Seven Days, October 31

French Rallycross Championship Super1600 event winner Adeline Sangnier is pursuing plans to move to the Supercar category in 2014. Sangnier claimed her first event win at Loheac in 2012 and took victory in the final round of the 2013 French series at Dreux. She has already tested Supercars from JSA (Davy Jeanney’s Citroen C4) and Pailler Comptetion (Fabien Pailler’s Peugeot 208) but has not yet made any firm decision about her choice of car for next year. “It took time to taste victory again but the year ended on a good note and it was a very good season compared to last year. My Citroen C2 is a very good car but I will sell it now, we do not know what we will do next year but I will not be in Super1600. It hurts my heart to sell the C2 but we must move on and what is certain is that the car will be a four-wheel drive,” said Sangnier in a statement that leaves the way open for her to drive in the French championship’s Division Three if the move to Supercar cannot be accomplished.

Rallycrossers Liam Doran and Anton Marklund will appear in the final event of Ken Block’s Gymkhana Grid in Madrid this weekend, both hoping to improve on their fortune in the X Games appearance of the series where Doran was third and Marklund was among the fastest before engine problems stopped his VW Polo.

European championsip Super1600 drivers Eric Faren and Ulrik Linnemann are both busy working on plans for 2014. The RallycrossRX racers are chasing different avenues, Faren is determined to make the move to Supercar and is taking the chance to race a Supercar Lite in the final round of the GRC as part of the learning curve. Linnemann, meanwhile, has run his Peugeot 207 in a test for Norwegian teenager Ada Marie Hvaal who has raced a Citroen C2 in national events this year, as well as making a couple of appearances in JRX. “The 207 is pretty awesome, it is much easier to drive, and I hope to try the car again in a real race,” said Hvaal who was coached in the test by Linnemann. “Ada Marie did a few laps and has already found good speed, it was in rain so it was a difficult day to learn a new car and she did very well,” said Linnemann. The Dane is planning to return to Super1600 for the 2014 European championship season and recently acquired a Peugeot 208 bodyshell on which he hopes to base a new car.

Peter Gwynne Motorsport, organiser of the Swift Sport rallycross series in the UK has launched a new Swift Super Series for 2014. The new championship will retain the current specification 1.6-litre Suzuki Swift but will offer a season comprising rallycross, rally and race events. “It’s a way of offering drivers more opportunities to use their car and to get out there and experience different forms of motor sport,” said series manager Sarah Watson who also said the three series would allow for different drivers to share one car, and the costs of ownership or competing.

Autosport magazine has included the Citroen DS3 RX among the nominees for ‘Rally Car of the Year’ in its prestigious awards. Specifically detailing Hansen Motorsport’s DS3 in its second successive title season, Autosport has nominated the DS3 alongside the Ford Fiesta WRC, Mini Dakar, Peugeot 208 T16 Pikes Peak, Skoda Fabia S2000 and VW Polo WRC.

At Pocono Raceway in Pennsylvania the American Rally-Cross group staged their first event of the year, and the first rallycross in the Pocono speedway. Sections of the tri-oval and the infield were used to create a 1.5mile (2400 metre) course for the event that was aimed squarely at the ‘grass roots’ competitor but also continued the desire to establish ‘European-style’ rallycross in the US. With a dozen entries, the event was fairly low-key, but ran as planned . The event was won by Rich Bodmer (BMW E36) who beat Ian Oliver (Subaru WRX) and Gary DeMasi’s Ford Ranger pickup in the final. American Rally-Cross, which ran two events at New Jersey Motorsports Park last winter,  does not yet have dates for further events.

Among the entries for the Clubmans Rallycross that will run at Croft on November 24 is a brand new Citroen C2 Super1600 car for former Stock Hatch racer Mike Jones. The new car has been built to meet FIA regs and Jones hopes to drive in British and European events in 2014. The Croft event, the only ‘club’ level rallycross to be run in the UK this year, is the result of a concerted effort to re-establish entry-level events. Organised by Darlington & District MC, the event is being run as part of the 75th anniversary celebrations of the BTRDA. The event filled its 64-car entry some weeks ago and has now accepted an additional eight reserve entries.

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