PSRX Volkswagen Sweden… simply the best in Lohéac
With four corners of the World RX of France weekend remaining, Johan
Kristoffersson and Petter Solberg were running fourth and fifth. Good. But,
let’s be honest, not great.
Then the Volkswagen Polo R Supercar pair duo sprinkled some PSRX Volkswagen
Sweden magic dust on the Circuit de Lohéac. With two corners remaining, they
were first and third.
Two corners later, the top and bottom step of the podium belonged to Johan and
Petter.
They were brilliant.
And so was the weekend. Once again, France’s round of the championship
delivered glorious sunshine and more fans than anywhere else. More than 80,000
turned out to watch Johan win in Lohéac for the third year in succession. In
doing so, the reigning champion moved 59 points clear of his nearest rival and
the dynamite double podium combination of Johan and Petter ensured PSRX
Volkswagen Sweden moved even further clear in pursuit of back-to-back teams’
titles.
No wonder Brittany fears the force that is Johan and Petter.
Driver Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4 INTER SF F
Johan
Kristoffersson 1 2
1 1
1 3 1
Petter
Solberg 3 7 9 2
4 5 3
Johan Kristoffersson
(SWE) #1
“I love this place. The fans are so special here. We know they are all cheering
like crazy for Sébastien [Loeb] and they want him to win, but the respect and
the good feeling they give to me is so nice. I want to thank them.
“And I want to thank the team. This was an incredible result, one we all worked
so hard for. But, I have to be honest, I wasn’t sure it was coming when we went
to the last lap in the final – I didn’t know what was going to happen.
“My semi-final was OK, but the launch off the line wasn’t so super-good. I had
saved my tyres for the final, but then I was a little bit worried because if
you are in the middle of the pack then you can’t always use that advantage with
the tyre. I took the joker early and came out just ahead of Petter – that was
really a close one!
“And then me and Petter we just waited. Will they go this time? I didn’t know,
I just didn’t know who was going when. I was behind Timmy [Hansen] and
thinking: “Will he go? Is he going?” And, you know, you are trying to be ready
for him to turn sharp to the right to take the joker. A couple of times he made
the car in the position that he’s going to turn, but then didn’t. You can’t
really commit to the corner completely in case he turns to joker and you will
hit him. So many laps, I was losing time like this.
“But then they went. My spotter (father Tommy Kristoffersson) was shouting at
me: “Go, go, go!” I went like crazy, pushed so hard and we did it.
“Incredible. Like I said, I want to thank the team and Petter, at times I
didn’t think this one was possible and that makes this result more special.
“For the seven wins in a season and equaling the record, sure that’s nice – but
the job isn’t finished yet.”
Petter Solberg (NOR)
#11
“I am very happy for this result. You know me, I am wanting to win all of the
time and I really wanted to win here, but this was a tough race weekend. The
other cars had a lot of pace and it wasn’t easy for us out there. Some of the
qualifying was not so nice, a bit of traffic coming and it was a bit
frustrating at times, but you have to stay calm, stick with the plan and come
to the semi-finals and the final.
“The semi wasn’t so good, but everything is possible in the last race. There
was lot of movement from the cars ahead of me in the second corner of the
final, I was looking to find a chance, but in the end the joker was the right
decision. I got in there and pushed like hell, when Johan came out of his
joker, we were so close. Then, like Johan said, we were just waiting to see
what would they do.
“When the chance came, we were ready. I was absolutely on the limit in those
last four corners when the top three went to the joker. To make two cars to the
podium is a fantastic result for PSRX Volkswagen Sweden and the Polo R
Supercar.
“One thing I have to say, actually two things… the first is to thank the fans
here in France; they were fantastic again. The second is to say how good it was
to have such clean racing here. There was some contact in some corners, but it
was clean, sensible contact and incredible racing.”
Pernilla Solberg
(PSRX Volkswagen Sweden team principal)
“At PSRX Volkswagen Sweden, we plan for everything. Everything. But going
from P4 and five to P1 and three in two corners – that’s not something we
planned!
“As much as we all love to come to Lohéac, it’s a lovely place with so, so many
great fans, it’s a hard weekend for racing. When the weather is hot, the track
is quite abrasive – it gives great grip, but you have to manage the tyres and
look after everything. We work hard with the strategy, but the time when the
team really comes together is when the plan is starting to fall down and you
have to make a new plan very, very quickly. That’s what we did during the
final. All the time we were talking with the drivers, talking through what was
possible – they were both so ready when the Audis and [Timmy] Hansen went to
the joker.
“We had an opportunity and we made sure the boys were both in the perfect
position to make the most of that opportunity.
“But still, to see Johan taking the win and Petter third from where we were is…
well, I don’t think I have the words. That was so emotional, so fantastic and
so absolutely brilliant for PSRX Volkswagen Sweden, for Volkswagen Motorsport
and for everybody supporting this amazing team.
“Yesterday was tough, qualifying wasn’t so nice all the time; Petter had some
traffic, Johan stalled on the line in Q2. It was tough. But the mark of a
strong team is to come through that and still win.
“I am so proud of everybody this weekend.”
Volkswagen R
performance fact of the weekend:
During the race, the exhaust is 1000 degrees (Celsius) which is the same
temperature as volcanic lava.
Result:
1 Johan
Kristoffersson 3m44.787s
2 Andreas
Bakkerud 3m45.127s
3 Petter
Solberg 3m45.571s
4 Mattias
Ekström 3m45.945s
5 Kevin Hansen
3m46.210s
6 Sébastien
Loeb 3m46.362s
Drivers’ championship
positions:
1
Kristoffersson 224pts
2
Bakkerud 165pts
3 Solberg
160pts
4
Hansen 158pts
5
Ekström 157pts
6
Loeb 151pts
Teams’ championship
positions:
1 PSRX Volkswagen
Sweden 384pts
2 EKS Audi
Sport 322pts
3 Team Peugeot
Total 309pts
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João Raposo
+351 913 353 070
jraposo-air@portugalmail.pt
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