Argentina World RX: Petter Solberg seals title, Robin Larsson wins
Petter Solberg sealed a second consecutive World Rallycross Championship in the finale at Rosario in Argentina, as privateer driver Robin Larsson won
Solberg only had to qualify for the semi finals to add a second World RX crown to join his 2003 World Rally title, and with that accomplished he took third in a hard-fought final.
"I've been so nervous the whole weekend, it's just unbelievable," said Solberg.
"If people think it's easy, it isn't.
"It's an incredible feeling. It's been a fantastic year."
Peugeot-Hansen driver Timmy Hansen had pole position, but Larson - who had started alongside - found a way past at the first gravel section.
They swapped places twice more at the end of the lap after banging doors on the final asphalt straight, with Larsson back ahead as they crossed the line.
Hansen then lost second place to Mattias Ekstrom, who had already battled past Super1600 champion Janis Beaumanis after the Latvian shot up from the back row to third on lap one on his debut for Team Austria.
Larsson withstood heavy pressure from fellow Audi driver Ekstrom, while Hansen dropped out of contention when he ran wide on the slippery joker section as he took the extra route on lap two.
He later collided with younger brother Kevin, who had reached the final on his Supercar debut. Both siblings retired from the tail of the pack.
Ekstrom took his joker on the penultimate lap, but clashed with Solberg's Citroen as he rejoined. They continued still in second and third, with Solberg just ahead of Beaumanis.
Larsson saved his joker until the final tour and, warned by his spotters of the slippery conditions, took the corner very cautiously, returning to the main circuit in the lead to win his first rallycross event by just four tenths over Ekstrom.
"I had a tough fight with Timmy in the first corners and then Mattias was all over me in the last three laps," said Larsson.
"It was so hard to drive with him behind me, I closed every door I had!
"It was some kind of final. I will remember this my whole life for sure."
Intermediate Classification top qualifier Andreas Bakkerud was the most notable driver to miss the final.
He crashed out of the first semi-final while making a last second change of direction to enter the joker lap early on.
FINAL RESULTS - 6 LAPS:
Pos | Driver | Team | Car | Gap |
---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Robin Larsson | Audi | 4m16.346s | |
2 | Mattias Ekstrom | EKS | Audi | 0.453s |
3 | Petter Solberg | SDRX | Citroen | 5.241s |
4 | Janis Baumanis | Hansen Talent Development | Peugeot | 6.696s |
5 | Timmy Hansen | Team Peugeot-Hansen | Peugeot | 3 Laps |
6 | Kevin Hansen | Olsbergs MSE | Ford | 3 Laps |
7 | Andreas Bakkerud | Olsbergs MSE | Ford | 6 Laps |
8 | Davy Jeanney | Team Peugeot-Hansen | Peugeot | 6 Laps |
9 | Toomas Heikkinen | Marklund Motorsport | Volkswagen | 6 Laps |
10 | Ole-Christian Veiby | Volkswagen Team Sweden | Volkswagen | 6 Laps |
11 | Anton Marklund | EKS | Audi | 6 Laps |
12 | Manfred Stohl | World RX Team Austria | Ford | 6 Laps |
13 | Johan Kristoffersson | Volkswagen Team Sweden | Volkswagen | 6 Laps |
14 | Reinis Nitiss | Olsbergs MSE | Ford | 6 Laps |
15 | Liam Doran | SDRX | Citroen | 6 Laps |
16 | Thomas Bryntesson | Marklund Motorsport | Volkswagen | 6 Laps |
17 | Timur Timerzyanov | Namus OMSE | Ford | 6 Laps |
18 | Rene Munnich | All-Inkl.com Munnich Motorsport | Audi | 6 Laps |
19 | Gianni Morbidelli | All-Inkl.com Munnich Motorsport | Audi | 6 Laps |
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