The 2018 FIA World Rallycross Championship presented by
Monster Energy
Monster Energy is an energy drink that was created by Hansen Natural Company (now Monster Beverage Corporation) in April 2002. As of March 2019, Monster Energy had a 35% share of the energy drink market, the second highest share after Red Bull ...
was the fifth season of the
FIA World Rallycross Championship
The FIA World Rallycross Championship (official abbreviation is World RX) is a rallycross series organised by the FIA in conjunction with series promoter Rallycross Promoter GmbH (founded by Red Bull and KW25). From the inaugural season in 2014 ...
an
auto racing
Auto racing (also known as car racing, motor racing, or automobile racing) is a motorsport involving the racing of automobiles for competition.
Auto racing has existed since the invention of the automobile. Races of various sorts were organise ...
championship recognised by the
Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile
The Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA; en, International Automobile Federation) is an association established on 20 June 1904 to represent the interests of motoring organisations and motor car users. It is the governing body for ...
(FIA) as the highest class of international
rallycross.
Johan Kristoffersson
Johan David Kristoffersson (born 6 December 1988) is a Swedish racecar driver. He is a five time World Champion having won the FIA World Rallycross Championship in 2017, 2018, 2020, 2021 and 2022. In 2018 he won a record breaking 11 out of 12 eve ...
won the Drivers' Championship for the second season running during the World RX of the United States.
Calendar
The 2018 championship was contested over twelve rounds in
Europe
Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a Continent#Subcontinents, subcontinent of Eurasia ...
,
Africa
Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent, after Asia in both cases. At about 30.3 million km2 (11.7 million square miles) including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of Earth's total surface area ...
and
North America
North America is a continent in the Northern Hemisphere and almost entirely within the Western Hemisphere. It is bordered to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean, to the southeast by South America and the Car ...
.
Calendar changes
* The championship will expand to include a round in the
United States
The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...
for the first time, with the
Circuit of the Americas
Circuit of the Americas (COTA) is a Grade 1 FIA-specification motor racing track and facilities located within the extraterritorial jurisdiction of Austin, Texas, in the United States. The facility is home to the Formula One United States Grand ...
in
Austin, Texas
Austin is the capital city of the U.S. state of Texas, as well as the county seat, seat and largest city of Travis County, Texas, Travis County, with portions extending into Hays County, Texas, Hays and Williamson County, Texas, Williamson co ...
scheduled to host the event in conjunction with the
Americas Rallycross Championship
The Americas Rallycross Championship, also known as ARX Rallycross, was an American rallycross series organized by IMG Motorsport. Formed in 2018, it was a feeder series to the FIA World Rallycross Championship. After two seasons, ARX shut down ...
.
* The
World RX of Great Britain
The World RX of Great Britain is a Rallycross event held in the United Kingdom for the FIA World Rallycross Championship. The event made its debut in the 2014 season, at the Lydden Hill Race Circuit in the village of Wootton, Kent near Dover. Fr ...
event will relocate from
Lydden Hill Race Circuit
Lydden Hill Race Circuit (formerly known as Lydden Circuit) is a motorsport venue in Denton with Wootton, about half-way between Canterbury and Dover in Kent, England. The mile-long circuit is mainly used for Rallycross, Drift, Saloon and Spo ...
to a new venue at the
Silverstone Circuit
Silverstone Circuit is a motor racing circuit in England, near the Northamptonshire villages of Towcester, Silverstone and Whittlebury. It is the home of the British Grand Prix, which it first hosted as the 1948 British Grand Prix. The 1950 ...
.
* The
Hockenheim round of the championship was discontinued to accommodate the new American round.
*The
World RX of Canada
The World RX of Canada is a Rallycross event held in Canada for the FIA World Rallycross Championship. The event made its debut in the 2014 season, at the Circuit Trois-Rivières in the town of Trois-Rivières, Quebec.
Past winners
Refere ...
also shares an event with the
Americas Rallycross Championship
The Americas Rallycross Championship, also known as ARX Rallycross, was an American rallycross series organized by IMG Motorsport. Formed in 2018, it was a feeder series to the FIA World Rallycross Championship. After two seasons, ARX shut down ...
.
Entries
Supercar
Drivers with a green background are ineligible to score points towards the Championship for Teams.
* — Despite having been born in
France
France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...
,
Grégoire Demoustier
Grégoire Demoustier (born 26 January 1991 in Villeneuve-d'Ascq) is a French racing driver, who competes in the World Touring Car Championship for Sébastien Loeb Racing.
Career
Demoustier began his career in 2008, competing in the THP Spider Cup ...
is recognised by the
FIA World Rallycross Championship
The FIA World Rallycross Championship (official abbreviation is World RX) is a rallycross series organised by the FIA in conjunction with series promoter Rallycross Promoter GmbH (founded by Red Bull and KW25). From the inaugural season in 2014 ...
as a Belgian driver for the duration of the 2018 season.
