Experienced as she might have been in a wider motorsport sense, Mikaela Åhlin-Kottulinsky entered the 2023 FIA RX2e Championship campaign lacking rallycross miles. She did not let it hold her back.
Right from the outset, Åhlin-Kottulinsky was on the leading pace. In the opening heat of the season in Hell – a track at which she had never previously competed – she went third-quickest, and in the final, she chased countrymen Isak Sjökvist and Nils Andersson to the chequered flag to cement a popular podium finish on her debut in the FIA World Rallycross Championship support series.
There was another visit to the rostrum at Mettet in Belgium later in the summer, where the Swede beat both Hansen brothers as well as Ole Christian Veiby – World RX heavy-hitters all – to finish second behind only multiple world champion Johan Kristoffersson, and she went into the deciding round at Germany’s Estering embroiled in a tight three-way fight for title glory.
Whilst she ultimately came up short, it was a hugely impressive campaign nonetheless. Åhlin-Kottulinsky may have been a relative ‘rookie’ in rallycross terms before the season got underway, but by the end of it, she looked every inch the established pro.
2023
Stats
RX2e
Starts:
5
Wins:
0
Podiums:
2
Finals
Reached:
3
Best
Result: 2nd
Points:
66
Championship
Position: 3rd
Finland
Italy
Hungary