Johan Kristoffersson wins round one of the FIA World Rallycross Championship in Holjes, Sweden.
Johan Kristoffersson took the first win of the 2020 FIA World Rallycross Championship in the wet at Holjes, Sweden.
The two-time champion made his return to World RX in Sweden after a year away in the 2018 Volkswagen Polo.
The rain came as the drivers were preparing for the final which meant the final race of the day was completed in difficult slipy conditions.
Kristoffersson launched from pole position to take a clear lead going into turn one, with 2016 champion Mattias Ekstrom behind.
Turn one saw contact between Timmy Hansen and Anton Marklund causing them both to take the joker lap along with Timo Scheider and Niclas Gronholm.
This left clear air for the two front runners. Ekstrom took his joker on lap three to cover the charging Marklund. Kristoffersson went on lap five and maintained his position on rejoining the standard circuit.
Kristoffersson went on to win the six lap race with Ekstrom holding onto second place. Marklund crossed the line in third but picked up a 30 second time penalty for the contact with Hansen which dropped him to fifth.
Scheider avoided the contact in turn one from last on the grid to take third place. Gronholm finished fourth recovering after getting stuck on the line. Hansen retired from the race with damage from the earlier contact.
Marklund qualified for the final after Robin Larsson picked up a three second penalty for contact. Also missing out of the final from the first semi-final was Krisztian Szabo and Rokas Baciuska who had problems in Q3.
Not qualifying from semi-final two was Sebastian Eriksson Kevin Hansen and Timur Timerzyanov.
World RX returns tomorrow for round two in the first double header of the 2020 season.
Photo credit: FIAWorldRallycross.com
