PoloDriver

After Johan Kristoffersson’s victory at the World RX of Portugal, the highest-placed Polo RX at last weekend’s World RX of Hockenheim was that of fourth-placed Toomas Heikkinen. The Finn joined his Marklund Motorsport team-mates P-G Andersson and Tanner Foust on the start line for the first semi-final, and ended up the highest-placed Polo finisher.

Spectacular spin
Volkswagen Team Sweden driver Kristoffersson made it through to the semi-final of the second round of the 2015 FIA World Rallycross Championship, too, but failed to translate his start into a final spot, and he finished in fifth place. His team-mate Tord Linnerud had a spectacular 360-degree spin in his 600bhp Polo RX, but managed to keep the car going, despite losing his rear hatch!

US Top Gear presenter Foust set two top five heat times before the overnight stop, which left him in fifth position. In the final placings, the Wildcard guest driver came home ninth, while Andersson ended the weekend in twelfth position.

First World RX of Hockenheim
Reigning champion Petter Solberg was victorious at the first-ever World RX of Hockenheim – which supported a round of the German DTM touring car championship – followed by runner-up Reinis Nitiss in second place and Timmy Hansen in third.

The next round of the championship is the World RX of Belgium, which takes place in Mettet on 15-17 May. The meeting will herald the first round of the European arm of the championship and will see Marklund Motorsport field another Polo RX Supercar driven by Tommy Rusted from Norway.

2015 FIA WORLD RALLYCROSS CHAMPIONSHIP,
DRIVERS’ CHAMPIONSHIP POINTS
1 Petter Solberg, Citroën DS3: 57
2 Johan Kristoffersson, Volkswagen Polo WRX: 42
3 Andreas Bakkerud, Ford Fiesta ST: 37
3 Timmy Hansen, Peugeot 208: 37
5 Reinis Nitiss, Ford Fiesta ST: 34

2015 FIA WORLD RALLYCROSS CHAMPIONSHIP,
TEAMS’ CHAMPIONSHIP POINTS
1 SDRX: 74
2 Ford Olsbergs MSE: 71
3 Team Peugeot-Hansen: 65
4 Volkswagen Team Sweden: 53
5 Marklund Motorsport: 52

Continue Reading

Johan Kristoffersson scored an early Polo victory at the opening round of the 2015 FIA World Rallycross Championship last weekend, taking his 600bhp Polo WRX Supercar across the line first at the Bompiso Rallycross of Portugal in Montalegre. The Volkswagen Team Sweden driver finished ahead of reigning World RX champion Petter Solberg and Team Peugeot-Hansen’s Timmy Hansen.

Kristoffersson, ex-Scandinavian Touring Car Championship winner, was quickest off the six-car start line and was also awarded the first Monster Energy Super Charge Award of 2015. The Swede also won a Rebellion Timepieces Wraith Drive Rallycross limited edition watch for his win in Portugal. ‘I am so, so happy,’ he beamed.

‘Unbelievably slippery’
‘I nearly stalled the engine on the start line and the whole circuit was unbelievably slippery but I drove a clean race. I couldn’t see out of the side windows so it was more about survival than actual racing.

‘I want to say a big, big thank you to Volkswagen Sweden and to my entire team who have done a fantastic job over the past few months. They have worked very hard to build this car which has been working well all weekend. It’s the best possible start to the season,’ he continued.

Second placed Solberg, last year’s Portugal round winner, added: ‘It is very important to have a good first race – consistency is as important as winning races in rallycross. I’ve not been feeling well this weekend and then I lost my gear lever in the final so it certainly wasn’t easy. Johan [Kristoffersson] has done a very good job this weekend.’

Olsbergs MSE’s Andreas Bakkerud was leading the round at the end of day one, but was knocked out of podium contention after contact with PG Andersson’s Polo RX during the final.

Toomas ‘Topi’ Heikkinen, 2014’s World RX runner-up was eighth in Portugal after a consistent weekend of driving in the Marklund Motorsport prepared Polo RX. Fellow Marklund Polo RX pilot PG Andersson was sixth.

Norwegian driver and team-mate of Kristoffersson, Tord Linnerud, finished 16th in his Volkswagen Team Sweden Polo WRX. Weather conditions were dry on Saturday, day one, but on Sunday, day two, torrential rain made conditions difficult.

‘Sensational driving’
Martin Anayi, World RX Managing Director for IMG, commented: ‘We’ve witnessed some sensational driving in Portugal this weekend and the performance displayed by our younger drivers in such tricky driving conditions is particularly impressive.

‘Kristoffersson joins us as a permanent World Championship driver for the first time this year and the fact that he can win on his debut with Volkswagen Team Sweden is testament to the high standard of drivers that we have competing in World RX.

‘It’s excellent to see three manufacturers – Volkswagen, Citroen and Peugeot – finish on the podium and the development on the cars over the winter hiatus has been very impressive. With four races in five weeks, the teams have got little restbite now as we head straight to Hockenheim for our first ever event alongside the highly-acclaimed DTM series.’

The next round, the World RX of Hockenheim, takes place this weekend, 1-3 May at the Hockenheimring in Baden-Württemberg, Germany.

2015 FIA WORLD RALLYCROSS CHAMPIONSHIP,
DRIVERS’ CHAMPIONSHIP POINTS
1 Petter Solberg, Citroën DS3: 27
2 Johan Kristoffersson, Volkswagen Polo WRX: 27
3 Timmy Hansen, Peugeot 208: 24
4 Andreas Bakkerud, Ford Fiesta ST: 21
5 Davy Jeanney, Peugeot 208: 16

2015 FIA WORLD RALLYCROSS CHAMPIONSHIP,
TEAMS’ CHAMPIONSHIP POINTS
1 Team Peugeot-Hansen: 40
2 Ford Olsbergs MSE: 29
3 Marklund Motorsport: 29
4 SDRX: 29
5 Volkswagen Team Sweden: 28

Continue Reading

The 2014 FIA World Rallycross Championship may be over, but the Volkswagen Polo RXs of Marklund Motorsport were in action over the weekend of 13-14 December at the annual Race of Champions.

