Niclas Grönholm claims podium at Spa-Francorchamps for CE Dealer Team
Construction Equipment Dealer Team took its second straight FIA World Rallycross Championship podium, as Niclas Grönholm finished second at Spa-Francorchamps in Belgium.
The first day of action saw Niclas Grönholm progress to the final after a win in the semi-final, finishing fifth.
The Finn fought back during the Sunday final, to finish second behind championship leader Johan Kristoffersson, and secure his second podium for CE Dealer Team in its ground-breaking FIA World RX journey.
”It was a tough day, but everything went well from the semi-final and onwards. I had good launch, and some great fights in the final. Yesterday we had the pace to challenge for the win, and it was a bummer that I made a mistake in turn one. From there on, it was hard to do anything. Today I played it smart in the first corner and was able to come out in second. Pace-wise, this was the best weekend so far. This is good to build on for the future,” said Niclas Grönholm.
Klara Andersson showed encouraging speed all weekend, winning her first ever semi-final on Saturday. She later got disqualified after an incident. The Swedish driver just missed out on a spot in the final on Sunday after another promising performance.
”It was not our weekend at Spa-Francorchamps. We had the pace to fight for a good result both days but kept running into bad luck. Thanks to the team for working really hard all weekend. We deserved more, but we will keep working hard to come back stronger. Great job by my team-mate Niclas on securing another podium for the team,” said Klara Andersson.
With his second podium of the season, Niclas Grönholm moves up to fourth overall in the drivers’ standings, just two points from third. Klara Andersson sits in seventh with two double headers remaining.
The CE Dealer Team mechanics put in a stellar job after Saturday's progression race, fixing both PWR RX1e cars just in time for the finals. CE Dealer Team holds third in the team championship.
”This weekend has been a bit of a rollercoaster. Both Niclas and Klara have showed good pace and have been fighting in the top, but we have also encountered some bad luck stopping us from getting the results. Therefore, it was great to get a podium for the second weekend in a row after a strong performance from Niclas. The speed of Klara was really encouraging all weekend and we’re looking forward to the next,” said Jussi Pinomäki, Team Manager of CE Dealer Team.
Results and standings after the FIA Benelux RX of Spa-Francorchamps available here.
Ends.
For more information:
Emil Axelsson
Sporting & Commercial Director
CE Dealer Team
+46(0)70 233 51 23
emil.axelsson@cedealerteam.com
Johan Meissner
PR & Communications Director
CE Dealer Team
+46(0)70 241 3234
media@pwrgrp.com
About CE Dealer team
CE Dealer Team is operated by PWR RX, a sister company of the successful Swedish motorsport team PWR Racing, a company founded in 2012 by Daniel Haglöf and Peter Wallenberg Jr. PWR are constructors of PWR001, the world's first fully electric touring car, and are multiple Scandinavian Touring Car Championship champions. The rallycross programme 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
The FIA World Rallycross Championship is one of six official World Championship in motorsport alongside Formula 1 and World Rally Championship. The championship runs on seven venues across Europe and Africa. Rallycross is a combination of rallying and circuit racing. It is head-to-head short, sharp races on mixed surfaces (dirt and asphalt) contained within amphitheatre venues. In the headlining FIA World Rallycross Championship, high-profile drivers are equipped with fully electric RX1 cars producing over 600bhp and the ability to accelerate from 0-100km/h in less than two seconds – faster than a Formula 1 car.
