PAUWELS PUMPED FOR COMPLETELY NEW ADVENTURE IN FIA EURO RX3

Third-generation rallycross racer Kobe Pauwels is gearing up for a ‘completely new adventure’ in 2021, as he steps up from CrossCar competition to join the FIA European Rallycross Championship’s RX3 (formerly Super1600) ranks with class pace-setter Volland Racing.

Pauwels – the son of former World Championship Supercar driver Koen Pauwels and grandson of national competitor Benny Pauwels – began his career in karting at the age of nine in 2014, going on to clinch the European Championship crown at Mini Max level in 2016 while placing seventh in the World Championship standings the same season.

Two years later, the Belgian secured the runner-up spoils in the CIK-FIA Karting Academy Trophy before dipping his toe into the water in rallycross over the past couple of campaigns, making appearances in Belgium’s CrossCar Junior series – in which he won the title – the European CrossCar Championship and RallyX Nordic with Thierry Neuville’s LifeLive outfit.

He made his car racing debut at the end of 2020 in the British Rallycross Championship at Lydden Hill, behind the wheel of a Volland Racing Super1600 Audi A1. On his first visit to the circuit, he wasted no time at all in underscoring his potential by pipping team-mate Yury Belevskiy – who had won the European Championship just a handful of weeks earlier – to victory on the opening day.

Pauwels had been set to make history at the Nürburgring the following weekend in becoming the youngest-ever Euro RX Super1600 entrant, and whilst the event’s cancellation dashed that dream, the 16-year-old is now primed for a full season in RX3 with multiple title-winning squad Volland Racing as he prepares to join the grid in Catalunya next month (23/24 July).

“I’m really looking forward to the forthcoming campaign,” he enthused. “It’s a big step-up and it will be a completely new adventure for me, and I’m under no illusions that I have a lot to learn, but in Rolf [Volland – team owner and 13-time German Rallycross Champion] and all my team-mates, I have so many fantastic teachers and a wealth of data and experience to draw upon.

“There’s no question that Volland is the benchmark team in RX3. My father knew Rolf from back in his own racing days, and he organised a test for me in a Škoda Fabia towards the end of 2018. I was only 14, but I immediately felt comfortable with the team and my pace was good.

“I then joined Volland again at Lydden Hill last December and was faster than Yury [Belevskiy] on the first day. That was what made us think about entering the European Championship this year, and Rolf offered us a great deal. He made it clear that he really wanted me in the team, and I genuinely believe he can help to bring me on as a driver.

“There are clearly going to be a lot of very quick drivers in the field, not least of whom my own team-mates, who will serve as a good reference point for me. It will be my first full season in car racing, so it’s a learning year more than anything else. I drove the Audi again in testing recently at Höljes, and it’s just a completely different animal to the CrossCar – front wheel-drive and a lot heavier – but you need to take on new challenges if you want to progress.

“On that note, I couldn’t ask to be on a bigger stage than the World Championship support package, and we’ll be going to some fantastic circuits over the course of the season, including obviously my home event at Spa, which will be super cool. I raced there in CrossCar Junior in 2019, so I already know the track a bit.

“I haven’t been to Barcelona before, but I have competed at Höljes and I went to Lohéac when my father used to race. He also finished sixth at Montalegre in the very first World Championship event back in 2014 and was the only privateer to reach the final, so hopefully he can teach me a trick or two... If we can pick up a podium and maybe even a win later in the season, I’ll be very happy indeed.”

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