Johan Kristoffersson was left ‘very satisfied’ with his competitive rallycross return in a Supercar in RallyX Nordic’s Magic Weekend, despite missing out on victory in the final of the first Supercar round.
The double World Rallycross Champion, who won 11 out of 12 rounds on the way to the 2018 title, was making his first proper start in the discipline in over a year-and-a-half and made his return in a privately-entered Volkswagen Polo.
Kristoffersson won his opening heat but then a penalty and traffic in his other two races meant that he finished qualifying in a somewhat unfamiliar fourth place.
That left him with work to do in the semi-finals and the final, where he again was shuffled out at the start, only for him to capitalize on an early joker to charge back to second place.
“In the end, from where I came from this morning, I think I have to be very satisfied,” he said.
“The final panned out really my way, I bogged down for the first time today, I had too much wheelspin all day today and in the start, I baulked.
“So, it felt a bit tricky. But I managed to have a good Turn 1, I managed to squeeze all of the guys so I could be first into the joker and from there, I was lucky that Pontus [Tidemand] took the joker when I caught him.
“It was a bit tricky to see in the dust but otherwise, we have to be happy, we had some small issues on the car during the day but some minor stuff only. And I also took some wrong decisions as well, especially in Q2 so it really feels nice to get back into form.”
Kristoffersson’s charge in the final was initially stunted by Pontus Tidemand, who didn’t take the longer route until lap three. Once he was out of the way, that released Kristoffersson to chase down the leaders. While he would eventually find a way past pre-race favorite Niclas Grönholm after he opted to joker on lap four, he couldn’t reel in eventual winner Robin Larsson.
“When Pontus took the joker I was a bit wide and there’s always an ‘if’ even if you always try to find a way forward but at the same time I have to be happy that I could finish on the podium and have Niclas behind.
“He was the guy to beat today and we have done it, both me and Robin so that was nice. But rallycross is rallycross and sometimes it’s not enough to just be the fastest.”
