After clinching victory in Race 2 at Montalegre, Viktor Johansson launched his 2025 season on a strong note, securing his fifth career win in the highly competitive Open 2WD category. A result that only reinforces the determination of the Mercedes E190 driver ahead of this weekend’s second round in Valkenswaard.
With 46 points out of a possible 60 scored in Portugal—third best overall in the Open 2WD field—Johansson clearly didn’t miss his mark.
Fastest in qualifying on three occasions and clocking the best lap time in three different races, the driver from Älvsbyn has every reason to feel reassured by the work he and his team put in over the winter.
“Since last season, I’ve always felt I had strong pace, with solid lap times to show for it. But I also knew I had to improve my starts if I wanted to step up a level. I think our performance in that area in Portugal showed we’re definitely heading in the right direction,” Viktor noted.
“There’s still some fine-tuning to be done, of course, but we’ve already seen real progress. It confirms the effort we put in over the off-season is paying off. Each race weekend brings new challenges with different tracks to adapt to, but overall, our package is solid—and I feel genuinely comfortable in the car. That opening round gave us plenty of positives to build on.”
Montalegre also demonstrated that front-wheel drive cars are more than capable of challenging the top rear-wheel drive entries. André Sousa, for instance, clocked six fastest laps in his Audi A1 and finished the weekend with the highest points total—51.
“I was probably less surprised than Simon Tiger by how well the FWD cars performed,” Johansson smiled.
“Back in the Swedish Championship’s 2400cc class, I was already used to battling against those types of cars—there was an Opel Corsa that was right up there. Sure, the big weakness for FWD cars is still the starts, but I knew they could compete. Compared to cars like Simon Tiger’s or my own Mercedes, they’re also a lot lighter, which gives them an edge on certain tracks.”
For Johansson, this ongoing duel between drivetrain philosophies is exactly what makes the Open 2WD category so exciting—and promising for the future.
“As drivers, it definitely adds some extra adrenaline. But it’s also great for the spectators to watch these kinds of battles unfold. Off the line, we clearly have the upper hand against the FWD cars, but we saw in Montalegre that this advantage fades over the course of a race. It makes every heat more exciting—and frankly, more fun for everyone involved.”
This weekend in Valkenswaard, the cat-and-mouse game between RWD and FWD machines is expected to continue. While the narrow Dutch track may suit the lighter front-wheel drives, the advantage advantage the rear-wheel drives have on the starts could prove decisive given how difficult it is to overtake here.
“I walked the track this morning and had a look around. Hopefully it suits both me and the car. It’s quite a tight layout, and even though my Mercedes is a big car, the hybrid system gives me access to instant torque as soon as I hit the throttle. That’ll be a real asset when exiting tight corners.”
“On paper, I think I have what it takes to perform well here—especially if we can replicate the strong starts we had in Portugal. The start straight is shorter here, so we’ll see how the grip evolves. We haven’t had much time yet to dive into the setup, but I think we’ll find a working solution quickly. Hopefully, it’ll be enough to get us running up front.”