Seven days in rallycross, April 17

It’s been a busy week in the world of rallycross. The most on-track Supercar action of the week took place at Lydden Hill for the media launch of the Autosport World RX of Great Britain, the second round of WorldRX this season. OlsbergsMSE were out in force, permanent drivers Andreas Bakkerud and Reinis Nitiss on hand to give members of the media passenger rides around the ‘Home of Rallycross’, while British Touring Car Champion Andrew Jordan stole the headlines, revealing the livery of the Red Bull-backed Fiesta Supercar that he will race for the team at the Lydden event in May. “I’m glad we have tested at Lydden, just to get my eye in before the event here,” said Jordan. “I’m confident that we will have good pace. I’m under no illusions, it’s going to be really tough racing against the guys that do this all the time, but i’m going to give it my all. I’m a racer, so of course I want to do as well as possible.” Fellow British driver Liam Doran was also on hand to give passenger rides and shake down his Citroen DS3 as he too revealed a new livery. “I know the ins and outs of the track here at Lydden. There’ll be a lot of home support, and it’s great seeing people desperate for you to do well. It does add a bit of pressure though and to be honest I haven’t always had the best results here – fingers crossed this year I can put it all together,” said Doran.

This afternoon (Thursday) DTM star Mattias Ekstrom revealed that he is creating the EKS team. Based in Sweden the team will contest events in the FIA World Rallycross Championship. Ekstrom is yet to disclose any further information about the team, or what car they will use in the World series. “RX is a sport that honours the fans and the team loves that. The EKS team in RX is a celebration of everything that I love about racing; the passion, enthusiasm and joy. And, of course, professionalism and preparation. I have brought together great professionals and long-time friends who love the challenge and understand what it takes to win. They want to win as much as I do,” said the Swede.

Organisers of the World RX of Argentina, the closing round of the championship this season, have confirmed that the race will be held in San Luis. “We are working hard on the World RX circuit and everything is looking very positive so far,” explained David Eli, event promoter. “Our local authorities are very enthusiastic about rallycross in Argentina and we know that the fans are delighted that the championship has decided to include a round in South America.”

Finnish World RX promotors AKK Sports have received backing from Volkswagens Finnish importer VV-Auto Group for the fourth round of the FIA World Rallycross Championship. “The status of rallycross is rising strongly in Finland, as well as globally, and I’m glad we can together raise the awareness of both the national series and the World Championship among public at large.” said AKK Sports CEO Tiina Lehmonen.

The British Rallycross Championship headed to Valkenswaard, Holland to join the Dutch championships first event of the year. Julian Godfrey (Ford Fiesta) won the Supercar category with ease, joined on the podium by Steve Harris (Ford Focus) and Simon Horton (Subaru Impreza), while the only Dutch driver Ron Snoeck (Seat Leon) made the best start in the final but spun on lap one, eventually finishing fourth. Stuart Emery (Peugeot 206) won the SuperNational category for the second event in a row, while Marc Scott (RX150) and Craig Lomax (Citroen Saxo) also won their second events of the year in RX150 and HotHatch respectively. Lance Foster (Mini) claimed the Retro Rallycross spoils, and Chris Mullen (Suzuki Swift) fought back from a troublesome final at round one to win the second round of the Swift Sport Championship. Russian Super1600 driver Nikita Misyulya (Skoda Fabia) contested his first rallycross event and dominated the category, read a feature on him here at RallycrossWorld. Marc Vandenberg (Seat Ibiza) claimed victory in the SuperNational -2000cc division, and the formidable Luc Maris (Volvo 242) held off Steve Volders (Ford Escort) to win SuperNational +2000cc.

Marklund Motorsport made two announcements this week. Experienced rally driver PG Andersson will drive a VW Polo RX in the Swedish Rallycross Championship this year, acting as development driver for the teams World Championship campaign, the series gets underway on May 9th. “Marklund Motorsport wants me to be involved in developing their car and let me run a number of Swedish races in their test car,” said Andersson. “With the increasing competition in the World Championship , you have to constantly develop the car and also evaluate the improvements during the competition and then fits this perfectly,” said team principle Jan Marklund. World Championship driver Anton Marklund will contest X-Games this summer in Austin, Texas. He will join fellow VW drivers Tanner Foust and Scott Speed at the event in their ex-Marklund Andretti Autosport Polo RXs.

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