Autosport International

Rallycross cars were prominent at Autosport International this year but despite several new machines being on display, perhaps the hottest ticket in the show was the RS200 in which Liam Doran will tackle Pikes Peak International Hillclimb in July.

“There has been so much attention around the car it’s amazing. It was flat out during the trade days with all kinds of media and press wanting to know about the car, everyone seems to love it!” said Doran who also had the Mtechnologies Citroën C4 Supercar that he will race in the Global Rallycross Championship on display. The Citroën was shown on the Monster Energy stand, the energy drink company also hosting Steve Hill’s Mitsubishi Lancer E10, Andy Knowles’ Citroën C2 Super1600 challenger and Graham Rodemark’s Swift Sport Championship car to launch its new involvement as title sponsor of the 2012 Monster Energy MSA British Rallycross Championship.

Elsewhere in the show there was a good deal of attention for the new Fiesta built by Turkish company Avitas Motorsport for RX150 racer Joe Shrimpton’s move to the Supernational class. The revolutionary car has a full spaceframe chassis with composite body and is powered by a 250bhp, two-litre Duratec engine mounted transversely in the back of the car. Avitas R&D manager Kerem Orak said the car was designed around new rules, “It fits rules for spaceframe cars that allow us to move the engine position. It’s the first complete car we have built, although we have 30-years experience of building many different components.”

After Autosport International, the car will be returned to Turkey where a programme of testing will be carried out before it is returned to Britain in time for the start of the British championship. “The whole car was built in eight weeks and I’m really pleased with the way it looks, I can’t wait to get going now and see how it performs,” said Shrimpton.

The Clubmans Rallycross Championship was also present at Autosport International, and introduced Lucas Oil as sponsor for its Stock Hatch class. The championship is set to run an eight event schedule this year, although dates and venues have yet to be finalised. It will feature a new double header weekend at Nutts Corner, two rounds of the championship running on consecutive days in June’s four-day  Bank Holiday weekend that marks the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee. The events will run on Sunday and Monday June 3-4 at the County Antrim venue in Northern Ireland.

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