The World Rallycross Championship returned to Cape Town in South Africa with a dramatic double-header, as the Hansen World RX Team battled at the front of the order all weekend long, ultimately claiming a pair of podiums with Kevin Hansen.
Racing single-specification Zeroid X1 all-electric machines for the double-header event at the Killarney International Circuit, the team started the weekend in the strongest possible way, as 2016 European Rallycross Champion Kevin Hansen became only the second driver in history to claim a fastest time in SuperPole, on Saturday – before 2019 World RX title-winner Timmy Hansen became only the third driver of the 2023 season to set a fastest Heat time in the third qualifying run.
With both drivers making it to the all-important final, Timmy Hansen ran second early in the race, as Kevin Hansen dived into the joker lap and would climb the order to finish on the podium in second, as Timmy Hansen unfortunately lost ground from contact.
Both drivers climbed the Drivers’ Championship order from the opening-day results, and again set fast pace on Sunday. Despite Timmy Hansen having to battle bent suspension during the Heats, and Kevin Hansen being forced into the wall in turn three of Heat 2, both drivers made the second row of the final and were again in contention for a double-podium. While Kevin Hansen ran second throughout, fending off big pressure from behind, Timmy Hansen was pushed into a spin in the opening corners and missed out on the podium in fourth.
Kevin Hansen lies second in the World RX Drivers’ Standings, while Timmy Hansen is fifth, heading to the season finale at a brand-new circuit in Hong Kong on November 11-12.
Kenneth Hansen said: “It has been an interesting weekend with everyone in the same cars. It has not been easy but we have learned a lot, working on small details here and there and at times we had very good speed. It is a very challenging track here, where you need to be at the front, and it’s difficult to take the joker to get any advantage. Kevin had very good results which we are pleased about – Timmy unfortunately had some drama in the finals, but we can look forward to the next races now in Hong Kong and work towards even better results.”
Kevin Hansen said: “It was nice to be on the podium twice this weekend, and if things had evolved a bit differently perhaps we could have won here, but that’s how it goes. Huge congratulations to Timo Scheider for winning on Sunday – to take your first win in World RX is something you will never forget. I was under pressure in both finals. On Saturday we had a good joker strategy that meant we could climb to second from fifth, and on Sunday we fought hard to finish second again, scoring good points for the championship. It’s been fantastic to be back racing this weekend in World RX, everyone has been pushing the limits. We have some work to do for sure to optimise this car for the next race, but we have a very good team and we’re excited to progress to Hong Kong.”
Timmy Hansen said: “It was a strong weekend. We were on the pace and up there fighting to be able to win the finals, but it didn’t quite work out for me in the end. That’s rallycross. On Saturday I moved to P2 in the final but got squeezed and the other driver got a penalty. Then I got pushed off in turn three in the final on Sunday and again the other driver got a penalty, but I guess I was just a bit caught out and that’s how it goes sometimes. I’m still happy that the performance was strong. We delivered some good lap times and we were in the fight. Kevin had a fantastic weekend and we will keep fighting.”