RALLYCROSS WORLD WORLD RALLYCROSS WORLD RALLYCROSS WORLD RALLYCROSS WORLD RALLYCROSS WORLD RALLYCROSS WORLD RALLYCROSS WORLD RALLYCROSS WORLD RALLYCROSS WORLD RALLYCROSS WORLD RALLYCROSS WORLD WORLDR RALLYCROSSall WORLDyc RALLYCROSSros WORLDs RALLYCROSS WORLD RALLYCROSS WORLD RALLYCROSS WORLD RALLYCROSS WORLDWORLD RALLYCROSS WORLD RALLYCROSS#95 DECEMBER WORLD 2011 RALLYCROSS WORLD RALLYCROSS WORLD RALLYCROSS WORLD RALLYCROSS WORLD WORLD RALLYCROSS WORLD RALLYCROSS WORLD RALLYCROSSBIG EVENTS, WORLD SMALL RALLYCROSS CARS, AND TIGHT WORLDREGULATIONS RALLYCROSS WORLD RALLYCROSS WORLD RALLYCROSS WORLD RALLYCROSS WORLD RALLYCROSS WORLD RALLYCROSS WORLD RALLYCROSS WORLD RALLYCROSS WORLD WORLD RALLYCROSS WORLD RALLYCROSS WORLD RALLYCROSS WORLD RALLYCROSS WORLD RALLYCROSS WORLD RALLYCROSS WORLD RALLYCROSS WORLD RALLYCROSS WORLD RALLYCROSS WORLD RALLYCROSS WORLD RALLYCROSS WORLD RALLYCROSS WORLD WORLD RALLYCROSS WORLD RALLYCROSS WORLD RALLYCROSS WORLD RALLYCROSS WORLD RALLYCROSS WORLD RALLYCROSS WORLD RALLYCROSS WORLD RALLYCROSS WORLD RALLYCROSS WORLD RALLYCROSS WORLD RALLYCROSS WORLD RALLYCROSS WORLD WORLD RALLYCROSS WORLD RALLYCROSS WORLD RALLYCROSS WORLD RALLYCROSS WORLD RALLYCROSS WORLD RALLYCROSS WORLD RALLYCROSS WORLD RALLYCROSS WORLD RALLYCROSS WORLD RALLYCROSS WORLD RALLYCROSS WORLD RALLYCROSS WORLD WORLD RALLYCROSS WORLD RALLYCROSS WORLD RALLYCROSS WORLD RALLYCROSS WORLD RALLYCROSS WORLD RALLYCROSS WORLD RALLYCROSS WORLD RALLYCROSS WORLD RALLYCROSS WORLD RALLYCROSS WORLD RALLYCROSS WORLD RALLYCROSS WORLD WORLD RALLYCROSS WORLD RALLYCROSS WORLD RALLYCROSS WORLD RALLYCROSS WORLD RALLYCROSS WORLD RALLYCROSS WORLD RALLYCROSS WORLD RALLYCROSS WORLD RALLYCROSS WORLD RALLYCROSS WORLD RALLYCROSS WORLD RALLYCROSS WORLD WORLD RALLYCROSS WORLD RALLYCROSS WORLD RALLYCROSS WORLD RALLYCROSS WORLD RALLYCROSS WORLD RALLYCROSS WORLD RALLYCROSS WORLD RALLYCROSS WORLD RALLYCROSS WORLD RALLYCROSS WORLD RALLYCROSS WORLD RALLYCROSS WORLDRALLYCROSS RALLYCROSSWORLD. WORLDCOM RALLYCROSS WORLD RALLYCROSS WORLD RALLYCROSS WORLD RALLYCROSS WORLD RALLYCROSS WORLD RALLYCROSS WORLD WORLD RALLYCROSS WORLD RALLYCROSS WORLD RALLYCROSS WORLD RALLYCROSS WORLD RALLYCROSS WORLD RALLYCROSS WORLD RALLYCROSS WORLD RALLYCROSS WORLD RALLYCROSS WORLD RALLYCROSS Rallycross Briefing #95 DECEMBER 2011 Grading system forcing WORLD organisers to improve

