More Rallycross as GRC and RCE kick off

More Rallycross as GRC and RCE kick off
by Martijn Kösters
All be it late in April, the Global Rallycross Championship and the Rallycross Challenge Europe have yet to start their seasons. The GRC gets underway in Brazil at Foz de Iguacu as part of its partnership with the X Games and the RCE starts of the season in Melk, Austria.

The Global Rallycross Championship has seen an interesting development over the winter, from a NASCAR support event with one round at the LA X Games to a full Global partnership with the X Games which takes them to Los Angeles, Foz de Iguacu in Brazil, Barcelona and Munich as well as events we saw last year in New Hampshire, Bristol, Atlanta and Charlotte Motor Speedway.

The driver line-up has stepped up its game too. We have seen Tanner Foust, Liam Doran, Brian Deegan, Travis Pastrana, Toomas Heikkinen and Ken Block enter events last year and for this weekend they are joined by drivers such as Anton Marklund who we've seen in last year's European Rallycross Championship, Rally driver Patrik Sandell and NASCAR drivers Buddy Rice and Nelson Piquet Jr. who will make their debut on gravel.

The track itself (picture), unlike circuits seen in Europe or previously seen in the GRC is a full gravel course. The surroundings have a real 'Rumble in the jungle' feel to it. Viewers in the US have the opportunity to tune in to ESPN to follow the action live, where as Rallycross followers elsewhere will have to wait for any action to emerge on youtube. But hey we'll keep you updated.

After a few confusing name changes and a media silence following that the second European Rallycross series, the Rallycross Challenge Europe gets underway. The series markets itself as a spectator oriented championship with friendly entry prices, familiar rules and regulations and a family-like atmosphere. Events for the coming year are scheduled for Austria this weekend, two events for France in Essay and Cohiniac, two events in the Lowlands at the classic circuits of Maasmechelen and Valkenswaard. Season finale is planned at Sosnova in the Czech Republic.

With most big names in Rallycross already comitted to the RallycrossRX Championship another big question surrounded who would actually be driving in the series. Drivers were announced over the past few weeks and mostly consist of Central European drivers, with no Scandinavian entries opposed to what we've seen in the ERC traditionally.

In the Supercar category, which is no different from the Supercars you see in other series, we see drivers who had some outings in last year's European Rallycross Championship. Amongst them Kevin Procter (10^th in 2012 and winner of the French round), Jos Kuijpers (11^th in 2012), Pavel Koutny (15^th). Furthermore Jurgen Weiss who came in 9^th in the Austrian round of the ERC who is joined in Supercars by Robert Theuil, Marcel Ottink, Bernd Wilhelm and Otakar Vyborny.

Super 1600 will be headlined by ERC-regulars Vaclav Veverka and Pavel Vimmer driving their Peugeot 206 and Skoda Fabia. They will be joined by national drivers such as Sven Seeliger and Manfred Beck from Germany and Dave van Beers from Belgium. Eric Guillemette and Dorian Launay represent France with Werner Panhauser (A) and Robert Czarnecki (Pol) completing the S1600 grid.

The Touringcar field is a full Belgian-Dutch affair, with Nick Snoeys, Ivo van den Brandt and Mandy Kasse being the most well known drivers. Finishing 15^th, 16^th and 17^th in last year's ERC, Snoeys finished 6^th in the Hungarian round and van den Brandt scoring two 8^th places in Austrian and Hungarian round. Mandy Kasse scored 9^th in France and the Netherlands. Jos Sterkens and Louis de Haas complete the driver's who have been announced so far.

Action gets underway this Saturday afternoon with free practices, Heat one to get underway at 16:00 local. Heat two and three take place from nine and 12:30 on the Sunday. Finals are to start at 14:30 Sunday afternoon. It will be interesting to follow the new championship and hope it catches momentum throughout the year.

Preview: More Rallycross as GRC and RCE kick off

More Rallycross as GRC and RCE kick off
by Martijn Kösters
All be it late in April, the Global Rallycross Championship and the Rallycross Challenge Europe have yet to start their seasons. The GRC gets underway in Brazil at Foz de Iguacu as part of its partnership with the X Games and the RCE starts of the season in Melk, Austria.

