The current holder of the title in the World Rally Championship Cross and unconditional leader this season Petter Solberg was in favor of Fortune — race after race, stage by stage the Norwegian faced with certain problems. But finally he managed to escape from the black strip — it happened on the track in Spain.
Solberg as if struggling to avoid any slightest incident — he akkuratnichal throughout the weekend. Petter was so cautious that the results of the preliminary rounds was in itself unusual for the sixth position.
But most importantly, that he was in the semi-finals — a victory in one of the «hits», second, tenth and thirty-second (!) Place allowed him to be in the middle of a dozen lucky semifinalists.
Do not risk a Norwegian, and in the semifinal race. The only «island» moment in which he participated, was the fight against the board in the board with Topi Heykkinenom in one of the first turn. However, after the Finn Petter neatly ruled out of rotation, if he changed his mind once again I remembered the caution and continued semi-final is actually «on ARRIVAL», finished it in second position.
But the Spanish favorite stage was, of course, Timmy Hansen. The representative of the famous rally-cross dynasty first victory on his home round in Sweden, but was stripped of first place after the end of the race because of too risky overtaking maneuver. But the Swede, as if he felt the taste of victory, did not give up, but instead began to speak more confidently. It was obvious that the victory is not far off.
And after two stages in Norway — the birthplace of Petter Solberg — Timmy took the same first place. The next stage in France — the homeland of his teammate Davi Jeanne — Hansen-average re-won. Well rang the guy, what else to say?
So no one was surprised the results of preliminary races — Timmy Hansen won two of the four sessions and has taken on the results of the selection first. In the first semi-final the Swede was no less swift and sure of himself — only rival, tried to force the fight Hansen, was another Swede Mattias Ekström.
But the battle did not last long — in one of the first turns of Matthias made a mistake, went to the outside, where it was launched, and instead he found himself leading position in the fifth. And to the finish arrival Ekström and could not get out of the back rows.
In addition to Hansen in the final of the first semifinal Check out Robin Larsson and Tanner Foust — outside of the top-3 it was not only the already mentioned extra, but the team and both drivers Olsbergs MSE and Andreas Bakkerud Reinis Nitishs. Unusual «batch» — middle peasants left behind quick riders finals.
And it can not be said that the losers were going slow and boring. Bakkerud Nitishs teammate and fought hard, full-contact — they overtook each other, not sparing the bumpers. But in the struggle with each other, they seem to have forgotten that to qualify for the finals is necessary not just to get to the finish line, but also to be in the top three.
In contrast to the first race of the second semi-final ended more predictable. Johan Kristoffersson won, Petter Solberg was second, Davi Joan closed the top three winners. Topi Heikkinen, Timur Timerzyanov and Tord Linnerud not included in the final race.
At the end of the first row were two dangerous rivals — peals caught courage and Timmy Hansen and Johan Kristoffersson.
They were preparing to fight each other and not to allow competitors to intervene in their duel. But right from the start it all went a bit wrong, as they would like.
«With pad» Timmy and Johan went side by side into the first corner they dragged to the outer radius and they lost speed. Behind the rolls has not become to take risks and engage in struggle contact Petter Solberg. Norwegian Hansen sped past and Kristoffersson, allowing them to continue to fight among themselves, but only for the second or third place.
The winner in this duel became Johan Kristoffersson — he left behind Mattias Ekström. At the end of the final race Davie Joan closed the top four, Tanner Foust became the fifth and sixth finalists Robin Larsson came down on the first lap — his car could not stand the heat of struggle.
As part of the Spanish World Championship in rally-cross played out prizes not only in classification Supercars, but also in other championships. Spanish stage of the championship of Europe in rallycross resigned Ole Christian Veybi. Second and third place was taken by Alexander Hvaal and Joni-Pekka Raha respectively.
After Timur Timerzyanova misses in the final standings Supercars Russian fans had no choice but to turn its attention to the standings Super 1600, which were two other representatives of the Russian Federation. However, the Russians are not lucky...
Nikita Misiulia landed in the final race, but he finished only fourth. And Timur Shigabutdinov in the preliminary heats was the 14th and missed the semifinals.
The next stage of the World Rally Championship-cross will be held October 2 in Turkey.
