World Rallycross Championship 2017

[tbtstt]

Calendar for next years Championship has been revealed:

http://www.fiaworldrallycross.com/ar...ces-draft-2017

12 rounds in the World Championship again and, as suspected, South Africa will replace Argentina.

WR1 - Barcelona, Spain – 1/2 April
WR2 - Montalegre, Portugal – 22/23 April
WR3 - Hockenheim, Germany – 4/5/6 May
WR4 - Mettet, Belgium – 13/14 May
WR5 - Lydden Hill, GB – 27/28 May
WR6 - Hell, Norway – 10/11 June
WR7 - Holjes, Sweden – 1/2 July
WR8 - Trois-Rivieres, Canada – 5/6 August
WR9 - Loheac, France – 2/3 September
WR10 - Riga, Latvia – 16/17 September
WR11 - Estering, Germany – 30 September/01 October
WR12 - Cape Town, South Africa – 11/12 November

5 Round European Rallycross Championship:

ER1 (WR1) - Barcelona, Spain – 1/2 April
ER2 (WR6) - Hell, Norway – 10/11 June
ER3 (WR7) - Holjes, Sweden – 1/2 July
ER4 (WR9) - Loheac, France – 2/3 September
ER1 (WR10) - Riga, Latvia – 16/17 September

6 Round Super 1600 Championship:

S1600R1 (WR2) - Montalegre, Portugal – 22/23 April
S1600R2 (WR4) - Mettet, Belgium – 13/14 May
S1600R3 (WR7) - Holjes, Sweden – 1/2 July
S1600R4 (WR9) - Loheac, France – 2/3 September
S1600R5 (WR10) - Riga, Latvia – 16/17 September
S1600R6 (WR11) - Estering, Germany – 30 September/01 October

5 Round Touring Car Championship:

TCR1 (WR1) - Barcelona, Spain – 1/2 April
TCR2 (WR4) - Mettet, Belgium – 13/14 May
TCR3 (WR5) - Lydden Hill, GB – 27/28 May
TCR4 (WR6) - Hell, Norway – 10/11 June
TCR5 (WR11) - Estering, Germany – 30 September/01 October

7 Round RX2 (RX Lite) Championship:

RX2R1 (WR4) - Mettet, Belgium – 13/14 May
RX2R2 (WR5) - Lydden Hill, GB – 27/28 May
RX2R3 (WR6) - Hell, Norway – 10/11 June
RX2R4 (WR7) - Holjes, Sweden – 1/2 July
RX2R5 (WR8) - Trois-Rivieres, Canada – 5/6 August
RX2R6 (WR9) - Loheac, France – 2/3 September
RX2R7 (WR12) - Cape Town, South Africa – 11/12 November

[chunder]

Interesting, so, so far Argentina and Turkey have decided its not a goer.

Might be a no for Lydden next year, without the ERX the grids are a little thin. and next year its dumbed down even more with rwd instead of s1600

Seems we really are the poorest of poor relations.

[tbtstt]

Originally Posted by chunder

Interesting, so, so far Argentina and Turkey have decided its not a goer.

I can't comment on Turkey, but I know there have been issues with the round in Argentina, so I'm not surprised that has been dropped.

Originally Posted by chunder

Might be a no for Lydden next year, without the ERX the grids are a little thin. and next year its dumbed down even more with rwd instead of s1600

Yeah, shame that Lydden won't get the S1600 next year, as it's my fave of the supporting classes.

[crossfades]

It's only a guess but Turkey was probably dropped because of the instability in the country. Argentina had some issues as you mentioned also.

They should not have the last rounds somewhere far away though. Since the cars are shipped back from Argentina (guess they will ship them back from South Africa too), there is little time to get the cars ready for the coming season unless you build new cars.

Having a round so far away and then having to ship the cars over there is not good either. Firstly, you have to go across the globe for a result that probably won't matter unless you can make the podium. Like for example, the title has already been decided and drivers far back don't have much too drive for except winning the round.

Secondly, the break is so long. I mean shouldn't it be better having South Africa earlier in the season? Waiting over a month for the last round feels a bit odd.

[1975DCS]

Again no Lydden for me, no point in spending the trip from Rotterdam to Lydden for a handful of cars. Belgium is a no go either, we don't like the circuit that much and now the the ERX is gone here too there is no reason to go. What a dreadful decision by the organisation!

