France’s DA Racing announced its participation in the 2021 FIA European Rallycross Championship today (June 18). The team will field two Peugeot 208 in the RX 1 – formerly Supercar – category for Jean-Baptiste Dubourg (33) and Andréa Dubourg (28).
Apart from Euro RX1 the team also plans starts in the 2021 World championship (World RX) at selected events (among others the event at the Nürburgring in Germany). The team’s ambition for 2021 is not less than the title in Euro RX1 as well as prepare as much as possible for a World championship campaign in 2022 in the new full-electric RX1e category.
“We are excited to be able to contest another full season in Euro RX1,” said Jean-Baptiste Dubourg.
“We aim to complete the job that we have begun in recent years with the clear objective of becoming European Champions.
“We have made good use of the long off-season caused by the global pandemic to take a big step forward with the 208 WRX, introducing a number of technical updates to ensure we are 100 % ready to tackle the different types of terrain we will encounter in Euro RX.
“We will also participate in the World Championship rounds at the Nürburgring.
“Being a new event, this will allow us to gauge the relative performance of our 208 WRX while continuing to prepare for the future as we work seriously on a World Championship entry for 2022.
“We already have experience of electric technology having won the Andros E-Trophy with the support of Renault last winter, and we strongly believe this is the future for the sport.”
“I’ve always enjoyed competing in the FIA European Rallycross Championship,” commented younger brother Andréa Dubourg.
“The circuits on the calendar and the high calibre of competition mean drivers need to be absolutely on top of their game and teams must fine-tune their cars to the nth degree. In 2020, we were able to race consistently at the sharp end, and it was great to finish on the podium at Höljes.
“Our start in the World RX rounds at the Nürburgring, will allow us to settle back into the groove before the Euro RX1 season begins and work through a range of race and start strategies.
“All of the drivers will be learning this track for the first time, which makes it the ideal place to try out the various evolutions we have brought to the 208 WRX over the winter.
“My goal is to become European Champion this year, and our appearances in World RX will enable us to prepare for that challenge in the best way possible.”
The 2021 season is set to be the last one that will see internal combustion engine cars in World RX. The World championship will move to full-electric racing in 2022. However, 2021 will already see the first-ever FIA electric Rallycross Championship – FIA RX2e – as the official support series to the World championship.
The 2021 World RX season is set to go underway on July 23-24 at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya at Montmeló in Spain with the FIA European Rallycross Championship run with cars of the RX1 category going underway at Höljes in Sweden on August 21-22.