Kenneth Hansen, the 14-time European Rallycross champion and team principal of the world championship-winning Hansen Motorsport squad, says that World RX and Nitrocross can mutually benefit one another.
While often seen as direct competitors in the crowded motorsports landscape, both differ heavily, with Nitrocross being a U.S.-based, single-make series that runs on tracks with dramatic features, while World RX utilizes cars developed by teams and more traditional courses. They’re different enough that Hansen feels both can co-exist healthily, and provide a global platform to develop the next generation of talent.
“Personally, I definitely think Nitro needs World RX and World RX needs Nitro,” he told RACER. “It’s very important that we have both series and they’re growing and they are healthy.
“Rallycross is quite a small sport so we need to extend it more, and if we can have a good market in the U.S. and also one that’s world-, Europe-based, it’s good and it will be more interesting for more people. If the top is there, the grassroots will also come more so we will have an ecosystem that works and we will have newcomers coming.”
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Hansen previously competed in both, winning the inaugural Nitrocross contest with Timmy Hansen in 2018 before backing it up with Kevin Hansen a year later. But it left at the end of 2021 to focus on World RX.
Nitrocross has developed at a huge rate since then, with increased investment from a consortium that includes UFC leader Dana White and bigger standalone events that regularly attract capacity crowds. It’s a development that impressed Hansen upon his return to the paddock at the recent Glen Helen event.
“You see on the pictures and look on the TV that there’s lots of people, but here you can see it yourself,” he said. “I’m around to look at everything from small details to scrutineering to race control and VIP and whatever, to see what has happened. And it has happened — it’s much bigger now with more investment, and it seems to be on a good path.”
Nitrocross stands to enjoy a healthy grid expansion in the coming seasons from the current season high of 11, with 17 cars confirmed to be sold (including those currently racing), and 24 to be built in total.
Meanwhile, present day World RX is capped at 16 entries, although it hasn’t featured a grid bigger than 10 since adopting EVs — not that grid sizes are a key indicator of a particular series’ success, as Hansen points out.
“With the format there, that will be fine,” he said of World RX’s current capacity. “In Nitrocross, they perhaps could come to be 20 or even 24 and with this format that could also be fine.
“You see in Extreme E there are 10 and that’s extremely good. It’s a good championship and it doesn’t need to be more. It’s a little how you make it and how you format it. And of course also with the support categories, that helps a lot.
“But also with that in mind, we did Hong Kong without support categories — it depends how you put the event on and how you do it. The people that are here need some entertainment and that doesn’t mean something on track — jumps, motorbikes, we can also be entertained by the paddock. It’s how you present it and how you package it.”