Johan Kristoffersson will make his Nitro Rallycross debut this weekend, racing the fourth Dreyer & Reinbold Racing JC entry at Strängnäs Motorstadion.
The four-time World Rallycross champion and 2021 Extreme E title winner follows former World Rally Championship regular Ole Christian Veiby – who filled the seat in the season opener at Lydden Hill – as the latest name in a revolving cast for the car.
“I’m looking forward to the weekend and I‘m happy to get the opportunity to race with JC and DRR for the Nitro RX event in Strängnäs,” said Kristoffersson.
“It will be a very steep learning curve, as it will be my first race in an electric rallycross car. I’m looking forward to trying out the FC1-X and racing against some new competitors.
“It will be a great experience and a huge challenge, but I’m really looking forward to trying my best.”
While the outing is on home soil for Kristoffersson, it will mark the first time he’s raced in a US-sanctioned rallycross event. He is, however, no stranger to the team he will be running with this weekend. JC Raceteknik, which is aligned with IndyCar outfit Dreyer & Reinbold in Nitro Rallycross, ran Kristoffersson to the 2021 World RX title in association with EKS.
“We know how good Johan is and we worked very well together last season,” said JC Raceteknik team owner Joel Christoffersson. “It will be interesting to see how he gets acclimated in the FC1-X at Strängnäs, especially when most of the other drivers have already done an event in the car at Lydden Hill.
“We learned a lot with our four drivers and cars in the first round. It’s always a big milestone to get the first race with brand new cars under our belts and now we can focus more on the details of increasing our performance. Johan’s experience will also help us and we can look forward to a good weekend together.”
Kristoffersson has a record 23 event wins from 59 starts in World RX, and is also a winner in both the European and Nordic series, winning the 2021 championship in the latter. He’s set to continue in World RX this year, leading a three-car assault with his family’s Kristoffersson Motorsport outfit.
He’s also once again contesting the Extreme E championship with Rosberg X Racing, where he and team-mate Mikaela Åhlin-Kottulinsky have two wins from three starts so far this season – a clean sweep so far being prevented thanks to a post-race ruling after round two in Sardinia.
Elsewhere in the field, Kris Meeke will once again race for XITE Energy Racing (Jenson Button will make his debut in September) while Kevin Eriksson is expected to return for Olsbergs MSE having been forced to sit out the first round of the season after sustaining leg and facial injuries in an accident in the lead-up to the event.
Robin Larsson is also expected to defend his points lead despite suffering an accident of his own between rounds.
