2019 FIA World Rallycross Champion Timmy Hansen returned to winning ways today (17 August) with an emphatic victory in Round 5 of the 2024 FIA World Rallycross Championship. Working together with team-mate Kevin Hansen, who finished the race in third place, the brothers secured the Swedish squad’s first silverware of the season. The multiple World Championship-winning team entered the fifth round of this year’s campaign off the back of difficult double-headers in Sweden and Hungary. Despite both cars taking race wins and entering all four Finals of the season so far, the Hansen team failed to convert its pace into podiums. The start of the World RX of Benelux 1 did not reflect the result, as both Timmy and Kevin suffered damage in Heat 1 of Qualifying, hitting a deep rut at Turn 2. While Timmy was able to bring the Peugeot 208 RX1e home in second, Kevin was forced to retire from the race. Heat 2 marked a change in fortunes for Kevin, who crossed the line in first place to complete a 1-2 for the Hansen World RX Team. Combined with his result from the opening session, Kevin found himself on the second row for his Semi-Final race, lining up against both KMS drivers and CE Dealer Team’s Klara Andersson. Riding the momentum of his Heat 2 win, Kevin launched into second place and carried that pace through the opening section to take the lead from Andersson. An early joker from Kevin saw him stay ahead, and a great defensive display followed as the Swede fended off Johan Kristoffersson all the way to the finish line. A confident win in the other Semi-Final race for Timmy put him on pole for the Final and completed a front row lockout for the Hansen team. In the main event, Timmy led from start to finish, taking the checkered flag and his fourteenth career victory – his first since the 2022 World RX of Catalunya and his first ever win in Mettet. The Hansen Motorsport outfit was fully focussed on securing a strong points haul, and Kevin’s race management reflected that team spirit. A sensible start saw him slot into second, where he supported Timmy’s push to extend his advantage over a charging Kristoffersson. Showing impressive pace himself, Kevin was able to keep the KMS drivers within reach following his joker lap, until a puncture for Kristoffersson opened the door for Kevin to take third place by 0.029 seconds in a dramatic photo finish. The Hansen World RX Team will be looking to add to its podium tally in similar fashion tomorrow as World RX returns to action with the second part of its Belgian double-header in Mettet. Kenneth Hansen, Team Principal at Hansen World RX Team, said: “The day did not start the way that we were hoping, with a quite a bit of damage to both cars in the rough conditions. After that we managed to get it all together, and we focussed on the right details to take the win in both Semi-Final races. We knew we had a fantastic possibility for the Final, and we needed to approach that as a team as well. For the moment, we don’t have the top speed or the quickest lap times, but as we all know that doesn’t always get you the win in rallycross. We managed the Final very well, and we were able to win the race. It’s a great success for the team – we really, really wanted this – and it helps us going into tomorrow.” Timmy Hansen, Hansen World RX Team driver, said: “It has been a tricky start to the year for the team but they have been working so hard to turn it around and it feels great to be able to pay them back with a race win. Kevin did a fantastic job backing up the field in the Final to help me build enough of a lead, and I’m happy he ended the race on the podium as well. It was a huge team effort all round but now we need to focus on doing the same tomorrow.” Kevin Hansen, Hansen World RX Team driver, said: “It was important for us as a team to not take any risks in this Final. We have been unlucky not to get on the podium sooner this year, but that makes today’s result even sweeter. It felt like I had a couple of overtaking opportunities on that last lap but in the end it went right down to the wire and I managed to pip Johan [Kristoffersson] on the line. This is an amazing result for the team and well deserved after so much hard work. There is still an imbalance between us and the KMS ICE cars but we’ll keep pushing. Let’s see if we can get a couple more podiums tomorrow!”