Star InactiveStar InactiveStar InactiveStar InactiveStar Inactive

The FIA World Rallycross Championship  will travel to Loheac in Brittany this weekend (1-3 September) for the best attended round of the season, the Bretagne World RX of France.

Loheac RX attracts over 70,000 fans each year at the packed circuit which will see a maximum entry in all FIA classes with a total of 60 Supercars (25 World RX; 35 Euro RX), as well as 35 entries in the penultimate round of the Super1600 category. A further 15 cars start the sixth round of the supporting RX2 series.

Staged in the small Breton village of Loheac in the north-west of the country, there will be patriotism aplenty in the packed French grandstands as no less than 23 home drivers take part. 

At the helm will be nine-time WRC Champion and full-time Team-Peugeot Hansen driver, Sebastien Loeb, who is currently fourth in the driver standings. Fellow countryman JB Dubourg finished on the podium at Loheac two years ago, and will be eager to put in another strong performance on home soil.

France’s Guerlain Chicherit will contest his home event in his development season with a Renault Clio while France’s Herve “Knapick” Lemonnier will make his fourth start of the year in a Citroen DS3. Local driver Gaetan Serazin (2012 and 2015 French Rallycross Champion) and Emmanuel Anne will also compete in Peugeot 208s.

In Euro RX, Henning Solberg has been replaced by Frenchman Patrick Guillerme, who has won two rounds of the French Rallycross Championship already this year.

Joining the World RX line-up for the first time will be DTM star Nico Mueller, driving an Audi S1 EKS RX Supercar alongside team-mates Mattias Ekstrom, Topi Heikkinen and Reinis Nitiss. Loheac will mark the first time ever that EKS has run four cars in World RX.  Muller spoke positively about the opportunity: “These cars are insane and you become addicted. My dream has been to compete in World RX and that dream will come true in France. That’s a big challenge, but also a great chance."

"I want to enjoy it as much as I can, but I will not travel to France only for fun - I’m also aiming for a proper result.” 

Britain’s Alister McRae will also make his World RX debut in Loheac replacing Guy Wilks in the LOCO World RX Team Volkswagen Polo RX Supercar. McRae – younger brother to the late rally legend Colin McRae – has extensive rally experience having competed in over 75 WRC events, the Dakar Rally and the Asia Pacific Rally Championship – which he won in 2011.

With a one-off rallycross event in Australia under his belt, McRae expects his Loheac RX outing to be a “baptism of fire” but one that he is relishing.

In the headline World Championship, PSRX Volkswagen Sweden’s Johan Kristoffersson will be eager to maintain his healthy 35-point lead over team-mate Petter Solberg at the top of the driver standings.  As last year’s victor in France and winner of the three previous World RX rounds (Canada, Sweden and Norway), Kristoffersson will be the one to beat in Loheac.

Eager to thwart Kristoffersson’s charge will be Team Peugeot-Hansen’s Timmy Hansen who won Loheac RX back in 2015. Hansen reflected: “Winning in front of Peugeot’s home crowd made me feel like I was on top of the world for a short moment. Looking out from the podium, there was a sea of people – a huge buzz.  I can’t wait to get there again this year. It’s one of the biggest races of the season and, along with Holjes, it is undeniably a highlight of Team Peugeot-Hansen’s year.”

In the penultimate round of Euro RX, where Sweden’s Anton Marklund tops the table, a total of 35 Supercars will take part.  Joining regular competitors will be Pailler brothers Fabien and Jonathan, who will race Peugeot 208 Supercars, accompanied by Lebanon’s Nabil Karam.

Also driving a Peugeot 208 will be France’s Rodolphe Audran. Britain’s James Grint will return to Euro RX in a Mitsubishi Mirage Supercar and France’s Firmin Cadeddu who will compete in a Citroen C4. David Olivier will once again compete in his home event in an Olymeca Sport Dacia Logan, now fitted with a turbo-charged engine. 

The FIA European Rallycross Championship for Super1600 will return in France which sees Latvia’s Artis Baumanis head the standings. The 35-car field will welcome the arrival of Tedak Racing’s Davide Medici, the Italian driving a brand new Alfa Romeo MiTos.

Ten French drivers will compete in the class, including 16-year old Damien Meunier, making his international rallycross debut. The Volland Racing team will run a Skoda Fabia for Lithuania’s Rokas Baciuska alongside regular drivers Baumanis and defending Champion, Krisztian Szabo.

The RX2 International Series presented by Cooper Tires will resume in France where home hero Cyril Raymond continues to lead – 14 points ahead of Britain’s Dan Rooke.  Talking about his home race, Raymond commented: “It’s always special for me to compete in France, and to go to Loheac as championship leader gives me even more motivation to put on a real show for all the spectators."

"Dan will clearly be fired-up to bounce back after Canada and he has proved to be a quick learner at every circuit so far this year, which means I will need to be absolutely on top of my game to beat him. It’s a challenge I am up for.”

