William Nilsson will join forces with Swedish squad Team Färén for next weekend’s penultimate round of the 2019 RX2 International Series presented by Cooper Tires campaign at Lohéac in France (30 August – 1 September) – and the teenager says he is feeling ‘pumped’ for the challenge.
After parting ways with JC Raceteknik earlier in the season, Nilsson ran as a private entry last time out at Höljes, reaching the semi-finals on home soil – as, indeed, he has done in each event he has contested this year, with a highlight of a final appearance at Spa-Francorchamps. Despite missing the Norwegian round, the Swede currently sits ninth in the championship standings, and he is looking to climb the table between now and the end of the campaign. Nilsson has traditionally performed well at Lohéac – placing fourth in the intermediate classification in 2017 and seventh in 2018 – and he is hopeful that the asphalt experience he has gained this year competing in Sweden’s V8 Thundercar series will pay dividends on the French track’s unique surface. “Lohéac is a special event,” he acknowledged. “There is always a fantastic atmosphere around the circuit, with over 80,000 people in the audience, and I love the track – it suits my driving style and I’ve shown good pace there before, so I’m really pumped for the race weekend. “I haven’t competed in rallycross since Höljes in early July, but I raced in V8 Thundercars during RX2’s summer break so I’m feeling prepared and can’t wait to drive the Supercar Lites car again. “I ran my own car at Höljes and although it was a fun event, it was a bit too much for me to think about. It feels very good to have Team Färén behind me next weekend so I can put one hundred per cent of my focus back on the driving. I’m excited to start this collaboration with Team Färén – we’ve known each other for many years and they’re a good bunch of guys.”
Team Färén ran Dan Rooke to the 2017 championship runner-up spoils, and in Nilsson, team principal Eric Färén is confident he has another rapid young prospect on his hands. “We are very excited to have William in our team,” he enthused. “He is clearly one of the most talented and fastest guys in the series. I feel like he hasn’t achieved the results he deserves lately, so hopefully together we can turn that around. We’re all very much looking forward to having him in the team.” The 2019 RX2 International Series presented by Cooper Tires will comprise seven rounds in support of the FIA World Rallycross Championship presented by Monster Energy, visiting Spain, Belgium, Great Britain, Norway, Sweden, France and South Africa.