Fast female Åhlin-Kottulinsky joins RX2e grid

Mikaela Åhlin-Kottulinsky has signed up to contest the opening three rounds of the 2023 FIA RX2e Championship, in which she will partner returning front-runner Nils Andersson at the newly-formed Team E.

Åhlin-Kottulinsky arrives in RX2e – on the undercard to the FIA World Rallycross Championship – with an impressive résumé. She became the first female driver to achieve a pole position and race win in the TCR Scandinavia Touring Car Championship, in which she competed from 2017 until 2021, finishing runner-up in the overall standings in her final campaign as she reached the rostrum more often than not.

The Swede has similarly been a leading contender in Extreme E, placing fourth in the inaugural season – achieving four podium finishes alongside World RX race-winner Kevin Hansen – before improving to second last year, as she and five time FIA World Rallycross Champion Johan Kristoffersson sped to two victories from five starts for Rosberg X Racing.

Åhlin-Kottulinsky currently sits third in the 2023 Extreme E standings, and is now set to dovetail her title bid in the off-road racing series alongside her participation in RX2e. She has committed to enter at least the first three rounds – making her debut in Hell, Norway next weekend (17-18 June) – with Team E, whose focus is firmly on the core pillars of equality, engagement and electrification.

In preparation for the challenge ahead, the 30-year-old Karlstad native has been testing the ZEROID X1 at Spain’s Calafat Circuit, as she endeavours to hit the ground running in the high-calibre field right from the outset.

“When the possibility arose to test the RX2e car earlier this year, there was no doubt that I wanted to give it a go!” Åhlin-Kottulinsky enthused. “Having done some rallycross events last year, I felt the urge to come back to do some more and then the plan with Team E came together.

“I believe RX2e is a great step into professional rallycross, and a great pathway to the next level. Running on the same weekends as the World Championship and with top-level drivers in the series, there is no better place to develop rallycross skills and my goal is to learn step-by-step.

“I had a great test day at Calafat, and a great team around me supporting me to get quicker every time out. Nils [Andersson] was also on-site, and I feel that we straightaway had a good working relationship. Calafat is very much an asphalt track which is a surface that I have more experience of, so I’m sure the other tracks will be more challenging for me, but that’s why I’m here – to gain experience and drive as much as possible!”