Johan Kristoffersson enters Nitro RX Sweden with DRR JC

Johan Kristoffersson is the most successful name in FIA World Rallycross Championship history with four titles and twenty-seven race victories to his name. On 30/31 July, he will hope to add Nitro Rallycross to his decorated résumé as he makes his début in the Group E class at Strängnäs Motorstadion. He will drive the #3 FC1-X for Dreyer & Reinbold Racing JC.

DRR JC is a partnership between American team Dreyer & Reinbold Racing and Swedish outfit JC Raceteknik, the latter of which won the 2021 World RX championship as KYB EBS JC with Kristoffersson. Said season, which was Kristoffersson’s first with Audi, saw him win thrice.

“We know how good Johan is and we worked very well together last season,” said JC owner Joel Christoffersson. “It will be interesting to see how he gets acclimated in the FC1-X at Strängnäs, especially when most of the other drivers have already done an event in the car at Lydden Hill.

“We learned a lot with our four drivers and cars in the first round. It’s always a big milestone to get the first race with brand new cars under our belts and now we can focus more on the details of increasing our performance. Johan’s experience will also help us and we can look forward to a good weekend together.”

Prior to his 2021 campaign with JC, Kristoffersson spent six years in a Volkswagen. The 2018 World RX season saw him record easily the most dominant year ever as he won eleven of twelve races and was nearly 100 points ahead of championship runner-up Mattias Ekström.

While the FC1-X will be his first taste of electric rallycross, he is more than familiar with electric motorsport as the defending Extreme E champion and current points leader. Sharing the Rosberg X Racing entry with fellow Swede Mikaela Åhlin-Kottulinsky, the team has won two of the first three races in 2022 and could have had a clean sweep had they not been penalised in the first Island X Prix round. Kristoffersson is the only male driver with multiple Final wins at five.

“I worked together with JC last year to win the world championship so I feel comfortable in the team,” commented Kristoffersson. “It will be a very steep learning curve as it will be my first race in an electric rallycross car. I’m looking forward to trying out the FC1-X and racing against some new competitors. It will be a great experience and a huge challenge, but I’m really looking forward to trying my best.”

DRR JC fields Group E cars for Robin Larsson, Andreas Bakkerud, and Fraser McConnell, with McConnell’s coming as DRR X Team Frazz; Larsson won the season opener at Lydden Hill in June. Ole Christian Veiby was the team’s fourth driver for the first round but is not expected to return to them for Strängnäs. Åhlin-Kottulinsky is also in the JC Nitro RX family as she competes in the NEXT class under the JC Raceteknik banner.

Kristoffersson and Åhlin-Kottulinsky are not the only crossovers between Extreme E and Nitro RX as McConnell serves as the former’s Championship Driver. Group E rival team XITE Energy Racing also has an XE stable that owner Oliver Bennett previously drove for, while XITE part-timer Jenson Button runs JBXE.

Dennis Reinbold, who runs the DRR side, added, “We are very pleased to have Johan join us for his home event in Sweden. Johan has a very impressive and extensive background in all forms of racing. He has proven he is quick in all types of racecars, especially rallycross cars. We are excited for him to hop in the FC1-X.”

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