Nitro Rallycross has returned for the 2022 season with a worldwide global calendar spanning ten rounds, some fresh new faces, and an all-new electric class of racing. This weekend kicks the season off with round one at Lydden Hill in the United Kingdom, home to one of the most historic rallycross tracks ever raced.
Speaking to this weekend’s historic track, NRX begins with round one taking the series overseas to the United Kingdom for the first time after announcing a global calendar. Drivers will now take to 5 new countries to compete in this season including Sweden, Finland, Saudi Arabia, and Canadian rounds. The series will still hold events in its homeland of the United States but just a bit fewer than the international rounds. ERX, Wild Horse Pass, and a round in California are slated for the US rounds but also an unannounced season finale in March will be held there.
With the new influx of international tracks, fans are pleased to see a new influx of drivers as well. While this year’s roster is similar to the previous, it contains some fresh new faces to join the field across all four classes. Drivers like Jensen Button and Kris Meeke join in the top class while in the lower classes of NRX NEXT and Crosscar the lineup has grown even more with skilled drivers like Mikaela Ahlin-Kottulinsky and Tommi Hallman.
Familiar faces return looking for redemption and a shot at gold as reigning champion and creator, Travis Pastrana returns for the all-new Group E class. Others like Andreas Bakkerud, Oliver Bennett, and Kevin Eriksson are making their second attempts at becoming champions this season jumping into Group E as well. Some competitors like Fraser McConnell are competing in both Supercars and Group E.
Credit: Nitro Rallycross Media
With drivers competing in multiple classes the question must be asked of how many classes are there really? Nitro Rallycross is upping the ante with four new dedicated classes this season. Crosscars will make their debut as the smallest of the four, followed by the return of NRX NEXT. With NEXT returning we will see familiar names on cars such as reigning champion Casper Jansson, Lane Vacala, and Mikaela Ahlin-Kottulinksy as she jumps into NEXT full time.
From there the runner-up class is the supercars of old as they are back on track. Supercars return this year with less focus as the new premier Group E will take the top spot they once held.
At the very top of the timesheets, we will see the Group E class featuring the all-new FC1-X all-electric rallycross car. This car boasts over a whopping 1000bhp with all-new handling and a massive 12 inches of suspension travel to aid in Nitro’s massive jumps. This will be where you can find all of the top drivers like Conner Martell, Jensen Button, and Travis Pastrana.
The Nitro Rallycross season kicks off this weekend 18/19 July at Lydden Hill and is sure to be an interesting season with greater potential than the last.