Wed 06 Mar 2024

Sousa set for full season in Euro RX3

Buoyed by the stellar speed he showed on his Euro RX3 debut on home soil last year, André Sousa has confirmed he will contest a full campaign in the series in 2024...

Buoyed by the stellar speed he showed on his FIA European Rallycross Championship bow on home soil last year, André Sousa has confirmed he will contest a full campaign at Euro RX3 level in 2024.

Having begun his career in 2016, Sousa has gone on to establish himself as one of the leading contenders on the domestic scene. Last season, he triumphed twice in the Super1600 division of the Portuguese Rallycross Championship, while simultaneously making his international debut at Montalegre in the second round of the Euro RX3 campaign, behind the wheel of a Volland Racing-built Audi A1 previously piloted by countryman Nuno Araújo.

Following an inauspicious start to the event – spinning in the joker in heat one – the TSL Racing Team driver stunned by posting the fastest time of anybody in the 18-strong field in heat two. He subsequently proved that form was no flash in the pan by backing it up with the fifth-quickest effort in heat three to consolidate the same spot in the overnight classification.

A three-way collision at the beginning of heat four, however, left his Audi buried in the circuit barriers, and while he held onto ninth position in the intermediate ranking – third-best of the nine Portuguese drivers in the mix – the damage was too great to repair before the semi-finals, spelling an early end to his challenge.

Now, though, Sousa is back – and ready to put himself to the test season-long.

“I’m very happy to have made this decision,” the 40-year-old enthused. “I’m ready and motivated to enter a full season in the European Championship for the first time. The objective will be to improve, gain experience and learn the tracks that are new to me, while doing my best to fight for podium places. But above all, I want to have fun doing what I love most!”

The Euro RX3 action will get underway at Essay in France on 8-9 June, followed by World Championship-supporting events at Höljes in Sweden (6-7 July), Nyirád in Hungary (27-28 July), Mettet in Belgium (17-18 August) and Montalegre in Portugal (7-8 September), where the campaign will conclude.