National round-up. Ski legend Svindal goes to Hell. World RX opens new electric era.

3 August / Olympic and World champion ski racer Aksel Lund Svindal is confirmed as a starter in the World RX event in Norway where he will race in RX2e. A double Olympic champion and five-time World champion in skiing, Svindal has already shown his mettle in motor sport with good performances in the Porsche Sprint Challenge Scandinavia. Ahead of his rallycross debut Svindal tested at Calafat in Spain. “Norway has always had a passion for rallycross, and now with this new era of fully electric rallycross cars, it’s the perfect fit with the EV adoption we have. To get the chance to try this car in Spain, as a car enthusiast, was really cool – it’s crazy fast and really fun to drive. I have big respect for rallycross drivers, because it’s a sport that is just action-packed. There is so much happening, and when you go out in the car for the first time, it’s certainly a handful but it handles really well. It’s no secret that I’m a big advocate of sustainability and innovation, and with the increasing electrification of motorsport and the incredible performance that will bring, I’m super excited to see what the future has in store,” said Svindal.

7 August / Sedlcany hosted the Czech, Slovakian and CEZ Championships where Zbigniew Staniszewski (Ford Fiesta) took the event win. Ales Fucik (VW Polo) placed second and had been fastest in the first two qualifiers before Staniszewski stepped up and set a brace of fastest times and won the final. Miroslav Neumann (Mitsubishi Lancer) okaced third with Lukasz Zlotnicki (Fiesta) the only other finisher. Vacla Tuma (Skoda Fabia) was best of the four-car Super1600 field. UK-based Pole Slawomir Woloch (BMW E92) claimed the biggest win of his career to date. Unbeaten in the heats, Woloch lifted victory in the SuperTouringCars +2000 final for a clean sweep. Czech Michal Tomas (VW Polo) placed second ahead of “Halk” (BMW E36). The -2000 category was won by Roman Castoral (Opel Astra) who was beaten just once in the weekend as Jakub Kowalczyk (Honda Civic) set fastest time in the first qualifier. Kowalczyk eventually placed second with Jakub Michal (Peugeot 206) third in the final. SuperTouringCars -1600 was won by Martin Knapek (Skoda Fabia), Tomas Stransky (Citroen C2) was second ahead of Konrad Gryz (Peugeot 106). The Czech championship’s historic championship boasted 13 starters in the 1600cc class, Pavel Koutny (Skoda 130 LR) winning the last three qualifiers and the final in the Miroslav Sefr Memorial race. Marek Zeman (Skoda 130 RS) was fastest in the first qualifier but then had to give best to Koutny. Pavel Steiner was third in his Suzuki Swift. the over 1600 Historic class had four starters and Ondrej Mezihorak took the win with his Honda Civic. Petr Dolezal won the Kartcross final and Jiri Sterba (VW Golf) won the final of the National 1600 category.

7 August / The Latvian – Lithunanian Rallycross Championship visited Vilkyciai in Lithuania where Edijs Oss (Skoda Fabia) was fastest throughout the qualifiers before going on to win the final from Janis Vegeris and Andri Oun. Janno Ligur (Skoda Fabia) was similarly dominant in Super1600 as he led home Rytis Gurklys. The Super2000 class was won by Ligitas Kordusas with Estonian S1600 front runner Marko Muru taking second place ahead of Maija Stakena. Kristaps Kronbergs was best of the BMW 3000 class, Emils Krumins won the Lada RX class and Matas Rimkus won the Yaris Cup for junior drivers.

7 August / The born-again Glosso-circuit at Arendonk hosted the Belgian, Dutch and British Championships (the latter not sending its Supercar, Swift or Junior classes), in a busy weekend of racing. The indigenous Supernational +2000 class was arguably the headline act and the usual suspects were at the top of the results with Kristof Bex (Volvo S40) winning ahead Johnny Verkuringen’s BMW M3 and the S40 Bart Bel. Kurt Lambers (BMW M3) won the Supernational -2000 class in which Mandy Kasse (Ford Fiesta) was seventh and best of the Dutch drivers. The Citroen C2 of Steve Otzer won the Super1600 final. Cross Car attracted 19 starters of which Kobe Pauwels (LifeLive) was best. Tom Heindrichs (LifeLive) placed second ahead of Nathan Ottink (Speedcar Wonder). Cross Car Junior was won by Jordan Genten (PKC K3). The visiting British drivers had their own races and classes, Jason Bleasdale (Vauxhall VX220) winning the combined Supernational and Mini All4 class in which Paige Bellerby (Lotus Exige) was second ahead of the Minis of David Bell and Martin Hawkes. Belgian veteran Jos Sterkens won the Super Retro final with his 21st century interpretation of the Mk1 Escort. Terry Moore (Mini) took the Retro final ahead of Tony Lynch (Toyota MR2) and Simon Hart (Ford Escort MkI). Dave Bellerby had the measure of Bradley Turner and Ben Sayer to win the BMW Mini final. In his first drive of year and first time in the class, Guillaume De Ridder beat Patrick O’Donovan to win the RX150 final.

7 August / There was a new name at the top of the Class four Supernational Championship as Simen Engsvik (VW) took the win on a day when class pacesetter Jonas Dalseth Jacobsen failed was a non-starter in the races. Robin Rorvik (Volvo) placed second ahead of Emil Sivesind (Audi). In Class Three Petter Leirhol (BMW) took the win in an event in which four different drivers were fastest in the qualifiers. Andreas Aarhug (Audi) made his way to the final via second place in the C final and victory in the B final. Second to Leirhol, he held of Sander Engsvik (BMW) who won the C final and was second in the B. Top qualifier Joakim Vestli (BMW M3) dropped to fourth in the final. Alexander Hauglid (Opel) won Class Two and Andrine Rafoss continued her strong season with victory in Class One (Super1600) with her Citroen DS3. Johannes Rafoss (Honda Civic) was best of the Junior racers ahead of Emil Bujordet (Peugeot) and Markus Rosrud (VW).

10 August / A few weeks have passed since the Italian Championship raced at Castelletto, and now the disputed results of the event have been confirmed. The RX5 section victory goes to Gianmarco Donetto (Skoda Fabia R5). Victory in the -2000 STC is awarded to Marco Nicolini (Peugeot 205), but in which Arianna Corallo (Opel Astra) leads the championship. Even the official press release appears to be lost to explain what happened in Kartcross, simply saying “All sorts of things happened in Kartcross with accidents, overtaking, and red flags…” The winner is, eventually, Riccardo Canzian (Speedcar Xtreme) who led home Maicol Giacomotti (PKC K3) and Nicolo Grieco (GMN). RX Italia has also announced the cancellation of the scheduled September event at Ittiri, which means the only remaining event of the year is now Maggiora on 22-23 October.

This weekend / It’s Hell! The FIA World Rallycross Championship begins in the world’s leading adopter of electric cars. The newest cars and technology make their public debut on a truly old skool track. In a full programme, World RX is joined by RX2e, Euro RX1 and Euro RX3, the only time this year that all four FIA Championships are scheduled on the same bill. Before the racing starts there’s a season opening launch event for World RX tat can be watched live on Thursday evening. Elsewhere, German racers go to Holland as the DRX series joins the Dutch championship at the Eurocircuit.

pics: World RX, Red Bull Content Pool, Rallycross LV, Glosso RT, 5 Nations British RX, NBF, RX Italia.