Marcel Hirscher is back going fast on snow, but now in a rallycross car By Eugen Waidhofer6d ago

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The best ski racer of all time is on the hunt for the ideal line again, but this time with 600bhp and four wheels underneath him as he prepares to drive in the GP Ice Race in Zell am See, Austria. The most successful ski racer of all time is back on the start line, but this time in an ice racing car. Marcel Hirscher lines up this weekend, February 1–2, in the GP Ice Race in Zell am See, Austria. Hirscher will be driving an adapted 600bhp rallycross car from Audi in the race and for optimal preparation the 30-year-old has completed special driver training with the renowned Paralympian and motorsport competitor Reinhold Sampl on the winter training course at Muhr, nestled in Salzburg's Lungau region. Hirscher will be celebrating his comeback on snow and ice in the GP Ice Race at the former airfield in Zell am See-Kaprun and the eight-time overall World Cup winner is accelerating into action with the Audi EKS RX S1 008, which was used in the FIA World Rallycross Championship. It's one of the fastest cars in the class, but also one of the hardest to drive. The car was driven by Nico Müller (2018) and Krisztián Szabó (2019) in the World Rallycross Championship and powered by a 1,983cc, 4-cylinder turbo engine that produces 600bhp, it accelerates from 0–100kph in just 2.5 seconds and boasts a massive 800Nm of torque at 4,500rpm.

Reini Sampl, Europe's only wheelchair-bound driving technique trainer and himself a former alpine skier, explains the special challenge of this racer. "Marcel had to adjust to an extreme car. It's not possible to just get in and drive, because there's no normal gearshift and the steering responds very directly," he explains. "In addition, there are the 7mm 'Swedish Spikes' in the tyres, which give the vehicle its very own characteristics. Racing cars like this need a strong hand at the wheel to be able to drive them really fast and at the limit." The car was very demanding for me, hats off to every rally driver Marcel Hirscher Hirscher can leverage his skiing experience at the GP Ice Race event, but it's not his feeling for snow that will help him, more his eye for the ideal line. "Skiers have a feeling for the ideal line and Marcel is a perfectionist. This is a huge advantage when it comes to choosing a line," says Sampl. "I was very nervous at the beginning. This is one of the fastest rallycross cars, so it was very impressive for me and an experience that I didn't want to miss. The car was very demanding for me, hats off to every rally driver. It's unbelievable how fast you must react and how focused you have to be," Hirscher said after his first training session. "It's been very important for me to have this opportunity to drive before the event, because it actually has nothing to do with a normal street car. I'm looking forward to the weekend. People expect a fast skier to drive a car quickly, but my first objective is to have fun and try to bring the car back safely."

The Salzburg resident rides his motocross bike regularly and has already stepped on the gas at the Red Bull Ring, including driving in the Audi Sport TT Cup during the DTM weekend in 2015 and driving a KTM X-Bow with Aksel Lund Svindal, Max Franz and Axel Naglich. In July last year, the double Olympic Champion experienced the absolute highlight of his motorsport career however, when he rode the Red Bull KTM Factory Racing team's RC16 MotoGP™ bike on Spielberg's Grand Prix track.