There was little to separate fully-electric and sustainably-fuelled combustion engined cars at the World RX of Hungary, as Niclas Grönholm (EV) and Johan Kristoffersson (ICE) won Rounds 3 and 4 of the FIA World Rallycross Championship respectively as an evenly matched ‘Battle of Technologies’ raged at a blisteringly hot Nyirád Racing Center double header.

Grönholm clinched his first victory of the season on day one – the CE Dealer Team by Volvo Construction Equipment driver dodging a chaotic first corner and surviving an unavoidable Turn 2 coming together with Timmy Hansen (which spun the Hansen World RX Team’s Peugeot 208 RX1e) to then benefit from a dust-free clear track and beat second-placed Ole Christian Veiby (Kristoffersson Motorsport) by 5.364secs.

Johan Kristoffersson and Kevin Hansen were quite literally locked in a sprint to the first corner, with neither of the front row starters willing to concede as the field barrelled into Turn 1 for the first time. Both barrelled backwards into the barriers, with Hansen’s damaged Peugeot 208 RX1e going no further and the driver later disqualified for his part in the crash, while a reprimanded Kristoffersson was able to continue but could only finish fifth thanks to the time lost and damaged suspension on his KMS – HORSE Powertrain-run Volkswagen Polo KMS 601 RX.

“It’s been an up-and-down day, but I’m happy to end on top when it matters,” said Grönholm. “It’s been a good start to the season overall. It’s pretty clear to see we’ve taken a step forward.”

Kristoffersson made up for Saturday’s frustrations with a masterful 10.809sec Round 4 victory in Sunday’s final to extend his lead at the top of the World RX standings.

“Yesterday wasn’t a great day, but today was much better,” said the six-time world champion. “Big thanks to the team. They worked extremely hard last night to make repairs and give me a very fast car.”

Veiby finished second once again to jump from fourth to second in the drivers’ standings, while Klara Andersson came home third.

She had been on fantastic form all weekend – but when margins are so tight a bush with a barrier on the joker lap in Saturday’s semi final denied her a place in the Round 3 final, while bent steering after contact with the barriers at Turn 1 hampered the CE Dealer Team driver’s efforts of winning Sunday’s Round 4.

Timmy Hansen finished fourth in both Saturday and Sunday’s finals, which was scant reward for the Hansen World RX Team driver’s efforts – while the squad’s mechanics did a fantastic job to repair Kevin Hansen’s car for him to finish fifth in Round 4. The all-electric team may still be searching for its first podium result of 2024, but nevertheless Kevin and Timmy remain a close fourth and fifth in the points table respectively.

Jankó Wieszt finished third on his World RX debut after a tremendous performance in his Korda Racing Mégane RS RX. While the former Hungarian rallycross champion avoided the Turn 1 drama on Saturday, he caused a Red Flag in Sunday’s semi final after bashing wheels with Veiby in the sprint to the first corner – which unfortunately saw the Renault rotate sharp left and crash into the tyre wall.

A collision at the now infamous Turn 1 on Saturday denied René Münnich a place in the final, but the Münnich Motorsport SEAT Ibiza driver made amends by finishing third in his semi final and going on to claim a fighting sixth-place finish in Sunday’s final.

Anthony Pelfrene showed great pace in his JDM Raptor Racing Peugeot 208 WRX, but just missed out in a place in the finals after finishing fourth in both Saturday and Sunday’s semi finals.

Nyirád also hosted Round 2 of RX2e, Euro RX1 and Euro RX3.

Nils Andersson (SWE) won the RX2e title last year but didn’t win a race, while this year he can’t stop winning races as he recorded back-to-back victories in his Kristoffersson Motorsport’s satellite Team E-run all-electric car. Isak Sjökvist (SWE) scored his best result of the season with second in his #YellowSquad machine, while Marko Muru (SET-Loenbro) took third. Mikaela Åhlin-Kottulinsky (SWE) holds on to second in the points standings, having finished fourth in another Team E car.

Patrick O’Donovan began his Euro RX1 weekend by spinning his Team RX Racing Peugeot 208 into the barriers in Heat 1 and despite suffering from a heavy cold ended the event victorious for the second time this season. Yury Belevskiy (CHE) finished second in his Volland Racing Audi S1, while Máté Benyó (HUN) came home third in his Korda Racing KFT Peugeot 208. Mika Liimatainen (Betomik Racing Hyundai i20) remains second in the standings, nine points behind O’Donovan, after finishing fourth in the final. A big field of 18 Euro RX1 took part, representing 10 nations and seven manufacturers.

Nils Volland (DEU) has extended his lead in Euro RX3 thanks to a second win of the season in his Volland Racing Audi A1. João Ribeiro (PRT) had been first to the chequered flag, but a penalty for contact with Volland on the opening lap of the final dropped the Audi A1 driver down to second. Hungarian driver Krisztián Szabó finished third in his Audi A1.

World RX, RX2e, Euro RX1 and Euro RX3 continue at World RX of Benelux at Mettet (17/18 August).

2024 FIA WORLD RALLYCROSS CHAMPIONSHIP
Points after Round 4
1. Johan Kristoffersson….101pts
2. Ole Christian Veiby….76pts
3. Niclas Grönholm….67pts
4. Klara Andersson….67pts
5. Timmy Hansen….66pts
6. Kevin Hansen….65pts

WORLD RX RACE RESULTS
World RX of Hungary (Nyirád Racing Center)
Round 4 – Sunday 28 July
1. Johan KRISTOFFERSSON (SWE) KMS - Horse Powertrain (ICE)….5 laps
2. Ole Christian VEIBY (NOR) KMS - Horse Powertrain (ICE)….+10.809s
3. Klara ANDERSSON (SWE) CE Dealer Team (EV)….+13.342s
4. Timmy HANSEN (SWE) Hansen World RX Team (EV)….+13.765s
5. Kevin HANSEN (SWE) Hansen World RX Team (EV)….+14.765s
6. René MÜNNICH (DEU) Muennich Motorsport (ICE)….+19.384s

WORLD RX RACE RESULTS
World RX of Hungary (Nyirád Racing Center)
Round 3 – Saturday 27 July
1. Niclas GRÖNHOLM (FIN) CE Dealer Team (EV)….5 laps
2. Ole Christian VEIBY (NOR) KMS - Horse Powertrain (ICE)….+ 5.364s
3. Janko WIESZT (HUN) Impossible RX Team (ICE)….+ 7.722s
4. Timmy HANSEN (SWE) Hansen World RX Team (EV)….+ 9.193s
DNF Johan KRISTOFFERSSON (SWE) KMS - Horse Powertrain (ICE)….+ 1 lap
DSQ Kevin HANSEN (SWE) Hansen World RX Team (EV)