Hungary’s ‘Red Cauldron’ was mastered by Johan Kristoffersson this afternoon as he claimed victory in an intense World RX final that has given him the advantage in the 2025 Championship standings. It was a KMS 1-2 with OC Veiby in second and Timmy Hansen maintained his unbroken run of podiums this year.
Kristofferson hadn’t put a step wrong all weekend and delivered a stellar semi-final performance despite chaos unfolding behind him to claim pole position as we went into this afternoon’s all-Scandinavian final.
The seven-time World Champion led from start to finish, expertly navigating the Nyirád Racing Circuit which has seen some epic and unforgettable wheel to wheel racing over the weekend. His Volkswagen Polo World RX machine seemed to glide over the iconic red track, navigating its undulations, tight corners and elevation with ease and often incredible style in a performance he will be sure to be proud of.
With the chasing pack behind throwing everything at the race to bring the competition to the #1 driver, he consistently churned out solid lap times, unleashing a pace unmatched by the field behind him and even set a new track record of 44.086 seconds.
As the new championship leader glided to victory the drama unfolded behind as tensions almost bubbled over in the Red Cauldron. Niclas Grönholm initially got out of the blocks well, but Kristoffersson held him out wide to allow the sister KMS car of Ole Christian Veiby to slip up the inside into Turn 1.
Stranded on the outside, Grönholm, who has led the standings from the start of the season until today, dropped back further places and even collided with his CE Dealer team-mate Klara Andersson as he was trying to make up for lost ground.
This left the Finn down the order where he was held up behind sole ICE-powered finalist and compatriot Juha Rytkönen for almost the entire rest of the race. The pair would end up fifth and sixth at the line with work to do going into their home race next time out at Kymiring.
Meanwhile Veiby, who had taken advantage of Grönholm’s disastrous start to sit comfortably in P2 will have been aware of the charging bonnet behind him of Timmy Hansen who, just hours before, was fighting tooth and nail in his semi-final to make it through.
Hansen began to set down some blistering lap times almost matching the championship leader in front of him and protecting from the undercut tactics of the CE Dealer team who had taken their joker’s together on the opening tour. The older Hansen brother kept his focus on his race as he went into lap four of six, strategically timing his joker to exit narrowly in front and claim the final step of the podium in today’s epic final.
On a day that started out cool and calm, the temperature rose in tandem with the intensity on the track, and the Hungarian fans were treated to a good covering of dust and an afternoon of sensational competition. Next time out is an all-new challenge for the FIA World Rallycross Championship drivers, with a few weeks of down time now before the paddock reassembles at Kymiring in Finland. It’ll be a journey of discovery that is sure to deliver more intense action, all of it streamed live and free on the FIA World Rallycross Championship YouTube Channel.
Johan Kristoffersson, Kristofferson Motorsport, said: “I think it’s been a fantastic weekend for us. I was curious about coming here – obviously we had a wet Sweden and its mostly dry here, so in the end we were very happy with the dry pace. We struggled a little bit in FP1 and FP2 but then we found our way and improved the car during the weekend. It’s a massive result for the team, 1-2, so yeah we are very very happy.
“Nice news of course to be leading the championship, but it’s difficult when all points handed out in final. Niclas had a good weekend until the final and yeah, I’ll probably buy new glasses as I dropped them on the floor now and hopefully be able to see in Finland!”
Ole Christian Veiby, Kristofferson Motorsport, said: “What a weekend for the team always nice to be back, Höljes was a disappointment for me – we were having some troubles with the car there, but now it’s sorted, and I had a good feeling this weekend. For sure Johan is Johan and is a tough one to beat, but sometimes we are there and able to push him a bit.
“It was an intense final, especially that second corner where I was pushed in the rear and I was a bit surprised, thinking ‘oh no I’m going to be passed here’, but I think Timmy [Hansen] was nice there and just let me go. Overall, it was really good for team to be 1-2 and great for driver and team championships, so a good weekend.”
Timmy Hansen, Hansen Motorsport, said: “We put new tyres on for semis and finals but I risked my life through every corner out there I think you know the high speed over the jump I got so nervous, so close the wall!
“I’ve been giving it absolotley everything and P3 is more than we should have had, but we played the cards right and I gave it as I said everything. I’m so proud of the boys that gave me a solid car. Congrats to the KMS guys they built a fantastic race car. It’s incredibly fast, both Johan and OC are incredible drivers and 1-2 for them is very cool, but P3 for me is like a win and I’m going to celebrate!
“Now I’m going to be chasing Niclas, he’s looked so strong this year so far, very hard to beat. They have also built a very good race car, we’ll see what we can do for the rest of the season but I’m a fighter – I’m going to fight!”
Click here to view the final results from Round 3 of the FIA World Rallycross Championship.
Click here to view the provisional Championship Standings.
