For the first time, a world competition under the umbrella of the FIA, Rallycross, will hold a completely electric test, with all its vehicles smoke-free. It will be the CatalunyaRX, the seventh stage of the eight in the championship, which takes place at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya in a double event, this Saturday and Sunday. Laia Sanz, Carlos Checa and Nick Heidfeld –both debutants- are some of the pilots participating in the races.
Motorsport is moving inexorably towards an electric future. And in this sense, Rallycross – the category of short races with rally format cars – is the spearhead of FIA competitions. Until before the World RX of Catalunya, the six previous stops of the championship (Hungary, Sweden, Norway, Latvia, Portugal and Belgium) had combined electric cars with combustion cars. In Montmeló, they will all be electric.
These are vehicles with impressive performance in their double category, RX1 –the Supercars, with 680 hp and acceleration from 0-100 in 1.9 seconds, less than an F1- and the RX2e, with 335 hp and 3.3s for the 0-100, developed by the Catalan company QEV Technologies since 2021.
In the premier category, RX1, the Swedish Johan Kristoffersson (Volkswagen RX1e), with 41 points ahead of his countryman Kevin Hansen, could be crowned champion this weekend for the fifth time, after the titles of 2017, 2018, 2020 and 2021 The current winner has won 6 of the 7 tests this year. Behind him, four drivers are vying for runner-up, separated by just three points: Kevin Hansen (90), Ole Christian Veiby (89), Niclas Grönholm (87) – the son of former rally champion Marcus Grönholm – and Timmy Hansen (87). ).
In RX2e, the Barcelona test is the last of the championship, with the Belgian Viktor Vrackx as the leader and main contender for the title, with 14 and 15 points over the Swedes Isak Sjökvist and Nils Andersson. With no options left, Pablo Suárez, from the Canary Islands, appeared in 6th place, 23 points behind the leader.
Suárez, engineer and driver, is one of the attractions, along with Laia Sanz, a regular in the RX2e championship (8th in the championship with 17 points). The two novelties on the grid, with fifteen participants, are Nick Heidfeld and Carlos Checa, who will make their debut in the specialty.
The German, a former F1 driver -183 GP between 2000 and 2011-, returns to competition four years after his last appearance in Formula E. For Checa, former Superbike champion, the steering wheel is not new, since he took part in the latest edition of the Dakar rally (which will run again in 2023 with the Astara team, together with Óscar Fuertes and Diego Vallejo).
The Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya hosts the World Rallycross Championship for the eighth year. It has been one of the stable seats of the championship since 2015 – only Höljes in Sweden and Riga in Latvia have hosted more editions. In addition, the Montmeló venue will be the scene of the first e-Mobility Experience, the largest pioneering electric mobility fair in southern Europe.
Tickets, at affordable prices, range from 28.10 euros on Saturday to 31.80 euros on Sunday, or 47.90 euros for both days.
