Reigning FIA Rallycross champion Mattias Ekstrom has kicked off the 2017 season with a win at the Barcelona RX season opener. The EKS Audi S1 driver won his semi final and started the final session in lead, a position he never relinquished till the end.
Two time DTM champion Timo Scheider finished second in his semi final, he was the only one fast enough to match Ekstrom’s pace during the final. He crossed the finish line 0.362s after Ekstrom in his Ford Fiesta RX from MJP Racing Team Austria.
The field behind was left in a tussle as they fought for third place, Johan Kristoffersson, Timmy Hansen, Andreas Bakkerud and Petter Solberg were all struggling for the third spot. Kristoffersson stalled at the start, Hansen had a slow start as well. Solberg and his teammate Kristofersson were first to take the joker laps, but Bakkerud timed his joker lap well on lap three. The Ford driver emerged third and went ahead to enjoy the final podium spot.
Solberg came home in fourth, leading Hansen and Kristofersson.
The next World RX round will head over to Portugal on April 21st.
