Rallycross is a form of sprint style motorsport , held on a closed mixed-surface racing circuit , with modified production or specially built touring cars . It is mainly popular in the Nordic countries , the Netherlands , Belgium , France and Great Britain . An inexpensive, entry level type of rallycross is the Swedish folkrace or its Norwegian counterpart, the so-called bilcross . The folkrace is most popular in Finland where it was founded back in the late 1960s. In Europe, rallycross can also refer to racing 1:8 scale off-road radio-controlled buggies .
46-806: The RallyCar Rallycross Championship is a rallycross championship held in the United States . Founded in 2010, it is the first series in America for European-style rallycross competition. The series is run by RallyCar, which also runs the Rally America stage rallying series. RallyCar Rallycross is different from SCCA RallyCross , which is similar to Autocross but contested on an unpaved surface. Cars run one at-a-time, unlike rallycross, where competitors race wheel-to-wheel. The first event attracted names such as Travis Pastrana , Dave Mirra and Tanner Foust . Rallycross made its US debut at X Games 16 in 2010, under
92-582: A Dutch counterpart to Robert Reed, discovered rallycross during a visit to Great Britain in 1968 and immediately understood its potential for the television viewers. By that time there were nearly ten million Britons watching some of the events on television. Back home in the Netherlands, Herzet contacted the race and rally driver as well as motoring journalist Gerard van Lennep (a cousin to Formula One driver Gijs van Lennep ) to discuss his find. Both agreed that this form of sprint racing could be also appropriate for
138-548: A TV show (with especially invited rally drivers), produced by Robert Reed of ABC Weekend TV for ITV 's World of Sport programme, at Lydden Circuit (between Dover and Canterbury ) in Great Britain on Saturday, 4 February 1967. The first true rallycross was organised by Bud Smith (d. 1994) and the Tunbridge Wells Centre of the 750 MC , with the aid of Lydden Circuit owner Bill Chesson (d. 1999), and
184-638: A dozen or so years the sport faded in Australia. Peter Brock was especially successful driving for the Holden Dealer Team in a supercharged Holden Torana GTR . The inaugural Australian Rallycross Championship was held at the Tailem Bend circuit on 24 June 1979 and was won by Larry Perkins , driving a 2.0-litre Volkswagen Beetle for Kruger Motors. This was the only Australian Rallycross Championship to be contested. A national rallycross championship
230-692: A half years and several rallycross events at Lydden as well as Croft Circuit (near Darlington ) the BBC adopted the young sport for its Grandstand programme while ITV dropped it after the British Rallycross Winter Series 1968/69. In 1969 Lydden Circuit and Croft Circuit were joined by another RX venue, Cadwell Park in Lincolnshire . However, while both Lydden and Croft nowadays are still in use for rallycross Cadwell Park later dropped this type of car racing from its schedule. Rob Herzet ( AVRO ),
276-507: A more affordable and less powerful alternative to provide easier entry into the special classes. These vehicles are equipped with single 600 cc engines positioned at the rear, transmitting power to the rear wheels. While predominantly utilised by smaller clubs, F600s can be found in various locations. Another class is the stock hatchbacks, where nearly standard saloons with a maximum capacity of 1600 cc are used. However, these classes are not officially recognised as stand-alone categories by
322-546: A popular entry point for individuals interested in driving modified saloon cars. It permits engine capacities ranging from 1131 to 1420 cc , without requiring the use of the original engine or its original position. Many cars in this class use rear engines to enhance traction and grip. Class 6 is designated for vehicles with unrestricted engine capacity and modifications, specifically for front engine and front wheel drive configurations. The cost range for participating in this class typically falls between £1,500 to £40,000. Class 7
368-446: A relatively modest investment, although some car builds can exceed £50,000 in budget. This class comprises single-seater vehicles equipped with nearly standard 1.2 L Vauxhall Corsa engines. Similar to the junior class one saloons, class one single-seaters are designated for drivers aged 10 to 16 years. Some specific clubs feature additional classes, such as the F600, which were introduced as
