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.

Kubica flies, Kopecky scores

Kubica flies, Kopecký scores
by Martijn Kösters


Not just any odd comeback from Kubica, he came back with style, quite some style. Winning a tourist trophy is another thing than winning in the ERC I said before, apparently Robert didn't get that message.

Although sunny weather is what you would expect from the Canary Islands, the rally was off to a wet start with rainon SS1 and foggy conditions on the second stage. Kubica wasn't halted by these conditions, with Breen "as blind as a bat" on stage two after forgetting his glasses. No major drama in the early stages of the rally, but Kubica lead by 37 seconds after just 45 kilometers of stages aided by the soft compound tyres whilst others drove on hard ones. After the first leg of three stages it was Kubica, Kopecky, Breen, Monzon and Ancian in the top 5.

Kubica continued his streak of best stage times on the next trio of stages, building on his lead continuously. Conditions did improve, but full attack was not an ideal option on damp stages. Behind the pole, Craig Breen challenged Kopecky by cutting his lead to 10.3s after stage 5. Luis Monzon dropped over 40 seconds to Jeremi Ancian on stage 5 after a puncture struck the Spaniard, handing over fourth place as a result.

The final two stages also went to Kubica, completing a clean sweep on friday of 8 stage bests. Behind him Kopecky felt the need to respond to Craig Breen's charge. Though not without risk: "We had a big moment on a long left-hander when we were braking too late and sliding 40 metres completely off the line". At the end of dayone Kubica lead Kopecky by 1m06. Breen in third 44 seconds behind the Czech. Ancian and Monzon in fourth and fifth well clear of eachother. Aigner lead production class in p6 overall.

A sign of change on day two, with Kubica not winning the first stage of the day. Kopecky gained 1.1 second on the rally leader, and was still unlikely to win the rally. Major drama arose on the following stage, when Kubica had a big shunt and terminally damaged his suspension. He was out, and Kopecky lead. Ancian was also forced to retire, running out of spare tyres and barely making the stage finish meant he couldn't continue. After ss10/14 it was Kopecky leading Breen by 1m17, with Monzon a further 1,5 minute back in 3rd. Andreas Aigner, Bonnefis and Leandri made up the top six, with Antxustegi and Robert Consani lurking at Leandri's sixth place.

Final loop of the rally saw people consolidating their podium spots at the front. Consani dropped time after a puncture on ss12 was out of the battle for sixth place, though was promoted up to seventh when Leandri ran into trouble on the penultimate stage. That joy was shortlived however, as another puncture cost him 7th and even 8th place. 

Final result saw Kopecky taking the win, comfortably ahead of Breen. Local hero Luis Monzon must have been joyed with a podium spot in third. Aigner, Bonnefis and Antxustegi made 4th 5th and 6th whilst Puskadi and Leandri completed the top 8. Kopecky leads Breen in the championship by 18 points.

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)