Supercar - All Star Magic Höljes review 06.07.2020: Third overnight behind Robin Larsson and Saturday pace-setter Niclas Grönholm, Johan Kristoffersson outclassed all of his rivals in Q4 as conditions deteriorated, before simply driving away from his pursuers in the semi-final, going almost ten seconds fas

 
Third overnight behind Robin Larsson and Saturday pace-setter Niclas Grönholm, Johan Kristoffersson outclassed all of his rivals in Q4 as conditions deteriorated, before simply driving away from his pursuers in the semi-final, going almost ten seconds faster than anybody else could manage. That earned him a front row berth for the all-important final, and after nailing the start to out-drag pole-sitter Larsson to Turn One, he was untouchable.
 


Larsson jokered early in his efforts to respond, but had to battle his way past Fraser McConnell – the Jamaican excelling on his Supercar debut to make it through to the final in the high-calibre, 20-strong field – and by then, Kristoffersson had already checked out. That meant the KYB Team JC ace had to settle for the runner-up spoils, which nonetheless saw him leave Höljes in possession of the championship lead.
 


Behind the wheel of the venerable DS3, Oliver Solberg was a lightning-fast starter all weekend and fended off namesake Oliver Eriksson and 2017 RallyX Nordic Champion Thomas Bryntesson for the remaining spot on the podium. For Eriksson, fourth place marked a much happier ending to the event after an uncharacteristically off-colour opening day, while Bryntesson had to recover from a stall on the grid when the lights went out.
 


McConnell took the chequered flag a creditable sixth following a typically committed performance first time out in the class, but elsewhere, there were hard-luck stories, and nobody could claim to have been robbed more than Grönholm. After winning both Q1 and Q2, the Finn took TQ honours but found himself stranded on the start-line in his semi-final; although he valiantly battled back to fourth, the time loss was ultimately too great to overcome.
 


Ben-Philip Gundersen similarly had cause to feel hard done-by. Making his maiden appearance in a Supercar, the Norwegian – champion in RallyX Nordic’s Supercar Lites class last year – turned heads throughout with his scintillating starts and accomplished racecraft, but Lady Luck was rarely on his side. An electrical issue that ruled him out of Q3 was symptomatic of his fortunes, and like on Thursday, the JC Raceteknik star narrowly failed to reach the final on Sunday at the end of a stellar weekend.
 


Pontus Tidemand showed strong form and could have been a contender but for a sluggish getaway in his semi-final, while Lukas Walfridson brought his striking yellow Renault Clio back out to play and impressed with his turn-of-speed after a year out of the cockpit.


 
Like fellow Supercar rookies McConnell and Gundersen, Anders Michalak made a good impression on his class debut. Last but far from least, serious credit must go to the ACRX crew, who repaired Andreas Carlsson’s Clio in super-quick time for the Swede to be able to start the semi-final after his car set on fire on the run to Turn One in Q4, causing its driver a heart-stopping moment from which he thankfully emerged unscathed.
 


Johan Kristoffersson said:“It’s very nice to be back! When the sniff of a win was there, I felt I could be really threatening on pure pace. It was great to get back into a super-competitive mode, analysing everything and trying different lines in the rain when I had a gap behind me.
 


“My start in the final was very good – all three wet starts were very good, in fact. The Polo is easy to launch in the wet, controlling it with the clutch and throttle. I made sure to spray the cars behind me so they couldn’t see anything – that was planned! From there on, I tried to push a little harder on the first lap while making no mistakes, and then just focussed on banging the laps in with a safe margin.
 


“I haven’t driven this car much before, so it was nice to see how it handles and it worked very well, with no problems whatsoever. I’m very happy.”
 




Russell Atkins - photos RallyX Nordic