In this space last month we wrote that organisers cannot be complacent. Then it was relative to the publication of the 2012 Website changes ERC calendar and the competition between the 13 willing Our RallycrossWorld.com website has changed and is now organisers to be included in the ten-event schedule. open to all viewers without the need to register. It will continue How to get Rallycross World This month, we might also advise against complacency, but to provide news from all major Rallycross events as well as Rallycross World is produced monthly and distributed as a pdf document in the context of the decision reached by the FIA International rounding up National championships. Click here to go to You can subscribe directly or receive it as a subscription benefit at RallycrossWorld.com Court of Appeal in relation to the case brought before it by RallycrossWorld.com We also now offer a method for you to buy a printed copy or iPad version via MagCloud Tanner Foust and explained further in this issue. It is increasingly clear, or should be, that there is no place World wide print service and iPad magazine to hide and where event organisers may once have been able The MagCloud print-on-demand service now delivers to cruise, they are under ever closer scrutiny at every level. anywhere in the world. You can order a printed magazine to be But competitors should not feel too cocky. A natural effect of delivered to your door simply by clicking the link on the left or Get it free! Printed magazine iPad being more careful of the detail of their own operation, is likely from the back page. MagCloud also makes Rallycross World RallycrossWorld. MagCloud is a print You can download to mean the organisers will expect competitors to follow the available for iPad. Just look for the free MagCloud app in the com is the essential on demand service Rallycross World to regulations to the letter too. Fair’s fair, if rules are to be applied iPad App Store and then select Rallycross World from the Rallycross news that means you can your iPad through the strictly then they will have to apply to all parties. MagCloud magazine store. website. As well order a printed copy free MagCloud app. as enjoying all the of the magazine that This gives you the feature of the site will be delivered Mag Cloud magazine you can download anywhere in the store, from where your own copy of the world. you can search for magazine for free Rallycross World within the app.

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Contents 18 Foust wins FIA appeal 5 Top Story 24 Don’t be scared of Super1600 7 Diary Gallery Click it! Copyright 26 Return of the Grand Prix Advertisements in the pdf Rallycross World is published monthly by Myriorama 12 Diary November version of Rallycross Ltd. This publication may not be redistributed, copied or 30 Shoestring stories World are interactive – click reproduced in whole or in part in any form without the written on them to be taken to the consent of the copyright holder. advertiser’s website. Unless otherwise stated, all text and photographs are © copyright Check the whole advert as Tim Whittington 2011. some have multiple links – and [email protected] you wouldn’t want to miss anything, would you? Contributors: There are also links from Eddi Laumanns, Hal Ridge, Henk de Winter, Johan Dingenen some editorial items and we will This issue published : December 1 always try to offer a live link Next issue published: January 5 wherever we quote a website www.myriorama.com address in editorial. [email protected] myriorama 2 | #95 – December 2011 ©RallycrossWorld.COM RallycrossWorld.COM #95 – December 2011 | 3 Top story

Super1600 has been part of the European championship since 2003. The BRC will offer Super1600 as a stepping stone from the ‘standard’ classes.

SVERRE ISACHSEN Cosworth YB – 543bhp, 920Nm torque European Rallycross Champion 2009 European Rallycross Champion 2010 BRC embraces S1600 European Rallycross Champion 2011 JULIAN GODFREY Duratec 1.6 – 225bhp, 181Nm torque New class offers free entries and a chance to progress Winner, 2011 Super1600 ERC Belgium

+44 (0)1435 865999 The MSA British Rallycross Championship will feature a class Sponsorship revenue for the class will be returned to the for Super1600 cars for the first time in 2012. Super1600 competitors by way of a free entry for events in the Nominally the European championship’s front-drive, 1600cc 2012 championship, something that should make a move to the RACETUNERS.COM class has been accommodated in the British series for several category an attractive proposition. years as the Supernational category expressly permits their Championship organisers hope that the relatively small use. However, the move to make provision for a standalone number of Super1600 cars in Britain will encourage class in 2012 is noteworthy as the class structure in the British competitors from lower classes (Hot Hatch, BMW MINI and championship has not previously been aligned in this manner, Swift Sport) to convert and develop their existing cars and run and has rarely ever taken European categories into the national them in Super1600. series. “Adding Super1600 to the British championship now offers The exact details will be published with championship those with the cars a chance to race at home as well as offering regulations, but the intention is to run Super1600 separately a new channel for drivers who want to move up the ladder. It

JULIAN GODFREY JOS KUYPERS KOEN PAUWELS as long as there is ‘a grid’ of them. The size of that ‘grid’ has should not be necessary to build a new car, competitors can Cosworth YB – 543bhp, 810Nm torque Cosworth YB – 543bhp, 920Nm torque Duratec 2.0 – 304.7bhp, 256.8Nm torque not yet been defined, but it may conceivably be as small take what they’ve got and develop it over a period of time,” said British Rallycross Champion 2011 Dutch Rallycross Champion 2011 Belgian Rallycross Champion, TouringCar 2011 as five cars; the size of a qualifying heat grid at European a championship spokesman. championship level. » Don’t be scared of Super1600, p22 RallycrossWorld.COM #95 – December 2011 | 5 Diary gallery Let’s dance! Backstage at the Solberg Extreme Motorshow in Oslo, Jan Tore Brustad caught European rallycross Champion Andreas Bakkerud (back to camera) and IRC champion Andreas Mikkelsen having a quick waltz. No, we don’t know either. It must be something to do with those long dark Scandinavian nights… Jan Tore Brustad Jan Tore RallycrossWorld.COM #95 – December 2011 | 7 Hilbert de Winter was publicised during the event. during publicised was Next itbefore. year’s seen who have never round ERC onshow infront ofmanyand putthe spectators sport demonstration event toaRallycross stage opportunity the the took circuit event, rallypre-prologue Dakar With drawn to RTL’s 25,000fans the Eurocircuit to see Take alookatthis gallery Diary Rallycross World .COM

