Ole Christian Veiby to contest the FIA European Rallycross Championship

The 18-year-old, from Kongsvinger in Norway, will team-up with fellow rallycross drivers Johan Kristoffersen (who will run in the FIA World Rallycross Championship) and Tord Linnerud in the KMS Motorsport squad – which has backing from Volkswagen in Sweden.

“Rallycross is the hottest motorsport at the moment, and we and our dealers in Sweden are excited to support drivers who have the opportunity to win championships,” said Sten Forsberg, director of Volkswagen in Sweden.

Volkswagen is dominant in world rallying, and now it wants to put its stamp on rallycross too.

“Rallycross is experiencing increasing popularity,” added Jost Capito, director of Volkswagen Motorsport. “The races are compact, spectacular and varied. With commitment to Volkswagen in Sweden we are represented by extremely professional private team, which develops and operates its Polo RX Supercars. We are confident that Volkswagen will be fighting for the championship.”

“This is going to be incredibly cool,” said Ole Christian. “I drove two rallycross rounds last year, in addition to the Swedish championship. It was a learning year, and now I’m ready to shift up a notch and run all the races in European Championship. Now I know what I go to.”

The car Ole Christian will drive is around 600bhp and can do 0-100kph in around two seconds – similar to a Formula One car.

Ole Christian will compete in the first European round in Belgium in a newly built and improved car, compared with the one he drove last year.

“The first race is May 17 weekend. It gets a little special to sit in the car on Norway’s National Day, and it will be extra fun to celebrate the day with at good result,” said Ole Christian.

“Rallycross has had a fantastic development in recent years and has become incredibly popular. To take part in this circus is insanely fun. It is very audience friendly, and it happens a lot during races. To fight against drivers like Petter Solberg is almost surreal. It is no more than four years since I drove my first crosskart lap.”

2015 season is going to be a busy year for the young motorsport talent. In addition to the FIA European Rallycross Championship, Ole Christian will also contest the FIA Junior World Rally Championship. The rally season has already started well, with Ole Christian and co-driver Anders Jaeger finishing third in their Citroën DS3 R3T on Rallye Monte Carlo.

“There will be a lot of driving, and nothing is more fun than that,” he said. “It’s a bit special to compete in two different championships in the same season, and it’s going to be hectic. Fortunately, none of the rounds clash, so I can concentrate fully on both rallycross and rally.”

Ole Christian will also compete at the Swedish round in the World RallyCross Championship, Høljes, 3 – 5 July. In August, Ole Christian comes to Norway to run in the European Rallycross round in Hell in Trøndelag.

“I drove Høljes last year and it was a crazy experience! Then it was the public record and nearly 35,000 spectators who surrounded the track. I’m really looking forward to doing it again.”

FIA European Rallycross Championship

15‐17 May Mettet (Belgium)

19‐21 June Buxtehude (Germany)

21‐23 August Hell‐Lanke (Norway)

18‐20 September Barcelona (Spain)

17‐18 October Franciacorta (Italy)