Portuguese driver Mario Barbosa heads to Lydden Hill in Kent as the FIA European Super1600 Rallycross Championship after round one in Portugal, however he will have fight on his hands for the second round of 2016.
2016 Championship favourite Ulrik Linnemann took victory in Portugal in his Peugeot 208 but lies in second place in the drivers championship, two points behind Barbosa as the spiritual home of rallycross plays host to a mammoth 29 entries for this weekends event where the competition for the win is extraordinary.
Whilst Linnemann and Barbosa are looking to extend their points lead, Artis Baumanis will be looking to get his championship challenge off to a better start after he was classified 17th at Portugal in his Set Promotion run Renault Twingo. Team-mates Magnus Bergsjobrenden and Timur Shigabutdinov faired better as they currently lie in 5th and 6th places respectively in the Drivers Championship.
Hungarian driver Krisztián Szabo took victory in the first Semi-Final in his Skoda Fabia and went on to take fifth place in the Final and he will be one to watch out for victory again in one of the most competitive fields of the series this year. Estonian Janno Ligur will be another Skoda driver to keep an eye on as he sits in third place overall in the standings.
The British entry is represented by two of the British Super1600 Rallycross Championship‘s best. 2015 Champion Craig Lomax suffered a difficult debut at Portugal where mechanical issues hampered his chance to take his iconic Xtreme Motorsport Citroen C2 past Q1 and he will be out to have a better performance on home turf. Phil Chicken is also back in his similar Citroen and after his recent pace at Pembrey, Chicken will also be looking to getting into the mix on home ground.