The Global Rallycross Championship has seen an interesting development over the winter, from a NASCAR support event with one round at the LA X Games to a full Global partnership with the X Games which takes them to Los Angeles, Foz de Iguacu in Brazil, Barcelona and Munich as well as events we saw last year in New Hampshire, Bristol, Atlanta and Charlotte Motor Speedway.

The driver line-up has stepped up its game too. We have seen Tanner Foust, Liam Doran, Brian Deegan, Travis Pastrana, Toomas Heikkinen and Ken Block enter events last year and for this weekend they are joined by drivers such as Anton Marklund who we've seen in last year's European Rallycross Championship, Rally driver Patrik Sandell and NASCAR drivers Buddy Rice and Nelson Piquet Jr. who will make their debut on gravel.


The track itself (picture), unlike circuits seen in Europe or previously seen in the GRC is a full gravel course. The surroundings have a real 'Rumble in the jungle' feel to it. Viewers in the US have the opportunity to tune in to ESPN to follow the action live, where as Rallycross followers elsewhere will have to wait for any action to emerge on youtube. But hey we'll keep you updated.

After a few confusing name changes and a media silence following that the second European Rallycross series, the Rallycross Challenge Europe gets underway. The series markets itself as a spectator oriented championship with friendly entry prices, familiar rules and regulations and a family-like atmosphere. Events for the coming year are scheduled for Austria this weekend, two events for France in Essay and Cohiniac, two events in the Lowlands at the classic circuits of Maasmechelen and Valkenswaard. Season finale is planned at Sosnova in the Czech Republic.

With most big names in Rallycross already comitted to the RallycrossRX Championship another big question surrounded who would actually be driving in the series. Drivers were announced over the past few weeks and mostly consist of Central European drivers, with no Scandinavian entries opposed to what we've seen in the ERC traditionally.

In the Supercar category, which is no different from the Supercars you see in other series, we see drivers who had some outings in last year's European Rallycross Championship. Amongst them Kevin Procter (10^th in 2012 and winner of the French round), Jos Kuijpers (11^th in 2012), Pavel Koutny (15^th). Furthermore Jurgen Weiss who came in 9^th in the Austrian round of the ERC who is joined in Supercars by Robert Theuil, Marcel Ottink, Bernd Wilhelm and Otakar Vyborny.

Super 1600 will be headlined by ERC-regulars Vaclav Veverka and Pavel Vimmer driving their Peugeot 206 and Skoda Fabia. They will be joined by national drivers such as Sven Seeliger and Manfred Beck from Germany and Dave van Beers from Belgium. Eric Guillemette and Dorian Launay represent France with Werner Panhauser (A) and Robert Czarnecki (Pol) completing the S1600 grid.

The Touringcar field is a full Belgian-Dutch affair, with Nick Snoeys, Ivo van den Brandt and Mandy Kasse being the most well known drivers. Finishing 15^th, 16^th and 17^th in last year's ERC, Snoeys finished 6^th in the Hungarian round and van den Brandt scoring two 8^th places in Austrian and Hungarian round. Mandy Kasse scored 9^th in France and the Netherlands. Jos Sterkens and Louis de Haas complete the driver's who have been announced so far.

Action gets underway this Saturday afternoon with free practices, Heat one to get underway at 16:00 local. Heat two and three take place from nine and 12:30 on the Sunday. Finals are to start at 14:30 Sunday afternoon. It will be interesting to follow the new championship and hope it catches momentum throughout the year.

ERC Preview: Stars touch down on the Canary Islands, not just for sunlight

ERC Preview: Stars touch down on the Canary Islands, not just for sunlight
by Martijn Kösters
As star studded the European Rally Championship opener was in Austria, as bleak its field was in the following Ventspils Rally in Latvia. Given, Jari Ketomaa, Craig Breen and Francois Delecour were interesting headliners in the Baltic but it did not match the likes of Kopecký, Hänninen and even Blomqvist in Austria.

