51 replies to this topic

[kapow]

Has anyone been following this? New this year, there is a World Championship for rallycross.

It's a completely new discipline to me but I've watched the highlights of the first two rounds and it looks amazing. Close racing, sideways action, cars that sound great, 600bhp...

Petter Solberg is the biggest name in the championship. Also, was it THE Nelson Piquet Jnr racing in the lower category at the weekend? If so, what a fall from grace!

Edited by kapow, 26 May 2014 - 21:34.

[chunder27]

Fella thanks for posting

 

It is amazing, it was 25 quid to get in to watch, you can get into the pits, see everything, the cars are amazing. I went Saturdya and had a ball. But I have been going for 25 years so erm!!

 

And this year it has taken a real jump in image. It is getting better coverage than WRC, the manufacturers are realising and this year you have Citroen, Peugeot, VW, Ford, Hyundai and lots of local dealer backed cars from people like Vlco, Audi Renault etc. The promoters are pushing it on social media ike hell, really giving it some PR and image.

 

It was Piquet, he has been racing in America for a bit, and was owned by the kids racing against him, the young American who won, De Jong in particular, a total talent. You also have Tanner Foust, Andy Jordan came this weekend and did a superb jon, but he rallycrossed before getting into circuit racing, so knew what to expect.

 

keep an eye on it, if you are from Europe, they will be coming to you soon!

[Ross Stonefeld]

Piquet's racing in the American version, Red Bull Global Rallycross, in the main series.

[Myrvold]

Now http://forums.autosp...ss#entry6696819 wasn't this thread good enough?

[OvDrone]

Now http://forums.autosp...ss#entry6696819 wasn't this thread good enough?

 

If it's alright with the OP, the threads can merge. I think this round was lost in all of the Monaco/Indy500 bonanza this last Sunday was. The thing I saw, at least was Jordan really showing his RX cred, kind of did a very lesser Kurt Busch this weekend. You gotta love it when drivers do different disciplines. Will be back for the next round, Wilnoov and all.

 

*missed the WTCC, Blancpain Endurance as well. Monaco, Indy, a beer with some mates and getting pissed at Kurt's misfortune at Charlotte was enough for a somewhat sane petrol-mate.

[kapow]

Now http://forums.autosp...ss#entry6696819 wasn't this thread good enough?

Apologies, I did do a search but must have overlooked it.

[chunder27]

Cant see an issue, there are a zillion threads on here about F1 and sportscars, this sport is growing, has more about it than most motorsport put together, just keep posting and it will stay in the main page.

[OvDrone]

Apologies, I did do a search but must have overlooked it.

 

Absolutely no problem, dude. As chunder said, we should post here at least so that others might stumble upon it.

 

Next round: #3 Norway - 15.06. 'til then, here's the highlights from round #2:

 

 

*sorry to say, the sounds seems a bit off.

 

**by the way, isn't Lydden Hill, like the 'birthplace' of rallycross?

[chunder27]

Lydden was the first place rallycros came to be yes in 1967.

 

It was as a result of things like horses and various other sports being called off at the last minute, so they wanted something that would not be postponed.

 

The track is still very similar, but the original track used to turn really tight at the first corner there and sort of wiggle across the infield grass before going up the hill again.

 

They also benefitted from the last foot and mouth outbreak forcing the RAC rally to be cancelled and the works cars entered the event, so it had great competitors

[chipmcdonald]

What a curious thing, cars that accellerate like an F1 car, make loud noises, and it only costs $25 to get in to see the likes of a Petter Solberg drive?

 

What a concept.

 

Something F1 could take away from it: novelty of courses, and the willingness to be "non-traditional" in track design. 

 

The downside, as I see it: jumps.  Dirtbikes and jumps are one thing - cars and jumps, another.  The reason I dislike this is because - ultimately, the SUPER AWESOME JUMPS, MAN! will become more and more radical - as seen in the X-games.

 

The result is that you'll get entertainment that favors the completely fearless, ala the X-games.  I would place Petter Solberg above the likes of Travis Pastrana (who is no doubt very good), but eventually you'll get a lot of X-games guys taking part simply because they're technically insane. 

