WRX starts into 2nd electric season: Race preview for Montalegre

Parallel to the Formula E race weekend in Jakarta, the Rallycross World Championship starts its second electric season. In Montalegre (Portugal), Johan Kristoffersson begins his mission to defend the title, which nine other drivers want to make as difficult as possible for him. These include the returnees Timo Scheider and Sebastian Loeb, as well as some old familiar faces.

Drivers & teams of the 2023 WRX season

Team	Driver
Volkswagen Dealerteam BAUHAUS	Johan Kristoffersson
Volkswagen Dealerteam BAUHAUS	Ole Christian Veiby
Volkswagen Dealerteam BAUHAUS	Gustav Bergström
All-inkl. Münnich Motorsport	Timo Scheider
Special One Racing	Sebastian Loeb
Special One Racing	Guerlain Chicherit
Hansen Motorsport	Timmy Hansen
Hansen Motorsport	Kevin Hansen
CE Dealer Team	Klara Andersson
CE Dealer Team	Niklas Grönholm

 

The track

Montalegre was already one of the highlights of the WRX race calendar last season. Back then, Kristoffersson was a commanding winner on Saturday and was penalized for an accident with Timmy Hansen on Sunday, allowing the Construction Equipment Dealer team to celebrate a win by Niclas Grönholm and a podium finish by Klara Andersson. The track itself features a long start-finish straight with 180-degree hairpins at either end. These are connected by a passage of fast but tight corners. The track is 945 meters long.

Timetable & broadcast

The FIA World RX will host eight sessions throughout the race weekend, including practice sessions, heats and the semi-finals and finals. You can follow them exclusively via the series' paid streaming service RX+. This costs 10.99 euros per month or 100 euros for the entire year. All sessions of the weekend at a glance:

Date	Time	Session
Saturday, June 3, 2023	11:05	Practice
	13:05	Super Pole
	15:34	Heat 1
	17:34	Heat 2
Sunday, June 4, 2023	11:40	Heat 3
	14:10	Heat 4
	from 16:00	Semifinals & Finals