Back to current times, and we have Kopecký, Breen and Oliviera on our entry list. Add to this Robert Kubica in a brand-new Citroën DS3, János Puskadi driving a Fabia S2000, Jean Leandri driving for the returning Sainteloc team, Luis Monzon in a MINI, Jeremi Ancian with backing from the Peugeot Rally Academy and we get a quite interesting fight for the points.

The rally in total encompasses a hefty 246km of timed stages packed into less than 30 hours, which means any mistake will have very costly repercussions and consistency is absolutely vital. Action starts early on the Friday with eight stages spread around the clock from before eight in the morning to half past six in the early evening with stages reaching from between 13 to 26 kilometres. Note the one hour time difference with Central Europe. Two runs of the Moya, Artenara and Tejeda stages in the morning and early afternoon with Aguimes (26km) and Ingenio completing day one in the late afternoon. After both three-stage loops there is a service of 30 minutes. Day two consists of two runs on the trio of Maspalomas, San Bartolome and Vallesco stages. As stages are equal last-minute attacks are to be expected when differences stay close at the front.

Now who to tip for the win? Kopecký has won twice in three attempts at the Canarias so far, but only just held off Bouffier in Austria in his ageing Peugeot 207. The Canary Islands being far from wintery Austria and conditions likely to be more equal this weekend, it is time for the Czech to show he's up for the job.

Yet that is exactly what Craig Breen will be thinking too. With less experience he may be, but he has certainly got the pace. Outscoring Francois Delecour in similar Peugeot material must have given him a boost, but missing out the win also would have made him more eager to go for glory. Will he keep it together?

Then there are the outsiders, Robert Kubica, Daniel Oliviera, Local Luis Monzon, Janos Puskadi, Jeremi Ancian. They all make their debut in the new-style European Rally Championship, and some of them showed great things before. Who knows what happens if either Breen or Kopecký get into trouble?

Rally Islas Canarias starts Friday morning, coverage on twitter.com/RallyandCross

European Rallycross: Two halves equals nothing?

European Rallycross: Two halves equals nothing?

by Martijn Kösters

This has been bugging my mind for a while now, actually ever since the split of the European Rallycross Championship (back then the only series to be abbreviated to ERC) into the IMG European Rallycross Championship and The Rallycross Challenge. Why? Because break-ups never work out, and probably never will.

Most recent example comes from The States, Champcar and Indycar split in the 1990s and went there own way for a while. One focusing more on so called 'Road Courses', the other practiced the fine art of going counter-clockwise very fast. Yet in the end, with a little help from the financial crisis, they were forced into eachother's arms again. The United States could not hold up two major open wheel racing categories. If two similar series, in one of the biggest categories of motor racing in one of the biggest consumer markets on the planet is not achievable. Can a much smaller form of motorsport like Rallycross make a split work?

Given, despite the current financial climate the IMG championship can rely on more than decent backing. Its outlook for the coming years looks very good, with more TV coverage, and more revenue for both teams and drivers. IMG seem to have a vantage point on the horizon where they want to take Rallycross to, and so far teams and drivers are more than willing to jump the IMG-train.

In a way, something needed to happen in order to take Rallycross to the next level. Coverage was virtually non-existent except when you were in one of the Scandinavian countries and some successful drivers like Isachsen, Foust and Doran were moving to the US to compete in the Global Rallycross Championship. The GRC might not be what Europeans call Rallycross, if only for the lack of off-road driving. Tracks might have been very basic in their lay-outs as they often used pit-lanes at oval circuits combined with some (very exciting) jumps. Still, GRC did get one thing right, positioning GRC as a dessert after NASCAR-races meant the spectators were already there, and major channels like ESPN were too. It provides prime racing (great driver line-up) on a prime channel (ESPN) on a prime slot (right after NASCAR) in front of a prime audience. For 2013 GRC takes another step by hosting events in line with the X-Games in Brazil, Spain, Germany and the US.