[1975DCS]

There is only one round worth visiting for me: Höljes! But for how long?

[chunder]

Agreed, just vote with your feet, don't attend, or save up and go to the round you really want to go to, they will put up the ticket prices no matters what is on so as regulars you can only vote with your wallets.

IMG get more and more cretinous by the week.

[silver bullet]

The thing I don't get is, we have UK competitors in both the European Supercars and the Super 1600's and they are not scheduled for Lydden, yet the two classes with no UK interest are.
I can't see any logic in this decision at all, could anyone explain????

[chunder]

Probably money

It seems they are holding ERRX at the venues that get the biggest attendances.

Dumb as dumb gets, but then again you couldn't really get anymore people in Lydden or Estering by he sound of it, so you are probably better off getting the big fields at places that can host them

[tbtstt]

First bit of driver news for 2017! Magda Andersson confirms the sale of her Touring Car and that she is looking at a Supercar for 2017:

http://www.fiaworldrallycross.com/ar...upercar-outing

[1975DCS]

I always think wouldn't it be nice if some sort of manufacturer of products that woman buy would be a sponsor of an all woman based RX team? And then coverage by something like Discovery to review the team through its process?

[FIRE]

Originally Posted by 1975DCS

I always think wouldn't it be nice if some sort of manufacturer of products that woman buy would be a sponsor of an all woman based RX team? And then coverage by something like Discovery to review the team through its process?

In America this would happen (see NASCAR and it's large amount of sponsors) but not in Europe.

[tbtstt]

Not news as such, but has anyone read the post by ERC24 on Facebook concerning Ekstrom? For those who have missed it:

Originally Posted by ERC24 Facebook

For many a year not keen to take part in "dirty" Rallycross events, Mattias Ekström is truly "living" the motorsport of his father Bengt now. However, from Sweden we understood that his racing future is uncertain. Time will tell if Audi is still interested in his services. The German car manufacturers were not in love with Rallycross over the last three decades and it needs to be seen if the 2016 FIA World Rallycross Championship title could bring a change to that...

Notably the first comment in reply to the picture indicates that the "EKS RX" Facebook page has now renamed itself "EKS". Do we think Ekstrom will return in 2017, or will he stick to DTM?

[1975DCS]

Would be a bad sign a guess. But on the other hand: if Audi didn't like it thus far, they also didn't fund him I guess? This means his team can run without Audi's support? Would he still have decades to go in DTM? I understand Audi wants clean Motorsports, like BMW and Mercedes, but then they also should stop bragging about the old quattro days! At least the S1 is some sort of worthy replacement for the old S1: short, boxy, wide and fast...

[1975DCS]

Is the WRX going to adapt to the new WRC body shapes in 2017? Can we for example expect to see Solberg in a XXL C3?

[Minicross424]

Anyone else heard the rumour that other UK circuits are trying to poach the British round from Lydden?

[tbtstt]

Originally Posted by Minicross424

Anyone else heard the rumour that other UK circuits are trying to poach the British round from Lydden?

I posted a story a few months ago (http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/124606) that mentioned about development of the Stowe area of Silverstone, the purpose of which was to cater for new events, one of which was World Rallycross.

Might have been a general statement: or perhaps it was a statement of intent!

[FIRE]

Originally Posted by Minicross424

Anyone else heard the rumour that other UK circuits are trying to poach the British round from Lydden?

It would not surprise me.

[chunder]

I would imagine IMG are stoking this aswell, they will want more and more and more money from every possible venue, and stoking up some interest from other circuits, selling the tv, sponsorship etc is all about trying to make what you are selling sound amazing. So they will have sales people making enquiries and pushing Doran to spend more on hosting fees, it's what these big ******** marketing firms do sadly.

Until you actually have to make money yourself after you have handed them 30 grand for the privilege.

Lydden is tiny all these stories of 10000 people are utter tosh, you couldn't get more than 5 or 6000 people in there. Where as at other tracks, though much dearer to hire, you could get far, far more if you PR the bejesus out of it.

Will believe it when I see it, but IMG don't give any shred of a damn about history, tradition, we all know that.

ALL they care about, will care about, have ever cared about is money.