RX2
2 Despite having been born in
Andorra
, image_flag = Flag of Andorra.svg
, image_coat = Coat of arms of Andorra.svg
, symbol_type = Coat of arms
, national_motto = la, Virtus Unita Fortior, label=none (Latin)"United virtue is stro ...
,
Albert Llovera
Albert Llovera Massana (born 11 September 1966) is a rally driver and former alpine skier from Andorra. He became the youngest athlete to compete in the Winter Olympics in 1984 at the age of 17. A serious accident in 1985 left him paralysed from t ...
is recognised by the
RX2 International Series and by extension, the
FIA World Rallycross Championship
The FIA World Rallycross Championship (official abbreviation is World RX) is a rallycross series organised by the FIA in conjunction with series promoter Rallycross Promoter GmbH (founded by Red Bull and KW25). From the inaugural season in 2014 ...
as a Spanish driver for the duration of the 2018 season.
Team changes
*
Hoonigan Racing Division
The Hoonigan Racing Division is a motor racing team that competes in the American Rally Association fielding a Hyundai i20 Coupe WRC car for Ken Block. The team previously competed in the World Rally Championship, Global RallyCross Championship, ...
withdrew from the series at the conclusion of the 2017 championship.
*
Team Peugeot Total
Team Peugeot Total is the factory team of French car manufacture Peugeot. The team competes in the Dakar Rally and the FIA World Rallycross Championship.
Main victories
The team won two Dakar Rally and one 24 Hours of Le Mans.
Rally raid cars
...
will step up their involvement in World RX, running as a full factory team in 2018, as compared to the family-based
Hansen Motorsport
Hansen Motorsport (officially ''Kenneth Hansen Motorsport AB''), which competed under the title Team Peugeot-Hansen as Peugeot's official partner in the motorsport of rallycross, is an auto racing team founded by Swedish racing driver Kenneth H ...
-run cars in 2017.
*
Olsbergs MSE
Olsbergs MSE, which also competes under the title OMSE, is an auto racing team founded by Swedish former rally champion Andréas Eriksson as Motorsport Evolution (MSE) in 2005. In 2008 it ran under the name ''Ford Team RS Europe'', while in 2009 ...
returned to World RX full-time in 2018 after competing part-time in 2017. They will debut their new-specification 2018
Ford Fiesta ST
The Ford Fiesta is a supermini car marketed by Ford since 1976 over seven generations. Over the years, the Fiesta has mainly been developed and manufactured by Ford's European operations, and has been positioned below the Escort (later the ...
MK8 Supercars, built in collaboration with
Ford Performance
Ford Performance (formerly Ford Racing) is the high-performance division of the Ford Motor Company and the multinational name used for its motorsport and racing activity.
History
* 1896 – Henry Ford reached a top speed of 20 mph in his ...
in Barcelona.
*
GC Kompetition
GCK Motorsport, formally known as GC Kompetition, is a subsidiary of Green Corp Konnection (GCK) and a French motorsport team founded by freeriding ski champion, rally driver and stunt driver Guerlain Chicherit in 2017.
GCK made its debut in th ...
(GCK) will make their World RX debut as a team entry. Team owner and driver
Guerlain Chicherit
Guerlain Chicherit (born 20 May 1978 in Paris) is a French rally and rallycross driver, and a professional skier who was four times world champion in freeriding (1999, 2002, 2006 and 2007).
Biography
He made his professional motorsport debut in ...
oversaw the development of the new
Renault Mégane R.S. RX, which was built in collaboration with
Prodrive
Prodrive is a British motorsport and advanced engineering group based in Banbury, Oxfordshire, England. It designs, constructs and races automobile, cars for companies and teams such as Aston Martin, Bahrain Raid Xtreme and Team X44. Its advan ...
.
*
GRX Taneco will enter the championship, using a pair of ex-
Hyundai Motorsport
Hyundai Motorsport GmbH (HMSG) is a division of South Korean automaker Hyundai Motor Company responsible for the brand's global motorsport activities. The company was established in December 2012 and is based in Alzenau, Germany.
Their principa ...
Hyundai i20 WRC
The Hyundai i20 WRC is a World Rally Car built by Hyundai for use from the 2014 World Rally Championship. It is based on the Hyundai i20 subcompact car, and was unveiled at the 2012 Paris Motor Show. The launch of the i20 marks Hyundai's return t ...
cars built to rallycross specifications by Set Promotion. Double world rally champion
Marcus Grönholm
Marcus Ulf Johan Grönholm (born February 5, 1968) is a Finnish former rally and rallycross driver, being part of a family of the Swedish-speaking population of Finland lineage. His son, Niclas Grönholm, is an upcoming FIA World Rallycross Champ ...
will be the team's principal.
