World Rallycross Championship 2020

[Juntos]

It has been all so quiet. Will we have a championship in 2020?

[crossfades]

Originally Posted by Hickey

Very true. I think chicanes are put in by designers to look pretty without a single clue as to the impact they have on racing. Same for kinks on a dirt section, just means you cannot go on the outside as all the dirt is swept there so can't overtake. Spa got the balance right and hey presto, we got lots of overtaking and different lines on the dirt section.

I'm just glad WRX will stay at Höljes. Besides from just being a track I personally love, that place has a soul at least.

As for Tierp, it was apparently designed by Tommy Kristoffersson, and if I'm not wrong Johan and Petter Solberg might have been involved. And Andreas Eriksson made a lot of promotion for it. So ironic how Eriksson two years ago wanted WRX their whereas now he has helped Höljes to try and survive current difficulties.

[Hickey]

That's embarrassing if those guys have designed the track. Or they don't care about overtaking or excitement for the fans.

Catalunya is the worst though. Both dirt sections have a kink halfway through which prohibits overtaking. So does Silverstone (which is a hopeless design anyway, looks like it is designed based on a shoe lace being dropped on a sheet of paper).

I guess it depends on what you want from a circuit but so many circuits are hopeless for overtaking. Genuinely believe Lydden is the best for overtaking.

[hoffman66]

I do think IMG had a hand in a lot of these tracks though. They seemed to always use a particular type of dirt aswell that was very quickly swept away leaving a hard sort of chalky base underneath. It was used pretty much everywhere in some form, Lydden Barcelone, Latvia, Mettet, Turkey even Hell and Silverstone (which they pretty much paid for and built anyway which is why it was God awful)

the only places where gravel seemed to even form a part of the racing was Portugal and Spa and Buxtehude maybe. Holjes it just gets sweapt away.

Rallycross in this form is now only really what it ought to be in the wet, in the dry it is just mainly hotlapping. Offline is the only part where dirt is

[crossfades]

Originally Posted by hoffman66

I do think IMG had a hand in a lot of these tracks though. They seemed to always use a particular type of dirt aswell that was very quickly swept away leaving a hard sort of chalky base underneath. It was used pretty much everywhere in some form, Lydden Barcelone, Latvia, Mettet, Turkey even Hell and Silverstone (which they pretty much paid for and built anyway which is why it was God awful)

the only places where gravel seemed to even form a part of the racing was Portugal and Spa and Buxtehude maybe. Holjes it just gets sweapt away.

Rallycross in this form is now only really what it ought to be in the wet, in the dry it is just mainly hotlapping. Offline is the only part where dirt is

Wut? Höljes got actual gravel that they take care of all the time, Hell got gravel too but not a very thick layer so asphalt gets through at the bottom hairpin and the second to last corner after a while. Buxtehude got similar gravel to Höljes but without any asphalt in some corners.

Montalegre is literally just asphalt with gravel on top and Lydden got gravel kinda like Hell, although much bumpier. Besides, all of these tracks existed before the newer ones were even thought of. I have actually visited all of these tracks myself as well.

At Spa they had a problems with getting it right and it had rocks, Doran literally had one go through his windshield.

[SnoodyMcFlude]

Lydden and Hell have similar gravel to Latvia and Silverstone? Not sure youre watching the same footage as me if you think that's the case. The former both have like a broken up tarmac vibe, very bumpy. The latter have quite a fine hardpack gravel.

I've walked both Silverstone and Lydden and they are completely different surfaces, not even close.

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[Hickey]

I honestly think Riga is painted tarmac. When it rains, the puddles are clear! No mud at all.

[S griffin]

Well do the cars get muddy there? Puddles would appear anyway, but yeah that is strange if it doesn't get muddy at the same time. Maybe there is something going on there

[Hickey]

I can't figure out who to add a picture in here but check out Riga 2019 Final on YouTube There's an onboard footage with Bakkerud following Timur and it's on wet dirt and they are sideways. Bakkerud's screen is completely clean. No mud. No spray. Therefore no dirt. Also the distinction between dirt and tarmac is almost perfectly clear and that is at the end of a wet Rx weekend. If there was any dirt, the tarmac would be plastered. Just look at Loheac or other places. At best, there's an icing sugar covering of dirt.

[crossfades]

Yeah, the "gravel" is probably just asphalt or some other hard surface they don't have to care off, or just cover it with something in like 5 min.

It's really mockery towards tracks that work hard to get their gravel right.

[S griffin]

That probably makes sense, just loose chippings and all that they break off tarmac. Lazy way to make an uneven surface

[hoffman66]

That is my point, most tracks now use a sort of loose chippings type thing.

