WRX
29 Apr 2019
Credit: World RX Media
Timmy Hansen made up for the disappointment of the 2019 World Rallycross championship season opener to complete a clean sweep at World Rallycross of Barcelona-Catalunya.
The Hansen MJP driver followed up his fine Saturday performance to win his remaining qualifying heats on Sunday morning, before claiming victory in his semi-final and the final.
Both Timmy and Kevin Hansen got away cleanly from the front row of the grid in the final, behind them Andreas Bakkerud had to force his way past Niclas Gronholm while defending from Janis Baumanis. In order to get some clean air to help him retake the position from the RX Cartel driver, Gronholm opted to joker on the first lap.
Up front, Timmy Hansen began to eke out a lead over Kevin Hansen who had his mirror’s full of Bakkerud’s Audi. Gronholm emerged from the joker behind Baumanis and couldn’t get by.
The decision to joker early ended up costing Gronholm any chance of a podium finish because Baumanis didn’t joker until the final lap, along with fellow podium contender Bakkerud. They both took the longer route one lap later than Kevin Hansen, who just managed to remain ahead of Bakkerud at the merge on the final lap.
Timmy Hansen meanwhile was unfazed at the front of the field and also jokered on the final lap. His advantage of over 2.3 seconds going onto that last lap ensured that he kept the lead and took his first time of the season.
Kevin Hansen followed in second to complete the first one-two finish for a pair of brothers in World RX history. Bakkerud finished third, with Gronholm a further 1.2 seconds back in fourth.
While the early joker strategy didn’t pay off for Gronholm, it did for Raymond, who found his way past Baumanis late on to claim fifth in his first World RX final appearance.
Timmy Hansen’s win was his first World Championship victory since the 2016 World RX of Canada event, and his first top-level rallycross win since last summer’s Nitro Rallycross competition in Utah.
Hansen MJP’s one-two was the first for a pair of brothers in World RX – Credit: World RX Media
| 1. | Timmy Hansen | 04:31.584 | ||
| 2. | Kevin Hansen | 04:34.367 | ||
| 3. | Andreas Bakkerud | 04:34.982 | ||
| 4. | Niclas Gronholm | 04:35.685 | ||
| 5. | Cyril Raymond | 04:38.196 | ||
| 6. | Janis Baumanis | 04:39.095 |
Kevin Hansen is the current championship leader – Credit: World RX Media
