CE Dealer Team secures FIA World RX bronze with season finale podium in Türkiye
CE Dealer Team by Volvo Construction Equipment celebrated its third consecutive FIA World Rallycross Championship team medal as the 2024 season ended in Türkiye this weekend. Niclas Grönholm capped off the year with a podium finish while Klara Andersson secured her best overall finish.
CE Dealer Team, the only gender equal FIA World RX team, entered the Türkiye double-header fighting for the championship medals, competing as an all-electric team against sustainably-fueled ICE cars in the final stage of the inaugural "Battle of Technologies" season.
The team took to the newly refreshed rallycross circuit at Istanbul Park which has been thoroughly upgraded, prepared and maintained by Volvo Construction Equipment with its cutting-edge machinery - following more than a decade of no events at the Turkish venue.
Eight-time FIA World RX race winner Niclas Grönholm entered the weekend in a fierce battle for bronze in the driver standings. The Finnish star started strong, claiming second place and his fourth podium of the season on Saturday, while scoring more points than any other driver.
Sunday brought tougher conditions, with Niclas pushing hard on the wet track to finish fifth in the championship, just 13 points shy of the overall podium.
"Overall, it’s been a tough season and a challenging final weekend. We didn’t have the pace we needed to compete for podium positions in the championship. There have been a lot of ups and downs this year, and that’s just not enough if you want to contend for the title. Still, I’m happy to have made it back on the podium and to give something back to the team and our partners who’ve worked so hard throughout the season," said Niclas Grönholm.
Swedish rallycross ace Klara Andersson achieved her best-ever overall finish in an FIA World RX season, securing sixth place in the standings with two podiums during the year and narrowly missed the final on both days in Türkiye.
”Last night, we found a technical issue with the car. Today in the dry, the speed was really good, but in the wet, we just didn’t have enough pace to compete for the top. It’s been a tough season that started incredibly well in Sweden and Hungary, but ended on a tough note. I’m really disappointed now, but we’ll regroup and hopefully come back stronger next year. Thanks to everyone in the team for their hard work this year,” said Klara Andersson.
CE Dealer Team wraps up its third FIA World RX season, pushing sustainable motorsport and showcasing the excitement of an electric future. The team secured its third consecutive teams' championship medal, finishing third overall after six podium finishes, including one win in 2024.
”The final weekend is done and like so many times before, a solid start but not the ending we hoped for. I’m happy for Niclas' podium yesterday, especially after tough races in Belgium and Portugal, it was great to be back on pace. Klara struggled yesterday, but we made some adjustments and picked up good speed. Today in the dry, we were really strong, and it looked like things were going our way. But then the weather turned, and we couldn’t match the pace of the ICE cars in the wet,” said Jussi Pinomäki, Team Manager of CE Dealer Team.
”We have never scored so many podiums in one season before, but It’s been a tough year with ups and unfortunately too many downs. But that’s racing for you. This first season with the 'Battle of Technologies' showed great potential and we’ll keep working to make it all come together. We will never give up and we will keep pushing forward.”
Results and standings after the FIA World RX of Türkiye finale.
About CE Dealer Team by Volvo Construction Equipment
CE Dealer Team was founded in 2022 by the PWR Group in cooperation with Volvo Construction Equipment and its partners. The core goal of the rallycross programme is to drive the shift to improved sustainability and diversity in society and highlight the excitement that a move to an electric future offers. CE Dealer Team is run with support from independent dealers of Volvo Construction Equipment, along with several prominent industrial partners, who together share a commitment to leading a sustainable future, both on track and off.
About FIA World Rallycross Championship
An evolution of the popular FIA European Rallycross Championship, the FIA World Rallycross Championship (World RX) was launched in 2014. Representing the international pinnacle of the dual-surface discipline, the series blends cutting-edge innovation with family-friendly spectator appeal and visits some of the most iconic venues in the sport. In evidence of its commitment to sustainability, World RX entered a new era in 2022 by embracing electric technology, while 2024 heralds the beginning of the ‘Battle of Technologies’, as the championship’s powerful EV cars take on their sustainably-fuelled combustion counterparts on equal terms for the first time.
