Spectators were in awe of the race track at the Central Harbourfront Event Space at the World Rallycross season finale on Sunday.
“I can’t believe they turned this place into this [track],” said Nisa, a Hong Kong local watching on with two of her friends.
“I walked in wondering ‘where is the race track, how are they going to do this?’ I was in disbelief.”
The all-electric vehicles were racing around an 800m track, custom built for the double-header for Saturday and Sunday, made up of 37 percent gravel and 63 percent tarmac.
Racing was delayed on Saturday due to the incompletion of part of the track. But after a new track map was produced – bringing the race to 800m from 1,225m – the competition got under way.
“It’s really impressive that, in such a small space, they’ve been able to get a track in,” said Hassan, a Formula 1 fan experiencing World RallyX for the first time.
On the track, Johan Kristoffersson of Sweden had the luxury of racing without pressure after his sixth-place finish in Saturday’s race was enough to wrap up the world title – his sixth world championship crown and a fourth in consecutive years.
And, after qualifying for Sunday’s final as the fastest driver in the semi-finals, Kristoffersson finished the season with another win – cruising to victory just over 3 seconds ahead of Norway’s Ole Christian Veiby in second place and almost 5 seconds ahead Great Britain’s Patrick O’Donovan in third.
“It’s really a team effort, so it’s extra nice to secure the team championship and give back with a good result today,” Kristoffersson said.
“It’s been great to come to Hong Kong and race in front of the Hong Kong fans. Today there was quite some crowd here so I enjoyed that very much.”
Nineteen-year-old O’Donovan was making his World Rallycross debut this weekend and was delighted to have finished it on the podium.
“It’s an absolutely amazing feeling and to be up here against some of my childhood heroes is amazing,” he said.
“What a place to be doing it, in front of this skyline and in Hong Kong.”