#95 –December 2011 |9 Diary gallery Smoking! Andreas Steffen has put himself in pole position for the 2012 German championship by replacing his ageing Peugeot 206 with Rolf Volland’s Skoda Fabia. Steffen, also chairman of German ERC organiser the ACN, has pulled off the deal with new sponsor Red Kiwi, a maker of e-cigarettes. Michael Höse Michael RallycrossWorld.COM #95 – December 2011 | 11 Diary November Diary

November 5 in pursuit of second place. Chased to the finish line by David Rallycross Grand Prix at Croft. But even here the Englishman Andy Scott takes victory in the final round of the British Binks, one of his rivals in the battle for positions, Scott’s did not have an easy path to success. Driving the Citroën C4 Rallycross Championship after making a last corner pass on victory sealed the position with Binks placing third, ahead of owned by Latvian team TT Motorsport, Doran was put out of Julian Godfrey. While Godfrey was assured of the title before outgoing British champion Pat Doran who was fifth on the saturday’s final round of the British Rallycross Championship the event had started, Scott raced hard throughout the event track, behind Kevin Procter. Run the day before the British when the engine in the car failed in the first heat. The team Rallycross Grand Prix, the event attracted a number of extra spent the whole day and long into the night rebuilding the starters, including Per Eklund who drove Scott’s Peugeot 306 engine which has overheated as the result of head gasket Supercar and placed sixth in the A final after Tony Bartdy failure, their effort getting Doran back on track for Sunday’s (in Kevin Procter’s Puma) and “Mad Mark” both retired. The GP. Doran repaid the effort by setting fastest time in the first Super1600: 1.6L @ 240 bhp TouringCar: 2.0L @ 296 bhp Supernational category was dominated by Ash Simpson, heat and went on to start the Grand Prix final from the middle Duratec HE although the absent James Bird had already secured the title of the front row of the grid. David Binks and new British here. Dave Bellerby gained his second-straight Swift Sport title champion Julian Godfrey qualified first and third, Binks setting with another event win, Aidan Hills also ending his successful fastest time of the day along the way. The pair lined up with Junior campaign with victory while Russ Simpson and Kris Doran still not out of his pit garage, the TT engineers now Hudson won the Hot Hatch and BMW Mini classes. battling to repair broken steering and eventually sending their man to the grid with the steering wheel half-a-turn out of line November 6 and the steering askew. Despite this Doran made the best start www.zomermotorsport.com Liam Doran ended a tough year by winning the MSA British [email protected] tel. 0031 (0)548 - 361385 a potential winner, from start to podium �����

and led the race, but in the second lap was in more trouble as the gearbox now broke. “I only had first and fourth gears, so I was on the rev limiter as long as I dared in first and then just had to get it into fourth, the engine almost died, and that’s how Binks caught me,” said Doran. Binks challenged Doran and the two were neck-and-neck running back to the first corner where Binks spun out, “It was a racing incident but that’s okay, Liam’s got a long winter ahead knowing that we are faster than him,” said Binks after the race. With Binks out, Doran now had

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RallycrossWorld.COM #95 – December 2011 | 13