 

That is what the X-Games has become, finess takes a back seat or just leaves the building altogether.  If they don't have any philosophical construct in place to prevent it from happening, the tracks will end up looking like a Supercross track and it will just be about insane people.

[Ross Stonefeld]

The US version is basically that. It's a much younger and different crowd and they're aiming for events near major cities. And I think it works for them.

[chunder27]

The issue you have here is that the American versions of rallycross were born out of X games.  So there is that extreme sports trned running through it. And as you have no doubt seen, there were a couple of high profile crashes because of these cretinous gap jumps, Marus Gronholm had a huge crash that really hurt him when he hit a solid concrete barrier and Tope Heikkinen write off a car and came to a total stop because of the jumps at Vegas I think. and there have been numerous other rollovers.

 

The team pushing WRX worldwide is American and brings a bit of both scenes with it, so some of the tracks that are new like Italy, Mettet in Belgium and later on in the year wil probably have jumps, but not gap jumps, maybe a bit like whoops in motocross.

 

The traditional tracks like Lydden, Nyiraid in Hungary, Hell in Norway, dont have jumps. Holjes has a jump in Sweden but thatw as there in the Group B car days, and is a natural jump, not artificial.

 

 

I think the American series will runs its course and fade away.  I hope the WRX series doesnt, I have been watching rallycross for over 25 years and never before has theeir been such a buzz, apart fromt he early Group B days and the televised period of the 80's.

 

WRC is losing credibility and audience, sponsors know this and prefer this type of quick, crash bang racing. The cars can take it, the drivers dont mind, its a bit like BTCC meets drifting in that the cars dont mind losing a few panels, the drivers are cool with it most of the time and the racing is quick, easily accessible and cool.

 

To folk that know nothing about rallycross, it's always been like this. To those of us that ahve been waiting for years for someone to grab it and do it properly, this is a second golden age maybe!

[BRG]

 

WRC is losing credibility and audience, sponsors know this and prefer this type of quick, crash bang racing. The cars can take it, the drivers dont mind, its a bit like BTCC meets drifting in that the cars dont mind losing a few panels, the drivers are cool with it most of the time and the racing is quick, easily accessible and cool.

You're a real cheerleader for RallyX, aren't you.  A pity that you have to keep banging on about the WRC in order to talk up RallyX.  The two have co-existed since 1967 and will continue to do so.  I doubt if this world series will last much longer than the interest in the US will.  I expect in 3 or 4 years, it will just be back to a European RallyX championship again.  

[chunder27]

It might well be.

 

But you cannot argue that your precious championship is suffering a ittle at this time. Relentless dominationf rom two drivers, totally predictable results, rallies that have little appeal or imagination, rules that are breaking up as organisers realise theya re losing popularity.

 

And from my point of view a series that has had multiple chances and endless manufacturer support for decades that has still to capitalise on its attraction is being found out, and some people in very high places are starting to realise that there is another form of off road motorsport that might appeal to the younger masses more. And theya re the ones that matter, like it or not to PR agencies and the companies that are likely to sponsor this sort of motorspoirt for years to come. You dont hvae to travekl as much, you can get to your fans insantly, you can maybe build 2 cars a year instead of 5 or 6.

 

Let's face it, where would WRC be were it not for Arab money? Qatar, Emirates have been backing the main teams for years now.

 

I have little doubt WRC will always be bigger, but from my point of view, a bit of backing for a series that is far better suited to tv, no matter whether it's better or not is about time. They are differnt series yes, but they are competing in a very similar market for advertising and television.

 

WRC has had its chance, it has failed to garner worldwide interest on tv, it attracts fans to stages fine, but the tv audience has been turning off. Especially in the UK where it has been on countless channels and consistently failed to deliver ratings.

 

I do not know why, and seemingly neither does anyone else.

 

Let's see what happens.

.

Edited by chunder27, 27 May 2014 - 19:44.

