After Day 1 of WorldRX Turkey it is Timmy Hansen who tops the Overnight Standings, having claimed a third fastest time in Heat 1 as well as a fastest time in Heat 2. Second position is in the hands of Toomas ‘Topi’ Heikkinen, Richard Göransson holds currently third place.
Swede Timmy Hansen has established an early lead at the WorldRX of Turkey, the penultimate round of the first ever FIA World Rallycross Championship, being staged at the Istanbul Intercity Park circuit. The Peugeot-Hansen driver was third quickest in Heat 1 and followed it up with a Heat 2 victory. Volkswagen Marklund’s Finn ‘Topi’ Heikkinen is currently second with Ford OlsbergsMSE wildcard driver Swede Richard Göransson third.
Timmy Hansen explains his fellow-countryman Richard Göransson the finer things of Rallycross. © JKR/ERC24
Toomas Heikkinen won Heat 1, but the 10th place in Heat 2 made him runner-up to Hansen. © JKR/ERC24
Hansen, who won the previous RX round in Italy, clocked the fastest time during Open Practice in his Peugeot 208 SuperCar. The 21-year-old also set the quickest heat time of the day in Heat 2, beating Heikkinen’s Heat 1 victory by 1.5 seconds. “I’m feeling really comfortable in the car here – I love the dirt section, it reminds me a lot of driving on ice back in Sweden because it’s so slippery,” explained Hansen. “The track overall is fantastic, but I think the key to winning here is getting a good time in the gravel section. We made no mistakes on the dirt today and that definitely helped.”
The first ever FIA Rallycross round in Asia is hosted by Turkey, a country that has seen many Rallycross events before. © JKR/ERC24
Petter Solberg arrived in Istanbul as the first ever World Rallycross Champion in motorsports history. © JKR/ERC24
Heikkinen went quickest in Heat 1, but finished Heat 2 only tenth fastest after a false start saw the VW driver lose time with a double Joker Lap penalty. Heikkinen’s Swedish team-mate Anton Marklund is seventh overnight in a second Polo RX SuperCar after admitting driver errors hindered him from reaching a Top 5 position.
After what is only his second outing in a SuperCar Swedish tarmac racer Richard Göransson looks set to challenge the WorldRX front-runners once again. “I’ve had a really fun day,” admitted Göransson. “I love this track – it’s very technical with a lot of gravel. There’s a lot to learn, but thankfully I have two very talented team-mates [Reinis Nitišs and Andreas Bakkerud] that I can speak to and analyse the data with.”
Jos Jansen, Andy Scott and Timur Timerzyanov battle it out, just a moment later the Russian lost a wheel of his Citroën DS3. © JKR/ERC24
Scott 26 (Andy) and Scott 22 (Marc), the first father and son team in WorldRX. © JKR/ERC24
Fourth overnight in another Ford Fiesta Mk7 ST SuperCar is Norwegian Bakkerud. Fifth place is occupied by his compatriot Petter Solberg who spoke of small issues with his Citroën DS3 and difficulties with handling on the slippery dirt section. Swede Edward Sandström is eight overnight after a solid performance in the EKS Audi A1 SuperCar. Team-mate ‘P-G’ Andersson did not get off to the best start after the EKS squad was forced to change the car’s engine after free practice which saw the Swede miss Heat 1. Former WRC star Andersson made up for lost time, however, after posting the second quickest time in Heat 2.
Not a good SuperCars start for Lars Øivind Enerberg, his Citroën DS3 caught fire in Heat 1. © JKR/ERC24
The Monster Grid Badgers have seen warmer days during the now running out WorldRX season. © JKR/ERC24
Elsewhere Russian Timur Timerzyanov had a troubled day after handbrake problems in Heat 1 and tearing the left-rear wheel off his Peugeot 208 after an impact in Heat 2. Monster Energy World RX Team’s Norwegian Henning Solberg (Citroën DS3) is ninth overnight with team-mate and fellow-countryman Lars Øivind Enerberg 15th after the 2011 ERC winner in TouringCars suffered turbo failure of his DS3 during Heat 2. LD Motorsports frontman Derek Tohill lies tenth overnight in his Citroën DS3, happy with his performance through today’s heats. “We had a lot of work to do on our car after Italy and I’m pleased to say the guys have done a great job because the car is working better than it has in a long time. I really like this track, it’s very different from Italy and it suits my driving style. It’s been a good day,” concluded the Irishman.
Sebastian Eriksson drove the fastest times in both RX Lites qualifying heats. © JKR/ERC24
OMSE team-mates Andreas Bakkerud and Reinis Nitišs battle it out in the paddock. © JKR/ERC24
Night over Turkey and Istanbul Park, tomorrow will be another day. © JKR/ERC24
Albatec Racing’s father and son duo Andy and Marc Scott are 11th and 12th overnight. “Today I’ve been finding my feet,” explained Scott Junior who is making his World RX debut this weekend for the Scotland-based team. “It was good to line up beside my dad in Heat 2, but then I was fired off into the wall on turn one. I’d be really happy to make it to the Semi-Finals tomorrow. I know it’s a tall order but that’s my aim.”
Top qualifier in the RX Lites Cup class is Swede Sebastian Eriksson. Super1600s regular Jānis Baumanis made his first start in RX Lites this weekend, but rolled his car in Heat 1. The Latvian managed to make the re-started race and lies third overnight. Italy RX Lites winner Norwegian Daniel Holten is second while Swede Kevin Eriksson hopes for a strong result to end his championship-winning season and sits fourth overnight.
Standings in SuperCars after Day 1 to be found here.
Standings in RX Lites after Day 1 to be found here.
For more images please visit our Flickr gallery here.
Top photo: Timmy Hansen made Day 1 of the WorldRX round of Turkey his. © JKR/ERC24
Highlights of Day 1.