414-422: A substantial cost, and examples include Cosworth turbo-engines, large-block American V8 engines, and various highly tuned V6 engines. This class is recognised for its high level of competitiveness and imposes the strictest limit on engine capacity, allowing a maximum of 1420 cc for car engines specials and 1350 cc for bike engines. Engine tuning is permitted, turbocharging or supercharging are not allowed. While
460-545: Is a form of motor racing , with races organised at various venues across the UK and Ireland . The roots of the discipline can be traced back to the 1960s. Typically, Autograss races are conducted on tracks spanning approximately 400 meters and featuring grass or mud surfaces. These races are primarily organised and promoted by non-profit clubs which are affiliated with the National Autograss Sports Association,
506-537: Is a modified category in Autograss racing, permitting engine capacities up to 1130 cc . While various engine modifications are permitted, turbocharging and supercharging are not allowed. The rules require that the original engine and its position should remain unchanged, but extensive modifications are made to enhance competitiveness. Cars commonly found in this class include Mini , Hillman Imp , Citroen Saxo , Nissan Micras , and Peugeot 106 . This category serves as
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#1732863220172552-430: Is another purpose-built class that sets a minimum engine capacity of 2071 cc without an upper limit, allowing extensive modifications to the engine (with the exception of forced induction for motorcycle engines). Twin bike engines within the capacity range of 1550 cc to 4000 cc , as well as V8 engines, are popular choices in this class. Class 10 offers an opportunity for racers on a budget to obtain significant power for
598-407: Is exclusively designated for rear-wheel-drive vehicles. The engine capacities in this class are unrestricted, but they must exceed 1421 cc , unless a motorcycle engine is used, in which case a 1000 cc engine is permissible. A considerable number of class 7 cars utilise motorcycle engines and in such cases, two engines may be employed to propel the vehicle. The engines used in these cars often come at
644-508: Is often wrongly connected with the cancellation of the 1967 RAC Rally , due to foot-and-mouth disease , in November 1967, about ten months after the maiden event. Some foreign entrants for the RAC had also planned to take part in the 1st international rallycross at Lydden Circuit, on Saturday, 25 November 1967, but went home immediately after the rally had been cancelled on the evening of 17 November, and
690-747: Is the current national series in the United Kingdom. The calendar features iconic rallycross circuits including Lydden Hill Race Circuit . Recognised as an official championship by the MSUK, the governing body of motorsport in Great Britain. The first FIA World Rallycross Championship (World RX) took place from 4–5 May 2014, alongside the FIA European Rallycross Championship (Euro RX) , the latter formerly known as FIA European Championships for Rallycross Drivers . Former World Rally Championship champion Petter Solberg took first place to become
736-401: Is typically kept standard with limited modifications allowed, such as a reboring of up to +60. The engine capacity is restricted to 998 cc , except for Mini's engine which can be modified up to 1058 cc . In separate races, junior drivers aged 10–16 are permitted to drive class 1 cars. Initially limited to Mini 's standard 1000cc, the eligibility of this class has expanded to include cars like
782-449: The Peugeot 106 , Nissan Micra , Toyota Yaris , and Citroën AX since 2006. To accommodate the rising costs and scarcity of classic Minis , other experimental cars are being added to the list. The purpose of class 1 racing is to maintain an entry-level class with affordable construction costs. Ideally, the initial investment should be under £500, and the running costs should be minimal at
828-519: The ABC TV viewers started with round one on 23 September, to be followed by round two on 7 October. The series was run over a total of six rounds (three at Lydden and three at Croft) and was eventually won by Englishman Tony Chappell ( Ford Escort Twin Cam ), who became the first British Rallycross champion after winning the final round of the new series on 6 April 1968 at Lydden. However, the true birth of rallycross
