World Rallycross Championship 2016

[chunder]

I dont think there really is a best driver at the moment.

A lot of it comes down to money, as it did in the past, Isachsen had more than everyone and won as he threw engines at the damn thing.

Then Timur makes winning look easy, a pre talent, smooth adn quick and now he looks totally lost nothing like the same driver. Cant explain that really.

Solberg has a particular style gained from rallying, he developed in the ultimate soft Reiger damper era that still dominates WRC now.

I would suggest Johann K, Jeanny and Ekky are the best drivers as they drive fairly clean.

[crossfades]

Originally Posted by chunder

A lot of it comes down to money, as it did in the past, Isachsen had more than everyone and won as he threw engines at the damn thing.


Then Timur makes winning look easy, a pre talent, smooth adn quick and now he looks totally lost nothing like the same driver. Cant explain that really.

The DS3 car that Hansen built that year is in my opinion the most dominant car I have seen in Supercars. Remember in Holland when he lead the final and was hunted by Jeanney. The Joker lap was new back then and with very bad and thick gravel. A friend of mine said that there is no way that Timur could hold on to the lead since the joker lap took so much time. Timur took the joker and the DS3 looked made for it, still leading with a few seconds when coming out. Had he been in another car he would not have been that dominant in that season. And if Isachsen had raced that season I don't think he would stand a chance.

Originally Posted by chunder

Solberg has a particular style gained from rallying, he developed in the ultimate soft Reiger damper era that still dominates WRC now.

No one dominant uses Reiger in the WRC nowadays, Prodrive also switched during the last season with Subaru to Öhlins and also used Öhlins on the Minis. Only Solberg can drive with setup like that.

Originally Posted by chunder

would suggest Johann K, Jeanny and Ekky are the best drivers as they drive fairly clean.

Isn't Solberg a clean driver you think?

[chunder]

I have seen far more dominant car and driver combos over many years sadly fella.

Isachsen was dominant and before him so were Schanche at times, Hansen, Larsson and a few others.

Mt comment about Reiger was just their type of setups, not on what each car uses, you know the very soft, huge travel type cars that run now.

Petter is clean, probably too clean its why he needs more power, to get away from them all!

[Hickey]

Personally I'd say solberg is one of if not the cleanest and smartest racers out there. So many times he backs off in the first corner to avoid a crash. Then hunts the pack down.

[ebby]

Any news on drivers from EuroRX, whether any have done enough to be "promoted" and get a WorldRX drive? Rustad proved the Munnich Audi could perform when he drove it. Also I think Grosset-Janin could do well again, not sure how much development Albatec are doing, those 208s covered some miles last year. Any predictions for EuroRX front runners in 2016? I think with their heats now split from the World drivers we now have a three tier system with National championships being analogous to football championship division, EuroRX being Premier League and WorldRX being Champions League.

[J.U.]

There aren´t many drivers confirmed for Euro RX yet: Tohill, Steffen, Tahko and I think Lukács, Tånevik and Hedström. Tohill will be a front runner for sure, but is there anyone else?

[chunder]

Why would you want to even do ERX?

You are not going to get any tv coverage on Eurosport, all your races will either be missed or you might get the odd one spammed out on youtube.

I do hope these guys are not paying a lot to enter that series as it is pretty much a waste of money.

IMG don't want them after they pay their money, they only want a few more cars to say "30 car entry," after that you are a by product and a nuisance who is happily paying for the privilege to let IMG use you are PR, like all the other classes.

It's up to those guys to make their feelings known or race elsewhere, as I would do.

[crossfades]

I'm kinda young chunder so have not been around so much before the "hatchback" era

There is a growing dissatisfaction with IMG raising the costs. I have heard that before IMG the cost to enter an event was about 5 000 SEK, between 500-530 euros. When IMG came the cost went up to 15 000 SEK, about 1 500 - 1 600 euros. Some of you may have seen that the teams have tv-screens with live timings and broadcasts from the events and they also got WiFi. They have to acquire this from IMG. The cost is apparently some 8 000 euros ...

