Brazilian ex-Formula One driver Nelson Piquet Junior is set to drive a full 2013 Global RallyCross Championship/Global X Games programme alongside his continuing commitment to NASCAR.

What ERC24 has hinted on our Facebook wall on March 15 (see Piquet photo on timeline) has been confirmed by always well-informed American web-radio man Bill Wood on March 25. Brazilian ex-Formula One driver Nelson Piquet Junior is set to race in this year’s Global RallyCross Championship and Global X Games series, apparently the entire season and alongside his 2013 NASCAR programme. Our own source claimed it would be a Mitsubishi Lancer Evo, prepared by Rhys Millen Racing (RMR), which is the same information Wood has got. However, the radio man has not yet been able to get the Germany born Brazilian to an interview for comments on his 2013 Rallycross plans.

According to Wood’s BBW website the Evo 10 Lancer is a car that was originally built in 2009 by American Rally legend John Buffum’s company Libre Racing for Canadian 5-times Rally champion Antoine L’Estage and has subsequently been used for a lot of Rally events in North America. The GRC/X Games programme of “Nelsinho”, the son of triple F1 World Champion (1981, 1983, 1987) Nelson Piquet, will be backed by Mitsubishi Brazil and the car is said to be a very special one. “That car has some great trick things in it”, Wood was told by Buffum, a former Pikes Peak International Hill Climb winner with Audi quattro. As RMR has turned two Hyundai Veloster cars into competitive GRC machinery already we expect that the current PPIHC overall record-holder will also be able to produce a good Rallycross motor from the Mitsubishi. The only Lancer Rallycross SuperCar that attracted attention and good results so far was the 500+bhp Mitsubishi Lancer E6/Carisma GT used by quadruple European Rallycross Champion with Mitsubishi Eivind Opland in the ERC series of 1999, 2000 and 2001.