ROC win for Kristoffersson, Bakkerud to Andros Trophy, RX Aus plans for the future

19 January Paired with Tom Kristensen, Johan Kristoffersson wins the Race of Champions Nations Cup in Mexico City’s For Sol. The Team Nordic duo of Kristoffersson and Kristensen beat the German team of Sebastian Vettel and Mick Schumacher in the final. “The Race Of Champions is a tough event – to work all the way through the group stages then go to the semi-finals and final. We had some crucial victories along the way and then Tom brought home the biggest trophy. It’s my first time in Mexico and I’m really happy to be here, and to be a part of the event against some of the best drivers in the world. I think it will be a long night but now we have one trophy, we can be a bit more relaxed about the individual event tomorrow. So let’s see what happens but first we have to get through tonight…” said Kristoffersson. Both he and Kristensen were knocked out at the quarter final stage of the individual event which was won by Mexican rally driver Benito Guerra.

20 January JB Dubourg extends his lead in the Andros Trophy after taking a win and a fourth place in Serre-Chevalier events. The series moves on to Lans-en-Vercours this weekend.

21 January Cooper Tires becomes the title sponsor for RallyX on Ice. The restructured series will consist of three events run over six days in the Swedish ski resort of Are. Cooper Tires has developed a new studded ice rallycross tyre specially for the series. The new tyre will be launched at the Geneva Motor Show (7-17 March) ahead of being pressed into action in Are on 18 March.

21 January STARD announces that it has gained support from Ford Performance. “We know quite well what benefits it has to run an entire vehicle development project with the manufacturer´s involvement as this was the case in 90% of our projects so far. The World RX project was one of few exceptions where we have been without support from a manufacturer. We still achieved a fantastic result, finishing the 2018 season as best placed private project leaving many bigger scale projects behind us. The support from Ford Performance definitely is a game changer for us. We can apply processes in the development and race activity and also support our customers in a way which is only possible if you are cooperating with the manufacturer,” said STARD CEO Michael Sakowicz. STARD’s new 2019 car is available to customers and will be run by the Austrian team in World RX for Janis Baumanis.

22 January British RX competitor Roger Thomas confirms that he bought a Fiesta Supercar from Bryan Herta and will use the machine in the British Championship this year. Previously used in GRC by Patrik Sandell in 2015 and 2016, the car will be rebuilt by Tony Bardy Motorsport before its British RX debut. Thomas also plans to continue in Retro Rallycross with his MG Metro 6R4.

23 January RX Aus announces plans to run five ‘DirtRace’ events. This follows the decision to suspend the RX Aus series in 2019. “It has taken longer than we thought to build up the kind of numbers you need to run a full national championship properly,” said Rallycross Australia’s Justin Dowel.  “We’re going to take a step back in 2019 and focus on growing rallycross at the grass roots and potentially with one or two big, one-off events that can show the sport off at its best. “We are not about to walk away from what we have started. A lot of people, myself included, are heavily invested in rallycross here and we want to support that.” The DirtRace events will use a seven-kilometre stage over which each driver will have six runs. The first event is slated for Mount Gambier on 13 April.

23 January Andreas Bakkerud will race in the final round of the Andros Trophy at the Stade de France on 9 February. Bakkerud will share one of the new electric cars with Nicolas Prost for the event in the national stadium in Paris.