In Sweden and Norway there are hopes of having a Nordic championship in the future along with Finland. With costs that are raising through the roof in the ERX and WRX there is getting a bigger interest for a Nordic championship.

[chunder]

I think this is the format for the future crossfades, to dismantle IMG from within the sport rather than just keep handing over money for a sport that caters for about 4 teams and no-one else. They ONLY care about Eriksson, Hansen, Ekky, Solberg and VW, everyone else is just paying for the ride and getting nothing from it.

It has take a couple of years to turn what was a friendly, sort of cross between rich amateurs and semi pro teams into a very nasty, overly aggressive, marketing campaign. Quick work IMG and form an initial delight to what they were doing I simply detest them now. They are taking apart the sport and giving nothing back.

What we need now is someone away from IMG and the hangers on that work there (sadly all folk who should know better and should be embarrassed for what they have done) to get a real grip, put up some money to buy ERC from IMG (this will cost millions no doubt) and start a proper European series.

If you got guys like Scott, Pauwels, Holte, Eklund, Walfridsson, Toveks on board and managed to get a few of the original tracks that have been priced out of WRX like Sosnova, Valkenswaard, Maasmechelen, Nyirad, Melk. You might start to take some drivers away from IMG. But it will take money and the FIA will never give it status, (not that it ever needed it)

The only reason they consider driving in IMG is because the Euro series is a shambles. A waste of time, and they have nowhere else to race other than nationally.

If it was me I would be heading to France, getting them on board at first along with the national groups in Sweden, Norway and Finland and going from there.
These cretins at IMG are ruining the future of this sport, and it's about time someone stood up to them.

When you think how much work guys like Pauwels, Scott, Eklund did in the first few years of this IMG thing, the way they are being treated now is absolutely pathetic. It is their choice, but Dear God it makes me sick.

[tbtstt]

A brain teaser for you care of Ken Block's Facebook page...

Originally Posted by Ken Block Official Facebook

[FIRE]

So Bakkerud will join him.


At the Autosport show Doran's car had still Monster on it so I assume he has still backing from them.

[crossfades]

I'm guessing Bakkerud or Novikov. Probably and should be Bakkerud

[chunder]

Judging by the way Eriksson was so scathing about Bakkerud on the WRX program a while back I would be expecting him to leave that hellhole of a team. The bloke has done fine and his team mate has hardly won much now has he.

Maybe the miserable git should get back in there and start taking everyone out again. Give me somone else to boo other than Doran!

[tbtstt]

Based on how much Amazon have paid him for the new series on Prime, my money is on Jeremy Clarkson.

[tbtstt]

Forgive the double post but, surprisingly, it's not Clarkson.



I'm going to start early this year; here is the list of confirmed entries I can recall reading about so far...

Volkswagen RX Sweden - Volkswagen Polo - Johan Kristoffersson (World RX)
Volkswagen RX Sweden - Volkswagen Polo - Anton Marklund (World RX)
Hoonigan Racing Division - Ford Fiesta ST - Ken Block (World RX)
Hoonigan Racing Division - Ford Fiesta ST - Andreas Bakkerud (World RX)
PSRX? - Citroen DS3 - Petter Solberg (World RX)
Ford Fiesta - Michaël De Keersmaecker (World RX except Hockenheim, Canada & Argentina)

Ford Fiesta - Derek Tohill (EuroRX & select WorldRX)
Steffen Motorsport - Ford Fiesta - Andreas Steffen (EuroRX & select World RX)
MINI Countryman - Riku Tahko (EuroRX)

...who have I missed?

