Johan Kristoffersson is Top Qualifier going into the finals in Finland.
Kristoffersson suffered mechanical problems in the second qualifying session but still qualified as TQ for the finals of round four of the 2020 FIA World Rallycross Championships.
Different conditions from yesterday saw the three qualifying sessions run in the wet.
Here’s what happened across the three sessions.
Qualifying 1
A damp start to the session and rain starting to fall halfway through meant that the drivers opted for wet tyres.
A messy start of race one saw Rene Munnich launched across the front of the four car grid from pole position and into the gravel on the outside of turn one. Jere Kalliokoski took the joker on lap one but was up to P2 on lap three in a close fight with Atro Maatta and Tamas Karai. Kalliokoski took the race win ahead of Karai and Maatta with Munnich completing the race further back.
Round three winner, Kristoffersson took the race win in the second heat with the fastest time of the session. Despite a slow start of the grid Timmy Hansen took second, passing Timur Timerzyanov, Guerlain Chicherit and Jani Paasonen at turn one. Timerzyanov dropped from second to fifth at turn one, but recovered to third ahead of Chicherit and Paasonen.
Finnish driver Juha Rytkonen who took second on his World RX debut yesterday won race three. Timo Scheider was second ahead of Niclas Gronholm who just took third from Robin Larsson. Anton Marklund was slow away from the line and finished fifth.
In the final race of the session Liam Doran was the only driver to opt for the slick tyres in the session. The gamble didn’t pay off finishing fourth in the race ahead of Kevin Abbring. Mattias Ekstrom took the win ahead of Andreas Bakkerud and Kevin Hansen.
Kristoffersson was fastest in the session ahead of Timmy Hansen, Ekstrom, Rytkonen, Bakkerud and Scheider.
Qualifying 2
Conditions improving from the first session the times were improved. It was fastest first for the second round of qualifying. Rytkonen lead out of turn one, whilst Kristoffersson had a misfire dropping to the back of the order. Ekstrom was on the back of Rytkonen looking for a way past. Ekstrom was able to get the move made on Rytkonen on the last bend of the race after Rytkonen emerged from the joker. Ekstrom took the win from Rytkonen. Behind there was contact between Bakkerud and Timmy Hansen when Bakkerud made a move up the inside after Hansen ran wide.
Race two and Larsson and took the initial lead after going round the outside of turn one. At the end of the first lap Gronholm passes to take the lead after a mistake from Larsson. Gronholm went on to take the win and recording the fastest lap of the session. Kevin Hansen finished second ahead of Larsson, Scheider and Marklund.
Abbring led at the start of race three. Doran worked his way through the order to catch the back of Abbring and takes the lead, with Abbring dropping down to fourth. Doran suffered another failure on the car with the front right wheel coming off the car. Timerzyanov was lucky to avoid the Brit but went on to win the race. Kalliokoski took second ahead of Abbring and Chicherit.
There was contact on the lead up to turn one of race four. This resulted in Maatta rolling in the gravel trap. The race continued with Karai leading until taking the joker. Paasonen crossed the line first but hadn’t taken his joker lap, receiving a 30 second time penalty. The win went to Karai ahead of Munnich.
Qualifying 3
For the final round of qualifying the rain was falling again making the track very slippery.
With slowest first Doran took the win, recovering from a bad start. Maatta was back out after his roll in Q2 and was the last to finish. Paasonen and Munnich both retired from the race.
Kristoffersson took the lead at the start of the second race and took the race win with the session’s fastest time on a worsening track. Bakkerud took second from Timmy Hansen, with Chicherit fourth ahead of Karai.
Both Rytkonen and Larsson got a great start for race three, but Larsson went wide at turn one in the gravel which allowed Scheider up into second after a bad start. Rytkonen took the win from Scheider with Larsson third ahead of Marklund and Abbring.
Gronholm took the lead of the final race of qualifying off the line. Ekstrom dropped down the order but worked his way back up passing Kevin Hansen on the inside off the final turn after Hansen took his joker. Gronholm won the race ahead of Ekstrom, Hansen, Timerzyanov and Kalliokoski.
Top Qualifier for the finals goes to Kristoffersson, joining him in the first semi-final is Ekstrom, Bakkerud, Rytkonen, Larsson and Marklund. Gronholm will be on pole for the second semi-final with Timmy Hansen, Kevin Hansen, Scheider, Timerzyanov and Kalliokoski joining him.
Feature image credit: FIAWorldRallycross.com
