The fifth World RX season is ready to go! 18 drivers will race in Barcelona
The fifth season of the FIA World Rallycross Championship will kick-off on the upcoming wekend at Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya. The opening round of the twelve-event championship will host 18 drivers in Supercars machinery.
Next to fifteen drivers who are announced as full-time entries for the 2018 season there will be three drivers with a part-time schedule. On the list of full-time entrants, there are six two-driver Teams and three Individual entries.
The cars from six different manufacturers will compete in the fifth World RX season. In addition to Volkswagen Polo R, Audi S1, Ford Fiesta and Peugeot 208, new cars on the grid will be Hyundai i20 and Renault Megane RS. In the opening round at Barcelona, Mini Cooper RX and Citroen DS3 would be also represented.
The 2017 World RX Champion Johan Kristoffersson will carry the number 1 on his PSRX Volkswagen Sweden‘s Polo R. His teammate would be again two-time champion Petter Solberg. They will also defend Teams’ championship title. The 2016 world champion Mattias Ekstrom is returning to the championship in an Audi S1 of EKS Audi Sport, joined by Norwegian Andreas Bakkerud.
Team Peugeot-Hansen changed its name to the Team Peugeot Total because of bigger factory support. Peugeot will have an unchanged line-up with Sebastien Loeb and Timmy Hansen fighting for the Teams’ title while Kevin Hansen will drive as the Individual entry.
Olsbergs MSE will field two new Ford Fiestas for Kevin Eriksson and Robin Larsson. The French team GC Kompetition will join the World RX field for the first time led by owner/racer Guerlain Chicherit in one Renault Megane RS and Jerome Grosset-Janin in the second car. The striking new Renault Megane RS has been developed and built by Prodrive. Niclas Gronholm, a son of two-time WRC champion Marcus Gronholm, will drive Hyundai i20 for GRX Taneco Team, joined by the Russian Timur Timerzyanov.
Two more Individual entries announced for the full season are Belgian Gregoire Demoustier in a new Peugeot 208 run by Sebastien Loeb Racing and Janis Baumanis in Team STARD‘s Ford Fiesta. Manfred Stohl’s Team STARD will also run another Ford Fiesta in Barcelona for Chinese driver Ma Qing Hua.
British driver Oliver Bennett announced two-race World RX program with Mini Cooper RX at Spanish and Portuguese rounds. The French rallycross veteran Herve ‘Knapick’ Lemmonier will compete in Spain with Citroen DS3.
2018 World RX entry list
Team | Car | Driver | Nationality |
---|---|---|---|
PSRX Volkswagen Sweden | Volkswagen Polo R | Johan Kristoffersson | Sweden |
Volkswagen Polo R | Petter Solberg | Norway | |
EKS Audi Sport | Audi S1 | Mattias Ekstrom | Sweden |
Audi S1 | Andreas Bakkerud | Norway | |
Team Peugeot Total | Peugeot 208 | Sebastien Loeb | France |
Peugeot 208 | Timmy Hansen | Sweden | |
Peugeot 208 | Kevin Hansen | Sweden | |
Olsbergs MSE | Ford Fiesta | Kevin Eriksson | Sweden |
Ford Fiesta | Robin Larsson | Sweden | |
GC Kompetition | Renault Megane RS | Guerlain Chicherit | France |
Renault Megane RS | Jerome Grosset-Janin | France | |
GRX Taneco Team | Hyundai i20 | Niclas Gronholm | Finland |
Hyundai i20 | Timur Timerzyanov | Russia | |
Sebastien Loeb Racing | Peugeot 208 | Gregoire Demoustier | France |
Team Stard | Ford Fiesta | Janis Baumanis | Latvia |
2018 World RX calendar
Round | Date | Country | Track |
---|---|---|---|
1 | April 14-15 | Spain | Barcelona |
2 | April 28-29 | Portugal | Montalegre |
3 | May 12-13 | Belgium | Mettet |
4 | May 26-27 | Great Britain | Silverstone |
5 | June 9-10 | Norway | Hell |
6 | June 30-July 1 | Sweden | Holjes |
7 | August 4-5 | Canada | Trois-Rivieres |
8 | September 1-2 | France | Loheac |
9 | September 15-16 | Latvia | Bikernieki Riga |
10 | September 29-30 | USA | COTA |
11 | October 13-14 | Germany | Estering |
12 | November 24-25 | South Africa | Killarney Cape Town |
Photos: fiaworldrallycross.com,