Jenson Button: Rallycross debut brings him full circle

Jenson Button wants to "bring the Button name" back to rallycross when he makes his racing debut this summer, decades after his father competed in the same sport.

The 2009 Formula 1 world champion has signed up to race in the Nitro Rallycross series, a motorsport discipline that will see him driving a brand new 1,000-horsepower electric car around tracks that mix dirt, tarmac and high-flying jumps.

It represents a gear change from Button's career in F1 and one he is relishing for a variety of reasons; the chance to challenge himself in something new, satisfy the competitor inside him and fulfil a long-held ambition to follow in his father's tracks.

Button's late father, John, was a renowned rallycross driver in the 1970s and 1980s and he has fond memories from his childhood of going to races with him.

"It's in the blood, my dad, but also my grandad on my mum's side used to race autocross, so they used to race against each other," Button, who was named after Danish rallycross driver Erling Jensen, a friend of his father's, told BBC Sport.

"There's lots of history and it's nice to bring the Button name back to rallycross.

"I remember one race in particular, I just loved the atmosphere. It was a real family atmosphere, there were loads of kids hanging around and I made loads of friends. I hung out with a lot of the other kids, drivers' children. I really enjoyed it.

"I watched his races for years after that. That was just before Group B, which was insane cars with 800-plus horsepower. My dad was just before that and he had the opportunity to race in a 6R4 rallycross car, but instead he bought me a go-kart and the rest is history. I'm very thankful for that."

Button, 42, has joined the XITE Energy Racing team for the season alongside Bristol-born driver and team co-founder Oli Bennett.

Nitro RX began in 2018 and developed into its own series last year. The 2022-23 format sees it expand outside of the United States to include 10 races across Europe, the Middle East and North America, and for the first time all competitors will race in new FC1-X electric cars.

"We sort of term this on the inside as the MMA of motorsport, you've got to be able to do any discipline you might have to do on a single day," Bennett said.

While Button comes from a "very smooth background" driving in Formula 1, Bennett's has been racing super cars and rallycross since 2016. Together they are hoping their wealth of knowledge can create a winning formula.

"It's impressed me how sideways you can get a car - for me it looks like you're going to spin off," Button said.

"I watch him and think how can you go that fast without going sideways," Bennett replied.

"I think somewhere in the middle there's this golden ticket to a very fast lap time."

Since Button retired from F1 in 2016 he has dabbled in a variety of motor disciplines, from the endurance of Le Mans, to supercars, Extreme E - where he still owns a team - and trophy trucks in the Baja 1000. He insists he is "not just an F1 driver, I'm a racing driver".

But the rallycross car has more similarities from his F1 days than it looks on first glance.

"It's a lot closer to the ground, a lot more compliant, a lot more reactive to the steering," Button added.

"It's just the difference that you're changing conditions the whole time from tarmac to dirt and even the dirt's changing every lap you come round. That's the biggest shift for me.

"I'm sure when I go racing there'll be even more things to learn. Racing wheel-to-wheel on dirt with that drifting you get, it's going to be a big learning curve."

Driven by a new challenge

Bennett, 29, came to racing cars "late" after discovering the sport aged 22 when he finished university. He made his race debut at Lydden Hill, in Kent - the same circuit the Nitro Series kicks-off at this June and where John Button raced decades ago - and earned his stripes racing supercars.

Having spent years combining driving with developing his own team where they built their own car for the World Rallycross Championships, the chance to race Nitro RX, where the machinery is on a level playing field, appealed.

"To have a team at the front of this series now, hopefully we'll learn a lot," said Bennett. "We'll build a lot of value in the team and the team can go on to be successful in future years. That's the plan.

"I'd like to think the team can get some podiums this year, we really want to be fighting for the top level. Once you've driven these cars, to never drive them again would be quite difficult."

Button, meanwhile, said he is not "a flash in the pan" who wants to jump into rallycross and jump straight back out.

"I love driving, it's got four wheels, but it's time in the car, it's hours and I think if you can be competitive in Formula 1 you can be competitive in other categories," he said.

"The want for competition is there but also the atmosphere. I don't want to do something that's not fun and rallycross is certainly fun."