The big question is what the future of European Rallycross will look like. Will both series survive, will only one remain or will the split lead to the complete demise of Rallycross? Virtually it is anybody's guess with no events being run yet and no feedback from drivers or spectators. Yet from what we have seen in the build-up to the 2013 season I'll have to say that the IMG Championship seems to have a very strong package. Not only in terms of resources, but also in terms of FIA backing and a driver line-up which is right up there.

The Rallycross Challenge has been cloaked in silence so far, having only released a calendar which lists planned events. The Challenge is founded on the slogan 'Rallycross the way it is meant to be' and promises accessibility for both drivers and spectators. The focus on old-school rallycross is one that appeals to a general audience, but it may be a dead-end street. In the end the teams need to pay their bills, something IMG promises to do in their Championship. Combined with the more progressive focus of IMG into new markets like Portugal, Hungary and good-old Scandinavia which the Challenge misses out on, IMG provides a commercially more appealing package.

This whole opinion might be redundant as soon when The Rallycross Challenge reveal their plans in detail, but as it stands now the IMG has everything the drivers and teams could like. And although both calendars do not interfere with each other, it seems unlikely that any team can pull off 15 Rallycross events in a year. Drivers and teams who have signed up for the IMG ERC might occasionally join the Rallycross Challenge, but I'm afraid the latter one will boast perhaps a better atmosphere, but a starting grid without any headliners.

Rally Review: FIA ERC Jänner rally

Rally Review: FIA ERC Jänner rally

New year, new championship, more action

by Martijn Kösters

The good thing about rallying is that it always starts early in the year compared to other forms of motorsport which hibernate till around March. We were used to the Rally Monte Carlo blasting into our living rooms in the third weekend of January. But the new-style European Rally Championship takes rallying to just after dessert of your Christmas dinner. Not that anyone has a problem with that.

The Jänner Rally delivered what it had promised, tricky, slippery conditions which constantly changed and made the right tyre choice absolutely vital. Rain, snow, ice, mud, gravel and dry stages, it was all thrown at the drivers.

The first loop immediately provided interesting conditions, stage 1 was run in wet conditions, suitable for wider rain tyres. But the weather changed quickly, with stage two partly icy and three full on ice, which would have required narrow or even studded tyres. Jan Kopecký suffered from a wrong tyre choice. On the wider rain tyre he was fastest on SS1, 15^th on SS2 and 14^th on SS3, but still lead somehow, as drivers on studded tyres were very slow on the opening stage. Raimund Baumschlager of Austria proved to be a tough competitor for Kopecký, as he excelled on snow and ice. Yet his excellence on the slippy stuff could not make up the time he lost on the rainy first stage.

The re-run of the morning loop later on Saturday took place in different conditions again. The cold and wet conditions of the morning stages gave way to what was described by Kopecký as a gravel rally. No ice or snow meant that drivers were free to cut corners, throwing mud and gravel on the narrow tarmac roads.

Bryan Bouffier obviously had some time to make up, starting the second set of stages in 6^th he went on for two fastest times and one second place, cutting his 40 seconds gap to the leader in half. At the top of the table Jan Kopecký battled for the lead with Baumschlager and countryman Vaclav Pech. Despite the top-5 only covered by 22 seconds after six stages, little changes were made at the top.

And just as everyone got used to “gravel” conditions, the heavens opened and the rally was run under full wet conditions, asking for another major setup change. Bouffier and Kopecký were both well set up for the conditions, sharing fastest times between them. Baumschlager made a short gamble for studs but that did not pay out. At the end of day one Kopecký and Bouffier built out some sort of a lead over the rest. The Frenchman trailed Kopecký by 20 seconds, with Baumschlager a further 18 down the road. Vaclav Pech was in fourth but well down after going off the road. Francois Delecour was also behind the leading trio after suffering a 1 minute penalty for being early in time control at stage 6.

