world • monde • welt • värld GOLF COURSE – MAIDEN FRC WIN FOR THEUIL Rallycross 30 YEARS OF THE GOLF IN #30 – June 2006 RALLYCROSS RECALLED Williams’ Gary Numan BRC deal Eriksson toughs out ERC trouble Pinomäki still wants his D1 chance world • monde • welt • värld 3 4 Mark Williams to return to the BRC – with Theuil wins in France as Rallycross Gary Numan! Anne struggles As you wished Over the last couple of months we have It’s hugely impressive to witness one driver anticipated a 2006 season that promised to be exerting a dominant grip over a championship more competitive than for many years. – as Olivier Anne did in France last year – but The start to all the major championships way more exciting when you really do not 5 appear to indicate we were right to be excited which of a handful of drivers is going to come about this year: Two different first-time winners out on top. Edditorial – the Guru in the first two FRC rounds, two different That’s the situation that exists in the best winners in the BRC, including a maiden event championships right now, and we like it. traces three decades of win for Christopher Evans, three different Elsewhere the FIA has confirmed that Group winners in the first three rounds of the ERC and N’s replacement is waiting in the wings. The the VW Golf in Rallycross a [welcome] surprise win for Thomas Rådström new class will provide proper Rallycross cars in the first round of the Swedish championship and, if it shapes up like D1-A, will be good stuff. at Arvika. [email protected] Click it! Subscribe Copyright 8 9 Advertisements in Rallycross Rallycross World is published Rallycross World is a Myriorama Rustam Minnikhanov, the Prime Minister of FIA confirms rear-drive World are interactive – click on monthly and distributed production published by Tim them to jump straight to the exclusively by e-mail Whittington. Tatarstan, no less, drives in Rallycross class will replace Group advertiser’s website. Subscriptions cost £12 per This publication may not And make sure you check year (12 issues) and can be be redistributed, copied or N Division Two the whole advert as some made online or by post, click reproduced in whole or in have multiple links – and the link below for details. part in any form without you wouldn’t want to miss the written consent of the anything, would you. subscriptions • abonnement copyright holder. Unless There are also links from subskription • abonnera otherwise stated, all text and some editorial items and we photographs are © copyright will always try to offer a live Tim Whittington 2006. 10 Jussi Pinomäki 14 link wherever we quote a Click Contributors: Eddi Laumanns, website address in editorial Jacques Privat, Jan Kåre Rafoss, Andreas Eriksson The Rallycross World content. Backmans Foto. 11 Rallycross World is also here This issue published June 9 poster – “Knapick” in the featured at the recently Next issue published July 6 12 Andrew Jordan launched website subskription • abonnera [email protected] French ERC round www.myriorama.com subscriptions • abonnement www.myriorama.com 13 Thomas Rådström Briefi ng It’s time for the FIA to name the Rallycross classes Changes are afoot in the International Rallycross classes; the FIA Off Roads Commission has approval for its idea to introduce a new rear-wheel drive class which will replace Division Two. I like the idea of the new class. The cars should be good to watch and technically interesting enough to stimulate those who build cars. The category also appears to fi t nicely into the class structure which contains the 1600cc, front-drive cars of Division One-A and the four-wheel drive, turbocharged machines of Division One. But, while the ORC is making some changes, isn’t about time it got its act together and stopped referring to the classes as by numbers? There is no excuse for the ORC to persist with Division One, One-A and Two, even less that it replaces Group N cars with a new breed of purpose-built Rallycross cars but thinks that is okay for both to be known as Division Two. It’s hard enough for teams to sell this sport to sponsors as it Williams is a Numan is, but it should be a little easier for them – and also for event promoters to explain to the general public – to get the message across if the way the cars are categorised tells you something Supercar racer gets ‘Jagged’ backing from Gary Numan about what they are. In Britain and Ireland descriptive class names have been used for a long time. Doesn’t ‘Supercar’ give you more of a clue about the kind of car you are