of Catalunya final gave Kevin and Timmy nine and seven-point advantages respectfully over reigning World RX champion Johan Kristoffersson, while Hansen World RX Team is 22 points ahead of GRX in the teams’ standings.
Now the pair have their shortest journey of the year, heading only a few hundred miles north from the team’s base in Västra Götaland to the edge of the Sweden-Norway border to visit the most famous rallycross circuit in the world, Höljes.
It’s the last time this season the team will have such a comfortable commute – World RX of Sweden marks the beginning of an arduous schedule across multiple championships.
There are 13 championship rounds in 11 locations on the itinerary for Hansen Motorsport across the next 16 weeks, covering both the world championship and Nitro Rallycross. Timmy and Kevin will also compete in Extreme E’s Arctic X-Prix next week, keeping them even busier still.
Kevin Hansen, Driver, #9 Peugeot 208 WRX
“Coming to my home race as championship leader is an amazing feeling. And what’s better is I know we have the pace to be competitive. I came so close to winning in 2019, right on the bumper of Sebastian Eriksson across the line, and I hope I can bring this kind of pace to Höljes again this year.
“This year would also be a better year than the last to get a first win in Sweden, given spectators are back! Happy Street is not so happy when it’s empty. It’s great to have them back, even if for safety it’s not quite as many people as before. I want to take advantage of having the proper Höljes atmosphere back by finishing on the podium this Sunday.”
Timmy Hansen, Driver, #21 Peugeot 208 WRX
“This race is a highlight of my year every year – it’s always special to race at home. The last few years have maybe been a little difficult for us on the ‘classic’ gravel circuits but all the work the team has put in over the winter should pay off, I believe. I hope we’ve taken a step closer in that area.
“It’s not the traditional Magic Weekend – it’s quite late in the year compared to when we would usually be here – but it still has all the same elements that make it special. It’s about much more than just driving fast; because of how technical the circuit is there’s a delicate balance between the driver, car and track. And the dynamics of race strategy are different compared to Spain with how the joker lap is placed – an early joker usually isn’t that effective here so we need to get the starts absolutely perfect.”
Kenneth Hansen, Team Principal
“One of the areas we spent the most time and effort working on during the off-season was improving our car performance on more traditional-style rallycross circuits. The result in Spain was a great validation of the work we’d put in, especially by ORECA on our engine, but now some other areas we’ve worked on will come into greater focus.
“We didn’t get the result we wanted at Höljes last year and we want to make up for it this time around. We had one podium finish here with Kevin during the double-header in 2020 but we believe we can do better this time. While the Audi is a fast car around Höljes – and we anticipate that the Hyundai will be faster than at the last round too – we still expect to be at the front and in the running for victory.”
Kevin Hansen, Driver, #9 Peugeot 208 WRX
“Coming to my home race as championship leader is an amazing feeling. And what’s better is I know we have the pace to be competitive. I came so close to winning in 2019, right on the bumper of Sebastian Eriksson across the line, and I hope I can bring this kind of pace to Höljes again this year.
“This year would also be a better year than the last to get a first win in Sweden, given spectators are back! Happy Street is not so happy when it’s empty. It’s great to have them back, even if for safety it’s not quite as many people as before. I want to take advantage of having the proper Höljes atmosphere back by finishing on the podium this Sunday.”
Timmy Hansen, Driver, #21 Peugeot 208 WRX
“This race is a highlight of my year every year – it’s always special to race at home. The last few years have maybe been a little difficult for us on the ‘classic’ gravel circuits but all the work the team has put in over the winter should pay off, I believe. I hope we’ve taken a step closer in that area.
“It’s not the traditional Magic Weekend – it’s quite late in the year compared to when we would usually be here – but it still has all the same elements that make it special. It’s about much more than just driving fast; because of how technical the circuit is there’s a delicate balance between the driver, car and track. And the dynamics of race strategy are different compared to Spain with how the joker lap is placed – an early joker usually isn’t that effective here so we need to get the starts absolutely perfect.”
Kenneth Hansen, Team Principal
“One of the areas we spent the most time and effort working on during the off-season was improving our car performance on more traditional-style rallycross circuits. The result in Spain was a great validation of the work we’d put in, especially by ORECA on our engine, but now some other areas we’ve worked on will come into greater focus.
“We didn’t get the result we wanted at Höljes last year and we want to make up for it this time around. We had one podium finish here with Kevin during the double-header in 2020 but we believe we can do better this time. While the Audi is a fast car around Höljes – and we anticipate that the Hyundai will be faster than at the last round too – we still expect to be at the front and in the running for victory.” 