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a clear lead and was able to get his wounded car to the finish kept apart throughout, the event produces a clutch of class autocross track to be accompanied by an asphalt loop that will by each driver. The show is hosted by rally and sometime clearly ahead of Julian Godfrey who held off the challenge of use 400 metres of the FIA-licenced international race track to Rallycrosser Andrew Comrie-Picard “ACP” with celebrity co- Andy Scott. Pat Doran placed fourth with Kevin Procter fifth form a Rallycross layout. Rallycross has been absent from Italy host Stacy Keibler. It is produced by Rob Cohen who created and also having a tough day, including a non-finish in the first since 1980 when the ERC last appeared at Pavia. The intention the Hollywood franchise The Fast and Furious heat when the gearbox in his Focus failed. Steve Mundy passed is to apply for an round of the 2013 European championship. “Mad Mark” to win the B final and then climbed to sixth November 20 ahead of Derrick Jobb who overcame overheating problems in November 15 George Tracey again dominated at Mondello Park, winning his Escort to make the main event. Steve Hill had a good day American channel Speed TV launches its new ‘Battle Cross’ both the Supercar A final and the Superfinal in the third round with his Mitsubishi Lancer E10 and qualified sixth, only for format with a pilot episode that will air on Thursday November of the Irish Rallycross Championship. The Supercar class drew problems to surface again and halt him in the first lap. Best of 17. The show, described as high-energy and action-packed, five starters, but as Paul Pascoe (Impreza) and the the two-wheel drive cars in the event was James Bird who was matches two drivers against each other over a mixed surface Celicas of Andrew and Darragh Morris fell by the wayside fifth in the B final with his Renault ClioSport V6. course. The competitive element of the made-for-TV event during the day, only Tracey and John Kelly (Mitsubishi Lancer) will consider both time and style. The pilot show stars Rally made it to the final stages of the event. » During the Dakar Rally pre-prologue, run at the Eurocircuit America champion David Higgins and X Games star Dave As in the first two rounds, Ian O’Connell swept all before him at Valkenswaard for TV broadcaster RTL, a Rallycross winners, the four-wheel drive Rallycross section won by Peter Mirra, the pair driving the Rally Team USA Impreza in Supernational, setting fastest times in all three heats and demonstration was run. The event attracted 25,000 fans to Ramler who used his Seat Leon Supercar to beat the extreme WRX STIs that they have used in the Rally America series leading the first the first lap of the A final before an incident Valkenswaard, many of them having never seen Rallycross Integrale of hillclimb specialist Felix Pailer in this year. The course for the show is set out in and around the dropped him to the tail of the order. Willie Coyne had been before. A group of Supercars from the Dutch and Belgian the final. The two-wheel drive Rallycross segment was won by operating California Steel Industries steel mill in Fontana, the closest rival and moved through to take the win, O’Connell Patrick Breitender, the Group N Honda Civic racer beating California. The two ‘rounds’ of competition comprise a two- placing sixth and scraping into the Superfinal in last place. Sven Förster who raced Manfred Beck’s Super1600 MG ZR lap timed contest over the gravel and asphalt course, each Kelly again chased Tracey, Coyne running third and best of the in the event. Christian Petrakovits was again very fast on his driver allowed two runs with his best time counting, and two-wheel drives all the way. Dessie Tierney ran in fourth place home track but, just as bad luck denied him an ERC victory a two-minute freestyle session in which the drivers will be until lap three when Pearse Browne took the place. Having earlier in the year, this time engine problems cut his day short. marked for style. This will be judged by drift champion Samuel progressed from the Supernational B final, Don Shannon made Hubinette and rally man Stephan Verdier who will consider his way to sixth place, the bugs now worked out of his Volvo » Adria International Raceway backs up its plans for a new the level of difficulty, creativity, precision and style displayed S40 which has been converted to right-hand drive. Young Mark Francis again had a good run, taking seventh ahead of Henk Henk de Winter championship were assembled for the event, Jos Kuypers (Fiesta VII), Ron Snoeck (Seat Leon), Wil Teurilings (Volvo S40), Koen Pauwels (Focus II), Jos Jansen (Focus III) and Patrick Van Mechelen () driving while Jochen Coox ran his Skoda Fabia for Belgian rally driver Melissa Debackere, who is expected to race the car in Benelux events in 2012, when dates do not conflcit with her schedule of French and Belgian rally championship events. November 10 The FIA publishes the decision of the International Court of Appeal which had sat on November 4 to hear the appeal lodged by ACCUS against Tanner Foust’s exclusion from the Dutch round of the European Rallycross Championship. Finding in favour of ACUSS and Foust, the ICA quashes Foust’s exclusion, a decision which has the result of moving the American up to second place in the championship, displacing who had provisionally been classified second at the end of the racing season. November 13 The new Race of Austrian Champions event at Greinbach draws the desired mixed entry of rally, autocross and Rallycross cars and drivers and a decent crowd. Run on a

knockout basis and with cars from the different disciplines subaru.com/rally 14 | #95 – December 2011 RallycrossWorld.COM RallycrossWorld.COM #95 – December 2011 | 15 Diary November

O’Connell who threw in the towel after three laps at the back Ralluycross driver. The German engineer and driver coach as shared but the NBF President Roar Forgaard said that his of the pack. One of the best battles came in the Stock Hatch 13 german championship titles to his credit, as well as three organisation “could not distinguish the three masters. They are 16v final, where Eddie Peterson’s Peugeot 106 led for most of European Autocross Championships. Volland has a busy all Performers of the Year.” the way, only to lose out on the final lap to Graeme Colfer and 2012 season planned, Vadim Makarov, and another yet to be Aaron Dalton. Peterson left his Joker lap until the end, while named Russian driver, to be run in the ERC by his preparation November 27 the other pair had taken the alternative during the first two company while he also expects to work with Skoda Motorsport The Solberg Extreme Motorshow is run at the Telenor Arena laps. When Peterson finally chose to take it, he rejoined behind on hybrid and electric projects. in Oslo. A show rather than a competitive event, the ‘SEM’ the others to finish third. Noel O’Brien continued his unbeaten included Rallycross drivers Kenneth Hansen, Liam Doran run in the 8v Stock Hatch class, Noel Greene also victorious November 25 and Mats Lysen. Timmy Hansen also drove, using his father’s again in the Rally Car class. The Junior Rallycross category was The Norwegian ASN, the Norges Bilsportforbund, makes the new Citroën DS3 while shared one of Eklund won by Eamon Horan, the third different winner in as many unique decision to award its ‘Auto Performer of the Year’ prize Motorsport’s Saabs with Pontus Tidemann and Henning events. jointly to three drivers, FIA European Rallycross champions Solberg shared Frank Valle’s Fiesta VI (his old Rallycross car). , Andreas Bakkerud and Lars Øivind Enerberg. The show had a smaller crowd than in either of the first two November 23 Inaugurated in 1988, the award has never previously been years, ‘just’ 8000 spectators watching the indoor event. Brustad Jan Tore Stig-Olov Walfridson says that he will not drive in a full ERC season in 2013, but that his Helmia Motorsport concern will probably run his Renault Clio III for ‘someone else’. Walfridson

