The final round of the 2013 Swedish Rallycross Championship at the Kinnekulle Ring near Götene was overshadowed by many punctures or suspension damaging incidents and saw Peter Hedström defending his 2012 SRC title.

While the old Rallycross track of the Kinnekulle Ring may have been a bit short of tarmac sections, the new first corner slope used last weekend caused a lot of troubles and raised many questions. In former years the first corner was pretty smooth and offered the starting groups a lot of space to sort things out. Now there was a tricky lefthander leading into a heavy braking zone, just before the new dirt section behind the bridge. The loose there became quickly too loose and too bumpy and all but good for the tyres and suspension systems. This caused the main problems over the whole event and changed the outcome of several of the races.

It actually needs ten starters in SuperCars to win an official Swedish Rallycross Championship title. For the last three years it was decided in a single event, the Finale of the SRC series, since 2011 hosted at Kinnekulle. In the past the ASN SBF had closed an eye if there were eventually less than ten drivers competing, like nine in 2012 or even just six in 2011. However, this year the minimum was reached, beside eight Swedish starters it was Latvian Reinis Nitišs and Finn Joni Wiman who completed the necessary numbers in the top category.

Škoda Fabia Mk2 campaigner Peter Hedström won the event, defending the title he claimed already one year ago. The man from Torsby was very happy after the A final, a bit later expressing how much the win meant to him: “After a difficult European season today was my day. I really needed this victory at the end of this year, and beside that it is also very important for my future plans.”

Although it was Johan Kristoffersson who had claimed the pole position of the A final by setting the fastest times in the second and third qualifying runs it was Hedström who won the sprint to the first corner. It was right here under the bridge that the sixpack lost two men in Robin Larsson, who shot straight into the greenery, and OMSE boss Andréas Eriksson, whose car suffered a flat tyre to end his race. “I was helped off the track, then braked till standstill for not to slide further to get in front of the others, and after that I was not able to start the stalled car again,” said the 20 years old son of double ERC winner Lars Larsson later.

For at least two of the five laps Kristoffersson was dog-hounding Hedström, but after both his left tyres had called it a day a place on the podium was out of reach for the son of Rallycross legend Tommy Kristoffersson. “The new gravel part of the track was really bad, and I knew immediately when I came back to the asphalt that I had punctures, both in the front and the rear on the left side,” said the disappointed Kristoffersson Junior later. Second place fell prey to Mats Öhman now, despite being hampered by a puncture the Volvo campaigner brought his ex-Hunsbedt S40 Mk2 to the chequered flag. Anton Marklund made it over the finish line in third place, his Polo Mk5 had turned itself from four-wheel to two-wheel drive at an early stage of this last race of the day.

• FINAL RESULTS SUPERCARS:
• 1. Peter Hedström (S) Škoda Fabia Mk2
• 2. Mats Öhman (S) Volvo S40 Mk2
• 3. Anton Marklund (S) VW Polo Mk5
• 4. Johan Kristoffersson (S) VW Scirocco Mk3
• 5. Robin Larsson (S) VW Scirocco Mk3 (DNF)
• 6. Andréas Eriksson (S) Ford Fiesta Mk7 (DNF)
• B final:
• W. Mats Öhman (S) Volvo S40 Mk2
• 7. Reinis Nitišs (LV) Citroën C4
• 8. Per Eklund (S) Saab 9-3
• 9. Joni Wiman (FIN) Ford Fiesta Mk7 (BF)
• 10. Tomas Andersson (S) BMW 1 E81 (DNS)
• FINAL RESULTS TOURINGCARS:
• 1. Lars Rosendahl (S) Ford Fiesta Mk7 RWD
• 2. Kjetil Larsen (N) Škoda Fabia Mk1 RWD
• 3. Daniel Lundh (S) Volvo C30/4 RWD (DNF)
• 4. Andreas Eriksson (S) Peugeot 206 RC (DNF)
• FINAL RESULTS JRX:
• 1. Kevin Hansen (S) JRX Citroën DS3
• 2. William Nilsson (S) JRX Renault Clio Mk2
• 3. Magda Andersson ♀ (S) JRX Mercedes A-Class
• 4. “Benjamin” (S) JRX Renault Clio Mk2 (DNF)
• FINAL RESULTS SUPERNATIONALS:
• 1. Linus Westman (S) BMW E30 Coupé
• 2. Ulf Eriksson (S) BMW E30 Coupé
• 3. Daniel Wall (S) Volvo V40
• 4. Fredrik Tiger (S) BMW E36 Coupé (DNF)
• 5. Viktor Andersson (S) Ford Fiesta Mk7 (DNF)
• 6. Mikael Dahlberg (S) Hyundai Accent (DNF)
• FINAL RESULTS NATIONALS 2400:
• 1. Erik Wigren (S) Volvo S40
• 2. Mattias Ohlsson (S) BMW E30 Coupé
• 3. Niclas Norström (S) BMW E36
• 4. Viktor Johansson (S) BMW E30
• 5. Per Berglund (S) Volvo S40
• 6. Linus Leise (S) BMW E30 Coupé (BF)
• FINAL RESULTS JUNIOR CLASS:
• 1. Andreas Persson (S) BMW E36
• 2. Tommy Johansson (S) BMW E36
• 3. Anton Isaksson (S) BMW E36 (with Volvo engine!)
• 4. Daniel Svedberg (S) BMW E30 Coupé
• 5. Pontus Jacobsson (S) Peugeot 205 (DNF)
• 6. Rasmus Karlsson (S) Volvo 240 (DNF)

More Kinnekulle images to be found here in our Gallery.