2023 World Rallycross

[RichP]

The 2023 calendar has been released, a return to Lydden
https://www.fiaworldrallycross.com/w...ndar-for-2023/

Hopefully the entry will be bigger than this year

[kurski]

According to Jussi Pinomäki (Vauhdin Maailma interview), in an ideal situation there should be at least 12 cars next year FIA World RX. He said the promoter had announced cars could be 10-13

[tbtstt]

Good news that the older event format is back as well. Give the organizers some credit for recognising that the change wasn't well received and reversing it instead of trying to force it to stick.

[RichP]

Or is it a case of the 'bigger, F1' circuits wanted too much money to host, and the traditional circuits are more realistic?

[BertMk2]

Originally Posted by RichP

Or is it a case of the 'bigger, F1' circuits wanted too much money to host, and the traditional circuits are more realistic?

I think reality has bitten - they've finally realised they're not a huge championship and they're now cutting their cloth accordingly.

[NaBUru38]

Nürburgring, Spa-Francorchamps and Barcelona have a trillion events every year, I'm pretty sure they don't mind losing rallycross.

[Barrie]

If they’re is no supercars for this event I’m not going to bother.

[tbtstt]

Originally Posted by RichP

Or is it a case of the 'bigger, F1' circuits wanted too much money to host, and the traditional circuits are more realistic?

Yeah, could be that. Comments online seem to suggest that Spa is doing building work which will cover the rallycross layout? The issues (or rather cost) of using Silverstone is something that has been discussed previously. Surprised not to see Barcelona back but, as said, I am sure they have plenty of other stuff to keep the circuit busy.

Originally Posted by Barrie

If they’re is no supercars for this event I’m not going to bother.

Sure one of the Lydden posts mentions about additional support to be announced, though I would think that is most likely to be Retros?

[NaBUru38]

The FIA European Rallycross still has the RX1 class, am I right?

[tbtstt]

Originally Posted by NaBUru38

The FIA European Rallycross still has the RX1 class, am I right?

Yeah, that's right.

Just seen a post from Lydden that the 5 Nations Supercars will run that weekend as a points scoring round for the 2023 Championship. Not the full RX1 field, but at least we get some Supercars.

[MissClarrpz]

Great to see World RX going back to traditional venues and the old format. Hopefully this will see a return of some fans.

Lydden Hill should be a great event. 12 RX1 & RX2 each with 15-20 Supercars is my prediction. New access road will certainly help. Can't wait for it

[tbtstt]

Loeb returns for 2023...

World Rallycross - Loen Is Back

...at the wheel of a second GCK Delta. Good boost for the Championship I'd say: a serious competitor and someone who can hopefully help extract the full potential of the car.

[Pozi]

This does not look good for the entries at Lydden if then can only cobble together 10 WRX entries for the first round.

https://www.fiaworldrallycross.com/w...al-next-month/

[FIRE]

Originally Posted by Pozi

This does not look good for the entries at Lydden if then can only cobble together 10 WRX entries for the first round.

https://www.fiaworldrallycross.com/w...al-next-month/

Besides RX1e and RX2e no support series?
Correct me if I am wrong but RX2e has only 6 or 7 full season entries.

[Barrie]

Originally Posted by Pozi

This does not look good for the entries at Lydden if then can only cobble together 10 WRX entries for the first round.

https://www.fiaworldrallycross.com/w...al-next-month/

Perhaps it will sink in soon that know ones interested in electric rallycross

[tbtstt]

Originally Posted by Pozi

This does not look good for the entries at Lydden if then can only cobble together 10 WRX entries for the first round.

https://www.fiaworldrallycross.com/w...al-next-month/

I was hoping they'd be a little further into double figures this year.

[chasing cars]

Disappointingly the Lydden joker is going back to the first corner, FIA rules means it can't use the part of the track where cars line up. It's going to mean the cars getting split at the first corner again and getting strung out.
Hopefully it won't spoil the much improved Tallethingy... Chessons.The jump is staying which I'm still not a fan of but hey it's what some people want.

[tbtstt]

Originally Posted by chasing cars

Disappointingly the Lydden joker is going back to the first corner, FIA rules means it can't use the part of the track where cars line up. It's going to mean the cars getting split at the first corner again and getting strung out.
Hopefully it won't spoil the much improved Tallethingy... Chessons.The jump is staying which I'm still not a fan of but hey it's what some people want.

