British Rallycross Championship 2019

[tbtstt]

2019 calendar now online:

Round 1 - 24/03/19 - Silverstone

Round 2 - 2/04/19 - Lydden (Easter Monday)

Round 3 - 22/06/19 - Pembrey

Round 4 - 23/06/19 - Pembrey

Round 5 - 26/08/19 - Lydden (August BH Monday)

Round 6 - 08/09/19 - Croft

Round 7 - 22/09/19 - Pembrey

Round 8 - 27/10/19 - Croft

Bit more blurb here:

https://www.rallycrossbrx.com/news/e...lmb6xfn_3N22j8

[tbtstt]

Article in Motorsport News saying that RX Lites will be eligible for use in the Supercar class in 2019:

[mivec]

Years ago they where eligible for Supermodified as RWD ...

[CS1]

Why?
Is it to support the superclass or to start a fledgling series on its own?

[tbtstt]

As the article says I can't see it attracting a flood of entries, but at least the option is there.

Silverstone is surely the most likely British round to attract RX2 drivers.

[BertMk2]

I guess it's not much different to the old 'spaceframe supercar' class - Terry Briggs had his Clio but I think that was the only one that competed.

[leonidas]

Wouldn't it make more sense for them to offer a subclass for production 4wd (conforming to same regs as the BTRDA class)? That would give people more opportunities to race, build up numbers and help align the two series.

The MSA series seems dead on its feet at the moment - I was once a regular but haven't been to a meeting for years.

[tbtstt]

Roger Thomas has purchased one of the M-Sport built Fiestas (from Bryan Herta Autosport) for use in the British Championship.

Probably my favourite modern supercar, assuming it will be running a Pipo engine that is surely going to be a very competitive car.

[BertMk2]

Interesting - I'm looking forward to seeing how that car goes compared with the other Fiestas. What was the appeal of importing that from the states rather than buying one of the European based Fiestas?

[crossfades]

Originally Posted by BertMk2

Interesting - I'm looking forward to seeing how that car goes compared with the other Fiestas. What was the appeal of importing that from the states rather than buying one of the European based Fiestas?

An M-Sport Fiesta is probably as close as you can get to a manufacture car. Even if there are other options, I would personally go for an M-Sport Fiesta over a car from MJP, STARD, OMSE or other regulars.

The only M-Sport built Fiesta in Europe I believe is in the hands of Set Promotion/GRX and Nitiss won the ERX with it.

When I saw Block with it (the GRX Fiesta by the way) in Norway in 2014, you could literally feel the ground vibrating when he accelerated out of the last corner. That car was really something else compared to the rest back then.

[tbtstt]

Originally Posted by BertMk2

Interesting - I'm looking forward to seeing how that car goes compared with the other Fiestas. What was the appeal of importing that from the states rather than buying one of the European based Fiestas?

I would say the M-Sport Fiesta was easily the best of the Fords available at the time. OMSE, MJP and STARD may have closed the gap now but, if I had the cash*, that's where I'd go!

(* a very large boatload of cash)

Originally Posted by crossfades

When I saw Block with it (the GRX Fiesta by the way) in Norway in 2014, you could literally feel the ground vibrating when he accelerated out of the last corner. That car was really something else compared to the rest back then.

I believe the car Block used in Europe in 2014 wasn't his GRX Fiesta (the RX43), it was a second M-Sport car. That Fiesta was subsequently used by Niclas Gronholm and is the car that Nitiss won the Euro title with last year.

My experience as a spectator (Loheac 2014) was the same as yours though: the car sounded absolutely savage on the overrun. I hope the Thomas car sounds like that!

[crossfades]

Originally Posted by tbtstt

I would say the M-Sport Fiesta was easily the best of the Fords available at the time. OMSE, MJP and STARD may have closed the gap now but, if I had the cash*, that's where I'd go!

(* a very large boatload of cash)


I believe the car Block used in Europe in 2014 wasn't his GRX Fiesta (the RX43), it was a second M-Sport car. That Fiesta was subsequently used by Niclas Gronholm and is the car that Nitiss won the Euro title with last year.

My experience as a spectator (Loheac 2014) was the same as yours though: the car sounded absolutely savage on the overrun. I hope the Thomas car sounds like that!

"GRX owner, Marcus Gronholm, concluded: “We have a new car for this year - it’s the Fiesta RX that was raced previously by Ken Block.""

http://www.fiaworldrallycross.com/ar...D1pN5obg5yESdc

But I agree fully, the M-Sport is a magnificent car.

