Prodrive to develop new car for World Rallycross Championship

The new Supercar WRX will be based on the Renault Mégane IV and will be designed from the ground up by the British motorsport specialist to the latest World RX regulations.

Prodrive will design the entire car at its headquarters in Banbury including developing a bespoke two-litre turbocharged engine. The new Renault Mégane RX will be unveiled at the 2017 World Rallycross round in Lohéac, France in September.

The car is being developed for Guerlain Chicherit, the former French Free Skiing World Champion, FIA Cross Country Rally World Cup winner, Dakar driver and World Record-breaking stunt driver.

While best known for rallying and circuit racing, Prodrive has recent rallycross experience having developed the MINI WRX in 2013 to compete in the Global Rallycross Championship, where it won on its debut at X Games Munich.

Prodrive chairman David Richards said: “It has long been an ambition of ours to compete in the FIA World Rallycross Championship. It is the fastest growing motorsport series in the world and gives us the opportunity to use all our engineering experience to create a car capable of winning the World title.

“Guerlain [Chicherit] is obviously a very talented driver and we look forward to working with him and developing a race car that both he and Renault will be proud of.”