VW’s Kristoffersson On World RX Podium for First Time this Year

Johan Kristoffersson, racing in his Volkswagen RX Sweden Polo RX earned his first podium of the season at this year’s Canada RX, the first to take place off European soil.

The Final race took place in the rain, which benefited Kristoffersson, as point leader and pole-sitter Petter Solberg chose dry weather tires. A move that would ultimately cost him the race.

After bogging down off the start, Solberg was passed by nearly the entire field. Kristoffersson, meanwhile, jumped up into the race for the lead. From his position on the outside of the track, though, the Swede was unable to make a move on the first corner for the top spot and had to settle in for a tough race.

After taking his mandatory joker lap earlier than the leaders, Kristoffersson had a clean track to try and race as hard as possible. Race leader Timmy Hansen was out of reach, but second-place Andreas Bakkerud was firmly in the Volkswagen driver’s sights.

When, on the race’s fourth of six laps, Bakkerud finally took his joker, it didn’t look like there would be enough time to maintain his position. Unfortunately for Kristoffersson, though, a less than perfect turn meant that he stayed behind Bakkerud.

Although he hounded the second place driver for the rest of the race, Kristoffersson couldn’t make the pass on the tight Canadian track, and so he ended the race in third place.

Despite the potential for more points, Kristoffersson was pleased with his result.

“We’ve been so close and finally our hard work has paid off and we are back on the podium – it feels really good to be back here,” Kristoffersson told fiaworldrallycross.com. “ Petter was outstanding in the semi-final and I felt like I couldn’t catch him but then the rain started and our car works so well in the rain. The first two laps were really good for us and the car worked perfectly.”

Following the Canada RX, Kristoffersson sits in fourth place overall with 129 points, only three points behind Bakkerud (132). Mattias Ekstrom (157) and Petter Solberg (161) meanwhile are in second and first, respectively.

The drivers will be back at in a little less than a month’s time for the Bretagne World RX of France, starting on September 2.

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