[tbtstt]

I don't know if anyone else has seen the Audi press release this morning...

https://www.audi-mediacenter.com/en/...ad-of-wec-6980

...where they have made the (utterly stupid) decision to withdraw from the WEC and focus on Formula E instead. The press release also includes a few lines about the World Rallycross Championship, specifically:

"No final decision has yet been made concerning a future involvement in the FIA World Rallycross Championship (World RX). In the current 2016 season, DTM factory driver Mattias Ekström in his Audi S1 EKS RX quattro clinched the World Championship title early, competing against numerous factory teams. Up to now, Audi’s involvement has been limited to supporting the private EKS team. The brand is currently evaluating a possible extension of the commitment, the exciting topic of electrification being on the agenda in rallycross racing as well."

All electric World RX cars? I hope not!

[BertMk2]

Originally Posted by tbtstt

I don't know if anyone else has seen the Audi press release this morning...

https://www.audi-mediacenter.com/en/...ad-of-wec-6980

...where they have made the (utterly stupid) decision to withdraw from the WEC and focus on Formula E instead. The press release also includes a few lines about the World Rallycross Championship, specifically:

"No final decision has yet been made concerning a future involvement in the FIA World Rallycross Championship (World RX). In the current 2016 season, DTM factory driver Mattias Ekström in his Audi S1 EKS RX quattro clinched the World Championship title early, competing against numerous factory teams. Up to now, Audi’s involvement has been limited to supporting the private EKS team. The brand is currently evaluating a possible extension of the commitment, the exciting topic of electrification being on the agenda in rallycross racing as well."

All electric World RX cars? I hope not!

Audi have just killed the LMP1 class. They've committed to DTM (but like the other manufacturers in DTM will run less cars) - I guess they're hoping the switch to 'class 1' regulations will bring in the Japanese manufacturers from Super GT that they've been courting.

Formula E seems to be the latest playground for manufacturers - but it's profile is negligible and (IMO) is a dismal series.

I guess there will still be plenty of GT3 machinery shipped out to customer teams and then there's the new TCR cars going out to customer teams. Audi could continue to ride the coat tails of EKS in rallycross all the time the results are there and get some promotion for very little real outlay.

Electric cars have already appeared in the Andros Trophy and I think VW were making noises about having them in Rallycross a while back. All electric racing doesn't appeal to me - the noise of internal combustion engines is part of the appeal of many racing series, electric whining just doesn't cut it. Anti-lag, induction roar, high revving n/a engines, turbo chatter - all good things that add to the experience.

[tbtstt]

Originally Posted by BertMk2

Anti-lag, induction roar, high revving n/a engines, turbo chatter - all good things that add to the experience.

Exactly my feelings. If teams were to utilize electric power to make the cars quicker (Ã* la the McLaren P1) that could be interesting, but hybrid power plants are going to be ridiculously expensive, which is not the way I would like to see things go.

[crossfades]

I am not a big fan of turning rallycross electric either, many your points above sums it up pretty well.

It annoys me that Josh Capito was positive to turn rallycross electric. Sure, as a class of it own it maybe could be something but an "outsider" should not suggest what and whatnot a sport should be. He didn't mention turning rallying electric either.

[chunder]

Personally I think fair enough on Audi withdrawing, they have nothing let to prove there, backed it when no-one else wanted to and won plenty of races and publicity from it.

I think there are reasons for going E. Largely money, we all know VAG are buggered financially at the moment and though WEC came out of R&D, that cash isn't limitless, especially after their issues, so FE will cost them a boat load less I guess.

As for WRX electric, that's laughable, but would you put it past IMG to allow it? They would do literally anything to appease manufacturers and the big teams and if allowing electric in is a way, and then you get a manufacturer Audi and perhaps a Japanese team interested, IMG will capitulate in an instant.

I have said before they only have their best interests at heart, not rallycross's, they are just using it at the moment and the sport is happily following in the coat tails.

Hybrid is fine, but not electric. Sadly, short races, huge power, you can see where it might be going, though it doesn't really do anything long term to prove the potential of electric vehicles, not in the same way endurance racing does.

[crossfades]

Not WRX but when it comes to electric cars the coincidence is almost unreal ...

http://redbullglobalrallycross.com/n...s-2018-season/