After enjoying the first full season in the FIA World Rallycross Championship, Enzo Ide looks into a new horizon for the 2022 season, leaving the World stage but not the high level of competition as he aims for the FIA Euro RX1 Championship.
Ide will keep his relationship with EKS, which includes another go in their Audi S1 EKS RX Quattro, although the foreground will have some changes as Mattias Ekström’s outfit will separate its racing activities from JC Raceteknik after only a year of combined efforts. While the setup that saw Ide and Johan Kristoffersson together in 2021 isn’t the anymore, the EKS/JC technical partnership will continue in the background, which was the scenario where the Belgian driver started his rallycross career with sporadic runs in 2019.
Also, although EKS expanded its horizons outside rallycross by including rallying and also a cooperation with Cupra for the electric PureETCR championship, it doesn’t mean they will appear in the debut of the RX1e era in World RX, likely staying with technical partnerships in Nitro Rallycross while also having its own Euro RX1 effort to take care.
Ekström says the team wants to keep helping in Ide’s growth in rallycross as it has been for a few years, but the Swede also expects frontrunner results from the Belgian, who had five World RX finals in his account in 2021 and the sixth place in the standings, a satisfactory debut season despite not being closer to its title-winning team mate and mentor Johan Kristoffersson.
And all that mileage acquired in the Audi S1 EKS RX Quattro and Mattias Ekström’s lessons will be a good help for Ide, considering that despite the possible absence of the 2021 Euro RX1 champion Andreas Bakkerud, the 2022 grid will have a similar level of strength.
The 2022 FIA Euro RX1 Championship opens the season before the World championship, returning to Nyirád in Hungary on 22nd May.
PHOTO: EKSRX
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