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World RX 2018 - What's new?

The winter break has certainly been a lengthy one but the wait is almost over and we are now just days away from opening round of the 2018 FIA World Rallycross Championship presented by Monster Energy, the World RX of Catalunya-Barcelona on April 14-15.

A fresh season brings with it a fresh grid, fresh cars and a fresh twist on those all-important regulations... we delve into what's new for 2018 and explain why this could be the most challenging season yet for this year's competitors.

New cars

Six different models will be represented across eight teams in this year's 15-strong permanent World RX line up, including for the first-time full season entries using Hyundai and Renault machinery.

While the VW Polo (PSRX Volkswagen Sweden), Audi S1 (EKS Audi Sport) and Peugeot 208 (Team Peugeot Total) will seem familiar from the outside, the cars have nonetheless each undergone a significant winter upgrade under the skin in response to each other's growing full factory involvement, setting the stage for what promises to be a thrilling showdown.

Not that they are the only considerations for wins this year; Olsbergs MSE flies the flag for Ford with the latest specification of the ubiquitous Fiesta, while the ambitious new GC Kompetition project has been piquing curiosity ever since it was revealed the all-new Renault Megane RS R.X. was being developed by Prodrive, one of motorsport's best renowned - and most successful - engineering firms.

Even GRX Taneco's privateer Hyundai i20 has raised eyebrows having been constructed using the base of the Korean firm's multiple World Rally Championship event-winning, a strategy favoured by Volkswagen with its ultra-successful Polo.

Driver shuffles and debuts

While PSRX Volkswagen Sweden and Team Peugeot Total aren't changing a winning formula with their driver line-ups, EKS Audi Sport have lured Andreas Bakkerud into its fold to complete what team-mate Mattias Ekstrom has referred to as its strongest driver line-up yet.

Though neither are strangers to World RX, Kevin Eriksson shifts back to Olsbergs MSE - run by his father Andreas - and is paired with another Swede in Robin Larsson, who steps up from Euro RX and gravitates away from his own self-run outfit in favour of OMSE's larger set up. Meanwhile, GRX expands to two cars, with Timur Timerzyanov joining Niclas Gronholm.

A two-time Euro RX runner-up, Jerome Grosset-Janin will get his first-ever season in the world championship with GCK, while Belgian racer Gregoire Demoustier has secured a full campaign with the incoming Sebastien Loeb Racing, which in turn adds World RX to a repertoire that also includes sportscar and touring cars success.

Calendar changes

Following the successful introduction of Cape Town to the calendar in 2017 - the first World RX event to be held in Africa - two new venues will join the 12-round World RX schedule this year. The eagerly-anticipated Speedmachine festival will bring a whole new audience and fanbase to the sport when it revs into life at Silverstone on May 25-27, accompanied by a high-octane, family-friendly mix of live music, Esports, street food, camping and much more besides.

In September (28-30), the inaugural World RX of USA will take the Championship to the US for the first time, as competitors battle it out around a brand-new track located at the celebrated Circuit of The Americas facility, already home to the FIA Formula One World Championship and FIM MotoGP World Championship. The new rallycross circuit is located in the stadium section between turns 12 and 15 of the Formula 1 circuit.

Testing

Permanent World Championship competitors are subject to stricter controls on testing. They can now only test on a World RX track during official testing, leading to the pre-season test being held at Loheac in France and Silverstone in the United Kingdom, while the in-season test will be held in Riga later in the year. Testing at other venues remains unrestricted though

Cost controls

To assist in keep costs under control there are restrictions on the number and type of components used in the cars. As such, the number of engines permitted during a season is reduced from three to two and the number of turbochargers is reduced from two per event to four per year, placing greater emphasis than ever on a fast yet reliable machine

Tyre use is restricted to 12 tyres per event. From round three onwards, this comprises a maximum of eight new tyres and four from a previous event.

Gear ratios (previously free) are now restricted to two sets of ratios per year and the design of the rear aerodynamic device is fixed for the year as part of the introduction of a new ‘Technical Declaration' form that has been introduced and used to define and control such items.

Support categories

The FIA European Rallycross Championship for Super1600 category has a new single-make ECU that must be used by all competitors and is aimed at ensuring driving aids such as traction control are not used.The maximum number of entries in World RX at each event is 25, in Euro RX Supercar 30, Euro RX Super1600 25 and Euro RX TouringCar 20.

The RX2 International Series presented by Cooper Tires will again feature on the World Championship programme at seven events - Belgium, Great Britain, Norway, Sweden, Canada, France and South Africa. Drivers compete in identical, 310bhp, four-wheel-cars, with all entrants in the category afforded exclusive paddock space.

Zdroj: fiaworldrallycross.com