[h=2]WORLD RX: Loeb gets home podium, Kristoffersson wins[/h]
[h=2]WORLD RX: Loeb gets home podium, Kristoffersson wins[/h] RACER staff
Loheac World Rallycross 2016
Johan Kristoffersson dominated the Loheac World Rallycross final as Sebastien Loeb secured a home podium with a last-lap move on long-time World Rally rival Petter Solberg.
While Kristoffersson was unchallenged from pole on the way to the Volkswagen Sweden team's first win of 2016, the fight for second was intense throughout.
Works Peugeot driver Loeb pounced on Solberg and Ken Block's Monster teammate Andreas Bakkerud as they battled for second on lap one, before Bakkerud and Loeb jostled when Solberg took an early joker lap.
Block – who had spent his semi final engaged in a ferocious dice with Loeb – left his joker late and headed Bakkerud, Solberg and Loeb for a spell before releasing them when he finally headed for the alternative route.
While Kristoffersson streaked clear and Bakkerud cemented second, Loeb delighted the home crowd by making a move on Solberg stick at the hairpin on the final lap.
Block went out with broken suspension on the last lap after a collision with Reinis Nitiss, who made the final for the first time this year in what will be his last start in the Munnich Motorsport team's SEAT.
Solberg had lost the championship lead to Mattias Ekstrom when the DTM star headed the intermediate classification. But Ekstrom failed to make the final after losing places to Solberg and Nitis