hopes to drive in the planned Swedish championship – the outline for which ties the Swedish, Norwegian and Finnish ERC rounds together with a final round at the Kinnekullering – as well as in the first round of the ERC at Lydden in April. Walfridson’s nephew, Lukas, recently tested the Clio Supercar.

» With a couple of Supercar outings under his belt in 2011, ‘retired’ racer Peter Hedström says he will soon be able to reveal details of a comeback that will bring ‘at least’ a two-year programme in the European championship. Hedström says he will buy a competitive car and re-establish his own team to run it. November 24 German Super1600 racer Andreas Steffen reveals that he has bought Rolf Volland’s German championship winning Skoda Fabia II and will use it in a full season of domestic events as well as a selected programme of ERC rounds. Steffen’s season Rolf Volland won 13 German championship title and was always competitive will be backed by e-cigarette company Red Kiwi. when he showed in the ERC. He won in Super1600 at the Estering, but perhaps his best ever ERC outing was this run to the Supercar A final in Poland in 2007. » With his car sold to Steffen, Volland says he will retire as a 16 | #95 – December 2011 RallycrossWorld.COM RallycrossWorld.COM #95 – December 2011 | 17 Foust’s FIA appeal

Procedural failings give Foust points FIA appeal hearing reinstates American in Dutch event

Six weeks after the teams packed up for the last time this year and headed home from the Czech Republic after the final round of the 2011 European Rallycross Championship, the FIA International Court of Appeal published a decision that changed the final standings among the Supercar drivers in the championship, reclassifying Tanner Foust second, ahead of Timur Timerzyanov who had provisionally held the place. The matter ended up at the FIA International Court of Appeal (ICA) – the first time that a dispute in Rallycross has ever gone this far – after Foust’s appeal to the KNAF, the Dutch ASN, against his exclusion from the ERC round at Valkenswaard, was rejected on the grounds that the appeal fee had not been paid within the statutory deadline. Foust had, in the first place, been excluded from the event having been shown the black flag during the third heat. Continuing to race until the end of his race, Foust was also involved in a second incident after the flag was shown and the Stewards of the Meeting then decided to exclude him from the event. Whatever the arguments used to prove the case one way or the other, the appeal ultimately came down to two quite simple points; the request from Foust/ACCUS (the American ASN which brought the case for Foust) to: – quash the decision handed down by the Court of Appeal of the KNAF insofar as it considered his appeal inadmissible; – revise the decision handed down against him by the Stewards by quashing the decision to exclude him from the Event, with the effect of re-establishing only the sanction of the black flag. And, on the other hand, the KNAF’s counter request that the ICA: – in the first place, to decree that its Court of Appeal rightly considered Mr Tanner Fousts’s appeal inadmissible and consequently to reject the present appeal brought before the Court. – in the second place, to confirm the decision taken by the Stewards of the Meeting against Mr Tanner Foust. The full decision of the ICA runs to 12 pages and is detailed in 62 individual points, the finally summed-up in a concise five-point statement: ON THESE GROUNDS, THE FIA INTERNATIONAL COURT OF’APPEAL: 1. declares the appeal admissible; The start of the race that caused all the trouble and 2. quashes the decision of the Court of Appeal of the KNAF Foust runs to the first corner between Frode Holte in that it declared Mr Tanner Foust’s appeal before it to be (left) and Davy Jeanney. inadmissible; 3. quashes Decision Nol taken by the Stewards of the 18 | #95 – December 2011 RallycrossWorld.COM RallycrossWorld.COM #95 – December 2011 | 19 Foust’s FIA appeal