Star InactiveStar InactiveStar InactiveStar InactiveStar Inactive

Britain’s Alister McRae – younger brother of the late rally legend Colin McRae – will join the FIA World Rallycross Championship presented by Monster Energy for the final four rounds of the 2017 season.

He will replace Guy Wilks in the LOCO Energy Polo RX Supercar and his first event will be at Loheac (France) in just under two weeks’ time (1-3 September).
 
McRae - who hails from Scotland but is now based in Perth, Australia - has a rich background in rallying having contested over 75 WRC events in the past with Subaru, Hyundai and Mitsubishi. 

He has also competed in the Chinese Rally Championship, the Dakar Rally and most recently the Asia Pacific Rally Championship (APRC), which he won in 2011.
 
“It’s great to get the opportunity to drive the Loco Energy Drink Polo RX Supercar in France,” explained McRae.  

“World RX is amazingly competitive so it’s going to be a baptism of fire, but something I’m really looking forward to.  I’m really excited to be running in Loheac - I expect the weekend is going to be one big learning curve but I can’t wait to get started.”
 
Wilks competed in the previous eight World RX rounds before vacating his seat for McRae.

Wilks explained: “I decided to vacate the seat with LOCO from Canada onwards.  I hope to be back in World RX again soon but in the meantime, I wish Alister the best of luck – he is a talent behind the wheel so it will be interesting to watch how he gets on in RX."

"I would just like to part by thanking the team members who helped until this point – they were great."
 
As well as Loheac RX, McRae will also drive in the other three remaining World RX rounds in Latvia (15-17 September), Germany (29 September-1 October) and South Africa (17-19 November).

Star InactiveStar InactiveStar InactiveStar InactiveStar Inactive

South African rally star Mark Cronje will contest Gumtree World RX of South Africa, the season-closer to this year’s FIA World Rallycross Championship, which takes place at the Killarney International Raceway in Cape Town (11-12 November).

Cronje, who hails from Pretoria, will drive a Peugeot 208 RX Supercar with British-based team Albatec Racing.
 
Cronje has extensive karting and rally experience having won the South African National Rally Championship three times (2012, 2013 and 2015).

The 39-year-old driver has limited rallycross experience but joined World RX regulars Petter Solberg and Rene Muennich at the pre-season launch back in March where he drove the RX2 car on the new rallycross circuit at Killarney.
 
Cronje will get his first taste of Albatec’s Peugeot 208 in a two-day test at the end of September, before making his rallycross debut alongside French rallycross regular Philippe Maloigne at Lessay on 1 October.  He will then join the rallycross elite one month later as he races in front of his home crowd when World RX visits Cape Town for the first time.
 
“I’m really looking forward to racing in World RX, and love the fact that it will be in front of all my supporters,” explained Cronje.

“I previously won the Rotax Max World Final in front of my home fans in 2003, and it was unbelievable. I have no rallycross experience, just a very kind sponsor that enjoys throwing me in at the deep end!  Albatec Racing comes highly recommended by a number of engineers and organisers."

"I’ve done some circuit racing, it’s where I cut my teeth, and I have a few karting championships, and the world final to my name, so I’m very excited about racing against other people again."
 
Talking about the home support, Cronje added: “There has been a lot of interest in South Africa ahead of the first World RX event as we’re starved of international motorsport, and I’m sure the event will be a sell-out."

"I’d like to mix it with some of the best in the world, and getting to the semi-finals would be awesome. The biggest challenge will be getting through all stages of the event and stay out of trouble!"
 
Paul Bellamy, World RX Managing Director for IMG, concluded: “We’re delighted that Mark has confirmed his entry for Gumtree World RX of South Africa. With Mark’s extensive karting and rally experience plus the seat-time he will get in the Lessay round of the French Rallycross Championship, I am sure that he will get up to speed in no time."

"We are continuing to work closely with the organisers in Cape Town where interest for rallycross is growing and we look forward to working with Mark in helping to promote our final round of the season over the next couple of months even further."

"I am sure that the fans will get behind Mark and we encourage everyone to buy their tickets early to ensure they can support their local hero."

Star InactiveStar InactiveStar InactiveStar InactiveStar Inactive

Sweden’s Johan Kristoffersson took a lights-to-flag victory on home soil at this weekend’s World RX of Sweden, round seven of the FIA World Rallycross Championship.

Kristoffersson’s win in the PSRX Volkswagen Sweden Polo extends the Swede’s lead on the overall leaderboard – he is now 31 points clear of team-mate Petter Solberg who has moved up to second. EKS driver Mattias Ekstrom was forced to miss Holjes RX due to DTM commitments and has consequently dropped to third in the points.
 
Norwegian Andreas Bakkerud put on another strong showing in his Hoonigan Racing Division prepared Ford Focus RS RX Supercar to finish runner-up, while nine-time WRC Champion and Team Peugeot-Hansen driver, Sebastien Loeb, completed the podium line-up. Two-time World RX Champion Solberg stalled his car at the start of his semi-final.  Eager to make up time lost on the first lap, the Norwegian lost further time on lap three when he went off-track when challenging MJP Racing Team Austria’s Timo Scheider. Solberg finished the weekend seventh overall, while Scheider placed tenth.
 