[Myrvold]

Well, one thing I hope won't happen at all, is the US-style artificial stuff (like man-made jumps etc.) in the tracks. I can't really see why they would move the round in Belgium to Mettet, it might surprise though. But I really like both Glosso and Duivelsberg. However, it does look like Mettet will indeed keep to the RX roots of using natural elements in the track! The Franciacorta track however looks - to be fair - ****. It's to artificial. The Trois-Rivieres track as well, it doesn't look natural enough. It'll probably end up the same way in Turkey and Argentina as well

[Ross Stonefeld]

I feel like the US RX will do better, even if it's less pure. Though it's a totally different market so you can get away with having Action Sports drivers. The manufacturers seem a bit more interested? But again, different(and massive) market. And it's probably easier to do US-wide sponsorships rather than EU-wide.

[Myrvold]

Not sure which manufacturers that's in the US-series. I know Peugeot, VW and "Ford" is providing factory support to Peugeot-Hansen, Marklund Motorsport and Olsbergs/MSE.

The Subaru-team in US is more a Subaru US Dealer - team ain't it? Ford is the same that's running in WRX, then I guess it's down to VW and Hyundai.

 

I guess the US-series cater to the "WoW - JUMP! Awesome" people. While the more traditional racing/rally/RX people like WRX, at least if they keep the old style of it.

Anyway, RX have had periods of factory backing before, mainly french stuff. Peugeot in the Gr.B era and Citroën later on. However, they need to keep the regulations just open enough for people to engineer own solutions. Like a Martin Schanche, who co-operated with Zakspeed in the early 80's, and sat down with an engineer from X-Track and went on to design a gearbox solution based on an idea that Schanche felt should be do-able. A solution that x-trac ended up using in F1 for many many years (Not the best thing to say after the 2010-2011 stuff, but in the 80's it was another thing). Schanche wasn't the best driver, in any of the eras he raced, but he probably had the best cars - when they worked, much due to his own ideas, solutions and hours in the shed in Norway.

Will Gollop was also a man who did a lot of own ideas. Probably a guy who probably got more out of every penny/dollar/euro he had to use than Martin Schanche, but had less to use, so Schanche could experiment more.

These guys was able to take the fight against the factory-backed cars due to own solutions, even beating them. That is something quite unique to RX, and should be a thing they try to keep.

 

Oh how I wish RX could get a new golden era!

Oh, and this might be one of the more known, heated battles from ERX - with the comment "In reality, if the stewards had balls, we should've been black flagged. But I guess the spectators loved it"

 

However this ain't bad either.

Probably the most known ERX episode

 

Just to finish up


Ahh, RX!

[chunder27]

I think what you will probably find i that any NEW track will use some sort of jumping or whoop section.

 

Any existing track will not incorporate this at all.

So, when they go to places like Mettet, Italy, USA, and a few other new venues, the tracks will be designed with a more Xghames idea in mind.

 

But your Holjes, Estering, Maasmechelen, Lydden Hill, Hell etc will stay the same with a joker lap.

 

As I said earlier, tracks in Scandinavia tend to have naturl jumps and gradient anyway, even back int he 70's and 80's.

UK drivers who went over there struggled to get on with it in those days as it was so different, but the artificial stuff can be OK if it is done right.

 

I quite like the Franciacorta layout, its fast, the jumps arent too bad, and most importantly they didnt look to be cutting up too much meaning they had done their homework on what gravel to use, something the US series gets spectacularly wrong nearly evey time

[Myrvold]

I think what you will probably find i that any NEW track will use some sort of jumping or whoop section.

Nah, I really don't think Mettet will use it, from seeing the pictures of the track. It will have one or two places you can jump, but just like in Høljes, it's natural.

 

Reg. the Franciacorta jumps. I really didn't like the MX-style jumps where everyone had to to slow down to go over, it looks stupid. The mini-jumps are fair enough, that's just like Lydden Hill with a tad bad preparation

Edited by Myrvold, 28 May 2014 - 14:31.

[chunder27]

I ahve seen some pics from Mettet and some rather wobbly footage adn there are deffoe some Franciacorta type little jumps in there, it is a totally man made venue, so i doubt it is natural.

 

I migh try and go actually, it isnt that far ffrom the UK.

 

As for Italy, I think I am split, I like the idea you have to think a bit, and you could see in the test fotage a few guys were going for it, then struggling to control the thing, it also damaged the car maybe and could also lead to punctures.

 

I dotn mind jumps, just not gap jumps as they are totally lethal and whoever came up with that idea in the US should be shot!

