FIA announces Battle of Technologies in World RX. Iglesias is CERX champion.

28 November / The Portuguese championship publishes its 2024 calendar. The Campeonato Portugal Ralicross will take place over seven events, with two additional major non-championship events – Open Portugal and Taca Portugal topping and tailing the season in February and November respectively.

30 November / The calendar for the 2024 Rallycross France season is published. The nine rounds include Pont de Ruan/Touraine which gets a provisional return after this year’s problems that caused the event to be abandoned. Returning to the calendar after a short absence, Essay-Alencon will form round eight in October, the Circuit des Ducs now in new ownership.

3 December / The final rounds of the Spanish Rallycross Championship CERX took place on the Circuito Antonio Vadillo at Miranda de Ebro. Rain in the first day and fog on the Sunday forced changes to the event schedule, but racing was completed and Tino Iglesias emerged as the champion. Lithuanian rally driver Martynas Samsonas won on his first appearance in the series, taking the CERX1 win on Saturday ahead of Ivan Suarez and Inaki Barredo. Iglesias closed on Mendez in the title race and while Mendez fought back in Sunday’s heats his run was eventually brought to an end by electrical problem that prevented him starting the semi-final. Iglesias went on to win the final and secure the championship. Pepe Arque won the Cross Car category on both days to secure the CERX class championship. The Junior Cross Car category produced victories for Guillermo Paz and Diego Martinez, but it was Iago Rodriguez who left with the championship title in his pocket.

3 December / World RX champion Johan Kristoffersson, partnered with Mikaela Ahlin-Kottulinsky took the Extreme E championship title for the RXR team in final event of the year in Chile. The Swedish pair won round nine of the series on Saturday but were on the backfoot in Sunday’s final in which Acciona Sainz pairing Mattias Ekstrom and Laia Sanz appeared to be heading for glory. Kristoffersson suffered a puncture early in the race and RXR lost a lap getting the wheel changed. Sanz later spun and rolled the car while trying to recover. Despite the fact that the RXR car had broken front suspension, Ahlin-Kottulinsky managed to nurse it to the end of the race and in so doing sealed the second title in three years for the team, and her own first crown. The Sunday final was won by Veloce pairing Molly Taylor and Kevin Hansen who were more than eight-minutes ahead at the chequer.

5 December / The Motorsport UK British Rallycross Championship 5 Nations Trophy publishes its calendar for 2024. The five-weekend, ten-round championship will visit Lydden, Pembrey and Mondello Park but has dropped overseas events in Holland and France “…following feedback from competitors…”. The series will start at Easter at Lydden Hill.

5 December / Lithuanian team ESmotorsport reveals its World RX Skoda Fabia RX1e car. The team’s graduation to World RX was planned to follow its Euro RX title winning season with Andreas Bakkerud in 2022, and after delays ESmotorsport is now ready to join the grid next year with the car that is built by Blue Engineering with the support of ORECA and Reiger engineers. “Motorsport is increasingly about sustainability – this is the new reality, and we must prepare for the future,” said team owner Ernestas Staponkus.

6 December / The FIA World Motor Sport Council approves changes to the 2024 FIA World Rallycross Championship. The “Battle of Technolgies” will allow RX1 cars with internal combustion engines to compete directly head-to-head with all-electric RX1e cars at the sport’s highest level. The WMSC statement also reveals says “A change to the sporting format was approved whereby competitors will race for position and not against the clock. Championship points would accrue in every race including heats.” Hoosier Racing Tire was announced as the new single supplier of tyres for the FIA rallycross championships.

This weekend / Nitrocross moves to California’s Glen Helen for rounds six and seven of its 23-24 season while at Mondello Park the 2023 Irish Rallycross Championship will conclude with the title on the line on Sunday.

pics: World RX, Red Bull media pool, FIA, Ralicross Portugal, Rallycross France, CERX, Extreme E, 5Nations BRX, ESmotorsport