Red Bull Hansen NRX Team, the winner of the last two editions of Nitro Rallycross, is coming back to the newly revamped series with Kevin Hansen and Timmy Hansen to defend its status as reigning champions.
Hansen has scored back-to-back Nitro wins in 2018 and 2019 at Utah Motorsports Campus, with Timmy Hansen taking victory before Kevin Hansen scored top honours a year later in the standalone event.
After a one-year hiatus due to COVID-19, Nitro Rallycross is back and bigger than ever, expanding from a one-off winner-takes-all event to a five-round series.
Kevin Hansen, who currently leads the FIA World Rallycross Championship thanks to a victory at the opening round last weekend, will defend his status as the reigning champion in NRX with a full campaign to take the top spot.
“Coming back to the US to take on Nitro Rallycross again is going to be mega,” said Kevin Hansen. “Utah Motorsports Campus is a circuit unlike anything I’ve driven elsewhere in the world – and now there’s going to be five of these insane tracks! How could I not come back and try to win it again? Travis Pastrana has done a super job with the original Nitro track, so I can’t wait to see what he has in store for us at the other locations.
“I want to win NRX again this year, of course, but it’ll be more difficult than ever before. There are some quality teams and drivers in this series so it will be a big ask to finish on top. But we are relishing the challenge; we’ve got a slightly different spec of car for NRX compared to the world championship, so all the hard work the team has been putting in to perfect my US 208 will hopefully put me in a great position to compete at the top.”
Timmy Hansen will also return for the opening round at Salt Lake City, driving a second Peugeot 208 WRX at the same track he took victory three years earlier.
“I am so happy to be coming back – I have such great memories of Nitro Rallycross from 2018 and 2019,” said Timmy Hansen. “Going over the jump in Utah was unlike anything I’d experienced before; this track is a rollercoaster with its big air and banked turns. And to be in history as the first-ever winner of an NRX event is a really cool achievement. I can’t wait to go back.
“I’d love to do the whole championship but it’s a bit tricky to know if that is possible – between NRX, World RX and Extreme E, I have a lot of driving and travelling to do! So I’m going to go to Utah aiming to win, and then hoping I can come back and do some more races. It would be awesome to try out the new tracks.”
Red Bull Hansen NRX Team will fly out two Peugeot 208 WRX cars for its US tour, which have been tailored to the tracks featured in the Nitro Rallycross series.
“I would say there are only two premier categories in rallycross right now – the world championship, of course, and Nitro Rallycross. Since we packed up our container in Utah two years ago, we’ve wanted to come back and race here again, so we’re very happy to have made it back onto the grid,” said Kenneth Hansen, Team Principal.
“We are pushing as a team to bring the best package possible to the US. With the drivers we have the best line-up possible; they are currently the top two drivers in the world championship and the only past winners of NRX after all! But also on the technical side, we have been hard at work preparing a car that is perfectly suited to the big jumps and slippery gravel the US circuits have. We want to give Kevin and Timmy the best tools to go out and win more races here – hopefully we’ll achieve that with this version of the 208.”
Nitro Rallycross features some of the most extreme and adrenaline-fuelled rallycross tracks on the planet, with high-banked corners and 30-metre (100 feet) jumps the norm.
Utah Motorsports Campus in Salt Lake City, USA, previously hosted standalone Nitro Rallycross events but has been joined by four new purpose-built tracks for the expanded 2021 calendar: ERX Motor Park in Minneapolis, MN; Wild Horse Pass in Phoenix, AZ; Glen Helen, CA; and The Firm, FL.
The five-stop US tour compliments Hansen’s activities in the FIA World Rallycross Championship, where it currently leads both the drivers’ and teams’ championships.
“Coming back to the US to take on Nitro Rallycross again is going to be mega,” said Kevin Hansen. “Utah Motorsports Campus is a circuit unlike anything I’ve driven elsewhere in the world – and now there’s going to be five of these insane tracks! How could I not come back and try to win it again? Travis Pastrana has done a super job with the original Nitro track, so I can’t wait to see what he has in store for us at the other locations.
“I want to win NRX again this year, of course, but it’ll be more difficult than ever before. There are some quality teams and drivers in this series so it will be a big ask to finish on top. But we are relishing the challenge; we’ve got a slightly different spec of car for NRX compared to the world championship, so all the hard work the team has been putting in to perfect my US 208 will hopefully put me in a great position to compete at the top.”
Timmy Hansen will also return for the opening round at Salt Lake City, driving a second Peugeot 208 WRX at the same track he took victory three years earlier.
“I am so happy to be coming back – I have such great memories of Nitro Rallycross from 2018 and 2019,” said Timmy Hansen. “Going over the jump in Utah was unlike anything I’d experienced before; this track is a rollercoaster with its big air and banked turns. And to be in history as the first-ever winner of an NRX event is a really cool achievement. I can’t wait to go back.
“I’d love to do the whole championship but it’s a bit tricky to know if that is possible – between NRX, World RX and Extreme E, I have a lot of driving and travelling to do! So I’m going to go to Utah aiming to win, and then hoping I can come back and do some more races. It would be awesome to try out the new tracks.”
Red Bull Hansen NRX Team will fly out two Peugeot 208 WRX cars for its US tour, which have been tailored to the tracks featured in the Nitro Rallycross series.
“I would say there are only two premier categories in rallycross right now – the world championship, of course, and Nitro Rallycross. Since we packed up our container in Utah two years ago, we’ve wanted to come back and race here again, so we’re very happy to have made it back onto the grid,” said Kenneth Hansen, Team Principal.
“We are pushing as a team to bring the best package possible to the US. With the drivers we have the best line-up possible; they are currently the top two drivers in the world championship and the only past winners of NRX after all! But also on the technical side, we have been hard at work preparing a car that is perfectly suited to the big jumps and slippery gravel the US circuits have. We want to give Kevin and Timmy the best tools to go out and win more races here – hopefully we’ll achieve that with this version of the 208.”
Nitro Rallycross features some of the most extreme and adrenaline-fuelled rallycross tracks on the planet, with high-banked corners and 30-metre (100 feet) jumps the norm.
Utah Motorsports Campus in Salt Lake City, USA, previously hosted standalone Nitro Rallycross events but has been joined by four new purpose-built tracks for the expanded 2021 calendar: ERX Motor Park in Minneapolis, MN; Wild Horse Pass in Phoenix, AZ; Glen Helen, CA; and The Firm, FL.
The five-stop US tour compliments Hansen’s activities in the FIA World Rallycross Championship, where it currently leads both the drivers’ and teams’ championships.
