Rallycross to boom.

[Barrie]

Have always been abit sceptical of reports that British and European rallycross is on the up. Have heard it all before only to be let down time and time again. Now though I am pretty confident it may happen. The period of change we are now in reminds me alot when 4wd first arrived in rallycross. There was alot of new cars and young drivers which is similar to what is happening in europe at present. Britain&Ireland the new reg's will be very appealing for drivers in the sport now, toying with the idea of return or new venture, building a competitive car is not just for the super rich teams, it will also be down to technical skill and guile which has always been part of the rallycross scene. I also feel the introduction of excellent budget divisions especially the Stockhatch's in uk and more expensive but still low cost compared to many motorsports the Supernational's in Scandanavia are excellent breeding ground's for new talent.

[Peter S]

Yeap deffinatly. The new division 1a class will be big by the end of the year.

Pascal Sutherland has the new super 1600cc Fiesta ready to go, but has to wait for homologation so it will be round 3 of ERC when he let of the leash. Former european champion Sven Seeliger is also building the new Fiesta.

Ronny Larsson has a new 106 Maxi as well which will join very soon.

Ronny scheveneels new divisin 1 Golf should be ready for Benelux rounds of the Erc.

What a future. By 2004 Rallycross will be right at the top. Rallycross is now more equal with the European regs.

One problem for the modified class in GB is the rising costs to build a competitive car. Maybe it is cheaper for some to go into the the div 1a class

[Barrie]

It will, Im telling you.

[Peter S]

It deffinatly will be. The way things are going now, it is soon going to become the second best form of Motorsport in Gb, after Touring cars. The amount of spectators are now reaching a high level again, which will hit new heights, by the end of the year.

I just cant wait for August and the ERC rounds in Belgium and Holland. I expect to see over 100 cars for each of those two rounds, in what she see a stronger British presence in the Erc.

[touringlegend]

Well I hardly know anything much about Rallycross to be honest, but the one rule in motorsport in general is entertain the paying fan and you will get him/her back again. Entertainment = success and after going to Knockhill last week I would definitely go back again.(would even consider going to more perhaps down in England - where's my next closest?) I liked the format of short races and as soon as one had finished the other was nearly ready to go. The organisation was excellent. That's one aspect of circuit racing I don't like - the gaps between all the races can be really boring sometimes.

I'm assuming from reading this thread that the rules for the British and European series are quite close? That's another good point - as it will then open up the British series to the European cars and vice versa (something IMO that the touring cars should do!)

[Peter S]

Yes rallycross gives you more value for money than any other type of motorsport. On average there are 50+ races so that is 50 first corners which is what most motorsport is all about!

Croft is your next closest circuit. It has the British Rallycross Grand Prix in October and all the European drivers will be coming all over. An event not to miss. October 11th/12th and the internations cup thrown in.

The rules between Britain and Europe couldnt be bigger. next year retrictors will be implemented to the supercars and FIA weight limits to close the gap. But the GB series has to get rid off the Group B machines and Spaceframe regs to fall into line with Europe. The modified category is a million miles away from division 1a and 2 in Europe, but hopefully this will fall into line pretty soon, if the organizers have some sense.

At the moment of the supercars we have in England:

The following supercars comform to European Regs:

Tony Bell - Toyota Corolla
John Cross - Ford Focus
Kevin McCann - Subaru Impreza

(all three cars are built fully to ERC regs....including weight and 45mm restrictors)

The following cars are eligible when the restrictor is fitted (Easy to fit)

Will Gollop - Ford Focus (built to full Erc regs)
Dermot Carnegie - Ford Focus (built to full Erc regs)
Andy Grant - Ford Escort
Steve Mundy - Ford Focus

With a bit of work regarding bodywork, steel floor and correct WRC type wings (and restrictors + weight)then Mannings, Holfelds and Mcluskeys cars could all be
converted to current ERC spec.

i think the ETCC is much closer to the BTCC when comparing British Rallycross to European Rallycross. As said in other threads Britain has gone it alone for too many years and is now trying to fall back into line with Europe.

As for Europeans racing in British championship then that isnt likely to happen very much. Only 4 rounds of the championship is open to European compeitors.....of which there is now only two. the remaining ones are Lydden Hill in August and Brands Hatch in December, but as the BEnelux ERC double header is a week before Lydden and Brands has a restricted entry then European drivers will be at British Rallycross Grand Prix at Croft only this year. That is one event not to miss.

Hoepfully the organizers will set rules to put Europeans on at least equal footing.

[touringlegend]

Good to have someone who know's their stuff! (ps sad fact but at Knockhill it was 10p per race...) well i have a season ticket but that still cost a bob or two.

croft in october will be interesting to say the least - i'm down there in July for BTCC hopefully - will see what my wallet's like come October!

[Peter S]

Yeap Croft will be superb in October. internations cup and a couple of supports for the two day meating.

Oh and the super duper supernational machines will be back again.

Croft is my local circuit.....just about 20 minutes away so i will be there as well for the BTCC. I will be taking the suncream as the last two years i have been very much sunburnt there like Knockhill last weekend. It is great to see so much top quality motorsport in the north east, it is unbelivable how Croft has changed over the last 20 years. The days of long grass in the centre and the old shuttle and mad hatters complex on the rallycross track have long gone. I never ever thought Croft would be turned into the top class facility it is today. It is a credit to British motorsport and Rallycross in particular. The one track to stick by rallycross through thick and thin, and a real drivers circuit!

Samson curve requires a lot of bottle from the drivers as it is very tricky on the best of days to master in a division 1 machine.

Role on October!

[Alpina]

The stock hatches are pretty cheap to run but it is the cost of travelling that puts me off. I could easily afford a stock hatch Peugeot but you need a travel wagon and trailer plus fuel to travel from Knockhill to Lydden Hill to Mondello park. That puts it out of my budget.

[touringlegend]

Hey Croft's my local BTCC circuit too despite the fact it's 3 and half hours away!

Alpina, go for it I'm sure you could afford a good ol camper van and a trailer. Ps on my way back home I passed a Little Chef and what do I see, one of the Nova rallycross cars driving about it's car park..hehe. It was quite close to home, don't know where the guy's from I even forget the name on the car but it had a big letter M on the back wings.

I'm hoping to get out racing as soon as I can get a job lol, in the Scottish XR2 championship...(some of the drivers in that make as much dust as the Rallycross cars!)

[Alpina]

That is a rough game that XR2 challenge. I have friends who compete in that and they have trouble keeping them in panels! if you want to find out more do a search for burnbraegarage. They run 5 XR2s

[touringlegend]

Lol yep - [blatant plug]do you know of www.scottishclubracing.co.uk Alpina? I'd highly reccomend a visit and join in on the forum where we have drivers such as Nick Sanderson, Charlie Thornton, Derek McDougall, John Finlay etc (plus many more such as guys from legends and formula fordss!!!)[/blatant plug] You'll soon work out who I am on the forum lol!