The battle to become the 2019 FIA World Rallycross Champion could not be closer as the series enters round six in Sweden this weekend, with Team Peugeot MJP drivers Timmy Hansen and Kevin Hansen separated by just one point.

It isn’t all about the drivers that can call Holjes RX their home circuit however, Monster Energy RX Cartel’s Andreas Bakkerud is only 15 points behind, with Hell RX winner Niclas Gronholm tied on points in fifth with GRX Taneco teammate Timur Timerzyanov, one point behind Team STARD’s Janis Baumanis.

Based on his form so far this year, Gronholm is still not out of the championship battle if the drivers ahead run into any problems. If you add together the points scored by Gronholm and the driver that took his place in GRX for the Spa and Silverstone World RX rounds – Joni Wiman – while Gronholm was side lined with illness, the Finn would be leading the standings by 10 points. With a maximum event score from the five remaining rounds making a total of 150 points available in the second half of the season, the title-fight is wide open.

“We go on to Holjes, probably the biggest event of the year for me. There’s no question that it feels different from the other events. There’s a special build-up from the moment you arrive, there are people you know, and it just builds and builds until you get to the final. It’s incredibly exciting. We get a lot of local support which is excellent. Holjes is an incredibly technical track and it’s a real driver’s circuit. It’s up and down, it’s got an amazing flow to it,” said Championship leader Timmy Hansen.

“The incredible thing is that every year you go there, you learn something new: maybe I should have done it this way or that way. I plan to take some inspiration from Max Verstappen’s drive at the Red Bull Ring: it was an amazing drive and it’s very hard to do what he did. But I’d rather win the race like he did but making a bit of a better start from the grid!”