Johan Kristoffersson on the podium again in WorldRX
Johan Kristoffersson, Volkswagen Team Sweden, finished on the podium for the second race in a row when FIA World Rallycross Championship visited Turkey and Intercity Istanbul Park. He drove his VW Polo to third place in the final and strengthened thereby his third place in the championship standings. “This was a good weekend for us…
October 08, 2015
Johan Kristoffersson, Volkswagen Team Sweden, finished on the podium for the second race in a row when FIA World Rallycross Championship visited Turkey and Intercity Istanbul Park. He drove his VW Polo to third place in the final and strengthened thereby his third place in the championship standings. “This was a good weekend for us even though we had to fight hard for the podium, both in the paddock and on the track” said Johan after the finish.
Johan Kristoffersson and Volkswagen Team Sweden came to Turkey and the eleventh WorldRX round with good confidence after their second place in the previous round in Barcelona.
After four qualifying heats, where Johan scored 5th-6th-7th-10th, he easily advanced to the semi-finals as the sixth driver overall. The semis was a real thriller. Johan was second behind Timmy Hansen on the last lap, but since he had not done the joker lap yet, there was still a big risk that he would miss out on a spot in the final.
“But a lot happened towards the end. I was even in the lead when I took a hit and fell back a couple of positions.”
A third place was eventually his result and that qualified him for the final, which he started from third row, position five.
Johan did a great start and was third on the first lap.
“But then I hesitated a bit on whether I should take the joker lap immediately or not, and then Anton Marklund gave me a real challenge. He came on the inside and managed to pass me.”
Later on the opening lap, Marklund had problems and Johan could, after a little contact, get past him. The rest of the final heat was quite open for Johan, who took third place behind Timmy Hansen and Andreas Bakkerud.
“We had a tough time with our pace today and we had to use all our knowledge to successfully conquer another podium. This third place was a victory considering the work we put in and I think we move one step forward every time” said team manager Tommy Kristoffersson as a tribute to the whole team.
Petter Solberg still has the overall championship lead, but his lead has decreased to 19 points ahead of the two last rounds after Hansen’s win this weekend. Johan maintains his third place in the classification but Andreas Bakkerud, who advanced to fourth place, is just 13 points behind him.
The next round of the World RX takes place in Italy on October 16 to 18.