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Season review: World RX team Austria

Team: World RX Team Austria

Car: Ford Fiesta

Drivers: Timur Timerzyanov, Janis Baumanis

Teams' Championship Position: 5th (226 points)

Following a strong maiden FIA World Rallycross Championship campaign in 2015, World RX Team Austria returned for this season with a revised internal structure. Two new drivers lined up in the squad's Ford Fiestas; two-time Euro RX Supercar Champion Timur Timerzyanov partnering reigning Euro RX Super1600 Champion Janis Baumanis, who had made his debut with the squad at the final round of the 2015 season in Argentina.

Neither driver made the semi-finals at round one in Portugal, but at round two, Hockenheim, the less experienced of the pair, Baumanis, qualified fourth at the Intermediate Classification but finished sixth in semi-final two after sustaining accident damage. Both drivers made it to the semi-finals at the third round in Belgium, Timerzyanov just missing a place in the final. The Russian driver did qualify for the final at round four in the UK but dropped out of podium contention with technical problems and finished fifth.

At the very next round in Norway, Russia's Timerzyanov was the only driver other than event winner Andreas Bakkerud to set a fastest time (in practice) and would have challenged for victory but for a puncture in the final. Latvia's Baumanis continued his strong run of semi-final appearances in his maiden full-time Supercar season, but the team were forced to change Timerzyanov's chassis after round eight in Loheac following an accident on day one. The next event brought the team's best result of the year. Both Ford Fiestas qualified for the final in Barcelona, Timerzyanov scoring the squad's first ever podium with Baumanis just one place behind in fourth. Timeryzanov qualified for the final again at round ten in Latvia, but crashed out at the first corner.

Timerzyanov finished the year eighth overall, while Baumanis ended up tenth. Team owner and driver Max Pucher also joined the team in a third car at several events, and in a post-season test, ex-Formula 1 driver Alexander Wurz tested the team's 2017 car for the first time.

Zdroj: fiaworldrallycross.com