The first leg of day two was by far not as interesting as the day before, despite Bouffier eating away Kopecký's lead not much happened as differences on the stages were small but differences in the standings were big. On top of that most drivers were well used to the wet roads, providing little surprises in stage times. Kopecký put Bouffier back to were he was by a fast SS14, restoring the 20 second lead he had prior to day two. But just as you thought everything settled down and the rally was in Kopecký's hands there is a puncture. For Kopecký, who dropped down to third, 30 seconds behind Bouffier with just three stages and in total 58 kilometers to go.

What followed was a very exciting finale, as if out of a movie. On Stage 16 out of 18 Kopecký gains just 4.7 seconds, not bad considering the stage was only 8km long. Kopecký claimed everything was possible, and he would give it all despite having no spare wheel left. The rally ended spectacularly with the 25km Bad Zell stage run twice, with service in between. On the first run Kopecký gave it his best in the pouring rain, gaining 14.4s cutting the gap to 10.6 seconds. Bouffier after the stage: 'Jan knows how to disconnect and go crazy. He was so quick, too quick.'

One stage remained, the gap a good 10 seconds, the distance 25 kilometers. Could he? Yes. Would he? Well.

Conditions were worse on the final stage, as seen in stage times which were a good 10 to 15 seconds slower. Bouffier was first to cross the line, with a 13:53.1 he was a good 11 seconds slower. Kopecký now had a time to beat: 13:42.4, 15 seconds slower than his first blast on this stage. No reason for Kopecký to hold back, he crossed the line in...13....42.......0, winning the inaugural rally of 2013 by just half a second.

What a way to start the year.

FIA ERC Jänner Rally:
1 Jan Kopecký
2 Bryan Bouffier
3 Raimund Baumschlager
4 Václav Pech
5 Beppo Harrach (Prod. Cup winner)
6 Kajetan Kajetanowicz (PC)
7 Francois Delecour
8 Jaroslav Orsak (PC)

Rally Review: IRC Cyprus and 2012 season

First of all, we apologise for the lack of content in the past few weeks. But since we are not full-time journalists we do tend to have issues with studying and computers letting you down. Nevertheless we have another Rally Review.

Rally Review: IRC Cyprus and 2012 season

by Martijn Kösters

The Intercontinental Rally Challenge finished off the 2012 season in Cyprus, same like last year. The tricky combination of tarmac and gravel would put a strain on both cars and drivers, as road conditions change frequently. Not only was the 2012 season put to bed, so was the series as the IRC ceases to exist and Eurosport events will organize the European Rally Championship from January next year.

With the championship still open, a good fight for the title would be welcome. Yet the entry sheets revealed that number two in the championship, Jan Kopecký, would not be present in Cyprus. Same for number 3 Juho Hänninen. However defending Champion Andreas Mikkelsen did enter the event, as did Sepp Wiegand and former Dakar-winner Nasser Al-Attiyah.

Rally Cyprus started on Friday with a short special, which provided plenty of action for the great number of spectators, but no surprises. Real Rally action was provided throughout Saturday, as Andreas Mikkelsen was mainly to fight his car. On the first stage of the day he had to change a wheel, throwing him almost two minutes behind leader Al-Attiyah. Al-Attiyah showed speed, matching Mikkelsen's times closely throughout the whole day. As Sepp Wiegand made a mistake and Jarkko Nikara had a puncture, Mikkelsen was back in P2 after the first loop, still 1m33 behind Al-Attiyah who suffered a broken drive shaft and alternator issues. Lucky for him this happened on the last stage before service.

Saturday afternoon saw consolidation in the top-4, with Mikkelsen closing slowly on Al-Attiyah. And with Wiegand and Nikara unable to match their pace. Apart from Saturday's last stage in which Wiegand retired with broken steering, Nikara found himself swapping wheels on stage and Mikkelsen nursed a punctured tyre to the finish line. Toshihiro Arai profited by taking 3^rd place, all be it seven minutes behind the leader.

Nasser Al-Attiyah started Sunday with a lead of 1 minute and thirty seconds, a comfortable lead with 6 stages to go. However Mikkelsen closed the gap to 57.8 seconds after stage 9, and 49 seconds after the first loop. Al-Attiyah must have felt more than just the Cypriotic heat. However the IRC was robbed of a great finale when Mikkelsen suffered another puncture on Stage 11. This not being Formula One, Mikkelsen took 2 minutes to change his flat tyre. After this Mikkelsen no longer pushed, and even let his Co-driver Ola Floene experience the power of the Skoda Fabia on their last stage as a team.

