Johan Kristoffersson continued his pace from Q1 to again set the fastest time in Q2 at Montalegre (Portugal), the second round of the FIA World Rallycross Championship presented by Monster Energy.

Sweden’s Kristoffersson and Norway’s Petter Solberg lead the event in a PSRX Volkswagen Sweden one-two, with France’s Sebastien Loeb in third having finished third to Solberg and Kristoffersson in Q2.

“This is the first time for me that I have 100 points after the first day since I started rallycross, so for sure we’ve had a very, very good day,” said Kristoffersson.

“I have to thank the team. I got a very, very good car. I was not really quick on the gravel in the morning but the ‘master of gravel’ (Solberg) was very helpful to me. For the team to be P1 and P2 is very good, but the sport is like it is and we know all the guys are pushing very hard. We have to look at every detail and try to be on the pace also tomorrow.” 

MJP Racing Team Austria’s Kevin Eriksson won his Q2 race and is fourth in the Intermediate Classification. EKS’s Mattias Ekstrom had a close race with Solberg in Q2 and is fifth overall, with Peugeot-Hansen’s Kevin Hansen in sixth. 

Like Eriksson, Latvia’s Janis Baumanis, Russia’s Timur Timeryznov and Finland’s Niclas Gronholm are all racing various Ford Fiesta Supercars in their fight back from character building events in Barcelona, and are all currently inside the semi-final qualifying positions heading into Q3 on Sunday morning. Germany’s Timo Schieder, Latvia’s Reinis Nitiss and Sweden’s Timmy Hansen are also inside the top twelve. 

Finland’s Topi Heikkinen finished fastest in Q2 at the opening round of the FIA World Rallycross Championship in Barcelona to conclude the day as Top Qualifier in the Intermediate Classification. 

The EKS driver set the fastest time in Q2 in his Audi S1 quattro as worsening wet weather conditions hampered the drivers in the final two races, which included the fastest ten drivers from Q1 (the fastest driver from the previous qualifying race starts on pole position in the last race of the following session). 

“We’re happy that we’re standing on the top. We had some bad luck in Q1 with the conditions but also it was bad luck for the other guys in Q2. We need to take it when we have the chance, but we still have some work to do,” said Heikkinen. “We’re far away from the end of the weekend but I’d like to be on the podium and I will do everything to try and do that.” 

Heikkinen finished his race in front of MJP Racing Team Austria driver Timo Schieder, who is second in the Intermediate Classification and PSRX Volkwagen Sweden’s Johan Kristoffersson, who had been fastest in Q1 but was slowed by heavy rain in Q2. Despite being 17^th in Q2, the Sweden’s Kristoffersson remains in contention for qualifying top in the Intermediate Classification after Q3 and Q4 tomorrow morning. 

The next four positions are held by Peugeot 208 drivers, with Sweden’s Kevin and Timmy fourth and fifth, and France’s Jean-Baptiste Dubourg sixth and Sebastien Loeb seventh. After racing in the worst conditions in Q2, America’s Ken Block is ninth, Sweden’s Mattias Ekstrom is 11^th and Norway’s Petter Solberg is 12^th. 

Robin Larsson and Anton Marklund each set a fastest time in the FIA European Rallycross Championship to be first and second, with Thomas Bryntesson third. 

The picturesque Montalegre race circuit in north Portugal will host the second round of the 2017 FIA World Rallycross Championship this weekend (21-23 April). Reigning World RX Champion Mattias Ekstrom [EKS] currently leads the drivers’ standings after taking the round one victory in Barcelona earlier this month.  

Bompiso Rallycross of Portugal takes place in the scenic town of Montalegre and is located in the hills of the Vila region, close to the Spanish border. The circuit presents a unique challenge for both drivers and engineers: at 1800 metres above sea level it is the highest event on the World RX calendar and engines need to be finely tuned to deal with the higher altitude.

“The start couldn’t have gone better – now we have to up the ante at Montalegre,” explained Ekstrom, who has reached the final on every World RX circuit he has competed at besides Portugal. “I have good and bad memories of last year. Everything was going according to plan up until the semi-final, but then a mistake in turn one cost me the final.”

Joining Ekstrom in the headline Supercar category will be a further 21 entries including star names such as last year’s Montalegre RX winner Petter Solberg [PSRX Volkswagen Sweden], Sebastien Loeb [Team Peugeot-Hansen] and Ken Block [Hoonigan Racing Division]. One to watch will be MJP Racing Team Austria’s Timo Scheider who is competing in his first full World RX campaign in 2017 and finished runner-up in Barcelona.

