Johan Kristoffersson enjoyed another memorable year by securing a record-breaking sixth World Rallycross Championship and became Extreme E’s first double champion.
Until the Lydden Hill fire that paused the WRX season, the Swede had been utterly dominant, winning all three of the opening events. Life was harder in the slower ZEROID X1 cars the series fell back on in South Africa and Hong Kong, although a 50% win rate in equal machinery further highlighted his class.
Kristoffersson also joined Mikaela Ahlin-Kottulinsky for a second Extreme E season; they claimed a pair of victories in Sardinia and added a third prior to their coronation in Chile.
Kristoffersson on 2023’s extreme highs and lows
To Kristoffersson's already bulging trophy cabinet in 2023 were added this term eight event winner’s trophies and two pieces of outright championship silverware. But he concedes that neither his World Rallycross nor Extreme E campaigns were without fault.
Asked to pinpoint a low point from each championship, he says: “Definitely, the low point [in RX] was when the car stopped in Hong Kong. That was something we couldn’t influence at all. I’d taken the joker and I was looking forward to the joker lap battle with Kevin [Hansen] and then the car stopped. That was definitely the low out of anything I have done this season.
“Within Extreme E, I think honestly we really didn’t have anything super-low. I mean, in one way, we were on for a win in the first race in Saudi when we picked up a penalty for speeding in the slow zone. But at the time, we were pretty satisfied with that result [third] anyway, as I think for me and Mikaela, our strong part is not really the sand events.”
Interview: Is Kristoffersson the greatest electric racer of all time?
Turning to the highest moments, he adds: “The home [WRX] event in Holjes when we did the full Sunday in full rain and I was able to have great launches and have such an advantage on the others in terms of pace on track. That was really nice to win that one.
"The competition with Mattias is always nice and to be able to pass him two days in a row in the final is of course very nice" Johan Kristoffersson
“Within Extreme E, I think the win we had in Sardinia was really nice after the first corner when I was so far behind. I was able to catch up and overtake Mattias [Ekstrom] on both Sunday finals. The competition with Mattias is always nice and to be able to pass him two days in a row in the final is of course very nice.
“I respect him a lot as a driver, so it is not easy to make a pass on him, but I think that was also our first win since Sardinia the year before. That was really a high in Extreme E this year.”
