Sébastien Loeb held his nerve again in Portugal during a freak snowfall to claim a successive second spot to start the 2018 FIA World Rallycross season.
The Frenchman could do nothing to stop 2017 champion Johan Kristoffersson from his second win of the season, however did enough to fend off two-time champion Petter Solberg. Here is all you need to know:
– Forty-four-year-old Loeb qualified second behind Team Peugeot Total team-mate Timmy Hansen in their semi-final, but Kevin Hansen could only finish sixth in his semi-final.
– 2016 champion Mattias Ekström suffered a rare poor WRX stop as he could only finish fourth in the semi-final where EKS Audi Sport team-mate Bakkerud qualified in second.
– Timmy, who qualified for all but one final in 2017, started on pole but crashed in the final to end up in last behind Norwegian Bakkerud in fourth and Frenchman Guerlain Chicherit in fifth.
– The freak spring snow that fell in Montalegre ensured the drivers competed in the FIA World Rallycross series’ first ever snow final in front of loyal WRX fans.
– Haguenau native Loeb is a nine-time FIA World Rally champion who has one World Rallycross race victory to his name and now 12 WRX podiums as well.
Final positions:
1. Johan Kristofferssson Volkswagen 04:16.859
2. Sébastien Loeb Peugeot 04:19.112
3. Petter Solberg Volkswagen 04:20.797
4. Andreas Bakkerud Audi 04:23.501
5. Guerlain Chicherit Renault 04:26.425
6. Timmy Hansen Peugeot 04:38.103
Championship positions
1. Johan Kristofferssson Volkswagen 53pts
2. Andreas Bakkerud Audi 44pts
3. Petter Solberg Volkswagen 43pts
4. Sébastien Loeb Peugeot 39pts
5. Timmy Hansen Peugeot 36pts
6. Mattias Ekstrom Audi 36pts
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