Carpentier back to Rallycross with JRM Mini

Former Indy car racer Patrick Carpentier will compete at his home round of the World Rallycross Championship for the second year in succession, driving a JRM Racing Mini RX. The British team will also field a second Mini at the Canadian round of the championship for reigning NASCAR Canadian Tire Series champion Louis-Philippe Dumoulin.

Carpentier impressed on his one-off appearance driving a Marklund Motorsport Volkswagen Polo in Trois-Rivieres last year and made it to the final.

"I did the event last year and loved it," said Carpentier, who raced in CART/Champ Car from 1997 to 2004 and then had a season in the Indy Racing League-run IndyCar Series before switching to sports cars and stock cars.

"When I raced in Indycars I did a lot of training on motocross bikes between races," he said. "I see a lot of similarities between that and rallycross, so it's a sport I certainly feel at home in.

"I'm looking forward to driving the JRM Mini RX. I analyse World RX for Canadian TV and I was pleasantly surprised when the car made the final in the recent UK round. That was really impressive and hopefully we can make the final again in Canada."

Unlike Carpentier, Dumoulin has no previous rallycross experience but is a local to the Trois-Rivieres circuit.

"I haven't done much rally driving but when I started my career I did some ice racing on some of Canada's frozen lakes with my father," he said. "So to me, going sideways and doing some rally driving is very exciting."

JRM's Mini has twice been used in World RX this season. American pair Dave Mirra and Danny Way gave the cars their RX debut at Hockenheim, while former Intercontinental Rally Challenge and Junior World Rally Championship frontrunner Guy Wilks drove a Mini at Lydden Hill last month and made the final.

"We've had a lot of interest in the Mini RX after its strong showing at Lydden Hill and people are seeing that the car is a competitive package in World RX," said JRM Racing team principal James Rumsey. "We're looking forward to working with Patrick and LP – two drivers that have monitored our progress closely this season and know about what the Mini can offer."

Originally on Autosport.com