Al-Attiyah won the rally, which also counted for the Middle-Eastern Rally Championship. Mikkelsen as said 2^nd but with a championship and Toshihiro Arai finished the year on a high with a podium.


The end of the season kind of reflected the 2012 season as a whole, often dominated by a lack of entries Mikkelsen tried to put up a good show or at least score a good result, accompanied by another driver who could match him. For spectators something simple as a puncture for one driver can take the excitement out of an event, as Al-Attiyah and Mikkelsen were in a league of their own. Unfortunately the 2012 IRC did not bring up any new great talents like Kris Meeke, Thierry Neuville and Andreas Mikkelsen in previous years. Sepp Wiegand never really impressed despite having equal material to Mikkelsen and Herman Gassner Jr. left the IRC after the french round of the championship.

But to end on a positive note, there is a “new” championship coming up, with new events, new and more drivers. Mark the first weekend of 2013, as the Jannerrallye kicks of the ERC.

Our big announcement of the week

We promised it before, we had some big news to share this week. Because there will be some changes to the Rallycross_ERC you know, good changes.

First of all, the Twitter account started in 2009 and was born out of the interest I had towards the ERC and Rallycross. Yet despite modern media and the internet, my knowledge and experience of Rallycross was very limited. Limited to visiting the Belgian Round of the European Championship each year, finding out who lead the championship, cheering at the winners and going back home to wait for another year. TV coverage didn't/doesn't exist apart from the Scandinavian Countries and Motors TV for digital viewers, and only occasionally would newspapers write about Rallycross.

So after yet another visit in 2009, I created the Twitter page with a official sounding name and (still) to my amazement it caught on to the 800 followers it had now. Since WRC coverage was becoming marginal over time (Eurosport pushed it into midnight slots, or would randomly broadcast it) I started reporting on that as well. Than the Intercontinental Rally Challenge emerged, and was added to the Rallycross_ERC portfolio. This year the Global Rallycross Championship got covered.

More and more the old name of Rallycross_ERC stopped reflecting what the twitter page was about. The twitter page covered much more than the ERC alone. And when your jacket gets too tight you buy a new one, and that is exactly what is going to happen. From this weekend on, @Rallycross_ERC will change to @RallyandCross, a new name with a wider focus on the world of off-road motorsports. The blog was created under this name months ago, and suits the whole combination of blog and twitter rather well don't you think?

The new name allows us to use several media forms under the same flag, where before the twitter account operated under a different name than the blog, it is now all together under one label. This makes it easier for you to connect with what is happening in the world of rally and rallycross and to connect with what we're up to.

But there is something extra in store for you as well, RallyandCross is coming to Facebook! Our Facebook page will give an overview of our twitter posts as well as the posts on this blog. Search for "Rally and Cross" and hit that like button!

Above all, enjoy all that is new, and this weekends Rally de France,


The Rally and Cross Team

ERC/GRC Rallycross Review: Action on and off track

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 2^nd and 3^rd 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.

#ERC Finland: New stars shine, but old ones shine brighter

#ERC Finland: New stars shine, but old stars shine brighter

by Martijn Kösters

The European Rallycross Championship came to a wet Kuovola for the penultimate round. In every category there was the possibility of the title race being concluded this weekend, yet this didn't mean the weekend was only dominated by possible new champions. The weekend in Kuovola also saw some future stars trying to outshine the heroes of 2012.

In the Supercar category Tanner Foust was the only challenger to Championship leader Timur Timerzyanov, all be it only mathematically. The title fight was effectively ended by Foust himself when he revealed not to compete in next weekend's German round, as he will try to obtain the Global Rallycross Championship in 'Vegas. Nonetheless Foust started off well by being fastest in Saturday's first heat ahead of Citroën driver Liam Doran and Mats Lysen in his trusty Renault Clio. Timerzyanov concluded Saturday in fourth place.

