It’s race week once again and there’s plenty to look forward to at Barcelona’s Circuit de Catalunya.
This weekend will see the debut of six-time Olympic gold medalist Sir Chris Hoy.
Hoy will be driving the XiTE energy Ford Fiesta and is excited about his World RX debut:
“It’s everything I thought it was going to be and more! It takes your breath away”.
Hoy has had no previous experience of driving an RX car so it will be intriguing to see how he adapts and performs against the best in the world.
Cool video from Motion Video, shot this week at Pembrey testing the @FIAWorldRX Fiesta. Can’t wait for the race next week in Barcelona! pic.twitter.com/StUOZ05kew
— Chris Hoy (@chrishoy) April 18, 2019
Round Two of the 2019 World RX championship will be held at the Circuit de Catalunya; its fifth appearance in the championship.
It first held an event in 2015 and kicked off the season in 2017 and 2018 respectively.
Last year saw a dramatic battle between Johan Kristoffersson and Mattias Ekstrom for the win, with the latter taking the chequered flag.
However, Esktrom was later disqualified for causing a collision between himself and Petter Solberg at the start of the race.
No matter who comes out on top this weekend, it will be a new name added to the list of winners in Barcelona, as none of the previous winners are in the World RX this year.
Solberg has recently announced his retirement, whilst Ekstrom runs the EKS outfit and Kristoffersson races in the FIA World Touring Car Cup.
This leaves us to question who will come out on top this weekend.
The opening round in Abu Dhabi saw plenty of drama which saw Andreas Bakkerud and Timmy Hansen came to blows in qualifying.
Here's the huge impact between @Timmy_Hansen and @AndreasBakkerud that put the Swede out of #AbuDhabiRX.
We are pleased to report that both drivers are OK. pic.twitter.com/EAxOHOQDZ3
— FIA World Rallycross (@FIAWorldRX) April 6, 2019
This left Kevin Hansen to take his first win, after Marcus Gronholm recieved a penalty for gaining an advantage in the final.
After seeing Timmy Hansen’s form in qualifying in the last round, it’s hard to discount him.
Timmy was fast and consistent and that’s why he is my pick for the win in Catalunya.
However, Bakkerud will be desperate to make up for his mistake in Abu Dhabi.
I can see him challenging Timmy all the way to the final.
A titanic battle is certainly on the cards.
Round two of the FIA World RX championship gets underway on April 27 at 11:20am local time with Qualifying 1.
Qualifying 4, the Semi-Finals and the Final will be held on April 28.
All sessions will be streamed live on the official World RX YouTube channel.
