Cooper Tires begins its entry into the FIA European Rallycross Championship this weekend, with Cooper-backed Timmy Hansen set to embark on his first full season of competition as the season kicks off at Lydden Hill, in Kent – the venue where rallycross began 46 years ago.<\/p>\n
Cooper is also a principal partner to the championship as a whole for 2013 as the manufacturer further increases its motorsport presence across Europe. The company has been extremely successful in Rallycross with the Avon Tyres brand – which has dominated the formula in recent years \u2013 but from now on it will be Cooper rubber that is used by the vast majority of competitors in the European series.<\/p>\n
Racing a Cooper-liveried Citro\u00ebn DS3 for the forthcoming season, Hansen will drive for Hansen Motorsport, the team managed by his father and European Rallycross legend \u2013 Kenneth Hansen.
\nThe 20-year-old made a guest entry to the series in 2012 and made an instant impact, finishing fifth in the Finnish round to take a strong points haul. For 2013, Hansen will contest all nine rounds of the championship, with high hopes of more success.<\/p>\n
Hansen, who in 2011 was one of only 12 drivers worldwide to be selected in for the FIA Institute Young Driver Excellence Academy, will be starting in his first full season of rallycross at Lydden Hill.<\/p>\n
\u201cI feel so ready\u201d said Hansen. \u201cThe new RallycrossRX championship is really exciting to be involved with and I can\u2019t wait to start racing. The competition will be very fierce.\u2028\u2028\u201cI am in a very capable car, we know it is a proven winner. The chassis I am using is the one that (nine-time World Rally Champion) Sebastian Loeb won the X-Games with last year; if it was good enough for him its good enough for me!<\/p>\n
\u201cMy sponsors have always been great to me, and it\u2019s brilliant that here in rallycross I can hopefully return their support with some really good coverage, and the best way to do that is to win.\u201d
\nSarah McRoberts, European Marketing Communications Manager for Cooper Tire Europe, is looking forward to the new season and to working with Timmy: \u201cIt\u2019s a very exciting step forward for Cooper to become involved with the series overall and in sponsoring a driver in this way. Rallycross was created to entertain fans and is one of the most exciting types of racing around so it\u2019s a great fit for the Cooper brand as we work to increase its brand presence across Europe.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe Hansen name is legendary within rallycross and Timmy\u2019s initial performances for the team have been very strong so we\u2019re confident Timmy will have a great season in 2013 and we\u2019re keen to see what he can do this weekend.\u201d<\/p>\n
The FIA European Rallycross Championship will be contested over 9 rounds this season, with the home of rallycross in the UK, Lydden Hill, playing host to the 2013 curtain-raiser over Easter weekend (March 31-April 1).<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Cooper Tires begins its entry into the FIA European Rallycross Championship this weekend, with Cooper-backed Timmy Hansen set to embark on his first full season of competition as the season kicks off at Lydden Hill, in Kent – the venue where rallycross began 46 years ago.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":3538,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[454],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3950","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-cooper"],"yoast_head":"\n