The Carribean island of Barbados was the venue for the 2014 event which sees motorsport legends compete each other and teamed up with fellow drivers from the same country to fight the Nations Cup.

The 600bhp Polo RXs were piloted by motorsport stars such as nine-time Le Mans winner Tom Kristensen, 2014 FIA World Rallycross Championship winner Petter Solberg, and overall victor F1’s David Coulthard. Duels were fought around a parallel course at Bushy Park.

Continue Reading

After a close finish, Marklund Motorsport has ended the inaugural season of the FIA World Rallycross Championship in second place, behind Ford Olsbergs MSE. The Marklund Motorsport team were leading the Teams’ Championship going into the competition at the Total Rallycross of Argentina.

The Swedish-run team settled for second, after a three-way battle with the Ford Olsbergs MSE outfit and Team Peugeot-Hansen. Only four points separated the three teams going into the final races at San Luis.

Toomas ‘Topi’ Heikinnen claimed second place in the semi-final number two. The Finn came fifth in the final. Former World Rally Championship driver Petter Solberg took the season’s spoils in the Drivers’ Championship, with Heikinnen second.

Heikinnen’s team-mate Anton Marklund completed the season in sixth place in the Drivers’ Championship, after a varied season which has seen the young Swede up his game quite considerably.

Heikinnen’s Polo RX Supercar suffered gearbox failure at the end of heat two, while he and Marklund were in first and eighth positions after heat three. Hot sun gave way to pouring rain for day two, and Marklund made adjustments to his Polo to enable it to better suit the slippery conditions.

‘We made quite a lot of changes overnight to the car to make it better on the gravel. It was starting to rain quite heavily when I was in the pre-grid area before heat three, other drivers were putting the rain tyres on but I stuck with the slicks.

‘Maybe it was the right choice, maybe the wrong choice, I don’t know really. I pushed as hard as I could and was sixth overall and closed the gap to the lead in the guys above me in the intermediate points,’ said Marklund.

But the mechanical maladies weren’t over for Heikinnen. The Finn’s Polo RX suffered engine failure on the final lap of the final qualifying heat, slowing to a stop just before the last corner. The Marklund Motorsport team changed the engine for one used previously in the season, so didn’t incur any penalties for using a new engine.

Overall, though, the team was pleased with its result. Marklund commented: ‘It’s always disappointing to be second but actually our aim at the start of the year was to finish in the top three so this is something we must all remember.

‘I think we have learned a lot for next year and we will be back and fighting hard. Topi finished second in the drivers’ standings to finish the year with two second places is something our whole team are really happy with.’

The 2015 FIA World Rallycross Championship season gets underway on 24 April 2015 with the first round in Montalegre, Portugal.

2014 FIA WORLD RALLYCROSS CHAMPIONSHIP,

DRIVERS’ CHAMPIONSHIP POINTS

1 Petter Solberg, 267
2 Toomas Heikkinen, 221

3 Reinis Nitiss, 210

4 Timmy Hansen, 199
5 Andreas Bakkerud, 193
6 Anton Marklund, 173

2014 FIA WORLD RALLYCROSS CHAMPIONSHIP,

TEAMS’ CHAMPIONSHIP POINTS

1 Ford Olsbergs MSE, 403
2 Volkswagen Marklund, 394
3 Team Peugeot-Hansen, 351
4 PSRX, 261
5 Monster Energy World RX Team, 76

Continue Reading

The penultimate round of the 2014 FIA World Rallycross Championship in Instanbul, Turkey on 11-12 October saw strong performances from Polo RX drivers Toomas ‘Topi’ Heikkinen and Anton Marklund, taking Marklund Motorsport to the top of the series’ team standings.

Heikkinen’s drive in his 500bhp Polo RX saw him hold on to second place in the Drivers’ Championship. His command over four gripping heats and battles with Timmy Hansen’s Peugeot 208 RX saw the young Finn score enough points to see him defend his runner-up position.

Former WRC ace Petter Solberg has already been crowned 2014 champion.

‘Volkswagen Marklund are now leading the teams’ standings by four points – we’ve been tied at the top on two separate occasions this year but now we are leading it by ourselves,’ explained Heikkinen.

‘My driving hasn’t been perfect this weekend, I made a few small mistakes but I’m happy to have got some crucial points for the team.’

Ford Olsbergs MSE driver Andreas Bakkerud was the overall winner of the World RX of Turkey. With Ford, Peugeot and Volkswagen all represented on the podium, the fight for the first ever Teams’ Championship will now be decided at the final round in San Luis, Argentina, on 28-29 November.

2014 FIA WORLD RALLYCROSS CHAMPIONSHIP,

DRIVERS’ CHAMPIONSHIP POINTS

1 Petter Solberg, 250

2 Toomas Heikkinen, 200

3 Reinis Nitiss, 182
4 Timmy Hansen, 179

5 Andreas Bakkerud, 173
6 Anton Marklund, 159

2014 FIA WORLD RALLYCROSS CHAMPIONSHIP,

TEAMS’ CHAMPIONSHIP POINTS

1 Volkswagen Marklund, 359
2 Ford Olsbergs MSE, 355

3 Team Peugeot-Hansen, 335

4 PSRX, 237
5 Monster Energy World RX Team, 102

Continue Reading