874-596: The Dutch Rallycross Association was founded and, during 1970, organised another five events at Venlo. For 1971 the Nederlandse Rallycross Vereniging (NRV) moved the sport to its new continental home at Valkenswaard near Eindhoven . The Eurocircuit opened on Saturday 17 April with a race that was won by Jan de Rooy and his famous DAF 555 Coupé 4WD and became the first track in the World that
920-766: The Irwindale Raceway. American newcomer, Mitchell deJong joined the series and made history as the youngest to win the Silver Medal in X-Games in his first attempt at age 16. In 2014 the Global Rallycross Championship Series traveled to tracks across the U.S. and Canada. The series traveled to Circuit of the Americas in Austin, Texas where American driver, Mitchell deJong made history again when he became
966-576: The Netherlands. Van Lennep soon started his investigations and found a military testing ground near the town of Venlo , close to the Dutch-German border. Actually there had been two venues available, the one at Venlo in Limburg and one at Elst in Gelderland, but the aid offered by the army turned the decision into the favour of Venlo. On Saturday 17 May 1969 a group of invited rally and racing drivers went to
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#17328632201721012-511: The United States, there is dirt track racing , close to rallycross, but with two big differences, the vehicles are sprint cars , late models , modifieds and midgets instead, and they usually run in oval dirt tracks. In Great Britain, autocross was where some of the pioneers of rallycross started. In other Europeans countries, autocross is similar to in Britain, but with the cars starting at
1058-598: The Vauxhall Nova particularly popular among drivers. However, the use of 1275 cc Mini and Geo Metros are not allowed due to a minimum length requirement and the restriction to two-valve per cylinder cars. To ensure fair competition among the diverse range of vehicles used, a restrictor is fitted in the inlet manifold to balance their performance. This class represents the initial category with unlimited capacity in Autograss racing. The cars in this class are required to have front-mounted engine and rear-wheel-drive. It allows for
1104-508: The beginning of 2021 season . The Supercar category was renamed to RX1, and a new electric rallycross supercar category RX1e was introduced. The Junior RX2 series were dropped, and Junior electric series RX2e were introduced. RX1e championship is expected to debut in 2022 season , consisting of the RX1 supercars retrofitted with two 250kW electric motors (equivalent of 680 horsepower ), and equipped with 52kWh performance battery. In Australia and in
1150-537: The club level. However, cars that are competitive at the national level and capable of winning races often cost around ten times the aforementioned figure or even more. Class 2 in Autograss racing encompasses front-wheel-drive or rear-wheel-drive vehicles equipped with a 1300 cc engine. These vehicles can have their engines placed either at the front or the back. The commonly observed models in this class are Vauxhall Nova , Nissan Micra , and Ford Fiesta . The inclusion of front-wheel-drive vehicles in class 2 has made
1196-429: The conversion of front-wheel-drive vehicles to rear-wheel-drive and permits the use of 16-valve engines with a maximum capacity of 2065 cc , while engines with two valves per cylinder have no displacement limitations. As a result, this class features lightweight and high-speed cars with considerable power. Among the vehicles commonly found in this class are Toyota Starlet , MKII Ford Escort , and Ford Anglia . Class 4
1242-619: The first FIA World Rallycross Championship winner. The 2014 FIA World Rallycross Championship consists of 12 events globally for the Supercar category. FIA World and European Rallycross Championship cars are built based on production car body shells of vehicles homologated for Group A and Group N, or permitted by a special FIA list for non-homologated cars to be used in rallycross but are extensively modified. Different rallycross championships and events use different formats and scoring systems. The FIA made changes to rallycross categories before
1288-503: The governing body of the sport. The National Championships, held annually, comprise separate class events for men, women and juniors. The championships usually take place from August to September. The sport encompasses ten different car classes, ranging from production saloons to single-seat 'specials'. The cars used in Autograss racing are small hatchbacks , which undergo certain modifications. As per Autograss regulations, these cars have their trim, dashboard and seats removed. The engine
