#YellowSquad secured a sensational double championship success at Nysumbanen in Denmark, winning both the RX2 Series and RallyX Nordic Supercar Lites titles on Sunday with Henrik Krogstad’s second win of the year.
RallyX Nordic’s season finale was composed of two back-to-back rounds over this Saturday and Sunday, with Krogstad coming into the weekend tied on points in the RX Nordic Lites title race.
Krogstad strengthened his Lites title bid with second place in the final on Saturday after qualifying in third, putting him five points ahead of his Nordic rivals but five points behind Guillaume De Ridder in the RX2 Series standings, which was taking place entirely across Nysum’s two Lites rounds.
On Sunday Krogstad came into a class of his own, winning the first and third qualifying races to bag the Top Qualifier position, narrowing the gap to De Ridder in RX2 and extending his RX Nordic Lites advantage further.
Qualifying 2 was the only session during the whole of Sunday where Krogstad was bested, as the #YellowSquad driver flew to a dominant win in his semi-final that all but secured the Lites title and put him within striking distance of De Ridder for the RX2 crown.
A fast start ensured Krogstad reached the first turn of the final in the lead, though late drama threatened to derail his push for the RX2 title. Gustav Johansson crashed on the entry to the joker lap and partially blocked the entrance, with Krogstad the only driver left to take the joker lap.
But a masterful Scandinavian flick on the way into the joker ensured Krogstad threaded his car between Johansson’s stricken car and the tyre barrier, losing no time and coming out ahead of De Ridder to clinch both titles in style.
Dan Skocdopole was in the second #YellowSquad car for his first race weekend at Nysum. Changeable conditions made it tricky for the 16-year-old to adapt to the mixture of track and car in only his second weekend in a Supercar Lites machine, finishing 14th.
When conditions improved Dan was able to unlock extra speed, showing some quick one-lap pace with third in the morning warm-up and fifth in Q1, finishing only behind Krogstad’s RX2 rival De Ridder in the first race.
Skocdopole still made it to the semi-finals despite a DNF in Q2, which was caused by a stuck throttle spinning him off the road. But the points lost hurt his grid position, starting from the back row in semi-final two and finishing in fifth.
#YellowSquad’s 2020 racing programme has now drawn to a close with the finale of both RallyX Nordic and RX2 Series, the latter of which has concluded several months earlier than originally planned due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Its RX2 title with Krogstad ensures that Hansen Motorsport, which runs the team alongside Team Färén, remains the only team to have beaten Olsbergs MSE, having done so with #YellowSquad team principal Kevin Hansen at the wheel back in 2015.
Quotes
Henrik Krogstad
Lites Driver“Being behind De Ridder on points going into Sunday was a big motivation. I wanted to win both titles, so knowing I had to push to score as many points as possible for RX2 helped me in winning Lites. The only thing in my mind in the semi-final and the final was winning, because I was behind in the RX2 points and felt I had nothing to lose. That helped me keep a good rhythm all day and I knew with the speed I had and getting my starts right, I could get the result I needed.
“On the penultimate lap of the final, I hadn’t realised Johansson was parked in the way at the entry of the joker before I was supposed to take it! I had to do a proper Scandinavian flick around it on the last lap and it was about as close as you can get to squeezing past, but the rest of the joker was great.
“I’m extremely excited about the future. Because I won the RX2 trophy, I get be one of the first drivers to compete in the new eRX2 series next year, which should be a cool experience.”
Kevin Hansen
Team Principal“To win championships was always the target for #YellowSquad, but to win both RX2 and RX Nordic Lites in our first season working together as Hansen Motorsport and Team Färén is amazing. Before today Hansen was the only team to beat Olsbergs to the RX2 title - when I was the one driving the car! - and now we have managed it again, which is a really special feeling.
“Eric and his crew have done a great job all season, Henrik has made big steps as a rallycross driver this year, and we were able to combine our experience and our strengths to make a championship-winning team.
“What makes this success really satisfying is that we didn’t have any luck to help us. In Arvika and Nysum we had the fastest combination, and Henrik was the only driver to win multiple Lites rounds this year. We earned it with hard work and dedication!
“It’s a shame the season is so short as Dan did not have any Lites experience to lean on like Henrik did this year. Today was only his second weekend racing in the Lites, car so in the changeable conditions on Saturday it was tricky for him. But we saw more of his real speed on Sunday and without his problem in Q2, he would probably have qualified with a good grid position and maybe joined Henrik in the final.”
