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Kevin Hansen has been handed victory in the World Rallycross season-opener in Abu Dhabi after initial winner Niclas Gronholm was penalised.
Hansen had topped qualifying and won his semi-final, then took the lead of the final in the drag race to Turn 1.
Hansen and Gronholm ran nose-to-tail for the opening four laps until the lead changed hands at the double-apex up-hill hairpin of Turns 10 and 11.
Contact had been made between the two cars, with Hansen getting pushed sideways and Gronholm moving into a lead he would hold to the finish.
But, following the final, stewards awarded Gronholm a three-second time penalty for 'pushing and overtaking', which dropped the Finn down to second.
As a result, Hansen's first World RX podium also marks his first win.
With a maximum points haul from the event, he takes the championship lead.
Also penalised after the final was Janis Baumanis, who was docked 10 seconds for 'leaving the track' after he left the circuit between Turns 1 and 3 before overtaking EKS driver Krisztian Szabo. As a result, he was classified fifth.