1334-433: The heavier class 10 vehicles. The allowed capacity ranges from 1421 cc to 2070 cc , and extensive modifications are permitted, with the standard exclusions of turbocharging and supercharging. All cars in this class are equipped with mid-engines, and the majority of them utilise a transverse gearbox layout combined with rear-wheel drive. Class 10 is recognised as one of the high-performance categories in Autograss racing. It
1380-450: The majority of cars in this class are designed with rear engines, this configuration is not explicitly mandated by the regulations; however, it is considered the most effective approach for maximising weight distribution over the wheels. This class has a strong track record of success in open-class races. It combines the powerful performance of modern 2.0 L engines with the advantage of being lighter, resulting in superior handling compared to
1426-702: The name SuperRally, organised by RallyCar. The championship is aimed to make rallycross grow at a national level in the United States. Three events were held at the end of 2010 at New Jersey Motorsports Park . The first full season was run in 2011, with three races being also valid for the Global Rallycross Championship in the West Coast and three in the Midwest as a supporting event to the Traxxas TORC Series . Rallycross The sport started as
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1472-635: The same time like in rallycross. Also there is crosskart racing. The motocross , which is similar to rallycross, but with motorcycles, ATVs and Pit bikes is very popular worldwide. It also have the bike motocross and the side car motocross . In France, they have camion cross , (truck cross in English) similar to rallycross, but with trucks instead. The most known championship is the Coupe de France de camion cross . [REDACTED] Media related to Rallycross at Wikimedia Commons Autograss Autograss
1518-502: The series went to Foz do Iguaçu , Brazil, and Munich , Germany, and a rained-out event in Barcelona, Spain. In 2013, GRC Lites made their debut in Loudon, New Hampshire, with the series most exciting race held at Atlanta Motor Speedway pitting professional European rallycross drivers against newcomer, American Mitchell DeJong. Global Rallycross was also featured in X Games this year, held at
1564-496: The so-called AVRO-Trophy and on 16 August of the same year NSU campaigner Hans Kok claimed the first national Dutch rallycross title. On October 4 1969 Holland saw its last Rallycross event of the first season, a stand-alone one-off race organised on a temporary track that was quickly set up on pastureland near the ‘Europahal’ at the town of Elst, halfway between Arnhem and Nijmegen. Here it was young Briton ‘Jumping’ Jeff Wiliamson who drove his Riley 1300 to overall victory. On 1 November
1610-472: The spot for a test day. Everybody was really satisfied and enthusiastic and only three weeks later, on Saturday 7 June the first rallycross event on the European continent was held. The track consisted of a section of concrete runway, loose sections through heathland and a hollow, about 40 metres long and 10 metres deep, usually used for tank testing. Although the soft heath soil and the muddy hollow hampered most of
1656-614: The streets of Downtown Los Angeles. The series had several popular drivers such as Tanner Foust , Ken Block , Travis Pastrana , Finn Marcus Grönholm , Kiwi Rhys Millen , Dave Mirra , Frenchman Stéphane Verdier , Swede Michael Jernberg and Briton Liam Doran . The events were televised on ESPN. In 2012, the series grew to seven events run in conjunction with NASCAR Sprint Cup and IndyCar weekends as well as X Games 18 in Los Angeles. Several marques fielded factory- or importer-supported efforts including Ford, Hyundai, Subaru and Dodge. In 2013
1702-551: The tag RallyCar) announced it would begin sanctioning European style rallycross events in the United States. The inaugural season of the RallyCar Rallycross Championship , held in 2010, featured four events and several rally, rallycross and drifting competitors have shown an interest in contesting these races. All four events (August 29, October 3, November 6, November 7) were organised at New Jersey Motorsports Park . A closed-format circuit race called Rallycross
