Hungary
joins rallycross’ elite
Kárai
Trans World RX of Hungary will mark the first time the country has featured on
the World Championship calendar, after staging successful FIA European
Rallycross Championship events from 2006 to 2013 and more recently over the
past two years.
So-called
due to the distinctive colour of its unsealed surfaces – having been built on
the site of a disused bauxite quarry – the ‘Red Cauldron’ is of the longest and
most traditional rallycross tracks in Europe, with its technical curves and
dramatic elevation changes having been conquered in the past by the likes of Kenneth
and Timmy Hansen, Timur Timerzyanov and Andreas Bakkerud. Who will add their
name to that roll call of honour this weekend..?
The
EV brigade bid to fight back
The
curtain-raising contest at Höljes served up some sensational racing – but ultimately,
back-to-back victories for the current king of rallycross, Johan Kristoffersson,
in a combustion-engined Volkswagen Polo KMS 601 RX. This weekend, the electric
brigade are out for revenge – and confident about their prospects of turning
the tables.
Both
Timmy and Kevin Hansen have won at Nyirád in the past – the former twice, in
the European Championship and then later in Titans RX – and are eager to
quickly bounce back from a disappointing season-opener on home soil. CE Dealer
Team duo Klara Andersson and Niclas Grönholm, meanwhile, recently tested at the
track in the FIA RX2e Championship’s ZEROID X1, and came closest to defeating Kristoffersson
three weeks ago.
Andersson
aims to make history – again
Klara
Andersson made history in Portugal in 2022 when she finished on the podium; she
made history again when she topped a heat session in Hong Kong last November;
and she did so once more in Sweden earlier this month when she came within a
whisker of winning for the first time in the FIA World Rallycross Championship.
The
24-year-old is increasingly knocking on the door of a milestone victory, and
sooner or later that door will open. Will it be this weekend..?
High
hopes for local success
With
no fewer than 16 Hungarian drivers in the 46-strong field, there are strong
chances of at least one homegrown winner this weekend. Former Hungarian
Rallycross Champion Jankó Wieszt is a new addition to the grid in World RX,
racing an ex-GCK Renault Mégane RS RX – a car not seen in the World
Championship since 2021.
‘Luigi’
will be targeting the top step of the rostrum in RX2e, while local hero Tamás Kárai
– four times a podium-finisher in Euro RX1 – has his sights set on a maiden
victory in the series. Countryman Máté Benyó starred on his international debut
at Nyirád last year by reaching the final in a field full of champions, and
returns with rostrum ambitions.
In
Euro RX3, meanwhile, two-time title-winner Krisztián Szabó is back on the scene,
returning to the category for the first time since 2017 as he finally gets to
drive Volland Racing’s all-conquering Audi A1 that he saw being built seven
years ago. Compatriots Balázs Körmöczi and Sámuel Kovács are similarly likely to
be in the hunt; the former stunned by fighting for victory on his Euro RX debut
last season, while the latter impressed with a third-place finish last time out
at Höljes.
Bumper
Euro RX3 grid sets scene for fierce fight
No
fewer than 14 drivers will do battle for Euro RX3 honours this weekend – the biggest
entry in over a year – and on the basis of what was seen in the Swedish curtain-raiser,
picking a favourite is no easy task.
Volland
Racing’s stable of Audi A1s have been the benchmark in the category for a
number of years, but at Höljes, that dominance came under threat from a number
of different angles – with Körmöczi and Kovács in particular showing a strong
turn-of-speed. This weekend, the pair are on home soil, and will be hoping to
play home advantage. Only two of the last 20 Euro RX3 rounds have not been won
by a car with four rings on the grille. What chance a third this weekend..?
Greece
Poland
Portugal