The FIA World Rallycross Championship is becoming a competition known for attracting drivers with different backgrounds, be them in real competition or just testing. Normally a terrain of former rally drivers as well rallycross specialists, the World RX is receiving a bunch of touring car drivers as well single-seater racers, which is the case of the Russian driver Vitaly Petrov.
The former Renault and Caterham driver tried his way inside a Peugeot 208 WRX of Albatec Racing at the Franciacorta circuit in Italy a day after the World RX of Italy event where another team that races with Peugeots, the Team Peugeot-Hansen, secured the teams championship of the 2015 season.
After spending the 2014 season in the DTM where he finished in the last position and being dropped by Mercedes, the Russian is still on the way to decide what he will do next in his race career, and rallycross in one of the possibilities that are being studied, although according to an interview to the RACER magazine, Petrov stated that he would like to wait until the end of the World RX season, which is next month at Rosario, Argentina.
Some former Formula 1 drivers are opening their horizons to rallycross in recent years, like the World Champion Jacques Villeneuve, the German Markus Winkelhock and more recently Gianni Morbidelli had his chance.
Good to Petrov is that he already has some good experience in rough terrain, as he raced on ice and grass along with the asphalt before starting into the single seater route. Also, his brief experience in sportscar racing, which had moments in LMP1, LMP2 and GT machinery adds a lot to the fact that he is suited for different classes of racing.
If Petrov gets a ride, may that be with Albatec Racing or another squad, he will be the third Russian driver to compete in the World RX, after the former Peugeot driver and current Olsbergs MSE third driver Timur Timerzyanov and the one-off entrant Roman Stepanenko.
PHOTO: Albatec Racing
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