After claiming the Supercar Lites North title in his very first season at this level of competition, Alexander Lindeqvist is preparing to step into an entirely new environment as he takes on this weekend’s RallyX Americas round at the iconic Trois-Rivières circuit.
It marks another significant step for the Swedish driver, one he is clearly looking forward to. Already regarded as one of the leading names in CrossCar before making the move to Supercar Lites, Lindeqvist certainly lived up to expectations. Despite entering the season as a rookie, he secured two victories and six podium finishes on his way to claiming his first major rallycross title at Buxtehude in early August.
That success has now opened the door to the next category. At Trois-Rivières, Lindeqvist will leave his Supercar Lites behind and step into an FC2. It is an opportunity that had already been discussed even before the Swede secured his title in Germany.
“Winning the Supercar Lites championship was a dream come true. Winning a championship in a four-wheel-drive rallycross car meant a huge amount to me. It was incredible and I came home really happy,” Alexander explains, before continuing.
“We had already talked about the possibility of doing an FC2 race, simply to try the car and race it for the enjoyment of driving. It is something a little new, even though we had already had the idea in mind. It is going to be a lot of fun.”
Above all, Lindeqvist sees his first FC2 appearance as the logical next step after a season in which he successfully cleared the first major hurdle of his career.
“Going from winning the Supercar Lites championship to driving an FC2 is going to be really exciting. For me, it feels like a reward. It is pure happiness to be able to take another step forward and I think I am going to enjoy it a lot. I just want to make the most of it and then we will see what might be possible for next year.”
Although the RallyX North champion will not be starting entirely from scratch at Trois-Rivières, his experience of the FC2 remains extremely limited. Lindeqvist did get the chance to drive the car in Denmark last year, but only for a handful of laps.
“To be honest, I already tried this car in Denmark last year, but the experience was extremely short. At the time I was still only racing in CrossCar and, after a few discussions with OMSE, I eventually did a test of four or six laps. I did reasonably well. It was a lot of fun and, above all, a completely new experience. So that is all the experience I have with this car: four or six laps, one year ago.”
The step up in category will nevertheless be a significant one. Faster and more powerful, the FC2 will force the Swede to rethink many of the reference points he has developed this season in Supercar Lites. It is a prospect that appears to suit him, with the characteristics of the car seemingly well matched to a driving style shaped by his many years in CrossCar.
“The difference is going to be huge in absolutely every area: the speed, the braking and everything else. Personally, I prefer this kind of car, which is closer to a Supercar. When you come from CrossCar, you are used to driving with a lot of sideways movement. In Supercar Lites, you could not do the same thing in every corner. You had to be cleaner on the throttle and drive it more like a kart. Of course, you will still need some of that approach in the FC2, but it has much more power. That means you can slide the car more and use that power. If I can learn quickly how to make the most of it, it should suit my driving style better. That is exactly what I like. It is closer to CrossCar: you can attack harder and drive the car more sideways.”
Before he can truly exploit that potential, however, Lindeqvist knows his first task will be to quickly absorb the many technical differences between the two cars.
“To be honest, I think I am going to have to adapt to absolutely everything: the gearing, the paddle shift, the starts, the braking points, the speed… I am going to try to take things steadily over the first few laps so I can get to know the car and understand it better. There will be a lot of new things to learn.”
His introduction to the FC2 will also come alongside the challenge of a circuit he has never driven before. The Trois-Rivières layout is not entirely unfamiliar to Lindeqvist, however. An avid follower of the World Championship during his childhood, the Swede had already watched some of the discipline’s leading drivers compete in Quebec.
In recent weeks, he has also put in plenty of simulator mileage to prepare as thoroughly as possible for his arrival in Canada.
“When I was younger and following the World Championship, I watched a lot of videos from this track. I recently went back to YouTube to watch footage again and I have also done a lot of practice laps on the simulator. So I know the circuit very well on the simulator, but obviously it is going to be completely different in real life. I am simply trying to prepare as well as I can before actually discovering the track.”
The fact that his rivals will also have to get to grips with a new environment is another aspect Lindeqvist welcomes. Unlike the traditional European rounds, nobody will be able to rely on years of experience around the circuit.
“There is something interesting about the Canadian track: none of the drivers who will be there have raced on it before. Everyone is going to have to learn it. If you compare it with going to Höljes, Montalegre or other circuits that the drivers already know extremely well, the situation will be completely different. Personally, I really enjoy discovering new tracks. The circuit is a lot of fun on the simulator and it also looks really enjoyable when you watch the videos on YouTube.”
Despite winning the title in his very first Supercar Lites season, Lindeqvist is careful not to carry the same level of expectation straight into FC2. With only a handful of laps in the car, the Swede is fully aware of the experience gap between himself and drivers who are already well established in the category.
His approach at Trois-Rivières will therefore be broadly similar to the one he adopted when first stepping into Supercar Lites a few months ago: learn first, before setting overly specific targets.
“Of course, I always want to win and achieve the best possible result. That is always the goal, but you also have to be realistic. This will be my first race in an FC2 and I will be up against drivers who have a huge amount of experience with the car and are extremely fast in the championship. I am coming into it with only four or six laps of experience. So I do not have too many expectations in terms of results.”
It is a lack of pressure that the newly crowned Supercar Lites North champion hopes to turn to his advantage.
“I really want to enjoy the experience, have a lot of fun behind the wheel and learn as much as possible about the car, both on and off the track. And who knows? If I enjoy myself, do not put pressure on myself and quickly find a good feeling with the car, maybe the result will be good. Or maybe it will not. Either way, I am going to do my best to achieve the strongest result I can while also trying to learn as much as possible. I simply want to enjoy the fact that I get to drive this car. It is going to be amazing.”