[Ross Stonefeld]

Yeah the jumps with gaps are dumb. The ones with the cars going through the gaps is just stupid. I'm surprised they're even allowed to do that in America. Hello insurance and lawyers.

 

But I don't mind minor dirt jumps.

 

[Myrvold]

I ahve seen some pics from Mettet and some rather wobbly footage adn there are deffoe some Franciacorta type little jumps in there, it is a totally man made venue, so i doubt it is natural.

Indeed, might look like the last gravel section have a minor jump in it. 

 

http://www.rallycros...ycross-circuit/

[chunder27]

it must be a very new facility as on Google Maps the whole area is adjacent to an industrial estate adn is plain grass!

 

I remember a Mettet used in the past for a few things like rallies and sprints, I thought that was it.

 

Either way, am hoping to get across, maybe book somewhere to stay for the night. It's really not far from the UK! 

[chunder27]

Interesting story on the main site today about the Peugeot motorsport boss saying that it would cost too much for Peugeot to compete with VW in rallying, so it's not an option.

 

Then goes on to say rallycross offers better value for money!

 

Lol, I rather wet myself.

 

Nice one son, and I can tell you from experience he is with the best in the business, Kenneth HAnsen, and who sponsors them.... Red Bull, same as VW.

[BRG]

Obviously Bruno Fanin is smarting because his motorsport budget is so small,   Peugeot's partner in PSA, Citroen, have got all the budget for WEC and WTCC, whilst he just has enough for the ERC, which interestingly is a European championship despite his disparaging words about the WRC.  RallyX is a better option if he is so cash strapped, but it will only put his products before a limited audience, so the value for money equation may not be as great as he implies. 

[Ross Stonefeld]

You'd have to look at the TV ratings, but surely RX is waaaaay cheaper than WRC. Especially considering the cost to run at the front.

[BRG]

You'd have to look at the TV ratings, but surely RX is waaaaay cheaper than WRC. Especially considering the cost to run at the front.

Exactly so, and if your budget is restricted, as Peugeot's currently appears to be, then it is a good option.  And of course, you would talk it up to make it sound like a bigger deal than it really is.  

[chunder27]

I would imagine Fanin is not spending much at all on rallycross, the team is run by HAnsen, and Peugeot will just be lending manufacturer support, they dont make these cars anywhere they are bespoke, so the only backing would be parts and finance, the enginesa re made by Oreca.

 

Oh and despite your disparaging comments it is a world championship, unless of course Argentina, Turkey and Canada are suddenly in Europe are they?

 

Peugeot do not have a big budget for motorsport, Citroen do, and are destroying WTCC as a spectacle just as they managed to almost kill of WRC were it not for Ford.  Out-spending everyone has a habit of doing that sadly, Peegeout should know after WSPC in the 90's.

 

And regarding limited audience, I agree that right now WRC probably gets a batter fan attendance at events, but television wise he also comments that is one reason why he doesn't want to go near WRC as the television ratings are pathetic.

 

And the ones for rallycross, though small right now are only going to get bigger.

[JHSingo]

but it will only put his products before a limited audience,

 

The WRC hardly has a massive audience, right now, does it?

 

I think that's where RX has got it right. You can watch their racing live online, whereas I haven't a clue what channel the WRC is even on in the UK these days. Far cry from when I remember watching Makkinen, Gronholm, Sainz, McRae, Burns, Solberg et al do battle when I was younger, which is a shame. I guess it is sort of a knock on effect of not having much exposure that it also rather lacking many star drivers. There's the two Volkswagen drivers and then not really anyone else. Still, I suppose it's a minor miracle in itself that there even is a WRC these days, given its seemingly never ending trials and tribulations.

 

RX is definitely made for TV more than WRC, and I can only see RX becoming increasingly popular while WRC struggles on as another driver named Sebastien dominates for the next X number of years.

[Ross Stonefeld]

What's interesting about Rallycross, at least in America, is it's a very young audience. Based on the data I've seen, one of the youngest of all racing series. Which the advertisers really get excited about. Despite unemployment and wages being terrible for people in their 20s, it's still the group people want to advertise to...