[tbtstt]

Originally Posted by crossfades

"GRX owner, Marcus Gronholm, concluded: “We have a new car for this year - it’s the Fiesta RX that was raced previously by Ken Block.""

http://www.fiaworldrallycross.com/ar...D1pN5obg5yESdc

But I agree fully, the M-Sport is a magnificent car.

Apologies, I think I may have misread your original post, just to confirm:

I believe the first rallycross Fiesta M-Sport built was the RX43, which is the car that Block owns and was used in the GRC and in several gymkhana films (Gymkhana 6, Gymkhana 8 and Terrakhana).

For his two European appearances in 2014, Block borrowed a second M-Sport car. That is the car that Niclas Gronholm used later (hence the comment "We have a new car for this year - it’s the Fiesta RX that was raced previously by Ken Block" because it was the car that Block raced in Europe, but not the one he owned). That same car was then used by Nitiss last year.

Block still owns his M-Sport Fiesta, it was last seen in a video on the Hoonigan You Tube channel last year.

[crossfades]

Originally Posted by tbtstt

Apologies, I think I may have misread your original post, just to confirm:

I believe the first rallycross Fiesta M-Sport built was the RX43, which is the car that Block owns and was used in the GRC and in several gymkhana films (Gymkhana 6, Gymkhana 8 and Terrakhana).

For his two European appearances in 2014, Block borrowed a second M-Sport car. That is the car that Niclas Gronholm used later (hence the comment "We have a new car for this year - it’s the Fiesta RX that was raced previously by Ken Block" because it was the car that Block raced in Europe, but not the one he owned). That same car was then used by Nitiss last year.

Block still owns his M-Sport Fiesta, it was last seen in a video on the Hoonigan You Tube channel last year.

Correct. However, the car he used in Europe was especially built for his rounds in WRX that year. Unfortunately I couldn't find the links to the posts on Facebook by Block back then.

[tbtstt]

Originally Posted by crossfades

Correct. However, the car he used in Europe was especially built for his rounds in WRX that year. Unfortunately I couldn't find the links to the posts on Facebook by Block back then.

Oh really? I didn't know that. I understood that car was a "spare" that M-Sport had planned to run themselves (with Matthew Wilson driving), but it never happened: perhaps that came after Block had finished with the car.

[crossfades]

Originally Posted by tbtstt

Oh really? I didn't know that. I understood that car was a "spare" that M-Sport had planned to run themselves (with Matthew Wilson driving), but it never happened: perhaps that came after Block had finished with the car.

I remember posts made by Block back then and him writing about it. He tested it in England with an all-silver livery. It was supposedly a slight upgrade compared to the RX43.

[CS1]

[For his two European appearances in 2014, Block borrowed a second M-Sport car.]


He borrowed it?
Wouldnt have thought Msport would do that?

[tbtstt]

Originally Posted by CS1

[For his two European appearances in 2014, Block borrowed a second M-Sport car.]


He borrowed it?
Wouldnt have thought Msport would do that?

Perhaps "rent" would be a more appropriate word!

[tbtstt]

Originally Posted by crossfades

I remember posts made by Block back then and him writing about it. He tested it in England with an all-silver livery. It was supposedly a slight upgrade compared to the RX43.

Because I like to know the trivial details, I found the post!



Original post was made here and more pictures were posted here.

[crossfades]

Originally Posted by tbtstt

Because I like to know the trivial details, I found the post!



Original post was made here and more pictures were posted here.

Thanks, good digging!

[The Eye]

Originally Posted by tbtstt

Because I like to know the trivial details, I found the post!



Original post was made here and more pictures were posted here.

And now owned by Mikko Ikkonen.

[tbtstt]

Originally Posted by The Eye

And now owned by Mikko Ikkonen.

Bought from SET Motorsport?

[Hickey]

With the first round in a couple of weeks, might we see an entry list soon? Be interesting to see if any WRX regulars come and test Silverstone. I presume that they haven't made and changes to the circuit to make it quicker.

[tbtstt]

Entries for round 1 at Silverstone now up:

British Rallycross Championship - Round 1 Entries

8 Supercars
11 Supernational/S1600
8 Junior Swift
10 Swift
10 BMW Mini
15 Retros (4 Group B/4WD, 6 Super Retro, 5 Retro)
2 RX150

Higgins not returning to defend his title then? And not looking like much of a fight for the RX150 title.

[S griffin]

Sounds like an exciting event. Hopefully that entry will make it worth it. That’s what it needs. Don’t know where Higgins has gone though