Last week Enzo Ide, in collaboration with Comtoyou Racing, announced his transition from circuit racing to Rallycross. The initial introduction to the new car, a brilliant Audi S1 EKSRX, took place this weekend on the renowned Mettet circuit. On Saturday the West-Flanders based driver headed off to the south of Belgium to get behind the World Rallycross Championship’s beast and in the evening left for home with a big smile.
On the 12th and 13th May Mettet will host the Belgian round of the World Championship Rallycross, and with that in mind several international and national teams came together at the circuit for an extensive test day. This was also the ideal opportunity for Comtoyou Racing and Enzo Ide to get to know the Audi S1 EKSRX, the car that will be heading up the front ranks of the fastest growing motorsport competition in the world, the World Rallycross Championship. Following the first few laps Enzo Ide was especially impressed with the potential of this German machine.
“Forget everything you already know and start afresh … That’s what I experienced just now. This car is unbelievably powerful and the acceleration is up to that of an F1 … I must admit that the difference as compared to a GT3 is even bigger than I had expected. Today I had the opportunity to become acquainted with everything and to cover my first meters without too much pressure.”
As the day progressed both team and driver became ever more settled with the new environment and Enzo Ide started to find his niche at the wheel of the Audi S1 EKSRX.
“This is going to require time, because the transition is not to be underestimated. But today I felt that there was progress and I will make use of the coming test days not only to further adapt to the car, but to the Rallycross philosophy in general. This is entirely different from circuit racing and I don’t want to miss out on any of the stages. It will be important to master everything prior to appearing at the start of a race and should that take several months, so be it. I’m not a professional driver, seeing my numerous business activities, but if I go in for this I want to do it well, with the same approach I previously applied in circuit racing. In any case I’m smiling again and you can rest assured that I thoroughly enjoyed myself here. My thanks to the team and François Verbist who are brilliantly supporting me.”
