Niclas Grönholm: “Racing or even driving an EV isn’t just a case of simply putting your foot down”
News · Features
Ahead of his return to electric rallycross return, Niclas Grönholm explains why racing with an electric powertrain is much harder than it looks.
GE
George East
22 October 2026 · 6 min read
After almost a year’s break, Niclas Grönholm will return to the wheel of an electric rallycross car at this weekend’s RallyX season finale in Montealegre, Portugal.
From 2015 to 2025, Grönholm competed in the now-defunct FIA World Rallycross Championship (World RX) and notched up a total of nine RX career victories.
These wins came while driving for the GRX team run by his dad, two-time World Rally Champion, Marcus Grönholm, and then the Volvo CE Dealer Team during the sport’s electric era. In 2025, the younger Grönholm finished the season as vice-champion with 121 points, one win, and three podiums.
While this year he focused on the GRX-run programme in the Finnish Rally Championship, the Finn couldn’t resist the appeal of a one-off appearance in Montealegre behind the wheel of the all electric FC1 car built and developed by Swedish rallycross specialists, FirstCorner.
Back in his happy place
Grönholm will drive the 1,055bhp, quad-motor, all-wheel-drive (AWD) FC1 Hypercar for the multiple championship-winning Olsbergs-MSE team headed by Andreas Eriksson, who laid out his vision for the future of electric rallycross to EV Powered earlier this year.
After having spent all of 2026 competing with an internal combustion engine (ICE), Grönholm feels that the challenge that comes with driving a high-performance electric powertrain will allow him to showcase his skills as one of the most versatile mixed-surface drivers of his generation.
Moreover, he is neither a stranger to the 0.71-mile (1.146km) Montealegre circuit nor the FC1 car. In 2021, he took a commanding win there with GRX. In 2022, he followed it up with his first win of the electric RX era with the Volvo CE Dealer Team’s RX1e challenger. The 2022 season was also the first year that World RX used electric powertrains.
Grönholm drove the FC1 twice in 2022 when the FC1-X category was launched in the Nitro Rallycross series. The 30-year-old competed for Olsbergs-MSE at Lydden Hill in the UK where he scored a podium, and in Strängnäs, Sweden.
Not as easy as it looks
“It’ll be nice to return to a circuit where I’ve won in the past, and it’ll be nice to drive with an electric powertrain again,” he told EV Powered. “With an electric powertrain, not only do you have more power than an internal combustion one, you have more weight from the battery.
“The way the an electric rallycross shifts its weight means you have to adapt your driving style, and the FC1 is no different. But that’s one of the challenges we face as drivers who split their programmes between EV and ICE – it’s like we have to rewire how we think.
“Racing or even driving an electric car isn’t as simple as putting your foot down and going as fast as you can. Beyond weight transfer, you have to think about how and where you put the power down, because if you don’t, you’ll quickly drain the battery and burn up your tyres faster than you’d want to.
When asked whether electric rallycross is like Formula E in that strategy plays a large role in the outcome of a race, Grönholm replied: “Yeah, I’d say it is – but that’s rallycross as a whole, because there’s a lot of strategy involved. There are more variables going on than what you can see on the TV.”
“I’m just happy to be back in rallycross”
In addition to Grönholm, the Montealegre event has attracted other household names from the world of top-tier rally and rallycross, including the likes of Travis Pastrana and Dani Sordo.
Despite his previous successes in Portugal, the Finn refused to be drawn into talk of a win. He did, however, explain that the roster of names shows the high level of interest and enthusiasm surrounding electric rallycross.
“We have a total of 80 cars competing, and the roster of names shows that fans want to come and see rallycross, whether it’s electric or ICE. The RallyX organisers know how to put on an entertaining event, and Montealegre always throws up a good race.
“A podium or a win would be nice, but whatever happens this weekend, I won’t go home disappointed – I’m just happy to be back in rallycross.”
“No comeback for old man Marcus!”
Marcus Grönholm was equally pleased to see his son competing in a sport where they’ve both enjoyed plenty of success as a family. After retiring from the WRC and before founding GRX, the elder Grönholm competed for Olsbergs-MSE-run Ford Fiesta in selected Euro RX events across the 2008 and 2009 seasons.
The winner of 30 WRC events also competed for Olsbergs in the US-based Global RallyCross Championship from 2011 to 2012.
“It’s definitely nice to see Niclas back in the sport he loves, and on a circuit he enjoys just as much,” said the 58-year-old. “He’s missed the multi-surface tracks they race on in rallycross, and it’ll be a good chance to remind people what he can do ahead of confirming our plans for 2027.”
Despite having competed against Sordo in the WRC as far back as 2006 and 2007 while driving for Ford, Grönholm firmly ruled out any chance of a rallycross comeback in the future.
“No, no comeback for old man Marcus!” he laughed. “Rallycross is a young man’s game and my knees hurt now. Besides, my wife wouldn’t be so happy if I told her I was even thinking about competing again. I have plenty of things in my now off-track life to keep me busy these days.”
The on-track action for RallyX Montealegre begins with the first qualifying round of the weekend at 12:10 local time (GMT +1) on Saturday, October 24. The event concludes at 16:28 on Sunday, October 25 with the Hypercar final.