PHOTO CREDIT: Hansen RX Team/Red Bull Content Pool
Red Bull Hansen NRX Team, the winners of the last two editions of Nitro Rallycross, are back for the newly revamped series with both Kevin and Timmy Hansen to defend their status as reigning champions.
After a one-year hiatus due to COVID-19, Nitro Rallycross makes a bold return, expanding from a one-off winner-takes-all event to a five-round series.
The Utah Motorsports Campus in Salt Lake City, USA, previously hosted standalone Nitro RX events but will now be joined by four new purpose-built tracks for the expanded 2021 calendar featuring: ERX Motor Park in Minneapolis, MN; Wild Horse Pass in Phoenix, AZ; Glen Helen, CA; and The Firm, FL.
Kevin Hansen 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. 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!" Kevin Hansen said. "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."
Due to other racing commitments, Timmy Hansen has only confirmed his entry for the opening round at Salt Lake City.
"I am so happy to be coming back – I have such great memories of Nitro Rallycross from 2018 and 2019. 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," Timmy Hansen said.
"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," he adds.
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| 2019 Nitro World Games Rallycross. PHOTO CREDIT: Red Bull Content Pool |
Kevin reveals that the team's Peugeot 208 WRX's will be slightly different from their FIA World Rallycross Championship specification cars.
"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," he explains.
Kenneth Hansen, team boss admits that since his team raced in Utah two years ago, they've always wanted to return and are thrilled to be back on the grid in 2021.
"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," he said.
"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."
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