Before the #YellowSquad 2024 calendar gets underway, we spoke to Catie Munnings about all things RX2e from the 2023 championship.
#YellowSquad: What made you want to get involved in the RX2e championship?
Catie Munnings: I have always been such a massive fan of WRX, and the excitement of wheel-to-wheel racing like this. To get the chance to race in RX2e, a championship for drivers as an entry-level into WRX, was amazing. I had started training in crosskarts with Timmy Hansen in Sweden and the conversation started to try to put together a deal for RX2E.
#YS: What was the biggest highlight of your 2023 RX2e season?
Catie: I had a couple of Heat wins in 2023, which I was really happy with. The competition is incredibly high in this championship, with a lot of drivers returning year after year. It’s not an easy car to set up, with lots of options with the electric powertrain it takes a while to find your driving style, so to hold my own against drivers with more experience was a big highlight.
#YS: You are one of the few female drivers to have raced under the Hansen umbrella. Do you think about that sort of thing as your career develops?
Catie: Susann is obviously a massive role model to me, and I think I was the first female to race with the Hansens since she was driving, so that was also a big deal! One thing I love about that family is how they just see drivers as drivers, having worked with Timmy for years in Extreme E, I know how he supports and believes in me, and doesn’t see a difference because I am a girl, and he is a guy. He always just works with driver potential and moving forward, and the whole family are like that.
#YS: What was it like racing for #YellowSquad with the support of Hansen Motorsport? How important was their help and advice last year?
Catie: It was massive, they have so much experience on and off track – there are always such golden pieces of information you get from just having a chat with Kenneth. They have taught me so much about race tactics, how to follow on the bumper, the first corner, and resilient mindset in racing – it’s so addictive! When you see results start to improve with their advice you just want more of it.
Working with Erik Faren was also a massive highlight for me. I remember he was my spotter, and we won a Heat on the radio with his joker strategy, keeping one of the fastest guys behind – it felt like he was in the car with me, saying the right things at the perfect time – it was awesome.
#YS: It was not just you that raced for #YellowSquad in 2023, but also Molly Taylor. With two women driving for the team in one year, is that a sign of increasing opportunity for female talent?
Catie: I think championships like Extreme E have created a platform where we can see the female talent compared to the fastest guys in the world. This has been massive in providing exposure that leads to opportunity and sponsorship for girls in other championships like RX2E, which is fantastic.
#YS: What did you learn from the 2023 season that you’ll be taking into 2024?
Catie: I learned lots about side-by-side racing, how to adapt to different surfaces, and how to cope with the mental pressure of close-proximity racing – I can’t wait to put everything into practice in all of my racing moving forward.
