PREVIEW: 2023 FIA World Rallycross Championship – Hell, Norway

The 100th round of the FIA World Rallycross Championship takes place 17/18 June at the Lånkebanen circuit in Hell, Norway. Fittingly for such a momentous event, several heroes of the sport will be taking part this weekend across the RX1e and Euro RX1 categories at one of the most popular tracks on the calendar.

Hell has been a mainstay on the calendar since the championship’s inaugural season in 2014. That first season, like all of them, saw some spectacular racing, with two-time world champion Petter Solberg taking ultimate honours that year. He would go on to win the following year before stopped in his tracks in 2016 by the sport’s current sporting director Mattias Ekström. After that, the reign of the mighty Johan Kristoffersson began. He has been champion in every season he has entered since 2017 (taking a one-year hiatus in 2019) and has already stamped his authority on the 2023, with a masterful display in Montalegre, Portugal, last time out. It is far too early to call, but alarm bells must be ringing for the other teams, as the five-time world champion already looks a little unstoppable.

One team determined to stop him is Hansen World RX Team. Timmy Hansen was a finalist when the championship first visited Hell and will be desperate to make a mark this season following a disappointing opening round. Hansen failed to reach the final after contact with his brother, Kevin Hansen, in the semi-final. Kevin, however, did manage to finish second overall, and so, despite team manager Kenneth Hansen saying that “we are not at winning pace yet“, there are encouraging signs that they may not be too far from achieving their goal.

Andersson leads the two Lancias in Portugal. Credit: Joerg Mitter / Red Bull Content Pool

There are more scintillating battles in prospect between Construction Equipment Dealer Team and Special ONE Racing. Sébastian Loeb thrilled spectators on his return to the sport, partly because of the extraordinary Group B livery of his all-electric Lancia Delta Evo-e RX, and partly with spectacular battles up and down the grid, chiefly with both CE Dealer Team drivers. After a heat one battle with Niclas Grönholm, he went on to have a thrilling fight with Klara Andersson. For Andersson, it was a very special moment: “Sébastien Loeb was one of my biggest childhood heroes. I’ve always regarded him as one of if not the best off-road driver ever, so it was super-cool to race against him“. With both CE Dealer Team drivers showing good pace all weekend in Portugal, expectations will be high in Norway.

Similarly, Loeb will be aiming for the top in Norway. Having won his second heat race with the third best time overall, the pace of the Lancia with Loeb at the wheel is obvious. “I’m a bit disappointed with the result of the final, of course,” he said after a puncture relegated him to last place in the final. Showing the experience that has earned him his legendary status, he reflected: “it’s frustrating because we were in a really good rhythm and our strategy was faultless. We showed a good level of performance, because we mustn’t forget that we’re up against specialists in the discipline – drivers and teams who have more experience than us with electric RX1e cars.” If he is achieving this kind of pace without much experience in this particular category, imagine the fireworks when he and the team get fully up to speed.

Euro RX1

It is, of course, not just world rallycross that’s taking place in Hell, but also round three of the 2023 FIA European Rallycross Championship. Having had two different winners so far this year, the championship is still wide open, with round winners Janis Baumanis and Enzo Ide currently tied on 37 points at the top of the championship.

Enzo Ide on his way to victory in Portugal. Credit: @World / Red Bull Content Pool

Ide will be wanting to capitalise on the momentum of winning in Portugal and break away at the top of the standings. However, the field is proving to be exceedingly competitive this year. Baumanis finished third in the final despite having to serve a double-Joker. Hungarian Tamás Kárai has been impressive as well, taking his Audi S1 to fourth last time out. British rallycross superstar Patrick O’Donovan is displaying fine pace as well, featuring in both finals of the season so far and showing a confident and aggressive style that is sure to take him far in rallycross.