“This is a very good feeling,” beamed Kristoffersson who also won the previous round in Hell, Norway. “To be able to win two consecutive events is a great sensation and one that I won’t forget anytime soon. I’ve been working flat out together with the team trying to find the right set-up – for everything to come together for the final and to be able to hold the flag high for PSRX is just perfect. I have six podiums in a row in both World RX and in STCC which is something I don’t want to change anytime soon. We still need to play it safe as rallycross is a sport where anything can happen – we need to keep doing what we are doing and cannot afford to lose our focus.”

Runner-up Bakkerud added: “This track suits me well but we have to push hard which is what we have been doing all weekend. On a track like Holjes, you also need a bit of luck and I’ve had a good share of that thankfully! I’ve lived in Torsby in the past which is only an hour from Holjes so I have a lot of friends here along with my fan club – it’s always great to have so much support in the crowd.  I’m really happy with second place but you know, second place is the first loser. Hopefully I can find some more speed before Canada – Johan is having an incredibly good run at the moment so maybe a small break will unsettle him a bit, we will see.”

Loeb – who will start in the annual off-road Silk Way rally later this week – was pleased with his podium in the Peugeot 208 WRX Supercar. The Frenchman explained: “We had a good weekend here and I always enjoy this event.  I was pleased with our qualifying results, I love the track and had a very good feeling in the car.  We had some close battles and pushed hard for this podium. We still need to find some more pace – Johan was flying out at the front and we just couldn’t match the pace but I think we can take a lot of positives from the weekend. There won’t be any time for testing before Canada as I fly to Russia on Wednesday for the Silk Way Rally – it is something completely different and will be a great adventure before we return to Trois-Rivieres.”

Loeb’s team-mate Timmy Hansen brought the squad’s second Peugeot 208 WRX Supercar home in fourth place making Team Peugeot-Hansen the biggest point-scorers in the Teams’ Championship this weekend.  Meanwhile, Sweden’s Kevin Eriksson put on a fantastic display in his MJP Racing Team Austria prepared Ford Fiesta Supercar to make it three Swedes in the top five. The 20-year-old also won the coveted Monster Energy Super Charge Award after clocking the fastest reaction time at the start of today’s final.

Latvia’s Janis Baumanis – who drives for STARD – posted his best result of the year so far after finishing sixth overall in the Austrian-team’s Ford Fiesta.  His team-mate Timur Timerzyanov finished 11th in similar car. GRX driver Niclas Gronholm also had an impressive weekend, the Finn achieving his best result this season with a strong run to eighth place.

The third round of the FIA European Rallycross Championship (Euro RX) once again saw plenty of action as a packed entry of Supercars battled it out in the highly-competitive category. It was Anton Marklund who eventually triumphed in the Volkswagen Polo, making it another Swede to win on home soil and in front of a record crowd of 45,100 people.  Peter Hedstrom took the runner-up spot while accomplished WTCC driver Rene Muennich rounded out the podium in his best ever rallycross finish.  Marklund continues to top the Euro RX leaderboard – he is now 19 points clear of Robin Larsson who retired from semi-final two.

In the fourth round of the RX2 International Series presented by Cooper Tires, Great Britain’s Dan Rooke took his first victory and ended series leader Cyril Raymond’s winning streak. “This is the moment I have been waiting for – my first international victory,” beamed 20-year-old Rooke, the reigning MSA British Rallycross Champion. Belgium’s Guillaume De-Ridder and Swedish teenager William Nilsson completed the RX2 podium in Holjes. In the overall standings, Raymond leads Rooke by six points.

In the FIA European Rallycross Championship for Super1600, where Sweden marked the third round, it was a Skoda Fabia podium lock-out. Latvia’s Artis Baumanis took the win and has snatched top spot on the leaderboard with a total of 75 points. Hungary’s Krisztian Szabo (the defending champion) and Estonia’s Janno Ligur were second and third respectively in similar cars.
 
Paul Bellamy, World RX Managing Director for IMG, concluded: “Once again Holjes has lived up to its reputation of the “Magic Weekend” with more than 45,000 fans visiting the Varmland forest to watch three days of rallycross action.  To have three home drivers make the World RX Supercar final and to have a Swedish winner in both World RX and Euro RX is the icing on the cake. The Holjes track always delivers fantastic race action and dry weather throughout the qualifying, semis and final, has only helped make this year’s Holjes RX even more special. It’s always fantastic to have a home winner [Johan Kristoffersson] and the atmosphere when he crossed the line in front of the home crowd was electric. The teams and drivers can now look forward to a short summer break as the World Championship prepares to cross the Atlantic for its first race out of the continent this year.”

 

         

 

 

Search