Niclas Gronholm and Johan Kristoffersson take the wins at the World RX of Riga double header.
Rounds four and five of the FIA World Rallycross championship took place in Riga, Latvia on the same weekend. Niclas Gronholm took the honours on Saturday with reigning champion, Johan Kristoffersson, taking the win on Sunday.
Round 4
The final of round four saw Kristoffersson and Gronholm alongside each other on the front row of the grid. A nudge from Gronholm sent Kristoffersson across the grid and put him out of the race.
Gronholm went on to lead the race all the way to the finish. The Hansen brothers completed the podium with Timmy second and Kevin getting past Krisztian Szabo. Szabo finished fourth ahead of Kristoffersson, whilst Timo Scheider retired.
Mattias Ekstrom was back on the grid but missed out on a place in the final due to a puncture. Dan Oberg, Enzo Ide, Kevin Abbring and Juha Rytkonen also didn’t make the final.
Round 5
On the grid for the final there were mechanical issues for Scheider who had to pull out of the race. He was replaced by the reserve, Szabo.
Kristoffersson got the launch off the grid and was able to settle himself into first place at turn one ahead of Gronholm. Kristoffersson dominated the race and took the win ahead of Gronholm.
Timmy Hansen made a move on Ekstrom to claim the final podium spot. Kevin Hansen was fifth ahead of Szabo.
After the two rounds there are 20 points covering the top three, Timmy Hansen, Kevin Hansen and Kristoffersson. Gronholm was the highest scorer of the weekend moving him into the title fight just three points behind Kristoffersson.
Round six takes place on the 9-10 October at the World RX of Spa-Francorchamps.
Featured image caption: FIAWorldRallycross.com
