RallyX Nordic’s ‘First Lady’ ready to start living her dream

• Nathalie Petersson to join the grid with Hedströms Motorsport
• Swede caught the rallycross bug at Supercar Lites test day
• 22-year-old has long-term goal of World Championship glory

Nathalie Petersson is the first female competitor signed up to RallyX Nordic presented by Cooper Tires in 2019, and the single-minded Swede is excited to begin what she describes as the realisation of a dream.

From a background in the Scandinavian discipline of folkrace, Petersson made her rallycross debut in 2017 – participating in the Supercar Lites ‘sampler’ day at Strängnäs Motorstadion later the same year.

She was immediately hooked – and having contested the Swedish Junior Rallycross Championship last season, now she is ready to step up another level after teaming up with front-running outfit Hedströms Motorsport in RallyX Nordic, which will begin on her home soil of Höljes next weekend (18/19 May).

“When I told my parents I wanted to have a go at rallycross after the test at Strängnäs, my dad said, ‘if you want to try it, you need to do it on your own – I will only help you in the garage, not on the financial side’,” explained the 22-year-old, who lives in southern Sweden. “So I worked hard with sponsors and Swedish companies to buy my first rallycross car, before we began competing in the Swedish Junior Rallycross Championship in 2017 – and now here we are!

“I have a dream to win the World Championship in rallycross one day, and this year is hopefully the start of that journey. I’m so glad that we have come this far, but at the moment we’re only confirmed for Höljes and Nysum. That means we are working harder than ever to find the budget to complete the full championship – but we’re one step closer every day…

“I’m taking it one race at a time, but when the helmet goes on, there is only one thing on my mind – to drive fast and win!”

2019 RallyX Nordic Calendar