The regular drivers will also be joined by Germany’s Rene Muennich, Poland’s Martin Kaczmarski, Belgium’s Gregoire Demoustier and Portugal’s Joaquim Santos. Muennich Motorsport driver Rene Muennich is racing in the full FIA European Rallycross Championship this season with his Seat Ibizia Supercar and will compete in a number of World RX events as a wildcard driver.

Kaczmarski, another Euro RX competitor, will step up to World RX for the Portuguese event with his ex-Olsbergs MSE Fiesta Supercar. Circuit racing driver Demoustier made his World RX debut in Barcelona, driving a DA Racing Peugeot 208 and will return for a second appearance in Portugal alongside Jean-Baptiste Dubourg. Santos is a regular starter in his native round of World RX – the experienced driver will be a firm favourite with the home fans. 

The second round of World RX is also the inaugural round of the FIA European Rallycross Championship for Super1600, where 30 drivers – including five Portuguese entries – will take part. 

Reigning Champion, Hungary’s Kristian Szabo, will begin the defence of his title, now joined in the Volland Racing team by Latvia’s Artis Baumanis – driving a pair of Skoda Fabias. Former Super1600 race winner Jussi-Petteri Leppihalme returns to the Set Promotion team for a title challenge as team mate to Russia’s Timur Shigaboutdinov. Denmark’s Ulrik Linnemann will once again compete in the front-wheel drive series in his self-run car.

Paul Bellamy, World RX Managing Director for IMG, concluded: “We’ve had tricky track conditions for the past few years in Portugal but it looks as if we will be blessed with excellent weather this weekend.  A number of changes to the infrastructure of the circuit have been put in place for 2017 and we are sure that the event will once again be a sell-out due to the hard work and relentless promotion from the Portuguese event organisers.  The Portuguese fans are some of the most passionate of the season and with six local drivers competing in front of the home crowd, the atmosphere in the grandstands will be electric.”

The eagerly-anticipated FIA World Rallycross Championship returns for its fourth season as the World Championship kicks off in Barcelona this coming weekend (1-2 April). With 18 permanent Supercars and a plethora of star-studded motorsport names including Mattias Ekstrom, Petter Solberg, Sebastien Loeb and Ken Block, the 2017 season is set to be the biggest and most exciting to date.

For the first time since its inclusion into the World RX calendar back in 2015, the season will begin in Barcelona instead of Portugal (Portugal will form round two in three weeks’ time). The F1 and MotoGP venue, Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya, will host the World RX crews, as well as the official media day which will take place this Thursday (30 March).

As well as the headline World Championship category, the FIA European Rallycross Championship (Euro RX) will also take place in Barcelona for the first of its five-round campaign and will field a total of 32 Supercars. On top of the 18 World RX Supercars competing in the World Championship, that makes a total 50 Supercars – each capable of 600bhp and the ability to accelerate from zero to 60mph in less than two seconds.  There will also be 11 TouringCars vying for the round one victory in the highly competitive rear-wheel drive support category.

There have been several changes in the team and driver line-ups ahead of the new season: six permanent two-cars teams will compete for the 2017 Teams’ Championship, while 18 permanent drivers will battle for the World RX Drivers’ Championship.

Double World Champion Petter Solberg will partner Sweden’s Johan Kristoffersson in the manufacturer-backed PSRX Volkswagen Sweden team, to race a pair of new Polo GTi Supercars.

Mattias Ekstrom’s EKS team has also received manufacturer support thanks to Audi. EKS will run an individual driver entry for Reinis Nitiss in a third Audi S1, alongside its two-car team entry. Team Peugeot-Hansen will also run an individual entry alongside its two-car team, for reigning FIA European Rallycross Champion Kevin Hansen in a third Peugeot 208 WRX.

Two-time DTM champion Timo Scheider has signed for MJP Racing Team Austria (formerly known as World RX Team Austria) to partner World RX event winner Kevin Eriksson, while the team’s 2016 drivers Timur Timerzyanov and Janis Baumanis will race for new-for-2017 STARD, run by Manfred Stohl.

DA Racing-Europacar will field a Peugeot 208 WRX for Jean-Baptiste Dubourg as an individual entry, while Great Britain’s Guy Wilks will drive a Volkswagen Polo Supercar run with Loco World RX Team. Kornel “CsuCsu” Lukacs will drive Gigi Galli’s Kia Rio Supercar in a full World Championship campaign while Niclas Gronholm will drive an M-Sport built Ford Fiesta Supercar as an individual entry.