31/05/2026
DIFFICULT WEEKEND FOR KMS
A problematic weekend for Kristoffersson Motorsport in Nyiràd, Hungary. In the end, it was a fourth place for Ole Christian Veiby and a fifth for Johan Kristoffersson.
"It didn't work out for us, but we just have to put our heads together and come back stronger" says Kristoffersson.
It was - just like at the first round in Riga - a tough battle for the positions all the way for both Kristoffersson Motorsport drivers in the second round of Euro RX. The starts continued to be a concern. It was particularly problematic initially for Ole Christian Veiby, who pulled the gear lever at the start of the first qualifying heat. After recording P27, he then had to patiently work his way up and after three clearly better races he finished sixth overall in qualifying.
"It was still good to manage to climb so high after that start" says Veiby.
For Johan Kristoffersson, the fight went a little better. In Q2 he set the fastest time, while a worse launch in Q3 meant P9. After four qualifying sessions Johan was second overall behind Andreas Bakkerud.
"On the whole, still good so far. We did what we could" says Johan.
In the quarter-final, he had his teammate Veiby next to him in the front row. Kristoffersson took the start, but Patrick O’Donovan squeezed in between the two KMS cars. This meant pole position in semi-final two for Kristoffersson while Veiby had to line up in third row. With the best start of the season, Johan held off Juha Rytkönen through the first corner and from then on it was a classic world champion display for the victory. Veiby had to fight harder for his spot in the final. A close contact with O’Donovan could have caused problems, but it was the Brit who had to park instead while Ole Christian secured his third place and thus a spot in the final.
In the final, Kristoffersson matched Andreas Bakkerud to the first corner, but the Norwegian took a wide turn to open up for his teammates inside. That sent Johan into the loose gravel on the outside and into the barrier.
"I saw exactly that scenario in my fortune-telling ball, but I don't know what I would have done differently anyway" says Johan.
A hopeless hunt for a podium position followed. From last in the field, Johan managed to get past Casper Jansson and finished fifth.
Veiby had to fight in the middle of the field, but couldn't get past Joni Turpeinen to reach the podium. A fourth place was the final result this weekend for the Norwegian.
"It's not KMS standard to be fourth and fifth" Veiby notes with a desire for revenge in his voice.
For the team's CEO Tommy Kristoffersson, this weekend's setback was a logical consequence of a lack of preparation, that the decision to participate in the European Championship came so late.
"We suffer from not having had a pre-season with tests. Learning in competition is difficult. You get punished so severely if you go in the wrong direction with the settings."
The trio of Bakkerud, Turpeinen and Juha Rytkönen is also rivals to be reckoned with.
"The final was clear proof that we have cooperating opponents, but it is a tactic we have to reckon with" says Tommy, referring to the first corner in the final.
"Not fair of Bakkerud to steer Johan out into the loose gravel far too late without giving him the opportunity to avoid a crash into the barrier. Normally it's not something you expect."
In the championship standings, this round's winner Andreas Bakkerud now moved up to the top, one point ahead of Kristoffersson, 65 to 64. Veiby is third with 54, one ahead of Turpeinen.
The next round is in Höljes, traditionally the first weekend in July.
FIA Rallycross Championships
