World Rallycross Championship a.k.a RALLYX

[tbtstt]

Forgive the double post, but I just uploaded some pictures from the opening round of the Championship in Barcelona. Few of my faves:













Loads more pictures here:

https://www.flickr.com/photos/229616...57692943651242

If any of you are interested!

[MrJan]

I see that Pucher is back with Topi and Andrew Jordan for a select few events (GB, Germany and something else I think), guess he's regretting having a whinge at IMG and heading over to GRC!

[tbtstt]

I see that Pucher is back with Topi and Andrew Jordan for a select few events (GB, Germany and something else I think), guess he's regretting having a whinge at IMG and heading over to GRC!

Pucher is pretty vocal on Facebook: he is still insisting that the GRC Europe Championship is coming in 2019.

[Sulland]

Could be a possibility to see Sordo in WRX, maybe in a Renault Megane.
Will be interessting.

[Alpha]

Times are in for Montalegre free practice and the fastest guy this weekend is...

*drumroll*


Petter Solberg!

Followed by:
Kristofferson
I'll-crash-you-if-I-can-Ekström
Timmy
Loeb
Kevin Hansen
Baumanis
Timur
Grönholm
Chichi
Bakkerud

Disappointing pace from Andreas.. But he only did 9 laps, most of the others did 20. Maybe some technical issue?

[Micke_VOC]

Top 5 Q1

1.	Sébastien LOEB	1	02:41.054	50
2.	Mattias EKSTRÖM	2	02:41.266	45
3.	Johan KRISTOFFERSSON	3	02:42.559	42
4.	Guerlain CHICHERIT	4	02:42.792	40
5.	Andreas BAKKERUD	5	02:43.144	39

Top 5 Q2

1.	Timmy HANSEN	1	02:39.635	50
2.	Sébastien LOEB	2	02:39.669	45
3.	Mattias EKSTRÖM	3	02:40.044	42
4.	Petter SOLBERG	4	02:40.552	40
5.	Andreas BAKKERUD	5	02:40.554	39

http://www.fiaworldrallycross.com/result/por/2018

[Fast Eddie WRC]

Lovely conditions...
[img][/img]

[tbtstt]

Well quite an eventful end to the racing in Portugal. EKS and Peugeot both looked stronger than PSRXVW in qualifying, but poor strategy from EKS left the door wide open for Kristoffersson in the semi-final. Good recovery from Solberg as well (helped by the Eriksson/Baumanis contact), thought he had thrown his chances away when he stalled on the line.

Has Chichiret got a lot better, or is the Prodrive Megane really, really, quick? I thought Grosset-Janin would be the quickest guy in GCK, but Guerlain seems to be doing well, him knocking Ekstrom out was the biggest surprise of the weekend.

[MrJan]

I think that Chicherit benefited from circumstance rather than legit pace. He managed to get some clear races in qually and then the Hansen/Ekstrom/Bakkerud scrap in the semi so basically gave him a bye to the final....that said, the Prodrive Megane is definitely quick and I think could have been competitive with the right driver. Interesting to note that the manufacturer is GCK,rather than Renault, so possibly a falling out?

EKS really shot themselves in the foot, although looked to me that Ekstrom got a nudge wide in the semi-final (rubbing's racing and all that). All the f**king about on the first corner was what allowed Petter back into the race. Entertaining weekend, weather looked horrible at times.

[tbtstt]

Interesting to note that the manufacturer is GCK,rather than Renault, so possibly a falling out?

I don't think there was ever any mention of Renault manufacturer endorsement for GCK was there? The designation doesn't surprise me, OMSE and MJP (and possibly others) have branded their Fiestas as manufactured by themselves (rather than Ford) in the past.

EKS really shot themselves in the foot, although looked to me that Ekstrom got a nudge wide in the semi-final (rubbing's racing and all that). All the f**king about on the first corner was what allowed Petter back into the race. Entertaining weekend, weather looked horrible at times.

Yeah, EKS left the door wide open for Johan. The Eriksson/Baumanis contact definitely played into Solberg's hands. It wasn't clearly shown on the TV coverage, but I think Eriksson and Baumanis traded more paint during the rest of the race as well.

Second weekend that Timmy Hansen has fallen short at the last hurdle as well. The results don't really show it, but at present I think the Peugeot Sport 208 is the quickest car out there.