Of the more than 20 drivers to get behind the wheel in RallyX Americas’ first Open Test last month, few brought the vibes to Orlando Speed World quite the way that Jordan Wallace did. The Maryland native was all smiles after his first stint in the First Corner FC5 and other Crosscars on site, and he walked away with clear intentions: claiming the inaugural series title.

“I came into this just hoping to try (the Crosscar) out and see if I took to it,” he said. “It felt not even like a fish to water, more like a dolphin—it just felt so right. I want to run the full season, and I want to give whoever else has any chops a run for their money for the championship.”

For Wallace, rallycross means returning to his roots. Five years ago, he was working at Rally Ready Driving School in Texas before he caught his road racing break in Porsche Sprint Challenge North America. A successful world tour over the past five years included stops in series like DTM Trophy and the NASCAR Euro Series. Two years ago, he broke barriers as the first African American driver in Porsche Carrera Cup North America, racing for the iconic Kellymoss team.

With experience like that, it should say quite a bit about the caliber of the Crosscar to hear Wallace not only rave about it, but also make such a clear statement of intent about going for the title.

“The Crosscars are absolutely incredible,” he continued. “You can see the engineering, and the approach is much more focused on racing all the time—making it reliable, making it safe obviously, and fast. I loved it—I cannot wait to race it.”

While a light and nimble Crosscar might not seem like it shares any commonalities at all with a Porsche 911 GT3 Cup, Wallace admitted that there are still a few things that cross over.

“Race cars are race cars, so balance and things like that definitely translate,” he explained. “These Crosscars, being FIA homologated and built so well, there are a lot of similarities to the Carrera Cup car in that sense.

“I think the closest thing I can say is acceleration. The 0-60 in a Crosscar is a lot like the 0-60 in a 992 Carrera Cup car. It’s violent, but manageable, and then you can get to racing. So I really enjoyed that.

“But this is a whole different animal. I’m so excited to get in, dig my feet in, and really learn, develop, and try and go win.”

Want your own chance at testing a RallyX Americas Hypercar, Supercar, or Crosscar? Applications are open now for our next test, coming to the Charlotte area on Thursday-Friday, March 26-27. Click here to send in your test application!

Images via Pablo Mini/Real Street Performance