Lydden did it years ago, and totally ruined the track in my view, gone are the days of being able to go round the outside at Chessons and get a in and out type move going, especially as the moronic idiots put tarmac on the inside! Padddock is now mostly concrete until it is straight, it is woeful.

At least Silverstone had a decent amount of loose dust shich is what IMG deem as being dirt, but the crew there never seemed to want to water it properly.

rallycross is now very much more fun to watch in the wet, the best meeting I have seen for years was Hell last year first day when it was wet and drying, it was hilarious.

Dry weather rallycross is now basically hot lapping in most cases.

[crossfades]

Originally Posted by hoffman66

That is my point, most tracks now use a sort of loose chippings type thing.

Lydden did it years ago, and totally ruined the track in my view, gone are the days of being able to go round the outside at Chessons and get a in and out type move going, especially as the moronic idiots put tarmac on the inside! Padddock is now mostly concrete until it is straight, it is woeful.

At least Silverstone had a decent amount of loose dust shich is what IMG deem as being dirt, but the crew there never seemed to want to water it properly.

rallycross is now very much more fun to watch in the wet, the best meeting I have seen for years was Hell last year first day when it was wet and drying, it was hilarious.

Dry weather rallycross is now basically hot lapping in most cases.

I agree to some extent. There is too little actual gravel in WRX, but what does one expect from racing circuits that perhaps makes easy profit. Just use some of the grass, add a jump (doesn't have to be a good one), perhaps a standing and you are set to host a FIA World Championship, no questions asked.

As for Lydden, Höljes has unfortunately went in a similar direction with the left after the joker exit and down towards the jump. I do however ever think this was made because it has gotten harder and harder over the years to get the gravel just right.

We have to remember though that current Supercars are nothing like they a few years ago. Various driving styles have been replaced by keeping it tidy, more akin towards circuit racing. Solberg's first vs his years with VW shows an extremely different driving style and set up. Even "Stecka" noticed how much easier the Clio was to drive in Höljes compared to his last outing in 2015.

[Hickey]

The tidy driving style is possible because the loose sections are just dustings of dirt on top of tarmac, which gets swept away after free practice to leave the worst possible result in any racing scenario... One racing line. Loheac, for example, once the racing line is there you cannot overtake into the top hairpin or the long right hander as if you go off line you can't slow it down in the dirt.

Then Spa happened and it was like watching old rallycross. Big rocks clearly have no place and hopefully that will be resolved but deep gravel on a wide long corner means more racing lines, more mistakes and more overtaking.

If you want overtaking you need to do that (also like the old layout at Chessons) or have the hard braking zones on tarmac (i.e. into the Elbow or top of Hairy Hill hairpin, again at Lydden (best circuit I've seen for overtaking ever).

So few circuits nowadays have any natural overtaking places. And then people wonder why joker laps are introduced or people barge their way past.

I agree with the above, dry rallycross is just a first corner race then a time trial. Can't see it changing for the same reasons mentioned above.

At least with this year's autumnal season we should get more rain.

[crossfades]

Originally Posted by Hickey

The tidy driving style is possible because the loose sections are just dustings of dirt on top of tarmac, which gets swept away after free practice to leave the worst possible result in any racing scenario... One racing line. Loheac, for example, once the racing line is there you cannot overtake into the top hairpin or the long right hander as if you go off line you can't slow it down in the dirt.

Well, not only. Different driving styles are kinda gone partly because cars got better. Watch older rounds of Solberg and you will clearly notice how soft his suspension was and how he drifts around the tracks, and he was the champ for two years. Heck, watch Loheac and you will definitely not see him keep it tidy. When he got in that VW that driving style and setup was completely gone.

[SnoodyMcFlude]

Originally Posted by hoffman66

At least Silverstone had a decent amount of loose dust shich is what IMG deem as being dirt, but the crew there never seemed to want to water it properly.

I've walked on the Silverstone track and there's nothing loose about it, it's like a hardpack clay

[hoffman66]

I would make the most of it as I would imagine it is likely to be unbuilt very soon. or just left to rot.

Re Solberg, he set the car up like that as he is a rally driver, he used that setup style he gained form the high end tech in WRC that was not present at the time in rallycross, this was before the clowns ruined it remember, so he change the sport a lot.

Many drivers hated his cars, remember Hvaal? But most teams, particularly Msport took it even further with hugely soft setups, it is also about giving the tyres more life due to the usage limitations. I remember when Doran drove for Kenny he always wrecked his tyres as he was too rough with them, was often quicker than Kenny but Kenny would usually get the better results as he looked after his rubber far more.

