Timmy Hansen wins World RX crown in Cape Town thriller.

7 November    The calendar for the 2020 Finnish Rallycross Championship “Rallicross SM” is published by the AKK, Finland’s ASN. It details five events, starting at Jalasjarvi in May and ending at Hyvinkaa in September. The fourth event in the series is listed as TBC, the accompanying statement saying “Negotiations for the fourth competition of the season, a possible ‘festival competition’, are still ongoing.” Rallicross SM 2020: 1, 30 May – Jalasjarvi; 2, 27 June – Honkajoki; 3, 1 August – Kaanaa; 4, TBC; 5 12 September – Hyvinkaa.

9 November    The sixth event of the iRacing Rallycross World Championship takes place on a virtual representation of Iowa Speedway where Mitchell deJong (Coanda Simsport) takes his third win of the year and is joined on the podium by team mate Bobby Zalenski and Nathan Lyon who made his first final appearance of the ten-event series. Points leader Sami-Matti Trogen (SET Esports) competed in the event while also racing in the final round of the RX2 series in South Africa (below) and made it to the final on a night when many of his leading rivals fell at the qualifying stages. Trogen suffered a spin the final after contact and placed last, but still managed to extend his series lead.

9 November    Winter Rallycross action returned to Lydden where 23 cars took part in the first round of a four-round series. The over 1600cc class victory was taken by Tristan Ovenden (Renault Clio V6) who was kept honest by Fred Ling (Ford Fiesta). The two four-wheel drive cars present ran with the over 1600cc two-wheel drives, Bradley Sampson (Mitsubishi Lancer Evo) finishing third in the final to win his class. The upto 1600cc class was won by Krzysztof Kozon (Citroen Saxo) and the Classic & Retro win was taken by Belgian veteran Jos Sterkens (Ford Escort Mk1). Patrick O’Donovan won the Junior Rallycross class ahead of Alfie Porter and Abbie McGuinness (VW Lupo).

10 November    The destiny of the FIA World Rallycross Championship came down to the last six laps of the year after which Timmy Hansen and Andreas Bakkerud were level on points; Hansen taking the title thanks to his four event wins compared to Bakkerud’s single victory. By making it to the semi-final stage of the World RX of South Africa, Hansen and younger brother Kevin had secured the Teams’ title for Team Hansen MJP. The vent itself was won by Niclas Gronholm (Hyundai i20) who was fastest in Q3 and Q4 to be top qualifier, and may well have topped Q3 as well, but after a false start he completed two joker laps and placed fourth. Bakkerud (Audi S1) beat Gronholm in semi-final one and started second on the final grid, alongside Timmy Hansen (Peugeot 208) who won semi two. In the final Bakkerud made the best start and led the pack before places changed hands in an incident at turn six. Gronholm was the main beneficiary, sidestepping the chaos and taking the lead which converted to a win. Bakkerud and both Hansen went off the track, Bakkerud recovering fastest to finish second on the road. For a while that looked like being enough for the Norwegian to seal the title, but when Timo Scheider (Seat Ibiza) went off at mid-distance with damage sustained by hitting a barrier Hansen inherited fourth place and enough points to draw level with Bakkerud. The Stewards of the Meeting investigated the first lap incident at length, eventually deciding to take no action. 

The RX2 series also reached its conclusion in Cape Town where Oliver Eriksson completed the defence of his title after taking his fifth win of the seven-event championship. Unbeaten in the event, Eriksson cemented his title in style and was joined on the podium by ARX2 champion Fraser McConnell and Sami-Matti Trogen, the latter continuing his late season good form with his second straight podium. Ben-Philip Gundersen, the only driver to beat Eriksson to event wins in 2019, finished sixth in the final but held on to second place in the championship, ahead of Jesse Kallio who endured a miserable event plagued by technical problems and was classified 13th and last.