 

I've even heard that for American Rallycross, you can get money out of the car companies not from their motorsport departments but their 'action sports' budgets. Because people like Ford sponsor all kinds of things. So it helps you with your budget because you don't come under the same umbrella as NASCAR, NHRA drag racing, etc. Though operationally you will work very closely with the racing people.

[chunder27]

This is true

 

I am not that keen on their way of doing things with track design in the US, they often dont have any gravel at all, use a lot of tuff block type things to denote tracks etc.

 

Ford are still out there, but the main team is back here now the series is a proper world championship, but guys like Block, Deegan Speed etc are US guys.

 

Some of the bigger WRX guys did rcae over there to get it going, but didnt like the tracks, the gap jumps and it fell away a bit after all the accidents a few years ago.

 

I would compare it to drifting fan wise, that is new too, and though it is as boring as hell, it seems to attract a lot of magazine space, and editirial, mainly due to the influence it has on styling and cars.  Drift cars now are fairly serious bits of kit, nearly all have massive engine transplants with 800+ hp motors, very trick cars actually.

 

But rallycross has more action, better organisation and keeps your interest a bit more I think.

 

It was designed for television after all, and is finally being marketed with a decent budget to see if it can swim with the big boys. Instead of being just another regional amateur championship

[Ross Stonefeld]

The US has a full Ford team, I think it's even MSE Olsbergs?

 

So there are Ford, Chevy, VW, Subaru, and Hyundai factory teams. And then people like Piquet's team running their own Ford.

 

No idea why the Dodge disappeared, though it was driven by Pastrana and he's at Subaru now.

 

Really surprised Toyota isn't in, either US or Europe. They've already got the Yaris WRC car underway so it's not like they don't have a car or engine design to start from.

[Myrvold]

It is the Olsbergs/MSE team that have 2 cars in GRX as well, I'm just not sure on how much "full Ford" it is. Same goes for VW, Chevy, Subaru and Hyundai. If it is "factory" efforts, or just partially helped teams.

If you are going the "Piquet's team" route, there is Solberg's team, who builds the Citroën themselves, Liam Doran have his Citroën team and then Andy Scott with his Albatec-team who have been running Peugeot's for a long time.
Oh, and Mattias Ekstrøm is going to drive som races together with last years JWRC-title, Pontus Tidemand - who also have a WRC-2 programme, and is the stepson of Henning Solberg. They are running in Ekstrøm's Audi A1 team.

 

There are also the "Volkswagen Dealer Team" in the Swedish championship, with Johan Kristofferson and Ole Christian Veiby. It's a Kristofferson Motorsport effort - run by Tommy Kristofferson, former AUDI-backed RX driver and *TCC driver/Team Owner. So I guess there is some backing there as well. Oh, Johan Kristofferson is most known for winning STCC and the Superstars Series in 2012. Also a KMS-run team.

 

Not sure if any carmakers are as heavy involved as Peugeot in the late 80's and Citroën with Hansen and Pailler in the mid 90's.

[chunder27]

Believe me Peugeot were not at all involved in the 80's!  Those cars were just very, very quick. I think they ran a works car in France but Alamaki's car was very private.

 

Schanche I think had good Ford parts access and some development, but not much, most of their money was going into touring cars at the time.

[BRG]

 
Oh and despite your disparaging comments it is a world championship, unless of course Argentina, Turkey and Canada are suddenly in Europe are they?
 

On a point of information, I did not disparage the RallyX championship. I commented on Fanin's comment that the WRC was a European championship with a couple of events in the Americas (he forgot Australia of course) & then I contrasted it with the ERC where Peugeot are actually running their Academy cars. I suggest you read my post a bit more carefully.

By all means be a cheerleader for RallyX, but misrepresenting other people & running down other sorts of Motorsport just makes you look like a blind fanatic.

[chunder27]

I tried to get into WRC, but being charged to stand in forests with no facilities, no parking turned me off at sale sorry. Went once have been again but only club rallying, far better.

 

It is a difficult series to cover, and though I love the events, the cars are dull, there is no real driver to get into, and the one that people liked has now gone to rallycross.

 

Picking bones out of comments is fair enough.

