Grosset-Janin to contest European Rallycross Championship

Reigning French rallycross champion Jerome Grosset-Janin will contest the FIA European Rallycross Championship this season in a Chanoine Competition Renault Clio Supercar, with a view to contesting the FIA World Rallycross Championship in the future.

Grosset-Janin dominated the French championship last season, and also raced at his home RallycrossRX event at Loheac. Despite being ruled out of a good result by transmission issues, the Clio III driver set top times during the heat stages. Alongside their European championship program, Chanoine Competition and Grosset-Janin will also race at the WorldRX event at Loheac this season. “I am very proud of representing France this year, it is a big opportunity and I would like to thank all the people that have made this possible,” said Grosset-Janin, who embarks on his fourth consecutive season with the team. “There’s no denying the competition will be very high, especially with experienced drivers like Jacques Villeneuve and Petter Solberg being part of the Championship, but I will concentrate on the European title and I hope that we will deliver some outstanding races at the same time.”

Team principle of Chanoine Competition, Philippe Chanoine, hopes good results in 2014 will pave the way for the team to contest the World championship in 2015; “After taking the French title last year, we wanted to aim higher in 2104,” said Chanoine. “Our main target is to do well in Europe but also to finish with a good result at our home race in Loheac, which will hopefully help us to find new partners to enter World RX in 2015.”

The teams announcement that it will use the five-round European championship as a stepping-stone towards a World championship campaign in the future emphasises the importance of the European series. Several drivers have already committed to the European championship; the likes of Tommy Rustad, Lukas Walfridson, Tord Linnerud and Mats Ohman will pose stiff opposition to Grosset-Janin’s title aspirations.

As the French driver graduates to the European stage he becomes the second Frenchman to race regularly in the new era of RallycrossRX, following Davy Jeanney’s run to second in the championship last season. The move ensures that the door is left open for a new French champion in 2014.

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