New boy on the Supercar block represented a more than well-known name. Hansen, Timmy is better known for his outings in formula racing, yet after breaking with his team the son of 14-time Champion Kenneth had time on his hands to try different kinds of motorsport. Given the opportunity to drive a Citroën DS3 Supercar (previously used by Sebastien Loeb to win the X-games) he ended day one in tenth.

Old name, new tricks. Timmy Hansen brings a famous name back.

Super 1600 could see a fight between Andreas Bakkerud and Ulrik Linnemann who were both still in the title chase. Bakkerud supported a ten point lead coming into Finland. Though day one did not see many action between the two, as Linnemann had to deal with a misfiring engine he finished Saturday in 19^th. Jussi Pinomäki of the Set Promotion team had all the reasons to be content after day one, his two Finnish rookies Suninen and Wiman were first and second in the first heat, with fellow Finn Leppihalme in third and Bakkerud in fourth.

Where the Finns dominated Super 1600, the Touringcar division was an all Swedish affair. Robin Larsson continued to show form by beating main championship contender Anton Marklund in the first heat, with Daniel Lundh (in a Volvo) making it three Swedes in the top-3. Marklund's main rival Derek Tohill ended the Saturday in fourth.

On Sunday, the second and third heats saw similar drivers on top of the time sheets. Peter Hedström took Supercar pole by being fastest in Heat 2 and 3, Doran and Timerzyanov were second and third in both of sunday's heats. After three heats Lysen, Jeanney and de Keersmaecker were the other three drivers who qualified directly for the A-Final. Tanner Foust only just qualified for the B-final after P20 in heat 2 and a DNF in heat three. Timmy Hansen had to settle for the C-final, as he didn't make the top 10 in any session on Sunday.

As mentioned before, Joni Wiman dominated in Sunday's quali heats, with a first place in Heat two ahead of Minnikhanov and Färén. Heat three resulted in second place behind Skorupski for the young Finn. These good results meant Wiman would start the A-final from pole, alongside him fellow Finnish rookie Teemu Suninen and Minnikhanov on P3. Skorupski, Färén and Bakkerud complete the A-final. Linnemann didn't overcome his engine issues and would start in the C-final. In Touringcars Robin Larsson and Anton Marklund secured P1 and P2 in the A-final by finishing first and second in Heat Three. Though he won heat 2, Roman Castoral had to settle for 3^rd place on the grid, ahead of Tohill and Lundh.

Wet conditions added extra action into the game

Finals started great for Timur Timerzyanov, not only could he start from third in the A-final, that position also granted him the title as he only needed a single point for the title. Rival Tanner Foust did make it up to the A-final, as did Timmy Hansen all the way from Finale C. The A-final itself was dominated by Timerzyanov in his almost traditional style, he drove to a clear victory, his sixth of the season. Doran and Hedström completed the podium. Lysen finished fourth, only just ahead of Timmy Hansen and Tanner Foust, who ended his year with a mediocre result.

In Super 1600 would become a Set Promotion party. Without Ulrik Linnemann in the A-final, it would be a lap of honour for Andreas Bakkerud who only needed fifth in order to take the title. The race was won by Jussi Leppihalme, ahead of team mate Suninen. Skorupski came third and now holds second in the championship. As Skorupski would need to drop his score of seven points in Austria he can only score an additional 13 points in Germany, not enough to bridge the 17-point gap to Bakkerud.

Would the third champion of the day come from the Touringcar class today? Well yes, Derek Tohill never got in front of Anton Marklund during the final, who 'cruised' to second place and the title in Touringcars. Robin Larsson continued his end of season sprint by taking yet another victory, ahead of Marklund and Castoral.

Timerzyanov still seemed surprised with his title

At the end of the day we had three great champions in the names of Timur Timerzyanov for Russia in Supercars, Andreas Bakkerud for Norway in S1600 and Anton Marklund for Sweden in Touringcars. What Germany will bring? There are no titles left to race for, an invitation for all drivers to drive freely and put up a good show, next week in Buxtehude.

