It's tricky to tell whether internal combusion or electric has the upper hand – but the situation is constantly under review
Photography by Jaanus Ree / Red Bull
Words by David Evans, DirtFish Head of Media
The FIA is ready to tweak the equalization of technology aspect of World Rallycross – but it’s not going to make any hasty judgements after Niclas Grönholm’s round one win in a battery-powered PWR RX1e.
The Finn was joined in the Portugal final by his fellow CE Dealer Team runner Klara Andersson and a brace of electric Peugeot 208s driven by Hansen brothers Timmy and Kevin. Seven-time world champion Johan Kristoffersson and his team-mate Ole Christian Veiby were the only petrol-engined runners with a Volkswagen Polo KMS 601 RX apiece, but Anthony Pelfrène, Juha Rytkönen and Patrick O’Donovan also drove ICE cars in the event.
Veiby sneaked a podium at the final corner of a final dominated by Grönholm – it’s also worth noting when Kristoffersson found clear air, he was generally fastest.
The EV cars had a clear advantage launching off a dry Tarmac start line, but the balance of power was more difficult to predict once the cars hit the loose. World champions KMS have however made the switch to the EV version of its Polo from this weekend’s event at Höljes onwards.
FIA road sport director Emilia Abel says she’ll wait until after the Magic Weekend to draw any conclusion on how the two powertrains are stacking up against each other.
“It’s true that electric looked strong in Lousada,” Abel told DirtFish. “It’s clear there was a long straight with lots of grip and the electric cars were taking the advantage from this. But let’s see what is coming next.
“Ultimately, we saw both technologies represented on the podium, so it’s not far away. We will monitor this and the sporting regulations allow for a review and possible changes after each round if we feel it’s not correct and balanced.
“What we are doing now is having our technical department analyze the data. We also had a reference car (driven by Andreas Bakkerud) in both (ICE and EV) in the test and during the race to monitor the track evolution. A lot of effort has been put in there to bring it to a fair result.
“What we know is the response from the teams in the paddock on Sunday night – they were all coming to us and saying that, after several years, it feels really positive again. Nobody was complaining.”
All-electric cars have an advantage off the line but on the technical gravel sections of Höljes, it's expected the combustion cars will be strong
FIA technical engineering director Thomas Chevaucher offered further insight, adding: “We have been very happy to see the whole World RX ecosystem taking part in the process and supporting the EOT test. It was a good atmosphere working all together to find the best balance and produce the best show for the fans, which is in the end what all of us want.”
“There are always going to be differences between the two technologies, and when you try to balance them there will end up being advantages and disadvantages for both. We think now that we will have a fair balance overall between them across the season.
“Some tracks will be more suited to the EVs, and some will be more suited to the ICE, but the differences will be small and the sporting competition, so the way the races unfold, will be a much bigger factor.”
Words:David Evans
Tags: World RX, World RX 2025
Publish Date July 3, 2025 DirtFish 
https://dirtfish-editorial.s3-accelerate.amazonaws.com/2025/07/KCKqFJbd-SI202506010527-780x520.jpg July 3, 2025
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