Rallycross
FIA World RX is one of motorsport's most electrifying series, combining the thrills and spills of rallying with the pedal-to-the-metal speed of circuit racing. This is what you need to know.
The FIA World Rallycross Championship is back for another season of full-throttle racing between cars that accelerate quicker than their F1 counterparts. The stars of the series, including Johan Kristofferson, Mattias Ekström, Petter Solberg, Sébastien Loeb and the Hansen brothers, Timmy and Kevin, will be flying into Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya on Saturday, April 14 for the season opener of this relatively young series.
How much do you know about a motor-racing discipline that actually started way back in 1967, though? Read on if you want to pick up that all-important FIA World RX knowledge.
The 2018 FIA World RX season begins on April 14 at Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya.
What is rallycross?
Rallycross combines rallying and circuit racing, and takes place on mixed-surface tracks laid out so that fans can see as much of the fast-and-furious action as possible.
The cars these crowds come to watch being thrown around are kind of like high-performance hot hatchbacks, only much more powerful. Think manual-shift, 600bhp and four-wheel drive, with turbo-charged acceleration of 0–100kph in less than two seconds. A group of between three and six of these beasts line up next to each other, and their drivers go hell for leather over four to six laps on tracks that are part asphalt, part dirt.
There are now two major international rallycross series. The US-based Red Bull Global Rallycross, which attracts an international group of drivers; and the one we're interested in here: the FIA World RX Championship. It's dominated by European drivers, but the FIA World RX's 12 rounds take place in countries all over the world, including Latvia, Canada and South Africa.
Where did it all start?
Rallycross began in 1967, when British TV channel ITV invited a group of esteemed rally drivers to race the Lydden Hill Circuit, in Kent, UK, on February 4 that year. Vic Elford won in a borrowed 210bhp, rear-wheel drive Porsche 911 R and Lydden Hill – where FIA World RX testing still takes place – was anointed the home of rallycross. In fact, the finale of the Red Bull Global Rallycross Championship will take place this year at Lydden Hill on October 27–28.
After its Lydden Hill debut, the first rallycross event to take place on mainland Europe was in the Netherlands, in 1969. The sport grew especially popular in France and Sweden, where the sport's camp-and-race culture appeals most. The very first FIA World RX Championship took place in 2014 and its first champion was former WRC winner Petter Solberg.
Who are the teams and drivers?
There are two racing formats in FIA World RX – Supercar and its feeder series, RX2. For the 2018 Supercar season, there are 15 drivers racing for nine different teams.
Reigning FIA World RX champion Johan Kristofferson will defend his title driving for PSRX Volkswagen Motorsports, the 2017 team champions. Also driving for PSRX Volkswagen Motorsports is FIA World RX's first champion Solberg. They face stiff competition this year from Swedish driver Mattias Ekström's Team EKS. The 2016 champion, and his new team-mate Andreas Bakkerud, will be driving the new, second-generation Audi S1 EKS RX Quattro this year.
Ekstrom's fellow Swedes Timmy and Kevin Hansen will be driving for the Peugeot-Hansen family team, which is run by their parents. (The Hansens and the Ekströms are actually old friends; their fathers raced one another many years ago.) Sébastien Loeb's team will also be racing Peugeot cars in 2018 – and who would ever rule out a driver of Loeb's calibre?
What are the rules?
Each FIA World RX event takes place over two days. It all begins with four qualifying heats comprising races between three to five cars. Drivers with the fastest overall race time over four laps qualify. The rest earn points based on their qualifying positions.
After four heats, the 12 drivers with the most points move into the semi-finals. This round features two races, with six cars in each racing over six laps. The top three in each semi qualify for a six-car final of six laps. As ABBA once sang, the winner takes it all.
Just to confuse matters, there's also the small matter of the Joker Lap. This is an additional section of track that each driver must complete once during each race or face a time penalty of 30 seconds. Each driver is also allowed to use eight tyres of each compound (wet and dry) per round.
What else do I need to know?
Mattias Ekström and Petter Solberg are neck-and-neck for most event wins, with 10 each. Kristofferson is just behind with nine. Solberg also has the distinction of being a two-time FIA World RX champion. The racing discipline has been immortalised in the computer game Dirt Rally, and in 2020 FIA World RX will keep up with the times by switching to fully electric powertrains.
