RX'S new high flyer

The 1055bhp FCX-1 EV is American rallycross's new star. James Attwood takes a look

Rallycross is changing. Its mix of high-powered all-wheel-drive supercars taking part in short sprint races on mixed surfaces makes it arguably the form of motorsport most suited to electric power. Which explains why the two top rallycross championships now use battery-powered machines.

So how has the switch to EVs changed the challenge for drivers? Andreas Bakkerud is one of those who has had to make the adjustment. The 2021 European champion, he was a regular title contender in a seven-year stint racing turbocharged supercars in the World Rallycross Championship.

The 31-year-old Norwegian now competes for the Dreyer & Reinbold AA AUTOCAR COUK 7 JUNE 2022 JC-run Monster Energy RX Cartel squad in the US-based Nitrocross (formerly Nitro Rallycross) series, which last season introduced a new top class using the FCX-1, a 1055bhp quad-motor bespoke electric racer. And Bakkerud has had to fundamentally change his approach.

"Things I've learned in the past with a turbo engine don't work the same with an EV," he says. "I've struggled more than most to get used to it - but there's so much new stuff to adapt to." The changes begin on the grid. Comparing rallycross to a fight sport-"you get the same adrenaline as in a boxing match" - Bakkerud says: "The starts are so 

different. When you're sitting on the start line in a turbocharged supercar, with the revs up and the engine going 'waaaaahhhhh', it gives you adrenaline. It's so hectic.

In an electric car, you're just sitting there in silence and it feels like forever before the lights come on.