Scottish team Albatec Racing is ready to take part in this weekend’s round six of the FIA World Rallycross Championship at Hell, Norway; more specifically, the Dumfries-based outfit will compete in the FIA European Rallycross Championship for Supercars, of which the Norwegian meeting will be the second round.
Their lead driver, 2015 EuroRX Supercar champion, Tommy Rustad of Norway, hopes his knowledge of his home track will help him with confidence about his first win of the season, especially after having conducted some pre-event testing that made the car look all the more promising.
“Racing on your home track is always a boost for a driver so racing here in Norway is one I always look forward to, Rustad says.
I won here in my 2015 championship winning season, and this year I’m determined to repeat that. The team and car are better than the results showed in Spain, but due to a combination of factors we didn’t get the results we were capable of. We have conducted extensive testing in preparation for this weekend and I’d very much like to take my first win of the season at home.”
The Norwegian’s team-mate, young Finn Jere Kalliokoski, on the other hand, believes the level of the competition will be particularly high, especially with a field of 33 Supercars in the European grid alone, and on a circuit he has never experienced before.
“After the opening round of Euro RX in Barcelona, I took part in the opening round of the Finnish championship and was leading the race with some quick times, before spinning off. Up to then I was going well, so the target this weekend in Norway is to reach a semi final position, says Kalliokoski.
“I’ve never been here before or even to Norway in fact, but from what I know the track is very technical. I have done some testing but the competition will be tough, there are over 30 cars racing this weekend, and the local entry is also very strong.”
After tomorrow’s first free practice session, the first ERX qualifying round will start at 11am.