World Rallycross Championship 2014

[crossfades]

Originally Posted by Greg Cozier

Or maybe a motorsport-crazy Caribbean island known for its hospitality and never-ending summer

That's the spirit! A unique country and a track similar to the european ones

[FIRE]

Which track is that?

[NaBUru38]

Crossfades, that's exactly what I mean: championship promoters should either do a proper world championship, or do a European championship and call it like that. Ok, there's an intermediate solution: call it "international", and do a few races outside Europe.

[crossfades]

It should still be called a world championship I think. Besides, having a world championship dosen't mean just having races around the world, it also means having interest around the world from drivers, teams, manufactures and fans.

I know what you mean by having a proper wc (not how many events though) but such a thing would take years. Today we have the ERC. What if IMG was like "Okay, next year we're going to have a total of 12 events. Three races in each of our chosen four continents and all different countries". No driver or team would accept that. Going from a ERC to a complete wc is just too much and expensive. You need a solid ground to start from and that is not ERC if there's going to be a real wc. Two races outside Europe. Then see how it goes and what the drivers and teams think of it.

IMG is running the series so expect a few unexpected things maybe. I looked at the speedway wc and they only have one race outside Europe (New Zealand), even though they drive speedway in the US and Australia. Also they drive in countries more than once, Poland has three events and Sweden two for example. But that's FIM and not FIA. Still, expect "unexpected" things from IMG

[Greg Cozier]

Originally Posted by FIRE

Which track is that?

Vaucluse Raceway in the sunny Caribbean island of Barbados.

We built is as a rallysprint track for the Barbados Rally Carnival in 2001, Michelle Mouton visited in 2002 and helped us fine-tune it.

It was converted for a rallycross event in 2006 and then improved again in 2008 after input from Pat Doran. The first time Liam drove a supercar was here, his dad's Fiesta.

1.4Km around a lap with three different options for Jokers. Very wide and flowing, no excuse for bumping

http://www.justbajan.com/cars/motors.../121606_cross/

We'd be quite happy hosting an 'end of season' race on the last weekend in November, it would be a good place for racers from USA, UK and Europe to test new cars, sell old cars and enjoy some great weather and parties.

[NaBUru38]

Originally Posted by Greg Cozier

We'd be quite happy hosting an 'end of season' race on the last weekend in November, it would be a good place for racers from USA, UK and Europe to test new cars, sell old cars and enjoy some great weather and parties.

Please don't forget us South Americans! The Argentine and Chilean rally championships are very strong.

[crossfades]

Have you been visited by the IMG?

[Greg Cozier]

Originally Posted by crossfades

Have you been visited by the IMG?

No but have been in discussions through a 3rd party regarding a different event at the venue.

[Greg Cozier]

Originally Posted by NaBUru38

Please don't forget us South Americans! The Argentine and Chilean rally championships are very strong.

What would be the best way to communicate with the S.American rallycross fraternity? Is there a regional body?

[crossfades]

Okay, cause a few weeks ago a team from IMG was sent out in the world to look for possible events

[NaBUru38]

Originally Posted by Greg Cozier

What would be the best way to communicate with the S.American rallycross fraternity? Is there a regional body?

There's no rallycross here, I was talking about rally. The Southern Cone governing body is the Codasur, which runs the FIA Codasur Rally Championship. Here's the links for the Argentine, Chilean and Brazilian national championships.

[rx-guru]

Originally Posted by crossfades

Still, expect "unexpected" things from IMG

Well said!
BTW, I think you guy know more than you point out here.

Have not been here for a while since (my) Internet Explorer is still crashing down when entering 10-Tenths. Today I used Google Chrome and had no probs.

The format of a 2014 RXWC has been discussed recently at Goodwood and from what I understood it should be a very small one. Seemingly meant as "icing on the cake" [sic!] to top the European series with two more events outside Europe as well as using two of the best RX venues in Europe. According to my source for other cars, other teams/drivers and another target group...

