Solberg claims World Rallycross title as Hansen wins

Timmy Hansen claimed victory in the 10th round of the World Rallycross championship at Franciacorta, while Petter Solberg finished third and was crowned champion.

The Norweigan scored enough points at the Italian-based event to ensure that nobody can catch him, even with two rounds remaining, and he became the first person to win a World Rallycross title.

The event was won by Hansen, who topped the intermediate classification and his semi-final heat before emerging victorious in the final to score Team Peugeot-Hansen's first victory with their Peugeot 208.

Joined on the front row by teammate Timur Timerzyanov, Hansen made the best start to lead into Turn 1 ahead of Timerzyanov and Solberg.

Johan Kristoffersson made a poor start from the back row and trailed Andreas Bakkerud, while Supercar debutant Richard Goransson took his joker on the first lap.

Hounded by Solberg, Timerzyanov picked up a puncture at the end of the first lap, putting him out of the running. The same point in the race also saw Kristoffersson retire with a mechanical failure.

Bakkerud was next to retire with issues on lap two, while Solberg took his joker -- returning to the main field ahead of Goransson. But, as at previous events in Belgium and Canada, Solberg broke the rear suspension on his Citroen DS3 after a heavy landing over a jump. Goransson then passed the Norwegian at the end of lap three.

Solberg needed to finish on the podium to clinch the title, but with only three cars left running at speed, he was able to play it safe and reached the finish.

Hansen cruised to his first second victory in the series, while Goransson finished second, ahead of the championship-winning Solberg. Timerzyanov nursed his car home to finish fourth.

Title contenders Reinis Nitiss and Toomas Heikkinen both made it to the semi-final stages but neither were able to progress to the final and take the battle to Solberg to the next round in Turkey.

Gigi Galli just missed out on a place in the final on his rallycross debut. He finished fourth in semi-final one.

Originally on Autosport.com