dealing with Mark Williams is preparing to return has previously been involved in motor meet up when Numan plays in Toronto than ‘Division One’? to the Quaife MSA British Rallycross sport when he sponsored a Formula Ford on August 2nd. In the past, ORC members have argued that it should retain Championship next month when his car in the early 1980s. Now a leading Williams’ Escort is being reworked by the class numbers because they also apply to Autocross, this also rebuilt Escort Supercar will carry backing aerobatic pilot of World War II fi ghter Matt Roach Racing. A couple of outings used as the reason why Rallycross has been saddled with fudges from Gary Numan whose new album planes, Numan has recently launched a late in the 2005 season revealed problems like Division Two-A and Division One-A instead of the more Jagged will be promoted on the car. new album Jagged. with the ex-Michael Coyne car which logical Division Three [this is applied to Autocross specials]. To “I’m very excited to be associated with Williams has missed the fi rst half of the Roach has now rebuilt at his Essex base. follow that argument logically, the new rear-drive class should Gary Numan,” said Williams. “The deal is BRC season as his business commitments Williams has a long term plan to actually be called Division One-B as it has Division One tech regs for the remainder of the 2006 season and mean he has recently moved from graduate to the ERC and the current at its root, just like Division One-A! I hope we will be able to continue beyond Connecticutt to Toronto. Ironically, range of outings in the BRC with the Some proper class names are long overdue and the imminent that too.” Numan who is currently in the middle Escort are a precursor to moving up: change in technical regulations is the golden opportunity for the Numan, who had number one singles in of a world tour will be in Canada when “The ERC is where I want to be within ORC to do everyone a favour by giving us something we can the UK with Cars and Are ‘Friends’ Electric, Williams debuts the revamped car at the next fi ve years, at the moment I’m work with. has been a speed nut since his youth and Knockhill on July 30. The two plan to learning the ropes,” said Williams. Rallycross World #30 – JUNE 2006 | 3 Alexandre the great THE UK’s No1 BRAND OF FIRE RESISTANT RACE SUITS www.awsracewear.com FOR BROCHURE OR SALES CALL 01233 638498 photo: Jacques Privat After three years of persistent effort with expectation is that the championship Anne up against it his VW Golf-based Division One car, will produce its third winner in as many French Rallycross champion Olivier Anne Alexandre Theuil took his first victory in events at Luneville on June 10/11. has not had the greatest of starts to his the French Rallycross Championship at David Meslier and Mikael Poirier 2006 season. Faleyras near Bordeaux at the end of May. (Renault Clios), along with Marc Laboulle Although his new Citroën C4 was ready With Jean-Luc Pailler concentrating (Xsara), Benjamin Riviere and Anne are all and tested ahead of the FRC season, Anne his efforts on the ERC and defending potential event winners. was fifth in round one and 12th at Faleyras. champion Olivier Anne working hard to The Circuit Chenevieres at Luneville Add to this an engine failure prompted get the best out of his new Citroën C4, has been completely rebuilt ahead of this by a collision with Pailler [bodywork the FRC appears to be more open than year’s FRC event. The track design is rubbed on the oil pump belt, causing it to for many years. as before, but the whole site has been come off] in the ERC round at Mayenne Philippe Tollemer won the first round redeveloped to meet ‘modern standards’, and it has been at best a frustrating start with his ex-Anne Citroën Xsara and which raises the question of the ERC to the new year for Anne. On the up side, after Theuil’s victory in round two the round going to Luneville. Anne set the fastest lap time at Mayenne. Rallycross World #30 – JUNE 2006 | 4 Jochi Kleint in the works Golf at Melk Edditorial (Austria) in 1978 where he leads the Beetle of Swede Stig Emilsson The VW Golf has been Talking ’bout four part of the Rallycross scene for 30 years. Godfather of Rallycross journalists Eddi Laumanns tells all gggenerations all photos: Eddi Laumanns The fi rst ever VW Golf for Rallycross was brought to the next couple of years. It’s interesting to note, that at least two the cars into Touring and GT categories the factory department tracks in 1975 by brothers and VAG dealers Bongers.