Although Johan Kristoffersson will not be able to take part in the next stage of RallyX Nordic in Finland at the end of May, the five-time world champion may not have said his last word for the championship yet.
Winner of Race 1 with the maximum score of 30 points, Johan Kristoffersson was not far from a perfect weekend in Tierp. Unstoppable, the KMS driver won six of the six qualifying heats he took part in, before a puncture on the first lap of the final contributed to ruining his efforts.
“Apart from the puncture at the end, everything went really well,” said Johan Kristoffersson.
“My starts were good and my pace was good. I was totally on track while I didn’t make any mistakes all weekend. In the final, I knew that there was a risk of punctures. The track was difficult and I probably put a little too much angle on the corner where I lost everything. As in race 1 on Saturday, the track deteriorated a lot but between the semi-final and the final, this evolution became even more pronounced”.
Still leading the overall standings with a one point lead over Kevin Eriksson, Johan Kristoffersson is not hiding the fact that he could eventually line up for the last two events of the season in Norway on the Grenland Motorsenter circuit on August 26 and 27 as well as the RallyX final in Holjes on September 2 and 3.
This could allow Johan Kristoffersson to keep his chances of claiming a second title alive after the one he got in 2021.
“For the moment, it seems a bit too far away to really have the opportunity to look into it. I’m going to focus on the second round of the Extreme E this weekend before I switch to the final preparations for the FIA World Championship. Nevertheless, the RallyX championship provides the opportunity to drop the worst weekend of the season. Of course, I won’t be able to be at the start of the next event in Kouvola as we will be in Portugal for the World RX collective tests, but the last two events of the 2023 season are not in conflict with the World Championship or Extreme E calendars so there is still a possibility.”
