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Motorsport fans were treated to one of the most exciting forms of racing at Killarney International Raceway in Cape Town over the weekend as the FIA World Rallycross Championship rolled into town – #CapeTownRX. The inaugural weekender in South Africa pulled in a record crowd of 27000 fans who all played witness to 2-days of fast, intense, action packed racing.
How does Rallycross differ from other motorsports, and what makes it so exciting? Not only does it feature some of the world’s most famous and exciting divers, but racing takes place on a short circuit featuring dirt and jump sections with cars that reach 100km/h in just 2 seconds. Races are quick (4 laps in the qualifying rounds and 6 laps in the final rounds) resulting in tight, full contact racing.
Watch the replay of the final:
Johan Kristoffersson closed out his championship winning season in perfect style by taking his seventh victory of the season. Things could not have gone better for the Swedish driver as he emerged as the top qualifier in the intermediate standings and went on to win his semi final and then the main final. Standing on top of the podium marks 11 podiums out of 12 this year, beating his nearest rival, Mattias Ekström by 61 points.
Hoonigan Racing Division’s, and fan favourites, Ken Block and Andreas Bakkerud suffered a galling weekend, finishing 8th and 7th overall. After a great qualifying things didn’t work out for the drivers in the finals. Block looked on form all weekend long with his car working well on the Cape Town Circuit, and he went on to finish 2nd in a very dramatic semi final. Unfortunately heavy damage sustaining in the battle for the lead in the semi final saw the Ford Focus RS RX shed a significant amount of its front body work, the car was judged to be underweight by race official for the final. This unfortunately also meant that despite Block’s awesome performance in track, he was disqualified from the race.
The FIA World Rallycross Championship will be returning to South Africa in 2018 on 24-25 November. Ticket sales are open and frozen at this year’s priced until January, so take advantage of the opportunity and book your tickets here.
If you missed the action at Killarney, then don’t worry as the likes of Johan Kristoffersson, Petter Solberg, Ken Block, Andreas Bakkerud and Jason Webb are heading to Gymkhana GRiD in Johannesburg this weekend 18-19 November – Tickets available here.
FIA World Rallycross Championship #CapeTownRX Results:
1st Johan Kristoffersson
2nd Timmy Hansen
3rd Mattias Ekström
4th Petter Solberg
5th Timo Scheider
6th Kevin Hansen
7th Andreas Bakkerud
8th Ken Block
Johan Kristoffersson – PSRX Volkswagen World RX Team Sweden
“This season has been just incredible. I can’t believe what we have achieved. Again, I have to thank Petter and all of the team – together we have been so strong for all of this year. I thought this was possible when we talked before the season started, but to deliver like this is amazing. This is a fantastic way to end the season; this seventh win means I have more than 50 per cent of the victories – that’s not a bad year. Now we have a few days to rest and then go to Johannesburg for Gymkhana GRiD, which is going to be a first for me! I’m really looking forward to the challenge and going to go flat out.”
Ken Block – Hoonigan Racing Division
“So my race day went awesome – and I was on my way to starting the final in fourth place after some really tough qualifying and semi battles. Unfortunately – I lost a lot of bodywork whilst finishing second in my semi final race. So when my car hit the scales after the semi, it came in underweight – and therefore, I got disqualified because my race car was “too light” (lolwut!). Very lame way to end my FIA World Rallycross season – especially since I was in a podium-contending position! Not leaving Africa just yet though: really looking forward to running at Gymkhana Grid next week in Johannesburg.”
Photos by Rich Sutherland.
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