1748-469: The two dozen or so competitors, or at least their mostly rather aged cars, the event produced much fun for all concerned as well as the TV audience. Overall victory went eventually to Hans Kok and his valuable NSU 1200 TT. Davy Van Den Branden 9 Times Belgian Champion. And 5 times Netherlands Champion. The Dutch television company AVRO gave green light to Rob Herzet as well as another three rounds counting towards
1794-688: The youngest to be invited and to win the Gold Medal in X-Games. In 2018, the Circuit of the Americas in Austin, Texas, hosted the World Rallycross race event again on September 29–30 at the purpose-built track. The Americas Rallycross Championship began competition in 2018. However, it was cancelled after the 2019 season due to a lack of sponsors. Pastrana launched his own rallycross championship Nitro Rallycross in 2021. The Motorsport UK British Rallycross Championship presented by Cooper Tires
1840-657: Was a regular event at the X Games for some years. It was first added to the X Games XVI in 2010 under the name SuperRally . This event involved heavily modified production cars with turbocharged engines running at 600 hp, all-wheel drive , sequential gearboxes , and offroad style suspension tuned for long jumps. The Global RallyCross Championship was a Red Bull -sponsored championship that began in 2011 with five rounds in Irwindale, California (The Revolution), Snoqualmie, WA (Twin Peaks), Fountain, CO (Last Chance) and X Games 17 in
1886-687: Was among most popular autosport disciplines in Soviet Union with hundreds of racing tracks and various classes of trucks, light cars and purpose built buggies competing. Most classes were effectively one-make classes, with few performance upgrades available, which together with wide state support made autocross popular and easily accessible to enthusiasts. Since late 1970s local regulations for autocross were harmonized with FIA regulations for rallycross. Until that time most tracks were unpaved, since then more partially paved rallycross tracks were built. In October 2009 Rally America (for two years operating under
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1932-811: Was especially designed and built purely for rallycross purposes. Rallycross came to Australia in 1969 with a one off meeting at Leppington in New South Wales . Events were held at Calder Park Raceway in Melbourne until the mid 1970s and at the Catalina Park circuit in Katoomba in New South Wales from 1972 until the early 1980s. Circuits at Towac near Orange in New South Wales as well as Tailem Bend and Whyalla in South Australia were also used, but after
1978-447: Was eventually won by Andrew Cowan and his Hillman Imp . Thames Estuary Automobile Club's (TEAC) premier event, the original Clubman's rallycross, was held the day after. It opened up the new rally drivers' fun-sport to many amateur competitors, proved very successful and thereby paved the way for the first generation of real rallycross specialists, many of them coming from the ranges of autocross and autograss racing. After one and
2024-414: Was replaced by a single special stage (won by Swede Erik Carlsson in a Saab 96 V4 ) for the sake of the disappointed television companies. RAC Rally stage number one by then, Camberley, was on Ministry of Defence land and not affected by movement restrictions caused by the disease in rural areas. Subsequently, only British drivers competed in the maiden international rallycross event one week later, which
2070-799: Was set to return to Australia in 2015 in the form of the Extreme Rallycross Championship, originally scheduled to consist of seven events held across 2015 and 2016. However, the series was cancelled after just one event had been held due to a lack of entries. A proposed Victorian championship, titled Rallycross Australia, was also cancelled before a single event had been run. In Soviet Union history of rallycross (under name of autocross) dates back to 1949 when first competitions were held for light trucks, as well as passenger cars. First competitions resembled more light offroad race over 20-40km course, but over time races shortened and purpose built tracks were established. In 1970s and 1980s autocross
2116-457: Was won by later Formula One driver as well as 1968 Rally Monte Carlo winner Vic Elford in a showroom Porsche 911 of the British importer AFN, ahead of Brian Melia in his Ford Lotus Cortina and Tony Fall in a BMC Mini Cooper S . After that inaugural event there were another two test rallycrosses at Lydden, on 11 March and 29 July, before the new World of Sport Rallycross Championship for
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