Hansen: I was like, ‘I’m gonna’ take him out and our parents will be livid…’

In torrential conditions during the popular ‘Magic Weekend’ in the thick of Scandinavia’s Värmland forest, the two-time world championship runner-up was following his elder brother and team-mate Timmy Hansen down the hill when he found himself spinning through a full 360 degrees, miraculously somehow gathering everything up again and continuing for the loss of no positions and barely any time at all. 

The spectacular recovery was hailed by Andrew Coley as the ‘save of the decade’, as the series’ commentator called Hansen ‘a legend’. After picking up the trophy in Tashkent, Uzbekistan from last year’s World RX  ‘Action of the Year’ winner Klara Andersson, the 27-year-old Götene native admitted the drama was all part-and-parcel of what makes the dual-surface discipline such a guaranteed crowd-pleaser. 

“It was incredible!” Hansen recollected. “My brother was just in front of me, and I lost it aquaplaning down the hill. I was like, ‘I’m gonna’ hit him and take him out, no podium for either of us, our dad and mum will be livid’, but as I was facing completely backwards, I went full-throttle, turned fully left and all of a sudden I saw the back of his car again and everything was fine. It was a fun moment and typical of what happens in rallycross – you should always expect the unexpected!”

CE Dealer Team star Niclas Grönholm and Kristoffersson Motorsport’s Ole Christian Veiby were similarly in the mix for the fan-voted recognition. The Finn caught the eye with an inch-perfect last lap joker in the final at Lousada to triumph in the season curtain-raising contest, while the Norwegian demonstrated nerves of steel to narrowly defeat stablemate Johan Kristoffersson to clinch his second career victory at Finland’s KymiRing in August.

The KMS duo were both on-site in Tashkent to collect their own trophies – Kristoffersson for his acquisition of an extraordinary eighth Drivers’ world championship crown, and Veiby for concluding the campaign placed third – along with Team Principal, Tommy Kristoffersson, who paid tribute to the small Arvika-based outfit’s sustained success in the sport.

“I’m really proud of our ability to build a team that can win year-after-year,” commented the Swede. “We have a mix of professional people with a lot of knowledge and passionate young guns eager to learn. It goes without saying that I’m very proud of Johan, too. It’s a privilege to have my son competing in the same sport as I did.”

“My first FIA gala was back in 2015, when Petter [Solberg] won this trophy,” added Kristoffersson Jnr. “Seeing my own name on it eight times is very, very special. To be joined by my team-mate on stage, having my father as team boss, winning the Teams’ championship for the fourth year in a row and seeing our car here with all the other great cars is such a privilege and something I always used to dream about.”