[Greg Cozier]

Originally Posted by rx-guru

The format of a 2014 RXWC has been discussed recently at Goodwood and from what I understood it should be a very small one. Seemingly meant as "icing on the cake" [sic!] to top the European series with two more events outside Europe as well as using two of the best RX venues in Europe. According to my source for other cars, other teams/drivers and another target group...

I think it is widely accepted that the WRC has too many events now, the Ecclestone (sp?) plan to have either F1 or WRC on TV every weekend of the year makes it hugely expensive for manufacturers. Malcolm Wilson has made the obvious point that the car technical regulations matter little with regard to cost compared to the cost of moving and running the cars around the world. If the cars are technically simpler they are easier for amateurs to run on home events against the factory teams but still not cheaper to contest an extensive championship.

Do we really want RX to go the way of the WRC? I think the current standing of both with regard to professional and amateur participation (and results) speaks for itself.

[rx-guru]

Originally Posted by Greg Cozier

Do we really want RX to go the way of the WRC?

Maybe RX is going to merge partly with WRC...

[Barrie]

Last time I visited the island we had a good look round Bushy Park raceway, thought this place would be more suited for rallycross.

[Greg Cozier]

Originally Posted by Barrie

Last time I visited the island we had a good look round Bushy Park raceway, thought this place would be more suited for rallycross.

It's being developed as an FIA F3 level circuit, no chance of rallycross happening there.

[tbtstt]

From the ERC24 Facebook page...

Originally Posted by ERC24

It looks as if IMG's plans to create a FIA World Rallycross Championship already for the year 2014 is bearing fruit. ERC24 has information that reads as if there would be some kind of a mini World series of just four or five events in the making, to be run as "icing on the cake" alongside most of the current European RallycrossRX rounds. Two or even three events should take place outside of Europe, while two will be held in Europe. Morocco (Africa), Turkey (Asia) and the USA (North America) are mentioned as 'Stage 1 Expansion' of the development programme, that will be extended for 2015 as 'Stage 2'. According to the FIA rules a World championship needs to be run on three continents.

2003 World Rally Champion Petter Solberg told the Norwegian press today: "One of the reasons I started to do RallycrossRX was that this [World championship] was going to happen. The sport has already become great in almost no time, and this will be really tough. I plan to become World champion again and look for more titles now. I'm happy!"

[leonidas]

I think an FIA World championship might make sense in this more limited format - you might say its well overdue. However it will struggle for credibility if the European championship is more fiercely contested or if some top Europeans don't compete in the World series. A world championship needs to be the genuine pinnacle of the sport.

And where does this leave the 'Playstation' (GRC) version?

[NaBUru38]

Morocco and Turkey? Those aren't the countries with most interest for motorsport. I'd rather pick Argentina, Australia or Japan.

[rx-guru]

Originally Posted by NaBUru38

Morocco and Turkey? Those aren't the countries with most interest for motorsport. I'd rather pick Argentina, Australia or Japan.

In 2014 they need something cheap enough for the teams to begin with. It does not make any sense to go with half of the teams only. Crossing the street of Gibraltar for Morocco (Africa) is easy and Turkey (Asia) also not too far away. And 2015 will bring something new anyway, I'm pretty certain.

[NaBUru38]

Originally Posted by rx-guru

In 2014 they need something cheap enough for the teams to begin with. It does not make any sense to go with half of the teams only.

Then how about Great Britan, France, Germany, Netherlands, Belgium and Sweden?

[rx-guru]

Don't understand your point here. Apart from Belgium and Holland they have these countries anyway for Europe. But beside Europe they need two more continents, the reason they chose for Africa, Asia and/or North America.

[FIRE]

Originally Posted by NaBUru38

Then how about Great Britan, France, Germany, Netherlands, Belgium and Sweden?

To be a FIA World Championship you need events on at least 3 continents.

[NaBUru38]

If they want a cheap international championship, do it European.

If they want a proper world championship, race where people love motorsport.

[rx-guru]

Are you certain they don't love motorsport in Morocco and Turkey?