Four-wheel drifts, the gunfire of anti-lag, engines biting into rev-limiters, bumpers banging and very big jumps: the FIA World Rallycross Championship has it all.

That’s why my visit to last weekend’s Silverstone round – the first time the Northamptonshire track has hosted the series – has now made me the four-year-old championship's biggest fan. I’d been to a WRX event before (Barcelona 2016) so I’d already grown fond of its racing, but last weekend’s GB round was so action-packed that I’m now itching to get to another round in 2018.

Lessons in gravel and jumping with Audi's rallycross stars at Silverstone

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To those unaware of what it’s like (UK viewing numbers are still rather small) I’d describe it as a cross between the BTCC and WRC, but with the astounding speed of a single seater race on a street circuit, because these cars have 600bhp and can hit 60mph in under 2sec. Think Macau Formula 3 pace with the wheel rubbing of a BTCC Thruxton race and visual drama of Wales Rally GB.

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Take the final of the WRX Silverstone round, where an all-star line-up featured 29-year-old Swedish rallycross star (and 2017 champ) Johan Kristoffersson in his Volkswagen Polo R and Sébastien Loeb, the nine-time WRC champ turned WRX front-runner who drives a Peugeot 208, on the front row. Behind them, two-time DTM champ Mattias Ekström, young charger Kevin Hansen (he’s 19!) and Niclas Grönholm – yep, son of twice WRC champ Marcus – were among those hungry for a podium.

How to nail a World Rallycross race start

With just six cars in each race (the final featured the top six of the day after a series of heats and semi-finals), the racing is extremely close, fast and frenetic. Everyone’s in with a real chance of winning, so turn one almost always features late lunges and wild dives as drivers attempt to make an early break for the top spot.