Johan Kristoffersson says that securing a drive in the FIA World Touring Car Cup (WTCR) is a ‘nice thing to fall back on’ after finding himself without a drive in the FIA World Rallycross championship in 2019 when his team pulled out.
Kristoffersson, the dominant reigning World RX champion, will make his début in world touring cars this year after signing with Sébastien Loeb Racing to drive a Volkswagen Golf GTi.
He was left without a drive in World RX last December, after his team PSRX Volkswagen Sweden opted not to continue in the championship after citing a lack of competition in a year when Kristoffersson won 11 out of 12 events.
Despite moving into the top level of touring cars this year, the Swede, who also lifted the 2018 Scandinavian Touring Car Championship title in one of the German cars, admits that he did not actively seek to become a top touring car driver.
“I won STCC in 2012 and from thereon there was not really any target to go to WTCC,” said Kristoffersson. “The target was to be in rallycross, so that’s when I started rallycross in 2013. I’ve been mainly focussing on rallycross since then.
“I have done some touring cars on the side and never really let the circuit racing go away completely, and I think that’s a very nice thing to fall back on now, when rallycross is not happening for me this year.
“In terms of expectations – I don’t care! I will do my best and then we will see. I always have the highest expectations of myself and I will try to do the best I can and I have good teammates as a reference.”
Kristoffersson admits that he is not sure how the Balance of Performance [BoP] will affect him this year, having previously raced the Golf GTi on the shorter and twistier circuits in Scandinavia on which he took his second STCC title last year.
“To speak about the BoP already is tricky because the tracks in Sweden are so different compared to these tracks. In Sweden we almost never use the sixth gear, and barely fifth, so I think it will have a much bigger impact on the big circuits compared to the small circuits in Sweden.
“These BoP ‘games’ will hit all the manufacturers at one point in the season, and during the other times you will be having an advantage from it, so it will always swing backwards and forwards.
“The thing is to be as quick as you can when the BoP is against you. All the drivers in this field can win when they have the best car.”