Montalegre or bust: two laps in an RX1

There are some opportunities in life that you shouldn’t pass up and one of those is the chance to cut two hot laps of the Montalegre track with Spanish rally ace José Suárez at the wheel. There’s always a slight sense of helplessness strapping into the jump seat of a race car but this particular one is perched so high atop the battery that my helmet taps the rollcage. “It’s OK,” says Suárez. “I’ll take it easy.” The car we’re in is one of the first-generation CE Dealer RX1s from 2022, but just because it’s a bit long in the tooth, it’s still capable of leaping off the startline like its tail has been stamped on.

The sensation of 0-60mph in 1.8sec is similar to stepping off a cliff and, even though I’ve spent some time at speed, this is unrelenting in a whole different way. The usual comforting sound of engine or gearshift is unsettlingly absent, replaced by the scream of straight-cut gears that seems as though it’ll never stop rising. Turn one approaches like we really are in free-fall. But the nose turns in and the RX1 rotates as if someone has tapped our rear quarter, breaking into a lovely slide.

The ride isn’t as violent as I was expecting but I’m not sure I could have processed much more than a brace of laps. Our best time was only a few tenths off the competitive times of the day which confirms that this ‘veteran’ of the electric rallycross era is still potently fast and José, it turns out, wasn’t taking it easy after all.