[SnoodyMcFlude]

Bakkerud had a big change when he got in the Audi too, his driving in the Focus was completely different. Larsson said similar in the Nordic round as well, the difference between his Audi and the EKS Audi meant that he could be much quicker but had to adjust his style.

Rallying went through the same change in the early 2000s, flamboyant style of the likes of Marie got replaced by the tidy style of people called Seb

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[hoffman66]

Agreed, Colin I know struggled with the newer cars, if you watched guys like Auriol Tommi, Colin were still quick but not as on it as they were before once they got in the more modern cars.

Sainz adapted well but guys like Petter, Loeb and Gronholm took it to a new, tidier level.

If you watched Isachsen the dominant man before Petter he was very tidy, cleaned his act up a lot from his early days, but that car was almost money no limit and very well sorted, I would love to know how much he spent on engines!!

[crossfades]

Originally Posted by hoffman66

Agreed, Colin I know struggled with the newer cars, if you watched guys like Auriol Tommi, Colin were still quick but not as on it as they were before once they got in the more modern cars.

Sainz adapted well but guys like Petter, Loeb and Gronholm took it to a new, tidier level.

If you watched Isachsen the dominant man before Petter he was very tidy, cleaned his act up a lot from his early days, but that car was almost money no limit and very well sorted, I would love to know how much he spent on engines!!

There were rumours at the time that Isachsen was using traction control, and Hunsbedt told ERC24 that he been offered it in the Volvo C30.

Godfrey supplied the engine to Isachsen. During that time Godfrey had a reputation for good engines, but has since fallen out of relevance. Trollspeed, Swedish equivalent although a company, still supplies engines for a lot of rallycross drivers. I do wonder at times how skilled he actually was.

[SnoodyMcFlude]

Originally Posted by crossfades

During that time Godfrey had a reputation for good engines, but has since fallen out of relevance.

I know it's not exactly a top series, but I thought Julian still supplied a number of engines for the British championship?

[MissClarrpz]

Now a calendar is in place and entries have been released I think an update is in order

Calendar:
Rd 1&2 Holjes - 22/23 Aug
Rd 3&4 Kouvola - 29/30 Aug
Rd 5&6 Riga - 19/20 Sep
Rd 7 Spa - 3/4 Oct
Rd 8 Montalegre - 10/11 Oct
Rd 9 Barcelona - 17/18 Oct
Rd 10 Nurburgring - 12/13 Dec

15 Drivers:
Timmy Hansen - Team Hansen - Peugeot 208
Kevin Hansen - Team Hansen - Peugeot 208
Robin Larsson - Team JC - Audi S1
Janis Baumanis - Team JC - Audi S1
Timur Timerzyanov - GRX - Hyundai i20
Niclas Grönholm - GRX - Hyundai i20
Andreas Bakkerud - GCK RX Cartel - Renault Mégane
Liam Doran - GCK RX Cartel - Renault Mégane
Anton Marklund - GCK Bilstein - Renault Mégane
Rokas Baciuška - GCK Unkorrupted - Renault Clio
Guerlain Chicherit - GCK Unkorrupted - Renault Clio
Timo Scheider - Münnich Motorsport - SEAT Ibiza
René Münnich - Münnich Motorsport - SEAT Ibiza
Johan Kristoffersson - VW Bauhaus - VW Polo
Jani Paasonen - Ferratum Team - Ford Fiesta

Part time:
Sebastian Eriksson - OMSE - Honda Civic (Holjes)
Krisztián Szabó - GRX - Hyundai i20 (Holjes + selected rounds)
Kevin Abbring - GCK - Renault Clio (???)

Support categories:
ERX Supercar - Holjes (1 round, 21 entries), Riga, Spa
ERX S1600 - Montalegre, Barcelona, Nurburgring
Projekt E - Holjes (currently ~3 entries), Riga, Spa, Nurburgring
RX2 - 1 event alongside RX Nordic at Nysum, Denmark

[crossfades]

Originally Posted by SnoodyMcFlude

I know it's not exactly a top series, but I thought Julian still supplied a number of engines for the British championship?

I don't know, but I got no real interest in that championship since it's a very low end one.

[kurski]

Finland’s Juha Rytkönen, a double Finnish Rallycross Champion, will race a Hyundai i20 Supercar in his home rounds of the FIA World Rallycross Championship at Kouvola on August 29-30.

[MissClarrpz]

Originally Posted by MissClarrpz

Projekt E - Holjes (currently ~3 entries), Riga, Spa, Nurburgring

Some more entries announced. Ken Block in a Ford and Citroen join the series with driver lineup TBA