Klara Andersson starts WRX season with record-breaking second place in Sweden

Swedish off-road driver Klara Andersson started the WRX season in style with a second place finish on the first day of the doubleheader weekend at Höljes in Sweden, thus claiming the best ever finish for a female driver in the championship.

Photo by @World / Red Bull Content Pool

Swedish off-road driver Klara Andersson started the WRX season in style with a second place finish on the first day of the doubleheader weekend at Höljes in Sweden. Despite the second day proved to be more challenging due to the changing wet weather conditions, the home racer still managed to earn a good haul of points for the championship.

The new season of World Rallycross is off with some changes, after the series went fully electric in 2021. This season, it will be a mixed field with the electric RX1e cars and their sustainably-fueled RX1 combustion counterparts. A system called "Equivalence of Technologies" has been developed to balance both classes, producing eventful and action-packed weekends.

The season opener in Höljes, Sweden, showed two very different scenarios for the doubleheader. The first day was sunny and dry, while the second day was rainy and especially muddy. However, the star of the weekend was once again Johan Kristoffersson, winning on both days with his VW Polo KMS 601 RX (ICE).

But Kristoffersson was not the only one who shone this weekend: on Saturday, home hero Klara Andersson starred, with particularly impressive performances in the dry conditions. The young Swede won all her heats with flair, putting her CE Dealer Team by Volvo Construction Equipment PWR RX1e (EV) in the best position to fight for victory in the final, starting from pole for the first time in her WRX career.

However, there was no beating six-time world champion Kristoffersson, who took the first victory of the season ahead of a fully empowered Klara Andersson and Gustav Bergström (Kristoffersson Motorsport/EV).

It was nevertheless the best ever result for a female driver in the championship.

Andersson has made stellar progress since joining the series two years ago, writing history several times and battling against stars in the rallycross scene like the Hansen brothers and Kristoffersson, who have dominated the series for years.

"An almost perfect day with a win in both heats and semi-final. Unfortunately, I didn’t get the best launch from pole in the final but still incredibly proud of our performance today!" said Klara Andersson.

Day 2 was a slightly different story as it rained heavily, turning the track into a big muddy trap. This was no problem for Kristoffersson, who reached the final easily, led the field into the first turn to benefit from the clear view in front, and won ahead of Klara Andersson’s teammate Niclas Grönholm and Ole Christian Veiby (KMS - Horse Powertrain/ICE).

Klara's race was a bit more troubled in the wet, and despite fighting hard, a small mistake in the joker lap where she tapped the wall slowed her down too much and prevented her from reaching the final.

"It has been a fun, rewarding and educative season opener", Klara commented after the weekend. "I'm incredibly proud of yesterday, I've never felt this strong in the world championship. Everything just came together in the car and I felt quick right from the first practice."

"I lacked a bit of experience in the wet today in order to fight for the top", she concluded. "But I am still pleased overall and especially over the team's performance. It looks like we are in for a very tough and exciting season".

Nevertheless, she now sits in a shared second position in the championship, ahead of the next round which will be held on July 27th to 28th for Hungarian round.

Klara Andersson, however, will be back behind the wheel for the first round of Extreme E in Scotland, in a week's time.

Photo by @World / Red Bull Content Pool