Round 2: World RX of Portugal, Montalegre (P)

Date: April 28–29, 2018
Track: Circuito Internacional de Montalegre, 150 km northeast of Porto
Track length: 1.010 km (Joker Lap: 1.130 km)
Surface: 60 % tarmac, 40 % gravel
Turns: 5 left, 7 right
Longest jump: –
Top speed: approx. 168 km/h
Lap record:Johan Kristoffersson (S), 38.064s (2018)
Average speed: approx. 96.19 km/h
Winner in 2018: Johan Kristoffersson (S), 4m16.859s

Race facts
Although the small town of Montalegre is home to only 1,800 inhabitants the Portuguese with their enthusiasm for motorsport flock to the track that is situated about 1,000 meters above sea level, celebrating a colorful rallycross festival every year in the small town near the Spanish border. The circuit is tricky. At first glance, the layout with its long start-finish straight promises only a few challenges but the devil is in the detail. The Joker section at the end of the straight offers hardly any grip. In the subsequent weave of turns, the extremely high curbs do not forgive any mistake.

2018 flashback

Sun, rain and even snow in the end: totally crazy April weather in round two of the FIA World Rallycross Championship (World RX) and a roller coaster ride for EKS Audi Sport. After positions one and three in qualifying, expectations of the two Audi campaigners, Andreas Bakkerud and Mattias Ekström, in Portugal had been higher than positions four and seven.

“It again showed how close victory and defeat are together in rallycross,” said Ekström, who was half a second short of making it into the final. “Following the qualifying heats, things looked promising but then, after turn one of our semi-finals, really bad. Due to the impact from behind I simply lost too much time even though I tried everything afterwards. The end was disappointing. But we again showed that we have a fast car.”