19/07/2026
NO VICTORY BUT A DOUBLE PODIUM
Both Kristoffersson Motorsports drivers on the podium in Euro RX in Ireland, but still no victory. Ole Christian Veiby finished second with Johan Kristoffersson third. It could have been better than that.
"My worst second place ever", says Ole Christian.
"It is still promising that we have such good pace and that the launches are much better", summarizes Johan.
The toughest fight in RX1 was between the two teammates who had an internal showdown in both the semi-final and the final. This played into the hands of this weekend's winner Andreas Bakkerud.
"Maybe we opened up for him, but we could not have done anything differently really. It is rallycross, just tight racing, says Johan.
The qualifying rounds took place without major drama, with one exception. Johan Kristoffersson was black flagged for the second race in a row, for a collision with Juha Rytkönen in Q2.
"My own fault. I just have to take it. But still good to be able to get back into it after that."
Johan handled the crisis in the best possible way by being the fastest in the remaining rounds and finished fourth in qualifying. Ole Christian was even sharper as second overall.
Both KMS drivers won their quarter-finals without much effort and in the semi-finals they stood next to each other in the front row. Veiby took the start ahead of Kristoffersson. Spotter Tommy Kristoffersson sent his adept into the joker on the fourth lap while Ole Johan Rustad responded by sending his on the lap after. It was a winning move for Veiby who held on to victory.
"The semi-final felt very good", says OC.
Ole Christian thus took the front row in the final with Johan just behind, both in their Volkswagen Polo 601 RX1. Bakkerud took the start ahead of Veiby while Johan was pushed back and forth and had to start his chase from fifth place.
"Considering that situation, it was still quite good with points in the end", says Johan.
He got past Juha Rytkönen already on the first lap and when Veiby took the joker on the second lap, it opened up for Kristoffersson to chase after Bakkerud. At that point, it looked like it could be a Swedish victory, but this time too, the internal fight was perhaps a slowing factor. Johan came out of his joker right alongside Ole Christian and in the battle that followed Bakkerud was able to sn**ch the margin he needed.
"I struggled with the car in the final, a lot of understeer. Still, we had the same conditions as in the semi-final, says Veiby.
He still held on to second place ahead of Kristoffersson. Double podiums, but with a bit of a bitter taste.
- Considering that we were so superior in pace all weekend, it feels like someone popped up and stole the candy from us. But we couldn't have done it any other way, says team CEO Tommy Kristoffersson.
The result at Mondello Park meant that Bakkerud closed the gap a bit in the championship standings. Ahead of Lohéac in France on August 29-30, Kristoffersson now leads by seven points. Veiby is third, eight points behind Bakkerud.
"We're taking the speed we had with us and that the starts are much better now" says Tommy.
"And next is Lohéac, which has a similar track character to here", Johan points out in conclusion.
FIA Rallycross Championships
