World RX: Portuguese season-opener this weekend

The opening round of the all-new FIA World Rallycross Championship, presented by Monster Energy, kicks off in Portugal this weekend 3-4 May with more than 50 of the world's best rallycross drivers set to battle it out across the Supercar, Super1600 and TouringCar categories and in the supporting RX Lites Cup.

The line-up will also include two former World Champions as former F1 World Champion Jacques Villeneuve (pictured) and former WRC Champion Petter Solberg join the Supercar line-up.

The World RX is the FIA's newest World Championship and in 2014. The Championship is made up of 12 rounds: Portugal, Great Britain, Norway, Finland, Sweden, Belgium, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Turkey and Argentina.

Round 1, World RX of Portugal will be based in Montalegre; a municipality in northern Portugal, located in the district of Vila Real on the border with Spain. The draw for Saturday's first qualifying heat will be made on Friday afternoon; the second qualifying heat also takes place on Saturday with the remainder of the heats plus the semi-finals to take place on Sunday.