The second leg of the FIA World Rallycross Championship’s double-header event in Latvian capital Riga was very nearly a repeat of the first, with only the smallest of margins stopping Timmy Hansen from scoring another podium finish. His team-mate Kevin Hansen also set an unofficial lap record, showing the team’s potential.
Reigning world drivers’ champion Timmy won two of his qualifying races, in Q1 and Q3, to qualify fourth overall and pick up a front row start for his semi-final. A straightforward lights-to-flag run in second place in the second semi-final meant a second-row grid slot for the final, though Timmy was beaten to the first turn by both Niclas Grönholm and Robin Larsson and fell to fifth.
The fightback began quickly, with Timmy taking the joker on lap one and turning in a sequence of fast laps to put himself back in contention for a podium finish. Sensing the danger, Larsson was called in for his joker on lap three, only just managing to get out ahead of Timmy as he covered the inside line on the exit of the last corner.
While Timmy missed out on a podium finish he proved a point by snatching fourth from Grönholm on the last lap, sweeping around the outside of the final corner as the Finn emerged from his joker lap.
Kevin Hansen made it two Team Hansen cars in the final for the second day in a row, despite finishing fourth in the first semi-final. He found himself being called up to the grid at the last second to take up what was originally Timo Scheider’s starting position in sixth.
With nothing to lose Kevin repeated his strategy from the day before, swinging the car out wide on the outside, which had given him second on the track a day earlier. It didn’t quite work this time, tucking in behind his brother Timmy into turn three.
There was still pace on display as he caught Grönholm towards the end of the race, though ultimately couldn’t find a way past and finished in sixth.
A series of outside grid slots in qualifying had left Kevin with little chance of competing at the sharp end despite his obvious speed. He set an unofficial lap record during morning warm-up, setting a 48.098s on his only lap of the session and showing what was possible with a clear track ahead.
Timmy’s third and fourth places this weekend means the close three-way battle for third in the drivers’ championship has become even tighter, with the reigning champion only six points behind Grönholm in fourth overall.
Kevin is also in the hunt, only 15 points behind Timmy and sixth in the championship heading to the next round in Barcelona, Spain. Team Hansen remains second in the teams’ championship post-Latvia, 43 points off the lead.
Kevin Hansen made it two Team Hansen cars in the final for the second day in a row, despite finishing fourth in the first semi-final. He found himself being called up to the grid at the last second to take up what was originally Timo Scheider’s starting position in sixth.
With nothing to lose Kevin repeated his strategy from the day before, swinging the car out wide on the outside, which had given him second on the track a day earlier. It didn’t quite work this time, tucking in behind his brother Timmy into turn three.
There was still pace on display as he caught Grönholm towards the end of the race, though ultimately couldn’t find a way past and finished in sixth.
A series of outside grid slots in qualifying had left Kevin with little chance of competing at the sharp end despite his obvious speed. He set an unofficial lap record during morning warm-up, setting a 48.098s on his only lap of the session and showing what was possible with a clear track ahead.
Timmy’s third and fourth places this weekend means the close three-way battle for third in the drivers’ championship has become even tighter, with the reigning champion only six points behind Grönholm in fourth overall.
Kevin is also in the hunt, only 15 points behind Timmy and sixth in the championship heading to the next round in Barcelona, Spain. Team Hansen remains second in the teams’ championship post-Latvia, 43 points off the lead.
Quotes
“In general this weekend I’m extremely happy with what we delivered and the results we got. With the pace we had and the launches we had, this was the maximum we could achieve. The team hasn’t made a single mistake all weekend, and I haven’t made any mistakes on track, so we extracted everything we had.
“That said, we also want more, we want to be able to fight for the top step on the podium. To do that, we need to take one more step with the whole package that we have. There have been good signs but we need to put it together.
“Our launches were better today and the car was better this weekend in general, so we’re taking steps. But it’s not easy at this level to gain everything that you need to suddenly be at the front. It’s about making little steps and this weekend we took several little steps. It’s a hard game, we’re a small team, but I believe in the crew we have and we’ll keep on fighting.
“It was cool to see fans again in the grandstand but unfortunately, they can’t enter the paddock due to the necessary Covid-19 protocols. I still miss the support that we get from the fans because we can’t have them in the paddock in a safe manner right now that I wish was possible. It was good to hear them cheering when I was on the podium yesterday and I’m looking forward to when it’s safe enough to have spectators with us fully again.”
“I feel I have more and can do more, but the starts still aren’t quite there. We’re lacking a really small amount of pace, not much at all, but it’s tough because it makes a big difference to the result.
“We did the maximum possible and I still have a very good feeling with the car, which is a great positive, having that full confidence and not making any mistakes. Being in scenario two for FIA Covid-19 protocols this weekend meant we were able to bring Eric Färén with us as an extra team member to help us even more, which has been useful as well.”
“It was very disappointing not to get through my semi-final on speed; I felt I had more speed than both Larsson and Grönholm. I went to the pre-grid for the final even though I was sure I wouldn’t be the one called up if a grid slot opened, so I’m very surprised they called me in. But understanding the rules afterwards, going to pre-grid was a great choice!
“I was a bit more relaxed than I usually am before a race so it took me about a lap to get fully back into my rhythm again. I feel like I had a good run in the final, even if I was maybe a little too aggressive at the first corner. But when you are starting last, there’s nothing to lose of course.”
“The best thing about today was Kevin’s warm-up time! In only one lap he put a new unofficial lap record on the board. That was very good. Unfortunately, we couldn’t keep that speed and we’re not completely sure why, so we need to do some more analysis into why that is. We’re not able to get up to that exact pace every race yet.
“All things considered today was a better day than yesterday, even if we weren’t on the podium this time. We had hope for more of course, so it feels a little odd not to be fighting for victory. Timmy was very close to managing a top three but close isn’t enough. We need to look at what happened, what we learned, and find some further progression before heading to Spain in a few weeks time.”
“It’s very close this year and we don’t have quite the level of performance we would wish for, but we don’t give up. We’re definitely pushing to get to the front and fight for wins again.”
