World RX of Benelux: Top five reasons to tune in

Mettet’s Circuit Jules Tacheny plays host to the penultimate instalment in two intriguing title fights this weekend, with all of Sunday’s action from heat three onwards to be broadcast live on RX+ from 10:30 CET. Here are some of the key reasons to tune in...

Return to a rallycross favourite

It is five years since Mettet last hosted top-flight international rallycross, but this weekend, Belgian fans are in for a treat as the FIA RX2e Championship and FIA European Rallycross Championship race back into town to deliver a crowd-pleasing spectacle.

As we approach the ‘business end’ of the season, there are close championship battles in both series, with Nils Andersson and Isak Sjökvist – ‘junior’ drivers for World RX heavy-hitters Volkswagen Dealerteam BAUHAUS and Hansen World RX Team respectively – going toe-to-toe for glory in RX2e and a four-way fight for honours shaping up in Euro RX1. But more on that below...

Masters versus apprentices

The RX2e grid has a bit of a different look in Belgium, with four new additions to the high-calibre field in the shape of world champions Johan Kristoffersson and Timmy Hansen, and their respective World RX team-mates, Ole Christian Veiby and Kevin Hansen.

Rallycross superstars they may be, but the drivers they are going up against – the cream of the crop of rising young talents – know the RX2e car inside-out and are fully focussed on the top step of the podium themselves as the series’ title fight reaches fever pitch, with just one point separating Andersson and Sjökvist at the summit of the standings. Who will prevail in the battle between youth and experience..?

Four-way fight intensifies in Euro RX1

Each of the four Euro RX1 rounds to-date in 2023 has been won by a different driver – Jānis Baumanis in Hungary, Enzo Ide in Portugal, Sivert Svardal in Norway and Patrick O’Donovan last time out in Sweden. Baumanis, Ide and O’Donovan are all firmly in the mix in the title hunt, but the driver who currently occupies the top spot in the classification – defending champion Anton Marklund – incredibly has yet to reach the top step of the podium this year.

Marklund and Baumanis have both won at Mettet before, whereas for Ide and O’Donovan, this weekend marks their first visit to the track. The former can draw upon the support of the home crowd, while the latter – the youngest of the crown-chasing quartet by more than ten years – is ready to throw caution to the wind. With so much at stake, the fight promises to be fierce indeed...

Home hero targeting third triumph

Enzo Ide only debuted in rallycross in 2019, but the former sportscar driver has made rapid progress in the dual-surface discipline – and he is continuing to get better every time out. The Belgian – who spent the 2021 World RX campaign racing alongside and learning from multiple world champion Kristoffersson – won at Montalegre both this year and last, and would dearly love to add a third career triumph to his increasingly impressive CV on home soil.

Ide arrived at Mettet sitting second in the standings, six points adrift of championship leader Anton Marklund. Victory in front of his fans would set up a tantalising title showdown at Germany’s Estering in a fortnight’s time...

Extreme E champion makes RX2e debut

Former Extreme E champion Molly Taylor becomes the latest fast female to test her mettle in RX2e, joining title contender Mikaela Åhlin-Kottulinsky in the field for round four of the series’ 2023 campaign.

The Australian’s illustrious reputation in the sport precedes her. In 2016, she became the first – and, to-date, only – woman to win the Australian Rally Championship, as well as the youngest, irrespective of gender. In 2021, she then made history again when she clinched the inaugural Extreme E crown alongside five-time FIA World Rallycross Champion Kristoffersson. She makes her RX2e bow this weekend with Hansen junior team #YellowSquad.