Former F1 race driver and four time class winner of the 24 Hours of Le Mans, Jan Magnussen, who was competing at the event in the Porsche Carrera Cup Scandinavia, was clearly impressed by the power of the Rotax E20.
It was the first time the Dane has been back in a kart since progressing from his highly successful karting career thirty years ago, having won two CIK-FIA Junior World Cups (ICA) and the World Karting Championship (Formula K), the last two being with Rotax engines. “Wow! Lots of power! I don’t know what I was really expecting, but this was way better than what I was expecting. Really impressed, it gives good feedback and is fun to drive. It’s different, but it’s good.”
Porsche Sprint Challenge teammates and two of the most accomplished snow skiers of their time – Aksel Lund Svindal and Ingemar Stenmark, also tested the E-Karts on the fast, undulating Rudskogen circuit. Known as the “King of Speed” during his outstanding alpine skiing career, which included two Olympic Gold medals and overall World Cups plus five World Championships, Svindal is no stranger to going quick.
Aksel Lund Svindal
For fellow Porsche team driver Stenmark, who has been regarded as Rotax presented their Project E20 E-Kart at the Porsche Festival on September 16th - 17th at Rudskogen Motorsenter in Norway, where three superstars of speed [in their own discipline] jumped on board to test the high performance electric kart from the Austrian manufacturer. More than 7,000 spectators attended the race event and exhibition where the E-Kart was on display the greatest Slalom and Giant Slalom specialist of all time, a two time Gold medallist with 86 World Cup victories, the session in the Rotax E20 was most enjoyable. “It was very nice, fantastic feeling and very fast from the start. It’s good for the environment and I really didn’t miss the sound at all, but I think it is good to keep the noise down anyway,” adding that he would like to drive the Rotax E20 again sometime soon.