ERC Season Finale Preview

Who will take the silver? - A brief guide

by Martijn Kösters



As the final two rounds of this year's European Rallycross Championship in Finland and Germany are coming up, time for a quick brush up of all standings and title candidates.

Some of you might know that the European Rallycross Championship is divided into three categories. Supercars are four-wheel-driven vehicles fitted with a turbocharged two-liter engine. This might sound like a similar recipe as the WRC cars used throughout the 90s and 00s, but one must note that power output of ERC Supercars easily doubles that of WRC cars. Although exact numbers are kept secret, expect Supercars to put out around 600 horsepower, where WRC cars “only” have about 300 at best. The other two categories are Super 1600 (FWD, 1.6 liter atmospheric engines) and Touringcars (RWD, 2 liter atmospheric engines).

The Supercar category has been dominated throughout the season by one man: 'Czar' Timur Timerzyanov. Out of the seven rounds in which he competed d he managed to win five, of which three out of the last three rounds. Timerzyanov currently leads the championship with 128 points, his closest and only rival Tanner Foust is another 39 points down the road. Foust is the only driver who managed to keep Timerzyanov from a victory, yet as he is competing for the US-based Global Rallycross Championship as well he had to skip the Austrian and Swedish round of the championship. Mediocre results in France and the Netherlands put him only just ahead of #3 in the championship Alexander Hvaal, who is out of the title chase with 82 points.

The way in which the ERC is set up means there is another factor to be taken into account: drop-scores. Of both halves of the season each driver has to drop his worst result. In the first halve of the season, Timerzyanov dropped his non-entry at the season premier in the United Kingdom, where he couldn't enter because of visa issues. Other title candidate Tanner Foust skipped the Austrian round.

Standings at the moment come in two versions: one with and one without drop-scores. With drop-scores Timerzyanov would be on 108 points prior to the last two rounds, Foust would stay at 89 points (non-entry in Sweden). This decreases the gap in the championship from 39 to 19 points, leaving Foust with a chance for the title. On the other hand, a retirement would cost Timerzyanov absolutely nothing, since a 0-score would become his mandatory drop-score. To clinch the title this weekend, Timerzyanov would only need a single point (15^th place), since Foust could only reach a total 129 points.

Prediction: Timur Timerzyanov


In Super 1600 matters are not so clear as in Supercars, since there are many more drivers still competing for the title, five to be precise. Leading the Championship is Andreas Bakkerud, with a 119 points he has a nice but not comfortable lead of 10 points over Ulrik Linnemann. Third is Krzystof Skorupski on 99 points, closely followed by Ildar Rakhmatullin on 94 and Bakkerud's team mate Jussi Leppihalme on 91 points.

Andreas Bakkerud can take the title his this weekend, if he wins and Linnemann would finish no higher than third the scores would be 139 against 124. If Linnemann would then win in Germany he would need to drop his 5 points scored in Belgium putting him on 139 points. Bakkerud would then be champion on four wins to three for Linnemann.

Bakkerud's worst score was 7^th place in Belgium, still an A-final finish. He's great at fighting his way up from a B-final position to the A-final. Linnemann can only try to win and hope Bakkerud doesn't do well.

Prediction: Andreas Bakkerud

In the Touringcar class there are only two title candidates left: Anton Marklund leads on 125 points with 2010 champion Derek Tohill second on 108 points. Marklund has had an absolutely fantastic season with two wins and five second places. Only time Marklund didn't make the podium was in Norway, and that score doesn't count for the championship anymore (dropped). Tohill is on two wins as well, yet finishing 4^th, 9^th and 3^rd in the last three rounds has cost him the lead he held after the first half of the season. Outsider for this weekend could be Robin Larsson, he either did not score or finished on the podium (4 times out of 6 starts).

In order for Marklund to take the title in Finland he would 'only' need to finish second. This would put him on 142 points, whereas Tohill can only reach 140 given he wins twice (drops 8 points from Belgium).

Prediction: Anton Marklund