Meeting on 14 August 2011 excluding Mr Tanner Foust from heat no3 of the event run at Valkenswaard (Netherlands) and Foust’s Dutch event was not going well counting towards the 2011 FIA European Championship for even before the third Rallycross Drivers - SuperCars; heat. In the secoind 4. leaves it to the sporting authority to draw the he slid off in the first corner. consequences of the present decision; The black flag 5. and orders the appeal fee to be refunded to the Appellant notification board got in its entirety and the KNAF to pay all the costs and expenses the Dutch in trouble of the hearing. (far right). In Austria it was flourescent as prescribed (left) but Form this, points two and three are key, and both appear to the French (centre) hinge on what might be described as procedural failings. interpretation of the In ruling that Foust’s initial appeal to the KNAF was rule may not have been correct. admissible, the ICA has decided that the appellant (Foust) had met his obligation and had documents to prove that the appeal fee had been transferred within the time limit. The ICA effectively says that the appellant can not be held responsible for delays in the payment being processed through the banking system. Here, the ICA is saying that the KNAF misinterpreted the rules and that, no matter whether it had received the appeal fee or not, the fact that Foust could demonstrate that a bank had been instructed to pay the fee, should be accepted as proof that the fee had been filed in time. In his appeal to the ICA Foust explicitly does not ask for the black flag to be rescinded and the fact that the final judgement quashes the decision to exclude him from the third heat, again appears to hang on procedural matters. While the ICA is clear that the Stewards of the Meeting acted in a ‘just and fair manner’, it is equally clear that the manner in which the black flag was displayed did not meet the statutory requirements. In this it means that the championship regulations require the black flag to be accompanied by the number of the car concerned, displayed on a ‘flourescent’ background. Evidence put before the ICA clearly shows Foust’s racing number displayed in black characters on a white background. The ICA also ordered that the appeal fee would be refunded to Foust and that the costs of the hearing would be charged to the KNAF. Although events in the ERC are run by a club or local organiser, the events are applied for through the ASN in each country, bringing the national authority into a position of some responsibility for the event. To further distill this, you may argue that the entire case rests upon the fact that the manner in which the black flag was shown did not comply with the rules, that this was a failing of the event organiser and, by extension, of the ASN which in this case has paid the price for the shortcoming. 20 | #95 – December 2011 RallycrossWorld.COM RallycrossWorld.COM #95 – December 2011 | 21 Britain gets Super1600 Don’t be afraid of Super1600 Having been there and done that, Hal Ridge argues that club racers can tackle Super1600

It would very easy to look at the pinnacle of any sport and believe that anyone could do it. After a little investigation, one would quickly think it was impossible to even entertain the idea of competing in such a discipline within motor sport, be it , circuit racing or indeed Rallycross. I genuinely believe that people, especially in the UK, look at the Super1600 Rallycross category and think they could do it. They then look at the class and are scared off by the crazy figures quoted for professionally built and run Super1600 cars. This is usually the You don’t need big bucks to compete in end of the road for most people entertaining the idea of racing Super1600. Pole Robert Czarnacki had a great in the category, but it need not be. run in his home ERC round with a low-spec Citroën Saxo. For 2012, the British Rallycross Championship will for Inset: It’s not necessary to run wide-track cars the first time recognise the well established European with big arches, Mtechnologies have achieved a championship category. Yes, it will attract the likes of the Julian lot with its steel-bodied car. Godfrey and his ERC event winning Fiesta, and the Super1600 cars that are already used by both myself and Andy Knowles, but that doesn’t close doors to others by any means, regardless what angle you are approaching from. For those with a bigger budget than others, there are plenty of cars for sale out there that are ready to get into and race, without any hassle. These range from around €6000 to €100,000. However, although there will be those that move into Super1600 via that route, its more likely, and feasible, to convert a car that already exists into a Super1600. Within the UK and Ireland, the 1600cc, 16v class known as Hot Hatch or Stock Hatch encompasses cars that produce the perfect platform for a Super1600. First and foremost, they are the right cars, namely Citroen Saxos, Peugeot 106s and Citroen C2s. These are perfect to develop into Super1600 cars, and it need not all be done at once. There is no reason why someone couldn’t race their Hot Hatch car as it is in the new class and develop it as they go along. When your tyres wear out, buy better tyres, when your gearbox breaks, try and find a cheap secondhand dog box to replace it with. When you have some spare cash (not often in motor sport) you can improve the engine, with throttle bodies, better internals, exhaust, etc. However, there are a few things to note before jumping head first into putting a sequential gearbox into a Stock Hatch car. The exact regulations under which the class will run in Britain have yet to be released, but I hope that they will be more relaxed than in the ERC. If this is the case, it will make it far more accessible for the average clubman racer, which will benefit organisers by allowing numbers to grow more quickly. However, should you want to race in the British ERC round, or indeed any other international events, there are a number of considerations to take into account, and even if you only think you might want to have a go against Europe’s best at some point in the future, I would encourage you to study the rules 22 | #95 – December 2011 RallycrossWorld.COM RallycrossWorld.COM #95 – December 2011 | 23 Britain gets Super1600

