Team Peugeot Total‘s Kevin Hansen believes that this weekend’s race at the new Silverstone World Rallycross track could be a turning point in his season.

The big results are yet to come the young Swede’s way this year, but he has displayed encouraging pace and racecraft at every outing – making it into all of the semi-finals thus far (he had to concede his position to Sébastien Loeb in Barcelona in the interests of the team and therefore didn’t partake in the racing).

In only his second full season of the FIA World Rallycross Championship, Hansen believes that he has used his time racing to learn about himself as a driver and about rallycross on the whole. He is looking forward to the challenge of attempting a new circuit, having only tested at the track before this weekend, and is hoping that it will set him up well to tackle another new circuit on the calendar later this year at Circuit of the Americas.

“I’ve only tested at the Silverstone circuit, but I can say that it’s certainly very different to anything else: it’s very technical with most of the corners taken in second gear,” he commented.

“The start-finish straight is really the only place where you get to open the car up a bit: the rest is mainly 90-degree corners and hairpin bends.

“I really enjoy the challenge of mastering different circuits though and I feel that I’ve learned a lot this year – about myself as well – so I’ll be walking into Silverstone with a big smile on my face!

“I’ve come close but not quite had the results I wanted so far: I think Silverstone could mark a real turning point. With another new circuit coming up later this year, at the Circuit of the Americas in Texas, Silverstone will be an interesting learning opportunity for all of us about how to tackle a new venue.”