Marklund and Baumanis battle it out in Portugal. Credit: @World / Red Bull Content Pool

And let us not forget that reigning champion Anton Marklund is currently without a win in 2023. Hell has historically not been the luckiest place for Marklund, having been denied his first World RX win there due to a technical infringement only discovered after the race a few years ago. Nevertheless, the SET Promotion star will be determined to convert his devastatingly quick pace into an outright event victory. In resilient and determined mood, Marklund said “feeling sorry for ourselves is not in our nature. We will stay hungry, we will stay focussed and we’re going to Hell with a big will to win, especially with it being my closest round to home. I have a lot of friends and family coming along and I want to show them what we can do. I’m pretty confident we will be quick again, so hopefully we can keep it together with no technical issues, have a great weekend and catch up a bit in the championship.”

With battles raging up and down both world and European rallycross grids, the milestone event in Hell is one not to be missed. You can find full World RX1e and Euro RX1 entry lists below. The action takes place 17/18 June.

NO.	DRIVER	NAT.	TEAM	NAT.	CAR
1	Johan KRISTOFFERSSON	SWE	Volkswagen Dealerteam BAUHAUS	SWE	Volkswagen RX1e
9	Sébastien LOEB	FRA	Special ONE Racing	FRA	Lancia Delta Evo-e RX
12	Klara ANDERSSON	SWE	CE Dealer Team	SWE	PWR RX1e
17	Gustav BERGSTRÖM	SWE	Volkswagen Dealerteam BAUHAUS	SWE	Volkswagen RX1e
21	Timmy HANSEN	SWE	Hansen World RX Team	SWE	Peugeot 208 RX1e
36	Guerlain CHICHERIT	FRA	Special ONE Racing	FRA	Lancia Delta Evo-e RX
44	Timo SCHEIDER	DEU	ALL-INKL.COM Münnich Motorsport	DEU	SEAT Ibiza RX1e
68	Niclas GRÖNHOLM	FIN	CE Dealer Team	SWE	PWR RX1e
71	Kevin HANSEN	SWE	Hansen World RX Team	SWE	Peugeot 208 RX1e
96	Ole Christian VEIBY	NOR	Volkswagen Dealerteam BAUHAUS	SWE	Volkswagen RX1e

World RX1e entry list.

NO.	DRIVER	NAT.	TEAM	NAT.	CAR
1	Anton MARKLUND	SWE	SET Promotion	FIN	Ford Fiesta
2	Oliver O’DONOVAN	IRL	Team RX Racing	GBR	Proton Iriz
6	Jānis BAUMANIS	LVA	RX Team Latvia	LVA	Peugeot 208
7	Patrick O’DONOVAN	GBR	Team RX Racing	GBR	Peugeot 208
22	Máté BENYÓ	HUN	Korda Racing KFT	HUN	Peugeot 208
24	Sivert SVARDAL	NOR	Sivert Svardal	NOR	Volkswagen Polo
30	Tom André SÆTNAN	NOR	Sætnan Motorsport	NOR	Volkswagen Scirocco
38	Mandie AUGUST	DEU	ALL-INKL.COM Münnich Motorsport	DEU	SEAT Ibiza
39	Zoltán KONCSEG	HUN	Kárai Motorsport Sportegyesület	HUN	Audi A1
50	Attila MÓZER	HUN	Nyirád Motorsport KFT	HUN	Ford Fiesta
55	Paulius PLESKOVAS	LTU	TSK Baltijos Sportas	LTU	Škoda Fabia
67	Frank VALLE	NOR	Frank Valle	NOR	Ford Fiesta
70	Sverre ISACHSEN	NOR	Sverre Isachsen	NOR	Ford Fiesta
73	Tamás KÁRAI	HUN	Kárai Motorsport Sportegyesület	HUN	Audi S1
77	René MÜNNICH	DEU	ALL-INKL.COM Münnich Motorsport	DEU	SEAT Ibiza
85	Hans-Jøran ØSTRENG	NOR	Hans-Jøran Østreng	NOR	Hyundai i20
91	Enzo IDE	BEL	Enzo Ide	BEL	Audi S1

Euro RX1 entry list.