so that you do not stray in the wrong direction from the very specific ERC regulations. The major things to consider are the homologation of the vehicle. A car must still be homologated to race in the European championship. Coupled with this, the car must have homologation papers and an FIA log book, different from the MSA type. Along with the car being homologated, the roll cage must not only be homologated, but also have the correct certificate to accompany it. The same can be said for the fire extinguisher, which has to be an in-date plumbed-in version. The seat and harness must also be up to date. Aside from a few more technicalities, which anyone looking to do the class can find out for themselves, I would suggest that the most expensive part of the process in terms of conforming to the rules, is the fuel system. All fuel pipes must be of braided type, and all fittings, including those at bulkheads, must be the screwfit ‘Goodridge’ type fittings. The cost of these escalates very quickly. The fuel tank itself can also be an issue. This can be tackled in two ways. The most common fuel tank to use is an FIA homologated fuel cell (again with certificate) which Cars from the old C2 and Saxo one-make must sit in the rear of the car inside a metallic bulkhead. This is series in France now run effectively in the not a cheap way of holding petrol, but rules are rules. However, Super1600 class. Insets: In Belgium and a way around this would be to use a standard tank, underneath Holland there is a great variety of machinery in Super1600. the car protected by a tank guard. Although the tank has to remain standard, it is certainly a far cheaper option even if just to start with, while you save up money for a fuel cell. One other thing to consider before trying to race in the ERC is yourself and your racewear. An International licence is required (this can be applied for with eight National A signatures and a medical). You also need to have the following clothing items in-date and to the correct standard; racesuit, top, long johns, socks, balaclava, gloves, race boots and HANS device. It isn’t cheap to have to buy all those items, but there are ways of making it cheaper; there are, for example, companies out there who rent HANS devices for the weekend. Tyres are another major thing to consider for ERC event participation, as there are specific rules to conform too, but you don’t have to run on super soft Avons, there are many types of tyre eligible, should you choose to use them. There is also a myth around the fact that your Super1600 car has to be wide track, with big wide panels. This is not the case. You don’t have to go to the great expense of widening your suspension and bodywork to be able to race in the class. It’s all part of the Super1600 way, but not necessary if you are starting out with the plan to develop as you go. It is possible to race in the Super1600 and the ERC on a small budget, but before getting ahead of ourselves, it isn’t a massive step to modify your Hot Hatch-type car into a competitive package within a domestic championship. The French, Belgians and Dutch have a wide range of Super1600 cars in their national championships, and there is no reason why we can’t follow suit here in the UK too. So the moral is, don’t be scared, look more closely into Super1600. As a friend of mine said recently, “It’s only the old Formula C really, I don’t know what everybody is so worried about”. 24 | #95 – December 2011 RallycrossWorld.COM RallycrossWorld.COM #95 – December 2011 | 25 Return of the British Rallycross Grand Prix It’s back, again Once great event revived as British Rallycross Grand Prix hits Croft

It’s close to 20 years since the last ‘real’ British Rallycross Grand Prix was run – exactly how close depends on your point of view of how the event developed towards the end of its run as a mainstay of winter at Brands Hatch. Now imbued with a kind of mythical status, the Grand Prix lapsed amid political turmoil in British Rallycross during the second half of the 1990s. It was revived at Croft in 2002 and while that running appeared to have opened the door for a new ear, it ultimately turned out to be a false dawn, the planned 2003 running canned before the event ran in 2004, again with reasonable success, before again slipping from calendar. When Lydden Hill Motorsport Club acquired the contract to run the MSA British Rallycross Championship, it additionally took the right to the MSA British Rallycross Grand Prix for the same three-year period. Choosing not to run the event in 2010, LHMC eventually decided to bundle the GP with the final round of the 2011 BRC at Croft and seek once more to re-establish what was once the biggest and most important Rallycross event in the world.

The decision to run the event this year was taken late, something that was undoubtedly a major factor in the small number of foreign drivers that made it to Croft to take part. Had the event been confirmed even a few weeks earlier, that The revived MSA British Rallycross Grand Prix was won by Liam Doran. An may have been different, but its September announcement had almost exclusively British affair, the event has a long way to go to recapture the two effects; making it difficult for teams to add it to what had glories of the 1980s Grand Prix. already been a long season, and also providing an easy reason 26 | #95 – December 2011 RallycrossWorld.COM RallycrossWorld.COM #95 – December 2011 | 27 Return of the British Rallycross Grand Prix

to decline the invitation to attend. stayed away. And the last race of the day, the Grand Prix itself, encouragement. The exception of Per Eklund – parachuted into Andy Scott’s contained the mix of racing and incident that often marked Competitors based Peugeot 306 Supercar, Finnish Supercar racer Silvo Viittanen the events of old; the kind of things that moved the Grand Prix in the north of England and Belgian TouringCar exponent Jos Sterkens, the event above and beyond other Rallycross and made it the ‘must see’ played a key role in was a domestic one. The date also ruling out any significant meeting of the year and which drew more than 20,000 fans to publicising the Grand Prix participation by Irish drivers who had the first three rounds of Brands Hatch. at Croft, some of them their national series to contest in October and November and The attendance at Croft was around a quarter of that figure, also using the event to for most of whom the additional trip to England was a race too but times have changed and that represents a very respectable entertain business guests. Kevin far. gate in this day and age. The Grand Prix did not just arrive Procter was at the forefront of this group, “Overall I think the many of them had never seen Rallycross before and were not Ultimately the fans who attended the Grand Prix, and there at Brands Hatch as a ready made major event. Nurtured and event was good,” he said, “There were some things that could even interested in motor sport, but everyone loved it and had a was a healthy crowd present, will have gone away happy; it developed, it grew to become what it was and, if it is ever be smoothed out but in general it was good and the feedback great family day out. I think that’s very positive and I hope that was a relatively mild day on which the sun shone and the rain to recapture that glory, it now requires the same kind of I’ve had has been very positive. I had quite a lot of guests there, the Grand Prix happens again next year.” 28 | #95 – December 2011 RallycrossWorld.COM RallycrossWorld.COM #95 – December 2011 | 29 Shoestring stories – the life of a low budget racer in the European championship Travel trauma Does the 2012 calendar help or hinder racers?

