Known as the “magic weekend” by the many Scandinavian rallycross drivers, the meet in Höljes, Sweden, which hosts the seventh event of the World Championship, is usually theirs to win. Disrupting this order of things is a difficult task, yet Sébastien Loeb achieved this last year by reaching the second step of the podium. Perhaps there is some Swedish blood running through the veins of his Peugeot 208 WRX, which was built by Peugeot Sport but is run by Team Hansen! More likely, this was due to the precise driving of the nine-time World Rally Championship winner who reconverted to rallycross, since this circuit is widely known to be the most technical of the year. Sébastien confirmed this hypothesis this weekend by winning the Q1, and ending the qualifying heats in a promising third place. In the semi-final, he used his starting position on the outside of the first line to his advantage, and finished second, moving on to the final in which he scored the third time. This meant reaching a third podium this season, a second consecutive one after the early-June race in Hell, Norway, where he finished third. This proves his very good form, and simultaneously allows him to climb up the championship standings.
“That was a rather good weekend!” acknowledged Sébastien. “This new podium confirms that we’re not letting go! In the final, Bakkerud sprung out of his joker lap right under my nose, so I was quite close to doing even better. As the grip on the track got better, we definitely got closer to the reference time, Volkswagen’s time, even though we’re still a tad slower. But my Peugeot 208 WRX had really good balance, and we were efficient in managing the race strategies, so we can be really satisfied of our work, especially since I grabbed some more points for the championship that my competitors were hoping to get. And I truly enjoyed my time at the wheel: with its sinuous turns, and the other much faster bends, and the jump that is never easy to approach with straight wheels, this very rhythmical track is very likely the greatest one of the year!”
The next Championship event will take the Alsatian to Canada (August 4th-6th) and the Trois Rivières circuit, which is very demanding engine-wise, but also quite interesting driving-wise. In the meantime, Sébastien will meet up with faithful Daniel Elena to compete in his second Silk Way Rally, in the vast Russian, Kazakh, and Chinese plains, driving the brand new 3008 DKR Maxi rally-raid Lioness.
RESULTS :
HOLJES RX:
1. Johan Kristoffersson (VW Polo GTI)
2. Andreas Bakkerud (Ford Focus RS)
3. Sébastien Loeb (Peugeot 208 WRX)
…
CHAMPIONSHIP STANDINGS:
1. Johan Kristoffersson (VW Polo GTI) 181 pts
2. Petter Solberg (VW Polo GTI) 150 pts
3. Mattias Ekström (Audi S1) 143 pts
4. Sébastien Loeb (Peugeot 208 WRX) 125 pts