Global Rallycross Championship 2012

[1975DCS]

One day FIA will be exit, it nearly happened in F1 and could happen in other forms of Autosport... Only time will tell! Motorsport is so boring today, well at least most Motorsport is!

Best Motorport events in my opinion:
Rallycross, late 80's and late 90's and late 00's, not the early ##'s.
Rally, group B era, late group A era (because of Integrale, Cosworth, WRX and EVO) and WRC era (because of the looks) and F2000 kit car years
Group C, (amazing cars, imagine that with 2012 tech!)
Bergrennen, late 90's and early 00's
Pikes Peak, the Audi and Peugeot years
DTM, M3 and 190 onwards to Calibra and 155 years
BTTC, the Laguna, Mondeo and Cavalier years

[tbtstt]

Sure most of you have seen it on Facebook etc. but I see the GRC has annouced that its going to running its last round of 2012 at the SEMA show:

http://erc24.com/archives/7533

Obviously not the first time that rallycross has been done as part of a motor show, but its certainly a pretty major show for the GRC to be a part of.

[chunder]

I guess there has to be some reason why Dodge or Hyundai got involved.or Subaru for that matter!

[NaBUru38]

Let's hope that the track as good as the venue.

[tbtstt]

Originally Posted by chunder

I guess there has to be some reason why Dodge or Hyundai got involved.or Subaru for that matter!

Subaru have been tied in with Rally America for years now and, given how well the STi has done in the US as a consequence of the association with RA and X-Games, I would think that association with the GRC would have been a logical step for them (especially given the direct link between the GRC and X-Games).

As a marketing opportunity I'm sure Dodge and Hyundai will have seen things in much the same way, especially as both of them managed to secure some big names to both develop and race the cars.

I'm sure exposure at SEMA will please the PR departments with all the manufacturers involved though! (Except Saab that is )

[NaBUru38]

Missing cars wishlist:

Chevrolet Sonic
Honda Civic
Mazda 2
Mini
Mitsubishi Lancer (but they are in serious trouble)
Scion FR-S (ak GT86)
Volvo V40

[rx-guru]

http://a2.sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphot...28755273_n.jpg

Not Honda Civic but another Honda GRC SuperCar in the making...

[chunder]

Missing cars wishlist.


?
?
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Thats it then lol

[USRallycross]

It's a tough life when the series you 'work in' takes you Las Vegas twice in a season........

Maybe we can win the budget for next year!

Mark

[NaBUru38]

rx-guru, it's been a while since the CR-Z was launched, and of course there's none around here, so I had forgotten about. That would be cool too.

[tbtstt]

Any word on whether Gronholm will race again this year?

[rx-guru]

Finnish press had it that Grönholm will not race again this year.

[FIRE]

And hows Heikkinen recovering?

[rx-guru]

Topi will be back to Las Vegas action.

[chunder]

I find that a shame after what happened, but then he is young and I suppose the budget was for the year.

[tbtstt]

Originally Posted by rx-guru

Finnish press had it that Grönholm will not race again this year.

Thats a shame. The last thing I read was the story on ERC24 that said he was yet to make a decision.

That will make it two GRC titles that Gronholm should have won but didn't then.

Good to read that Topi has recovered enough to allow him to race again: lets hope he fares better in the last couple of GRC events.

[rallycrossnl]

So, (a large part of) GRC is sold? Who is the new 'significant investing' partner?

[tbtstt]

Just seen this link on Facebook:

http://purerallycross.com/index.php/...struction.html

Using Google translation, it seems to indicate that Isachsen's 2013 car will be built in Sweden? Can anyone confirm this?

[NaBUru38]

o- Construite en Suède -> Sweden-built
o- cette Subaru devrait accueillir un propulseur assemblé dans les ateliers US de Vermont Sports Car -> should get an engine sourced from Vermont
o- elle devrait être prête d'ici trois mois -> should be ready in 3 months

It seems that the car will be the next-gen Impreza.

[rx-guru]

http://www.motorsportavisen.no/Nyhet...mber_2012.html

Whatever one finds on purerallycross.com about non-French RX has been published somewhere else before.

[tbtstt]

Originally Posted by rx-guru

http://www.motorsportavisen.no/Nyhet...mber_2012.html

Whatever one finds on purerallycross.com about non-French RX has been published somewhere else before.

Thought as much: cheers Guru!

[tbtstt]

Excuse the double post, but just spotted this:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t41q2uDMytE

Heikkinen on his return to GRC following the X-Games smash.

[USRallycross]

Cool video - can't wait to see Topi next week!

Mark

[USRallycross]

Andreas Eriksson to replace Marcus Grönholm


Minnesota, MA, September 19, 2012. After a long summer break, the Global Rallycross Championship picks up again with round five at the Las Vegas Motor Speedway on Saturday, September 29.

Best Buy Mobile regular driver Marcus Grönholm, the winner of the first two rounds of the Championship, is rebuilding his fitness after his accident at X Games 18. It is obviously all but impossible to replace the two-time World Rally Champion and the most successful driver in the GRC, but Best Buy Mobile have found a creative solution to the challenge.

Piloting the Best Buy Mobile Mk 7 Fiesta in Las Vegas will be Andreas Eriksson, the Team Principle of OMSE that prepares and manages the Ford Fiesta GRC, but who also has a long pedigree as a successful rallycross driver in his own right. Andreas’ last rallycross appearance was in 2011 GRC at Snoqualmie, WA where he was also substituting for Marcus and finished with a 1st and a 3rd. Known for his spectacular and unforgiving style, Eriksson is a huge fan favourite.

Marcus Grönholm said, “I am well and I feel fine, however doctors have set me a date in October for my final round of medical assessments, so I cannot compete in Las Vegas. But I can think of no-one better to fill in for me and keep the Best Buy Mobile challenge alive than Andreas. He is fast, but I will be there in Vegas to give him some tips!”

For his part Andreas said, “Naturally Marcus is a very tough act to follow, but as a team, we want to maintain the positive momentum that Best Buy Mobile has in the series. So I will be trying my very best to emulate the success that Marcus has had this season and we will see how we get on in Las Vegas.”

Action in Las Vegas gets underway on Saturday, September 29 and can be followed live on the Best Buy Racing Rallycross app which is available on both iOS and Android.

[tbtstt]

I see the track layout for Vegas is on the GRC site:



A bit of dirt in there at least. That chicane could be interesting as well!