World RX reveals tweaked 2022 calendar.

PHOTO CREDIT: FIA World RX media

Rallycross Promoter GmbH, the promoter for the FIA World Rallycross Championship has today issued a revised 2022 calendar, as ratified by the FIA World Motor Sport Council last weekend.

The first season of the electric era will see the championship travel to seven countries with 11 rounds (four double-headers) - a return to normality after two seasons affected by the global pandemic.

The all-electric World Championship will be officially launched at the iconic Höljes track over the course of the ‘Magic Weekend' at the beginning of July, alongside racing action from Euro RX1, Euro RX3, and the FIA RX2e Championship.

Having hosted the season finale in 2021, the famous Nürburgring (Germany) will host round two of the championship at the end of July, before the trek to Hell (Norway) which makes a welcome return in mid-August. 

After three single rounds, now the pressure and action heats up, four double-headers are on the cards. First up, is Rīga’s Biķernieku trase (Latvia) followed by Montalegre (Portugal) in September. Spa-Francorchamps (Belgium) will host the penultimate round of the season. 

Cape Town (Killarney) was originally set to host the season finale, but the latest revised calendar has mentioned an undisclosed venue potentially in November. Further information on the season finale is expected to be released in the coming weeks. 

World RX sets up group to research ways to improve track design.

PHOTO CREDIT: Red Bull Content Pool

Arne Dirks has revealed that Rallycross Promoter has created a group tasked with understanding track design with a focus on improving overtaking possibilities in the championship.

In December, the World Motor Sport Council (WMSC) revealed a number of changes to the 2022 Sporting Regulations ahead of the championships switch electric power this year. 

The changes range from the renaming of Qualifying heats to Heat 1, 2, and 3 instead of Q1, Q2, etc. along with the introduction of a Superpole timed session instead of the much-hated grid draw. 

The final qualifying session, known as Q4 named “Heat 4” will be replaced by a “Progression Race” which adds another stage in the progress towards to Semi-Finals. Read More Here. Additional changes include five laps in all races (Qualifying, Progression Race, Semi-Finals, Final) and no driver may use the Joker Lap on Lap 1 if the Joker Lap is in Corner No.1.

Leaving no stone unturned for the new era of World Rallycross, Rallycross Promoter launched a live stream platform (RX+) last year, which achieved great success, but with a new era of rallycross on the cards. The series promoters have looked at other ways to improve the spectacle for the fans.

In recent years, it has become quite apparent that circuits were designed with one racing line in mind, a subject we addressed when speaking to the World RX Championship Coordinator, Tim Whittington last month. [Read Feature Story] He explained that the championship "is working to introduce changes to circuits for the 2022 season." 

Arne Dirks, the Executive Director of Rallycross Promoter has now made it clear that they aim to assess track design within the championship.

“What we are doing at the moment, we are working heavily on track changes together with our organizers and the FIA. And, therefore we have set up a group of experts, there are drivers, team principals, circuit builders, and even across the board disciplines involved to get an understanding of how we can change tracks with the overall goal of creating more overtaking possibilities because we think that is key to the sport, and that adds more excitement for the fans, for the partners, and for everyone,” Arne Dirks explained.