The Hansen World RX Team’s podium run continued today (7 September) as Kevin Hansen took third in Round 7 of the 2024 FIA World Rallycross Championship in Montalegre, Portugal. Setting off from the front row in the Final, Kevin secured his third podium appearance in a row as the Swedish squad collected its fourth piece of silverware so far this year. The Hansen outfit arrived at the seventh round of the 2024 World RX season in high spirits after back-to back podiums for Kevin at the previous double-header in Mettet, Belgium, and a long-awaited race win for brother and team-mate Timmy Hansen in Round 5. A rollercoaster Qualifying saw the Hansen brothers on equal points after a second and third place finish each across the two Heats. Lining up on the front row of Semi-Final 1, Kevin’s Peugeot 208 was the only electric car on the grid. Having taken the lead into the first corner, the young Hansen driver kept his cool and kept the lead all the way to the finish line despite pressure from Johan Kristoffersson in second. In the other Semi-Final race, Timmy recovered from a difficult start with an early joker lap. The strategy paid off, and the Swede was in second place before running wide and opening the door just enough for OC Veiby to make the overtake. Third place in the Semi-Finals was enough to see Timmy through to the main event on the back row, while Kevin eyed up the long start straight from the front of the pack. Taking second place into the first corner, Kevin then entered the joker lap early, while Timmy surged into third through the opening laps before losing visibility into the straight and ended up in the wall. As Kevin pushed to close the gap to the front he got ahead of OC Veiby at the end of the straight to take third in the race and second in the championship standings. The Hansen World RX Team will be looking to add further podiums to its tally tomorrow as World RX returns with Round 8 in Montalegre. Kenneth Hansen, Team Principal at Hansen World RX Team, said: “The first race day in Portugal is done. I think we had good speed but it was difficult to choose the right tyre. We did a good job with what we had and I think we were on the way to getting both cars on the podium. It was unlucky for Timmy with the dust that kicked up, and Kevin lost some time in the traffic. Overall though there were plenty of positives and we’ll take those into tomorrow.” Kevin Hansen, Hansen World RX Team driver, said: “Not the best start from me in the Final but we took the joker at the beginning and tried to push from there. I had to dodge a big cloud of dust and tires on the straight which cost me a bit of time, and then I had to complete the overtake on Veiby after he made a mistake in Turn 9 which put me back further. I did overshoot a little bit as I hurried to catch up, so I think overall we could have been a lot closer to a win. A lot of ups and downs today and the track was so different each race, but we learnt a lot from the day and we’ll take those lessons into the next round.” Timmy Hansen, Hansen World RX Team driver, said: “Today we had quite good pace and it was overall a pretty positive day for the team, but it ended in the wall for me. I had a good run coming on Kristoffersson out of the last corner but there was a big dust cloud in front. Kevin also had a good run to challenge for the win but he got a bit held up in the Final. For me a positive is that I drop to fifth in the championship, which means I will be on an easier route through Qualifying tomorrow. We saw how quickly Grönholm was able to catch up from there today. We’ll go for the win again tomorrow. It’s very possible with the form that we are in.”