Rallycross - Rallycross Today

Rallycross Today

The largest competition nowadays is the FIA European Championships for Rallycross Drivers. Nordic drivers have dominated the sport ever since the end of the 1970s, with names as Martin "Mister Rallycross" Schanche (Norway), Olle Arnesson (Sweden), Matti Alamäki (Finland), Kenneth "His Kennyness" Hansen (Sweden) and Per Eklund (Sweden) as some of the more famous. British drivers to win European rallycross titles were the first ever European RX champion, Scotsman John Taylor (in 1973) and the two Englishmen Will Gollop (in 1992) and Richard Hutton (in 1994).

In rallycross several cars start abreast at the same time, and drive three to six laps on a rather short racing track, setting the best qualifying times. In the end there are 'C', 'B' and 'A' finals for the 16 fastest drivers of the qualification and the overall winner of the event will be decided in an afternoon showdown. Rallycross is a relatively small sport compared to rally and asphalt racing.

FIA European Rallycross Championship (ERC) cars are built based on production car body shells but are extensively modified. A typical leading ERC series car, Per Eklund's Saab 9-3 Turbo 16 4x4 technical specifications are a 2-litre turbocharged 4-cylinder 16-valve engine with a 45 mm turbo restrictor rated at +550 bhp (410 kW) and 800 N·m (590 lb·ft) of torque, four-wheel drive with programmable active differentials and six-speed gearbox, 1,200 kg (2,600 lb) (current FIA regulations) and will do the 0–100 km/h (about 0–62 mph) sprint in less than 2.5 seconds, thereby roughly as fast as a Formula One racer (capable of 0-60 mph in 2.3 seconds), some other ERC Division 1 cars are already claimed by their drivers to need even less than 2 seconds.