British RX gets electric cars. Race of Champs goes greener.
Seven days in rallycross 10 March
by Rallycross World |
4 March / The Motorsport UK British Rallycross Championship 5 Nations Trophy announces that it will accept electric cars in its Supercar category this year. The STARD ERX powertrain, as used in the Projekt E cars seen at World RX events in 2020, will be used in electric cars admitted to the series. STARD has experience of running its electric cars with internal combustion engined (ICE) Supercars, notably winning a round of the Hungarian Championship last July to take the first overall event win for an electric rallycross car. “We’re delighted that 5 Nations BRX recognises how suitable the STARD ERX concept is for British rallycross. We believe that the ERX cars will be attractive to drivers looking for the next era of competition. ERX is the most cost-efficient high level electric racing concept on the market and at the moment the only one available for customer motor sport teams to purchase worldwide. Cheaper than a comparable ICE Supercar in purchase price, an ERX Supercar also has a significantly lower running cost of around 60% less than conventional ICE cars which has a big appeal. It will be good to see the mixed-power grid in an already hotly contested championship,” said STARD CEO Michael Sakowicz. 2020 Projekt E champion Natalie Barratt is planning to take part in the British RX events with an ERX car.
5 March / RX Italia announces that rally driver Paolo Diana will race one of Tedak Racing’s Alfa Romeo Mito Super1600 cars in this year’s Campionato Italiano Rallycross. Well known for his highly developed Fiat 131 rally car, Diana has not yet tested the Mito and accepts that he will have a steep learning curve in the competitive category. “I have followed some races of the World Championship on TV and some Italian Championship races on social networks. The thing that stuck with me most is that all the riders seem to enter the track with a knife between their teeth and I will have to settle in quickly as I am used to driving alone. In Rallycross, on the other hand, you must also pay attention to what the other riders are doing and the “melee” will be a new and certainly tough experience,” said Diana.
8 March / The Group B and Four-wheel drive class of Britain’s Retro Rallycross Championship is being revised to target drivers who find the British Championship’s Supercar category “out of reach”. The class will be renamed Retro 4WD and Group B cars will run as a non-championship category. Retro 4WD is open to cars of a type used before 31.12.99. “We have received interest from a range of competitors showing an interest in joining this exciting new class. The wonderful cars that we saw last season are expected to join us again for 2021 and we are very excited at the prospect of further growth in the coming weeks,” said Retro Rallycross founder Shirley Gibson.
9 March / The Race of Champions and the FIA RX2e Championship announce that electric cars for the new series will be used at ROC Snow & Ice at Pite Havsbad in Sweden in January 2022. As well as the new all electric cars being used in the event, their predecessor Supercar Lites (RX2) will be in action at the event that will use a course on the frozen Baltic Sea. The Supercar Lites will use a new 100% fossil-free bio-fuel from specialist supplier P1 Racing Fuels.
2021 season / Check out our guide of rallycross events for 2021. We will keep this as up to date as possible and add further dates and events as details become available. We hope that everyone has the chance to get out there and see some rallycross this year.