[crossfades]

Tom Daniel Tånevik in a Volvo C30 for ERX

An employee at a Swedish RX team said that OMSE lost their sponsorship money from Ford and Block will get it instead. Since they lost their sponsorship form Ford, they are to going to use Hondas. Just a rumor but I wonder if it might happen actually

[tbtstt]

Originally Posted by crossfades

Tom Daniel Tånevik in a Volvo C30 for ERX

An employee at a Swedish RX team said that OMSE lost their sponsorship money from Ford and Block will get it instead. Since they lost their sponsorship form Ford, they are to going to use Hondas. Just a rumor but I wonder if it might happen actually

Interesting, as I believe there are Honda rumours surrounding the GRC as well? Could OMSE opt for Honda in both Europe and the US?

Is Tanevik confirmed in print anywhere?

[J.U.]

Originally Posted by RX Inside/FB

We received several questions what happened with the Ford Focus Mk3 of Koen Pauwels. Well... Koen sold it to Hungarian Lukács Kornél, nicknamed "Csucsu". The Hungarian is a former JWRC/EWRC-driver and will fight in EuroRX this year and will probably do some Rallycross Challenge Europe-events to gain experience.

For me that´s confirmed. But regarding to Olsbergs MSE: Which car should they use? Civic? Jazz doesn´t fit and would be quite ugly for sure...

[chunder]

Lol, that has made my day!

[crossfades]

Originally Posted by tbtstt

Interesting, as I believe there are Honda rumours surrounding the GRC as well? Could OMSE opt for Honda in both Europe and the US?

Is Tanevik confirmed in print anywhere?

They would need a minimum of four Honda cars and the building time probably has not been that long but we'll see what happens. Changing to Honda wont be that hard though if they have the time to get finished before the season starts, just different shell and new engine and take everything else from the Fiestas, which they can also sell.

It is in Norwegian. Make sure that you read the whole thing because I can't access it unless I get a subscription since I read it once.

http://www.l-a.no/nyheter/0-til-100-...er-393897.html

[J.U.]

Originally Posted by J.U.

For me that´s confirmed.

Didn't read the poste before . Of course I don't refer to Tånevik, but to Euro RX drivers in general.

[tbtstt]

Originally Posted by crossfades

They would need a minimum of four Honda cars and the building time probably has not been that long but we'll see what happens. Changing to Honda wont be that hard though if they have the time to get finished before the season starts, just different shell and new engine and take everything else from the Fiestas, which they can also sell.

It is in Norwegian. Make sure that you read the whole thing because I can't access it unless I get a subscription since I read it once.

http://www.l-a.no/nyheter/0-til-100-...er-393897.html

Well it would be good to see another shape car out there, though I'm quite partial to the rallycross Fiesta, so I certainly wouldn't mind seeing OMSE stick with them for another year.

Thanks for that. With the extra links...

Volkswagen RX Sweden - Volkswagen Polo - Johan Kristoffersson (World RX)
Volkswagen RX Sweden - Volkswagen Polo - Anton Marklund (World RX)
Hoonigan Racing Division - Ford Fiesta ST - Ken Block (World RX)
Hoonigan Racing Division - Ford Fiesta ST - Andreas Bakkerud (World RX)
PSRX? - Citroen DS3 - Petter Solberg (World RX)
Ford Fiesta - Michaël De Keersmaecker (World RX except Hockenheim, Canada & Argentina)

Ford Fiesta - Derek Tohill (EuroRX & select WorldRX)
Steffen Motorsport - Ford Fiesta - Andreas Steffen (EuroRX & select World RX)
MINI Countryman - Riku Tahko (EuroRX)
Volvo C30 - Tom Daniel Tånevik (EuroRX)
Ford Focus - Lukács Kornél (EuroRX)

[FIRE]

Which C30 is that?

Interesting rumor about Honda/OMSE.

[crossfades]

Originally Posted by FIRE

Which C30 is that?

Interesting rumor about Honda/OMSE.

Ex Hunsbedt. Rustad drove it in the ERX 2014 and Tånevik bought it from him

[crossfades]

Sorry for the double post but heard more clear intentions of OMSE. Rumor has it that OMSE will use Honda cars in the GRC and stick with the Fiesta cars in WRX