British Rallycross driver James Grint joins forces with Albatec Racing
Britain’s James Grint will compete in the FIA European Rallycross Championship (Euro RX) presented by Monster Energy with Scottish-based team Albatec Racing. Grint will pilot a Peugeot 208 RX Supercar alongside Frenchman Jerome Grosset-Janin in the five-round championship.
James - the younger brother of famous actor Rupert Grint who played Ronald Weasley in Harry Potter – competed in the British Rallycross Championship RX150 class last year. Hertfordshire-born Grint will commence testing within the next few weeks, prior to the first round of Euro RX at Mettet in Belgium (15-17 May).
“I’m looking forward to taking on the FIA European Rallycross Championship, and I can’t think of a better team than Albatec to take me into Europe for this new and exciting phase of my career,” explained 24-year-old Grint. “It’s going to be a massive year for me stepping up in to Supercars but this is a great opportunity for me too. I was lucky enough to test with the team in France last year and now I can’t wait to get back behind the wheel of the Albatec Peugeot 208.”
In 2013, Grint moved into rallycross with an impressive debut at the season-closing British Rallycross Grand Prix at Croft, where he powered his RX150 to a maiden outright victory. During 2014, Grint was invited to join former F1 World Champion Jacques Villeneuve and Team Principal Andy Scott at Dreux, where he immediately impressed the team, and sparked his ambition to compete in one of the team’s Supercars.
With a two-car team already confirmed in the MSA British Rallycross Championship, alongside the two-car entry into Euro RX, Albatec Racing will soon reveal its plans for the 2015 FIA World Rallycross Championship (World RX).
Andy Scott, Albatec Racing’s Team Principle, commented: “I am extremely pleased to have James joining us at Albatec, he did a great job in Dreux last year on only his first time in the car and adapted very quickly to the demands of a 600bhp RX Supercar. I think it was only a matter of time before he became part of the Albatec team and between him and Jerome I think we have the perfect combination of drivers. It’s great to have both British and European line-ups completed, and we’ve even more news to follow concerning World RX in the coming weeks.”
