Timmy Hansen scores World RX of Great Britain win in thrilling fashion
Timmy Hansen took a thrilling World RX of Great Britain victory at Silverstone, defeating Andreas Bakkerud thanks to a great strategy with a perfectly timed joker lap. Team HANSEN MJP team-mate and younger brother Kevin showed great speed all weekend but a small mistake cost him a chance to make the Final.
Saturday began in the best possible way, with Timmy and Kevin going fastest and second fastest respectively in Qualifying 1. It was a close fight, with Kevin sticking a stunning move around the outside to take the lead, only for Timmy to claw back time and resume the lead after joker laps had been taken. There was another formation finish in Qualifying 2, where both Timmy and Kevin were in the same heat once again, the former scoring Q2 victory and the latter going third fastest in the aggregate Q2 times.
Rain had fallen on Silverstone overnight, which meant both drivers being in the first heat would be a disadvantage. Timmy and Kevin were still 1-2 in their heat for a third consecutive time but ultimately would only place second and fourth in the session. Their positions then switched in Q4, which put both on the front row for Semi Final 1.
All appeared well in the Semi Final, with both Hansens running 1-2 yet again. Timmy and Kevin pulled away out front and both took their jokers on the last lap but a small mistake from Kevin when entering the hairpin, turning in slightly too early, put him nose-first into the tyre barrier and cost him 10 seconds. A second place had become sixth at the penultimate corner of the race.
Despite the setback, Team HANSEN MJP turned its focus straight to the final, in which Timmy was starting on the front row. His race was nearly over at the first turn when Timmy’s Peugeot 208 WRX was squeezed into the inside tyre barrier by Andreas Bakkerud, which inflicted minor damage to his car and dropped him to second place.
But a focused, determined Timmy regrouped and, with the help of a clever strategy from the team, jokered early and set the fastest lap of the weekend, taking the lead with one lap to go and delivering a stunning comeback victory.
A great weekend for Timmy put him straight into the lead of the World RX drivers’ championship, with Team HANSEN MJP still first and second, Kevin only four points behind Timmy in the standings. It was also a strong weekend in the teams’ championship, extending the lead to 25 points over GRX Taneco. After the disappointment of Sweden losing to Finland on Thursday in the IIHF World Championship ice hockey tournament, it was a nice bonus for the Swedish World RX team to beat the Finns three days later.
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1st
Timmy Hansen
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7th
Kevin Hansen
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| Qualifying 1 1st Qualifying 2 1st Qualifying 3 2nd Qualifying 4 4th Semi-Final 1 1st Final 1st |
Qualifying 1 2nd Qualifying 2 3rd Qualifying 3 4th Qualifying 4 2nd Semi-Final 1 6th Final |
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21
Timmy Hansen:
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71
Kevin Hansen:
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“It was definitely hard today; Bakkerud found some good pace and won Q3 and Q4, as well as his Semi Final, so for sure it was tough to line up next to him. He squeezed me into the tyres at the first corner, so I was happy to be able to continue. I came out second and when I took my joker I did a great lap, so once he took his I emerged in the lead. I definitely had to work hard to get it, but it tastes even sweeter when that happens. Of course there were mixed emotions, especially after the Semi Final. We’re in this together. Kevin's going to come back stronger, mistakes happen sometimes and I would have enjoyed to be up on the podium with Kevin this weekend but I hope we get to do that in Norway.” |
“Saturday was really good, I think I had really good pace. The starts were amazing, I really felt at home and that I have upped my level quite a lot on Saturdays. Then on Sunday I was having good pace in qualifying but was struggling a bit with the reverse grid, it didn’t feel in our favour as in the end I was P3. The Semi Final was going really well and I had good speed behind Timmy, he was on fresh rubber and I wasn’t. I think it was a good Semi but just a small mistake in the end cost me a lot. It’s been a long time since I led a championship so it was nice to have it for four races, but now I want to take it back! Now I have led once, I know how it works so let’s take that lead back and keep it.” |
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THE BOSS:
Kenneth Hansen:
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“Saturday was really good, we had a strong performance, were 1-2 in Q1 and finished the day 1-2 which was perfect. Bakkerud came back quite strongly today and won Q3 and Q4 but we also had a very good day. The only bad thing was the small mistake from Kevin in the Semi-Final that cost him second place and he finished sixth. |
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