 

Either way maybe the tide is turning and for company's like Peugeot who are mainly involved to make money by selling smaller cars and doing quite nicely thanks (like Ford aswell and Citren with their R22456789 cars ffs), being involved in a sort of stealth way with Hansen is a great way to perhaps gain a profile in places you havent before in a growing championship, without spending a bunch on developing a car.  Look what amazing coverage and brand awareness they got fomr Loeb at Pikes Peak.

 

They tried in WRC didn't they?  Did great work for the 205, maybe made it a more desirbale car with the GTI, then with the 206, they did nothing, you couldn't buy a sporty 206 when they rallied, they looked totally different, they spent millions and won. Ford have this to a tee from the Escort days, rally and sell a sporty RS, Peugeot did chuff all despite a lovely looking car.

 

Then handed the baton to Citroen who seemed quite happy winning against one other team.

 

Marketing moves in weird ways and for now Peugeot to me seem happy at a step lower than WRC and a basic level with junior cars.  And rallycross will cos them chuff all really.

[Myrvold]

So, then Petter managed to beat Loeb to one record. First to win a FIA World Title in two different types of racing/rallying.

I believe.

Edited by Myrvold, 28 September 2014 - 17:46.

[Kraken]

I'm amazed it's not more popular than it seems to be. Given that media people keep telling us that the younger generation want frenetic, short, sharp action I would have though RX would be the perfect motorsport for them.

[Risil]

If I didn't read Autosport's website I'm not sure I'd be aware World Rallycross even exists. IMG is a successful company but I don't think they have the promotional mix right yet.

[OvDrone]

Well the stands look utterly full at every round.

 

Congrats Petter, you thoroughly deserve it. Love seeing the dude do well. Few celebrate like he does.

[BRG]

So, then Petter managed to beat Loeb to one record. First to win a FIA World Title in two different types of racing/rallying.

I believe.

I doubt if Seb would trade any of his 9 World Rally Championships for a rallycross championship.  And I bet Petter would sell his grandmother, let alone a rallycorss title,  to have even one more World Rally Championship.

[chunder27]

Not so sure BRG, Petter is well into this stuff, it is also where he started. And Henning for that matter.

 

It seems he might be getting official Citroen backing next year, so it cant have escpaed their attention either. And that might lead to a WRC drive maybe. But with all the confusion there, wouldnt you want to be away from that for a while? He has a young family, his kids do Shortcross in Norway, its a good deal for him.

 

I am not so keen on this series though. The team running it will do anything to drop history and race in places that have absolutely no rallycross or even motorsport heritage!

 

We finished in Italy today?  What on earth is that about?  Then we go to Argentina? 

 

I think it would have been better to increase the popularity initially at existing venues, but typically with modern motorsport the people that run it have put each round out to tender, so anyone with bucks can run a round, hence Italy, Argentina, Canada.  Very odd but it seems the modern way, just can't believe so many would take the risk with a sport so bold but really not well known outside of Europe, when you can fill tracks in Poland, Czecho, Hungary and Holland with thousands of people. These places are well backed, have money and have invested heavily in recent years only to be asked all of a sudden to stump of tens of thousands to host roudns alnd lose most of their income. Utterly selfish from IMG.

 

There is and always has been snobbery about rallycross as it is made for tv. You now have two factory VW teams (3 with the Beetle in US) Citroen, Peugeot, Ford, Saab, dealer teams from Renault. Good tv package. Solid Pr (if a little self obsessed at times) and a team who know how to promote.

 

My issue is that driving standard are getting ever poorer and IMG are running before they can walk.

[Sheepmachine]

Congratulations petter solberg! It's like 2003 all over again.

[Ross Stonefeld]

If I didn't read Autosport's website I'm not sure I'd be aware World Rallycross even exists. IMG is a successful company but I don't think they have the promotional mix right yet.

 

Same with the American version, it's not on the traditional motorsport radar.

[BRG]

I am not so keen on this series though. The team running it will do anything to drop history and race in places that have absolutely no rallycross or even motorsport heritage!

So in that case it's a proper FIA world championship then, like all the other bastardised series where legacy and history have been sacrificed for money.

[Ross Stonefeld]

Portugal
UK
Norway
Finland
Sweden
Belgium
Canada
France
Germany
Italy
Turkey
Argentina
 

 

Terrible calendar

[chunder27]

Indeed, very true BRG.

