Round 1: World RX of Catalunya, Barcelona (E)

Date: April 14–15, 2018
Track: Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya, 25 km north of Barcelona
Track length: 1.135 km (Joker Lap: 1,235 km)
Surface: 60.4 % tarmac, 39.6 % gravel
Turns: 7 left, 4 right
Longest jump: approx. 30 m
Top speed: approx. 171 km/h
Lap record: Mattias Ekström (S), 43.379s (2018)

Average speed: approx.94.03 km/h
Winner in 2018: Johan Kristoffersson (S), 4m 36.568s

Race facts

Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya is the venue of the World RX season opener. The track near the Spanish metropolis is one of the few on the calendar with very fast turns on tarmac. This layout very much suits circuit racing expert Mattias Ekström. Into a lap, which is driven counter-clockwise, there are some flat-out sections as well, a large jump and a tricky hairpin turn in which the fans frequently get to see spectacular overtaking maneuvers. This year there will be new positions for the starting grid and the finish line.

2018 flashback
On contesting his first event for EKS Audi Sport in the FIA World Rallycross Championship, Andreas Bakkerud instantly achieved a podium result. In the turbulent season opener at Barcelona (Spain), the Norwegian took third place. His teammate, Mattias Ekström, was classified in sixth position following a sporting penalty. In front of 30,000 spectators, Ekström in the racing debut of the second-generation Audi S1 EKS RX quattro, had crossed the finish line in a spectacular final in first place beating title defender Johan Kristoffersson in a Volkswagen by a narrow margin. Yet the Swede was deprived of his third consecutive victory at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya after 2016 and 2017. In the evening, Ekström was relegated from first to sixth position because he allegedly bumped Petter Solberg’s Volkswagen off track on the way to Turn 1.