JK and Ekstrom take Riga World RX wins. Eriksson and Raymond win Euro and Projekt E.

20 September    The fifth round of the FIA World Rallycross Championship takes place in Riga where Johan Kristoffersson wins his third event of the year. Niclas Gronholm was the top qualifier and won semi-final one but was then embroiled in the battle with Kevin Hansen in the final, before a spin cost him any chance of a podium. Kristoffersson won his semi and then led the final from lights to flag. Mattias Ekstrom placed second with Timmy Hansen third ahead of Kevin Hansen who ran second in the early stages of the final after an amazing start from the back of the grid. Gronholm and Robin Larsson completed the finishers. 

20 September    The second round of the Motorsport UK British Rallycross Championship 5 Nations Trophy scheduled to take place at Knockhill on 26-27 September is postponed ahead of an expected tightening of travel restrictions in the UK (these confirmed by the British government on 22 September). A statement from the organisers said: “We will continue to work with Knockhill to look for an alternative date. We successfully ran the first round at Lydden Hill and remain committed to running the remaining rounds at Pembrey and Mondello Park provided local restrictions allow.”

21 September   Round six of the FIA World Rallycross Championship is won by Mattias Ekstrom. Fastest in Q1 and Q2, Ekstrom had a grip on the event and led home Johan Kristoffersson in the final. Ekstrom’s KYB teammate Robin Larsson was the only person to beat him all weekend, the 2019 Euro Supercar champion setting fastest time in Q3 and then completing the podium in the final for his best finish of the year.

The second round of the 2020 FIA European Rallycross Championship for Supercar was also on the bill in Riga where Oliver Eriksson (Ford Fiesta) fought back from a rocky first day to take his second event win of the year. JB Dubourg (Peugeot 208) was top qualifier but beaten to victory in semi-final one by Sondre Evjen (VW Polo) and then eased out to third place in the final. Eriksson won semi-final two before taking the final ahead of Evjen. Andrea Dubourg shadowed his older brother to place fourth with Ben-Philip Gundersen (Audi S1) and Tamas Karai (Audi A1) completing the finishers, the latter enjoying a strong weekend.

Projekt E also appeared in Riga, the second event for the all-electric rallycross series briging four cars and victory for Cyril Raymond who drove the new Citroen C3 ERX on its debut. Janis Baumanis (Ford Fiesta) was second, ahead of the similar car of Svein-Bjarte Holten. Natalie Barratt had to complete two joker laps after a false start but was close to Holten at the finish and moved into the points lead of the series.

21 September    The organiser of the Estonian Rallycross Championship (Rallikross Eesti) confirms that the final round of the 2020 season will take place at Kulbilohu on 3 October but that the NEZ Baltic Championship that was to accompany it will be cancelled because of tighter travel restrictions between the various Baltic states.

22 September    Pembrey circuit announces that it will ‘abandon’ remaining race meetings for the 2020 season. The statement says the the British RX event schedule for 18 October is postponed to a date yet to be confirmed. “This is bitterly disappointing news for our competitors, fans, staff, and the whole local community, particularly as we were hoping to rescue some income from the end of this disastrous year.  “2020 was meant to be the 30th anniversary of a venue that generates more than £10m annually for the local economy, but instead we haven’t managed to host a single race meeting this season,” said Ben Taylor, Chief Executive of the British Automobile Racing Club.

This weekend     We are doing the best to keep our calendar of events and where you can watch rallycross in 2020 up to date for you. Postponed and cancelled events remain shown but marked as a record of the carnage wrought on the 2020 schedule by Covid-19.