With a long and wide-ranging CV in off-road racing and other disciplines, it’s fair to say that Tanner Foust has experienced many interesting tracks during his highly-decorated motorsport career. From drift racing to hillclimb, rallycross and Extreme E, Foust has seen it all. And perhaps unsurprisingly given his three rallycross titles across the GRC and ARX series, it’s his passion for the mixed-surface discipline that shines through most when talking to the 49-year-old about his favourite track.
Foust says that his “favouritism depends on results,” citing the Nitro Rallycross venue in Utah as one of the most fun to drive due to “a huge three-storey gap jump and big banked turns”. But, having retired from the final of that event in 2021, Foust concedes he had more success elsewhere.
“There's a rallycross track that isn't used much in Hungary that I think is one of my favourites, where I did have more success at,” he says of the Nyirad track where the 2011 European Rallycross Championship runner-up finished second in 2012. Located on a former quarry site, Nyirad's layout is nicknamed the ‘Red Cauldron’ due its red surface colour and big elevation changes.
But it’s a track from his first season in Extreme E last year that Foust has the fondest of memories of. Based in a remote mining area in Chile’s Atacama desert, the Copper-X Prix’s sandy and rocky layout - which was fast, wide and included some spectacular jumps - was not only a unique driving challenge but also provided plenty of overtaking opportunities.
“It’s like rallycross on steroids,” he says. “It's kind of inflated - giant machines and super-long [compared to] a rallycross track. Big rolling jumps, a consistent surface and very wide.”
The event itself proved bittersweet for Foust and his McLaren driving partner Emma Gilmore. Having won the aptly-named ‘Crazy Race’ to progress to the Grand Final, the duo went on to take an on-the-road victory before two time penalties for dropped flags demoted them to fifth. Nonetheless, the quality of the racing is what stood out to Foust.
Source: Autosport