*
Sébastien Loeb Racing
Sébastien Loeb Racing is a French racing team, founded by rally and racing driver Sébastien Loeb. It currently competes in the World Rallycross Championship, World Touring Car Cup, Porsche Carrera Cup France, and 208 Rally Cup. The team used t ...
will enter the championship with a single
Peugeot 208
The Peugeot 208 is a supermini car (B-segment in Europe) produced by the French automaker Peugeot. Unveiled at the Geneva Motor Show in March 2012 and positioned below bigger 308 and above smaller 108. The 208 replaced the 207 in 2012, and the ca ...
WRX run for
Grégoire Demoustier
Grégoire Demoustier (born 26 January 1991 in Villeneuve-d'Ascq) is a French racing driver, who competes in the World Touring Car Championship for Sébastien Loeb Racing.
Career
Demoustier began his career in 2008, competing in the THP Spider Cup ...
.
Driver changes
*
Andreas Bakkerud
Andreas Bakkerud (born 10 October 1991) is a rallycross driver from Bergen, Norway. He has competed in the FIA Rallycross Supercar class since 2013 in both Euro RX and World RX, and Nitro Rallycross since 2021. He became European Champion in 2021 ...
left Hoonigan Racing Division to join
EKS RX
EKS RX is a Swedish auto racing team founded by racing driver Mattias Ekström. The team is competing in FIA World Rallycross Championship since 2014 and entered the team championship in 2015.
In January 2017 it was announced that the team woul ...
.
*
Toomas Heikkinen
Toomas "Topi" Heikkinen (born 27 March 1991) is a rallycross and ice-racing driver from Finland. He won the Finnish Rallycross Championship in 2010 and the Global Rallycross Championship in 2013. He currently competes in the FIA World Rallycross ...
and
Reinis Nitišs
Reinis Nitišs (born 16 December 1995) is a rallycross driver from Jēkabpils, Latvia. He is the winner of the Super1600 division in the European Rallycross Championship in 2013 and is the youngest event winner in FIA World Rallycross Championshi ...
both left EKS RX.
Nitišs will instead re-join Set Promotion, the team in which he won the Super1600 championship with in 2013, and compete in the FIA European Rallycross Championship with an M-Sport Ford Fiesta. Heikkinen also joined the team, but stepped down from driving duties, becoming Nitišs’ team manager and a driving coach for Set Promotion's Super1600 drivers.
* After spending a year with
MJP Racing Team Austria
MJP Racing Team Austria is an auto racing team founded by Austrian racing driver and entrepreneur Max Pucher. The team has been competing in rallycross since its creation. The team uses Supercar specification Ford Fiesta
The Ford Fiesta is ...
in 2017,
Kevin Eriksson
Kevin Eriksson (born July 16, 1996) is a Swedish racing driver currently participating in the FIA World Rallycross Championship. He is the son of Olsbergs MSE team owner Andréas Eriksson. In 2016, he made his debut in FIA RX Supercar with a full ...
returned to his father's Olsbergs MSE team alongside fellow countryman
Robin Larsson
Robin Christian Zacharias Larsson is a Swedish racing driver currently participating in the FIA European Rallycross Championship
FIA is the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (English: International Automobile Federation), the world's go ...
, who will make his return to World RX after a year sabbatical.
*
Jérôme Grosset-Janin
Jérôme Grosset-Janin (born 19 June 1984) is a French rallycross driver from Sallanches, Haute-Savoie.
Biography
Grosset-Janin began his motorsport career in ice racing in 2003, and competed in the 2005 Andros Trophy, where he secured 14 podi ...
will partner team owner and driver Guerlain Chicherit, driving for the new GCK team.
* Double European Rallycross champion
Timur Timerzyanov
Timur Renatovich Timerzyanov (russian: Тиму́р Рена́тович Тимерзя́нов; born 31 January 1987) is a Russian rallycross driver, currently competing in the FIA World Rallycross Championship. He has won the European Rallycros ...
left
STARD to join GRX Taneco, partnering
Niclas Grönholm
Niclas Grönholm (born 29 May 1996) is a Finnish racing driver currently participating in the FIA World Rallycross Championship racing for GRX-SET World RX Team. He is the son of two time World Rally Champion Marcus Grönholm.
Racing record
C ...
in the new Hyundai i20.
Results and standings
World Championship points are scored as follows:
*A red background denotes drivers who did not advance from the round
FIA World Rallycross Championship for Drivers
a Ekström received no points from the final as he was disqualified after crashing into Solberg.
b Loss of fifteen championship points – stewards' decision
c Loss of ten championship points – stewards' decision
FIA World Rallycross Championship for Teams
RX2 International Series
(
key
Key or The Key may refer to:
Common meanings
* Key (cryptography), a piece of information that controls the operation of a cryptography algorithm
* Key (lock), device used to control access to places or facilities restricted by a lock
* Key (map ...
)
See also
2018 in rallycross
References
External links
*
{{World championships in 2018
World Rallycross Championship seasons
World Rallycross Championship
The FIA World Rallycross Championship (official abbreviation is World RX) is a rallycross series organised by the FIA in conjunction with series promoter Rallycross Promoter GmbH (founded by Red Bull and KW25). From the inaugural season in 2014 ...