One man and his racecar, Ridge has been pondering the 2012 ERC calendar.

Travel and motor sport go seem to go hand in hand. Finland you have to cross water to get there even once you For many, be they competitors or spectators, the cost of two Depending on your discipline, over the course of a season you get into Sweden. Coupled with that, the Norwegian event events in the space of a week might just be too much. could easily rack up thousands of miles just to do a National in Trondheim is so, so much further north than Holjes, the On the flip side, I don’t understand why Lydden and France championship. There is the other end of the spectrum too. I Swedish event it is paired with. are both standalone events. These two could be a good pair, have some mates who do Autograss and who can get to around Secondly, the cost. For anyone outside Scandinavia, it is and since most in central Europe are nearish, some could go ten tracks within two hours of home. They consider having to such an expensive place to go to, so not only are the events a home for a few days to work, and the further afield competitors travel three hours up the road to an event as too far. long way anyway but extra specially expensive. This also ties already have all the kit loaded to do one event, so why not So you can imagine what they think of me, doing the into the pairing of events. Germany is a good distance event attach the two and keep costs down. European Rallycross Championship. For instance, the 1300 for pretty much everyone in Europe, but it is paired is Finland. You cannot keep everybody happy, I guess that there mile (2000km) journey (one way) we did to race in the Polish Geographically, they are close. As far as I can work out (and I will be drivers in Scandinavia who are happy to have three event of the ERC in 2010 they see as pure madness ... it could easily be wrong), there is no longer a boat from Germany ‘local’ races, but it seems to me that next season’s calendar is probably is. to Finland, so it is going to mean going round the long way, via particularly disjointed. The 2011 ERC calendar looks great at a glimpse, but after Sweden and Denmark – again. On the car side of things, the repair and rebuild of my further investigation I feel it could, and should, have been The other pairs are good from a travelling point of view. gearbox is almost finished, and I should have it back before better thought out. The first thing that springs to mind is Hungry and Austria together, Belgium and Holland. The fact Christmas. The new camshafts and head parts should be the fact that there are three events in Scandinavia! Now, I that these are close keeps transport costs down. It does mean, here early in the New Year too. So, fingers crossed, both of understand how the event scoring system works, and that however, that there is potentially a lot of hanging around those major items are well addressed long before we hope to the events are now on rotation, but to go to go all the way to between the events. Not the organisers’ problem I know. But go testing. From a chassis point of view we have decided to Scandinavia for three events seems crazy. There are a couple of what is or could be a problem for event organisers is the cost. undergo some drastic changes, but I’m keeping the details reasons for this. It doesn’t make sense to me to have events like Belgium and under wraps for now. Watch this space! Firstly, the distance. None of the Scandinavian events Holland so close together from a commercial point of view. are close to central Europe. What doesn’t help is that for They are aiming at the same local drivers and same spectators. halridge.com 30 | #95 – December 2011 RallycrossWorld.COM RallycrossWorld.COM #95 – December 2011 | 31 - WORLD RALLYCROSS WORLD RALLYCROSS WORLD RALLYCROSS WORLD RALLYCROSS WORLD RALLY CROSS WORLD RALLYCROSS WORLDWebsite RALLYCROSS- WORLD RALLYCROSS WORLD RALLYCROSS WORLD- RALLYCROSS WORLD RALLYCROSS WORLD RALLY CROSS WORLD WORLD RALLYCROSS WORLD RALLY CROSS WORLD RALLYCROSS WORLD RALLYCROSS- WORLD RALLYCROSS WORLD RALLYCROSS WORLD RALLYCROSS WORLD RALLYCROSS WORLD RALLY CROSS WORLD RALLYCROSS WORLD RALLYCROSS WORLD RALLYCROSS WORLD WORLD RALLYCROSS- WORLD RALLYCROSS WORLD RALLYCROSS WORLD RALLYCROSS WORLD RALLYCROSSJ WORLD RALLY CROSS WORLD RALLYCROSS WORLD RALLYCROSS WORLD WORLD RALLYCROSS WORLD RALLYCROSS WORLD- RALLYCROSS WORLD RALLYCROSSMagazine WORLD WORLD

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