Yeah, the jump is maybe a bit of a gimmick, but the "new" Chessons is great.

I hope there will be a ruling on turn one jokers, so we continue to see complete packs heading into turn one at the start of a race. Wonder if they will put a chicane or something into the tarmac loop to slow the cars down?

[BertMk2]

Originally Posted by chasing cars

Disappointingly the Lydden joker is going back to the first corner, FIA rules means it can't use the part of the track where cars line up. It's going to mean the cars getting split at the first corner again and getting strung out.

Originally Posted by tbtstt

I hope there will be a ruling on turn one jokers, so we continue to see complete packs heading into turn one at the start of a race. Wonder if they will put a chicane or something into the tarmac loop to slow the cars down?

That's a shame, the revised joker was much better - hopefully they'll still use that for the British meetings. A 'no joker on lap 1' rule would help with first corner jokers. I assume they'll have to put a chicane in otherwise there's going to be some serious speed carried into the merge. Is the joker going to rejoin Chessons where it used to or further down the Dover Slope?

Originally Posted by chasing cars

Hopefully it won't spoil the much improved Tallethingy... Chessons.

Originally Posted by tbtstt

but the "new" Chessons is great.

Agreed - much better than it had been recently.

Originally Posted by chasing cars

The jump is staying which I'm still not a fan of but hey it's what some people want.

Originally Posted by tbtstt

Yeah, the jump is maybe a bit of a gimmick,

The jump is a complete gimmick and adds nothing to the racing - it does however give some good photo opportunities. Again I think the current jump works a lot better than the 'jump' they had previously where the joker rejoined Chessons.

[tbtstt]

Originally Posted by BertMk2

Is the joker going to rejoin Chessons where it used to or further down the Dover Slope?

The post on the Lydden Facebook page, says:

Originally Posted by Lydden Hill Facebook

With the start line area, including jump start system, used in World RX needing to be separate to the racing lap, the joker has been moved to the outside of the first corner, before returning to the loose surface after Talledega, before the jump!

Best guess is the joker lap will cut back in to the standard lap roughly where Chessons originally exited onto the Dover Slope?

Originally Posted by BertMk2

The jump is a complete gimmick and adds nothing to the racing - it does however give some good photo opportunities. Again I think the current jump works a lot better than the 'jump' they had previously where the joker rejoined Chessons.

Yeah, I agree. The Chessons "jump" was a bit of a non-event. The new jump is at least good for pictures and right in front of the crowd.

[NaBUru38]

Can't they just ban taking the joker on the first lap?

[chasing cars]

Originally Posted by NaBUru38

Can't they just ban taking the joker on the first lap?

That would be ideal, and was the case in Norway last year. I read somewhere it was an FIA ruling in which case that could be for all circuits. Let's hope so.

[tbtstt]

Originally Posted by chasing cars

That would be ideal, and was the case in Norway last year. I read somewhere it was an FIA ruling in which case that could be for all circuits. Let's hope so.

Just had a look at the regulations, this should cover it...

Originally Posted by FiA World Rallycross Regulations 2023

15.2b Joker Lap

The Joker Lap can be used in practice.
In each Heat, Semi-Final or Final, one of the laps must be the Joker
Lap. The penalty for Drivers who take it more time than they are
required to will be decided by the stewards. One judge of fact will
be appointed to note how many times the cars pass through. If the
Joker Lap is in the first corner, it cannot be used in the first lap of
a race. If a Driver, for any reason, takes the Joker lap in the first
lap of a race where the Joker Lap is in the first corner, it will be
considered void and the Driver must complete the Joker lap in one
of the remaining laps of the race.

[tbtstt]

Absolute masterclass from Kristoffersson at Holjes this weekend. Three rounds in and he hasn't lost a heat, semi or final this year. Sure not everyone feels the same but, given that a significant portion of the cars is shared, I am hugely impressed at how much more speed JK/KMS have found.

Couple of weeks until the Lydden round and I'm really looking forward to the weekend.

[BertMk2]

There was a fire in the paddock at Lydden on Friday - the Special ONE Lancias were destroyed in the blaze. As a result the WRX championship will not run on Saturday (Sunday TBC). The other classes will compete as planned:

https://www.fiaworldrallycross.com/w...hill-incident/

Thankfully it appears that nobody was hurt in the fire, investigations into the cause are ongoing.