Norway World RX: Returnee Gronholm leads after Saturday

Having been forced to skip rounds three and four of the series due to an appendicitis operation, Gronholm prepared for his comeback with a brief shakedown in Finland last week, before topping the time sheets in each session on day one at the Lankebanen circuit. 

Fastest in Free Practice, despite pulling off in the first session and returning to the paddock, Gronholm won the race to turn one from fourth on the grid in Q1 and bettered Andreas Bakkerud’s benchmark by over 1.7 seconds.

The Finn then made the best launch in the last race of Q2, led the final encounter of the day from the front and beat the previous fastest time in the session, set by double DTM champion Timo Scheider, to be fastest, and lead overnight.

Not only does Marcus Gronholm’s team lead a World RX event on day one for the first time, but it’s a one-two for the Hyundai i20 team, with triple European Rallycross Champion Timur Timerzyanov second in the intermediate classification thanks to a pair of first-lap jokers and climbing back through the field.

He was second to Bakkerud on track in Q1 and second to teammate Gronholm in Q2.

While Gronholm’s first day back couldn’t have gone better, it was a frustrating affair for championship leader Timmy Hansen.

Despite making the best start in Q1, the Swede was slowed after contact from Janis Baumanis that sent the STARD driver into a high-speed spin and onto Guillaume De Ridder’s Renault Clio.

As Baumanis dragged his damaged car through the race, De Ridder’s machine was left on the racing line in the joker lap, meaning Hansen lost time on his final-tour extra route.

He then raced in traffic in the final race of Q2, passing former works WRC driver Kevin Abbring during the race and battling with Bakkerud. Hansen is fifth overnight, behind Bakkerud in fourth.

Third after the first two qualifiers is Scheider, the Munnich Motorsport driver having his best day of the season so far, winning both of his races.

Abbring’s first rallycross start since he began his motorsport career racing in the junior division of Dutch rallycross events started well with eighth in free practice, and fifth in Q2.

He benefitted when Bakkerud touched the rear of Gronholm’s i20 at the first corner of their Q2 race and went wide, leaving a gap on the inside.

But the Skoda Fabia pilot dropped time after his lap three joker and was later slowed by an issue on the final tour, eventually ending up ninth in the intermediate classification.

Standings after Q2:

Cla	Driver	Chassis	Q1	Q2	QP
1	Niclas Gronholm	Hyundai i20	50	50	100
2	Timur Timerzyanov	Hyundai i20	42	42	84
3	Timo Scheider	Seat Ibiza	38	45	83
4	Andreas Bakkerud	Audi S1	45	34	79
5	Timmy Hansen	Peugeot 208	40	38	78
6	Anton Marklund	Renault Megane RS	36	39	75
7	Kevin Hansen	Peugeot 208	34	37	71
8	Cyril Raymond	Renault Clio RS	33	36	69
9	Kevin Abbring	Škoda Fabia	39	28	67
10	Janis Baumanis	Ford Fiesta	26	40	66
11	Krisztián Szabó	Audi S1	31	35	66
12	Liam Doran	Audi S1	35	31	66
13	Rokas Baciuska	Renault Megane RS	37	26	63
14	Guerlain Chicherit	Renault Megane RS	30	32	62
15	Jani Paasonen	Ford Fiesta	32	30	62
16	Guillaume De	Renault Clio RS	26	33	59
17	Oliver Bennett	Mini Cooper	29	29	58
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