 

What they have basically done is use the tracks that ahve been prepared to pay a lot up front like Lydden, Loheac in France, Germany, Sweden and Norway and dump the ones I mentioned above.  Before the series has even gotten some strength.

 

Typical take the money and run approach.

 

The lower classes are largely ingnored and a sideshow, in fact the rwd class has had absolutely no coverage at all, whereas Olsbergs llittle baby RX lites has.

 

Totally ruthless, utterly mercenary and very American I am afraid.

 

Just hope it all lasts. Because right now the only good thing is for a few teams and IMG, none else, everyone else is stumping a lot of cahs as the only rounds that can probably pull off that fee are France, Sweden and Norway.

 

To add to above post

 

Canada, Argentina, Finland is dropped next year, Italy and Belgium were all on new tracks. There is already a perfectly good track in Belgium, and good ones in Hungary, Poland, Holland, Czech Republic, all places where the sport was just starting to grow and make progress and they get good crowds.

 

There is no growth in Portugal (basucally the FIA want a nice holiday in May, Lousada is the best venue but this dump gets it now) Argentina are paying through the nose, as did Canada coz of Villenueve. Belgium too and Italy.

 

Finland has been dumped for next year.

Edited by chunder27, 28 September 2014 - 21:48.

[AlexLangheck]

As already said, this is how the FiA championships operate - or rather the 'Promoters' operate. It's all about raking in ££££££, not much about the long term & promotion. I hope it's sustainable. My view is enjoy it whilst it lasts.

But well done to Petter, in a select group to win a FiA World Title in another discipline. Not even Loeb has done that........yet!

[Myrvold]

I don't have such an issue with the calendar.
 

Canada and Argentina is sorta "needed" to make it more of a World Championship. Not to happy that The Netherlands got dropped for Italia/Turkey. Finland have great tracks, but not that many drivers.

Portugal - Been on the calendar for well over 20 years now, for some reason. But that well over 50% of the time the RX champ have existed!
UK - Where it all started!
Norway - Been one of the dominating countries since the late 70's
Finland - Dominated in the 80's, good tracks.
Sweden - Might be the biggest RX party of the year. It's so popular that drivers from Norway/Finland who have budget for a single race only, chooses Sweden instead of the home country!
Belgium - Been on the calendar for 30 years, never been a huge factor in RX, but good crowds.
Canada - World Champ, needs races outside Europe, helps with JV. Logical.
France - Had the second and third factory teams in RX (afaik), with Peugeot and Citroën (late 80's and 90's). Always draws lots of local drivers and spectators.
Germany - For some reason, they had to wait until 1994 to get their first, and only top 3 finish in the standings, with Bernd Leinemann. RX is popular, and it's a classical track.
Italy - No idea, cannot give a single good reason. Galli?
Turkey - Cannot give a good, or a bad reason.
Argentina - World Champ, well, why not.

 

So. we loose Canada, Argentina and Finland apparently, two new countries, and one with few drivers. Barcelona is coming in and replacing. And most likely 2-3 non-european events. It's still not a crisis as far as I can understand. I would've really liked to see them race at Sosnova, and not on tracks with "gimmick-jumps". But then again, Mettet in Belgium wasn't too bad, so with some luck they are able to make good tracks.
 

I do fear we end up with only 2-3 classical countries/places, and that will be Norway, Sweden and Germany.

[Myrvold]

As already said, this is how the FiA championships operate - or rather the 'Promoters' operate. It's all about raking in ££££££, not much about the long term & promotion. I hope it's sustainable. My view is enjoy it whilst it lasts.

But well done to Petter, in a select group to win a FiA World Title in another discipline. Not even Loeb has done that........yet!

Hmmm, the story around here, is that no one have taken a FIA World Title in 2 disciplines ever.
 

I doubt if Seb would trade any of his 9 World Rally Championships for a rallycross championship.  And I bet Petter would sell his grandmother, let alone a rallycorss title,  to have even one more World Rally Championship.

That's not what I said though, was it?

And while we're at it, the Citroën rumours have some traction in Norway, not sure if it is wishful thinking or not, but either more support in RX or WRC again.