ERC/GRC
Rallycross Review: Action on and off track
by
Martijn Kösters
Double
the action this weekend as both major Rallycross series had an outing
on either side of the globe. The Global Rallycross Championship had
its first of two events in Las Vegas (with a race at SEMA in four
weeks time) and the European Rallycross Championship went for its
final spin at the Estering in Germany.
Although
the Global Rallycross Championship had its final on Saturday evening
local time, we will start of with the ERC since important
developments took place over the weekend. As you may know, next
year's FIA Rallycross Championship is undergoing some changes
including a new promoting party, IMG. As IMG basically organises this
championship, she has the right to select venues on which to stage
events, meaning some tracks might be left out. This has resulted in
the formation of a break-away series, going by the name of FIA
Rallycross Challenge. The Challenge will use the same Rallycross
regulations written by FIA. One issue is that the series has yet to
be approved by the FIA, who will not be overly pleased with two
European Championship in the same class of motorsport on roughly
similar tracks. To
Be Continued...
Back to on-track action, the ERC came to Buxtehude for round ten out of ten of the season. All the titles were awarded last week, but championship standings provide enough excitement for 2nd and 3rd place in the championship. In Supercars Liam Doran, Davy Jeanney and possible Alexander Hvaal hoped to profit from #2 in the standings Tanner Foust. In Super 1600 Skorupski, Leppihalme, Linnemann and Rakhmatullin had a chance at taking 'silver' for the 2012 championship. Touringcars had less battles still in the championship, although Robin Larsson could reward his great run in the second half of the season with third place in the Championship.
Back to on-track action, the ERC came to Buxtehude for round ten out of ten of the season. All the titles were awarded last week, but championship standings provide enough excitement for 2nd and 3rd place in the championship. In Supercars Liam Doran, Davy Jeanney and possible Alexander Hvaal hoped to profit from #2 in the standings Tanner Foust. In Super 1600 Skorupski, Leppihalme, Linnemann and Rakhmatullin had a chance at taking 'silver' for the 2012 championship. Touringcars had less battles still in the championship, although Robin Larsson could reward his great run in the second half of the season with third place in the Championship.
The
A-finals on Sunday saw plenty of action, with some of the favourites
being caught out in crashes. In Touringcars Anton Marklund and
outgoing champion Lars Oivind Enerberg retired from the gravel trap.
Robin Larsson took his fifth victory of the season, and his fourth
from the second half of the season, giving him maximum points from
the second half of the year. Ole Habjorg finished second ahead of
Castoral, Enlund and Lundh. Both Koen Pauwels and Derek Tohill were
absent from the A-final.
Ch. Result: 1. Anton Marklund 142pt., 2 Derek Tohill 121pt., 3 Roman Castoral 115pt.
In Super 1600 it took a few tries to decide a winner. Jussi Leppihalme caused a red flag in the first take of the A-final, and also had to retire. Take two saw chaos in the first corner, leaving Joni Wiman unable to compete. Eventually Teemu Suninen, who was fast all weekend took the win ahead of this year's champ Bakkerud and Sergey Zagumennov.
Ch. Result: 1. Andreas Bakkerud 138pt., 2 Krzystof Skorupski 114pt., 3 Jussi-Petteri Leppihalme 113pt.
In Supercars, a spectecular crash saw two cars out after the first lap. Peter Hedström hit the armco barrier on the inside, sending his car across the track into the path of Pavel Koutný, who as a result barrel-rolled along the armco, and straight over Hedström's car. After the restart, Liam Doran profited from both Tanner Foust's and more surprisingly Timerzyanov's absence from the final to take the win. Jeanney second, Stig-Olov Walfridsson scored his best 2012 result with third.
Ch. Result: 1. Timur Timerzyanov 148pt., 2 Liam Doran 104pt., 3 Tanner Foust 100pt.
Over in the United States, the Global Rallycross Championship worked off round 5 out of 6, with the Discount Tire-America's Tire Cup concluding already this weekend. Tanner Foust wanted to score here, he skipped the European Rallycross round in Germany (and others) in order to take a shot at the GRC. Foust did not let himself down by being fastest in practice and eventually taking the win. Fellow Rockstar teammate Brian Deegan finished second ahead of 2011 European Champion Sverre Isachsen, Toomas Heikkinen and Stéphane Verdier. Foust's win secured him the Discount Tire Cup, which he also won ahead of Brian Deegan. This result also puts him another step closer to the Global Championship, as he increases his Championship lead on Brian Deegan to 16 points.
The GRC will be finishing at the SEMA centre in Vegas, during the last weekend of October.
Ch. Result: 1. Anton Marklund 142pt., 2 Derek Tohill 121pt., 3 Roman Castoral 115pt.
In Super 1600 it took a few tries to decide a winner. Jussi Leppihalme caused a red flag in the first take of the A-final, and also had to retire. Take two saw chaos in the first corner, leaving Joni Wiman unable to compete. Eventually Teemu Suninen, who was fast all weekend took the win ahead of this year's champ Bakkerud and Sergey Zagumennov.
Ch. Result: 1. Andreas Bakkerud 138pt., 2 Krzystof Skorupski 114pt., 3 Jussi-Petteri Leppihalme 113pt.
In Supercars, a spectecular crash saw two cars out after the first lap. Peter Hedström hit the armco barrier on the inside, sending his car across the track into the path of Pavel Koutný, who as a result barrel-rolled along the armco, and straight over Hedström's car. After the restart, Liam Doran profited from both Tanner Foust's and more surprisingly Timerzyanov's absence from the final to take the win. Jeanney second, Stig-Olov Walfridsson scored his best 2012 result with third.
Ch. Result: 1. Timur Timerzyanov 148pt., 2 Liam Doran 104pt., 3 Tanner Foust 100pt.
Over in the United States, the Global Rallycross Championship worked off round 5 out of 6, with the Discount Tire-America's Tire Cup concluding already this weekend. Tanner Foust wanted to score here, he skipped the European Rallycross round in Germany (and others) in order to take a shot at the GRC. Foust did not let himself down by being fastest in practice and eventually taking the win. Fellow Rockstar teammate Brian Deegan finished second ahead of 2011 European Champion Sverre Isachsen, Toomas Heikkinen and Stéphane Verdier. Foust's win secured him the Discount Tire Cup, which he also won ahead of Brian Deegan. This result also puts him another step closer to the Global Championship, as he increases his Championship lead on Brian Deegan to 16 points.
The GRC will be finishing at the SEMA centre in Vegas, during the last weekend of October.
No comments:
Post a Comment