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#96 JAN-FEB 2012

DRIVER-BY-DRIVER REVIEW OF EURO CHAMPIONSHIPS

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Contributors: Eddi Laumanns, Hal Ridge, Henk de Winter, Johan DingenenThis issue published : January 26Next issue published: March [email protected] myriorama

BriefingJunior category should be for younger racersWe first became aware of the ‘JRX’ idea last summer so its announcement at the FIA prize-giving event was not a total surprise. The initiative has a great deal of thought behind it, not to mention a huge amount of expertise in engineering and driving.

If the calculations are borne out once metal is cut and the cars start to test, then the new category should provide a training ground for young drivers who can also gain experience of racing at the highest level events.

If there is a flaw at this stage it would appear to be in the age rating. The class is pitched at 14 to 18-year-olds. In Autocross the Junior Buggy class is open to 13-year-olds, so why isn’t JRX also available from that age? Moving the entry points down should also make it easier to close the class off at 16; when racers can drive in any of the adult classes from 16 what is the point of having them knocking around in JRX where

their presence will most likely be a deterrent to young drivers looking into the formula.

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#96 JAN-FEB 2012

RallycrossWorld.COM #96 – January-February 2012 | 32 | #96 – January-February 2012 RallycrossWorld.COM

Contents5 Top Story 7 Diary Gallery 12 Diary December & January 16 Autosport International 18 The biggest 2011 ERC review18 Supercar29 TouringCar33 Super160038 Shoestring stories

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A new Junior Rallycross concept aimed at the European Rallycross Championship was launched druing the FIA Off-Road prize-giving and seminar at Riga in Latvia on January 15.

Publicly unveiled at a presentation on the closing morning of the annual event, the proposed class is aimed at 14 to18-year-olds and is based on a one-make spaceframe racecar with tightly controlled technical specifications and high safety standards.

The ‘JRX’ concept is being proposed by MAKS Events, a company that includes Marc Laboulle and Kenneth Hansen, among others. The car will use a spaceframe chassis and a 600cc, two-cylinder engine similar to those used in snowmobiles. Power is rated at 125bhp, the cars will have four-wheel drive and weigh 500kg.

The composite bodies for the car have been designed so that they will resemble a number of different body types currently

used in the Supercar class, Ford Fiesta, Citroën DS3 and Skoda Fabia among them. Described as a “mini me” concept, the idea is allow drivers a choice of bodies and for teams to run a family of cars of similar appearance.

Cars will be offered for sale and on an arrive and drive basis with MAKS events setting up a network of national dealers. The cost of the complete car is being pitched at €40,000 while the the arrive and drive deal is slated at €10,000 per event. Agents for France, Sweden, Norway, Finland and Germany are already in place. The plan is to launch the series in the summer and for it to appear at the last six rounds of the 2012 ERC, starting with the Norwegian event at Hell on June 22-24.

The move to introduce ‘JRX’ will provide the first international series for Juniors, national series in Britain, Holland/Belgium and Portugal the only option for under 16s to race in Rallycross until now.

JRX puts Juniors in ERCOne-make series to launch in the summer

RallycrossWorld.COM #96 – January-February 2012 | 5

JULIAN GODFREYCosworth YB – 543bhp, 810Nm torqueBritish Rallycross Champion 2011

JOS KUYPERSCosworth YB – 543bhp, 920Nm torqueDutch Rallycross Champion 2011

KOEN PAUWELSDuratec 2.0 – 304.7bhp, 256.8Nm torqueBelgian Rallycross Champion, TouringCar 2011

+44 (0)1435 865999RACETUNERS.COM

JULIAN GODFREYDuratec 1.6 – 225bhp, 181Nm torqueWinner, 2011 Super1600 ERC Belgium

SVERRE ISACHSENCosworth YB – 543bhp, 920Nm torqueEuropean Rallycross Champion 2009European Rallycross Champion 2010European Rallycross Champion 2011

Top story

The “JRX” concept will allow for the two-third scale cars to be clothed in bodies that look like your favourite Supercars.

www.racetuners.com

Diary galleryBingo! Ridge gets a TwingoBritish Super1600 specialist Hal Ridge is busy building a Renault Twingo II that he will drive in the British and European championships. Ridge will use the engine and gearbox from his Renault Clio, which is now for sale as a rolling shell, and has already found that the new car is attractive to sponsors.


Diary galleryShrimpton’s new modelThe most intriguing new Rallycross car on display at Autosport International was Joe Shrimpton’s Supernational Ford Fiesta VII. Built on a spaceframe chassis, the rear-engined car is the work of Avitas and is due to test near its Turkish base before Shrimpton begins his British championship campaign in it.


Diary galleryTruckinOn the back some strong drives in testing and an event at Phoenix, Rallycross star Liam Doran will return to the Lucas Oil Off Road series in America this year. Driving an ‘unlimited’ truck, Doran will race with Stronghold Motorsports in five of the eight championship events.

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December 3Erik Larsson, younger brother of ERC Super1600 racer Johan is to make the move to the ERC in 2012. The 21-year-old has previously raced in karts and in junior Rallycross in Sweden.

December 7The FIA World Motor Sport Council meeting in New Delhi approves proposals from the Off-Road Commission regarding rule changes for the 2012 European Rallycross Championship. The technical regulations will be changed to restrict the use of engines and turbochargers as a method to help control costs while the number of cars in the finals will be increased to eight.

» Liam Doran is named as a driver by Stronghold Motorsports which competes in the Lucs Oil Off Road Championship in America. Doran is to drive and ‘unlimited’ truck in the Pro4 category at Phoenix, his deal coming on the back of a successful test with the team at Las Vegas.

December 8Ken Block confirms that he will drive in the 2012 Global Rallycross Championship as part of a shift in emphasis that will see him reduce his involvement in the World Rally Championship and refocus his activities in America.

December 9A calendar for the 2012 MSA British Rallycross Championship is released. As expected, the schedule lists six events, the BRC dropping trips to Ireland and Belgium in a move to reduce costs and consolidate entry levels.MSA British Rallycross ChampionshipMarch 25 Lydden HillMay 12 Knockhill Night RaceJuly 22 Mallory ParkAugust 26-27 Lydden HillOctober 7 PembreyOctober 28 Croft

Diary» American team Michael Crawford Motorsports announces that it has struck agreements with Frode Holte and Ingvar Gunnarsson Motorsport that will see it run Holte and his Volvo C30 Supercar in the 2012 Global Rallycross Championship as well as being licenced to use IGM designs and technology to build cars in America.

December 15Andy Knowles secures a new sponsorship deal with French oil company Yacco. The arrangement will see Knowles enter his Citroën C2 in the new Super1600 class of the British Rallycross Championship as well as a programme of five European championship events.

December 16Eklund Motorsport is completing a rebuild and update on its third Saab 93 Supercar and will have all three cars complete and race ready for the 2012 season. Team boss Per Eklund does not elaborate on his plans, explaining simply, “We have three cars and I know that with the Sellhom transmission and suspension changes the car is still very competitive so we want to have all the cars ready and available.”

December 19In the wake of Frode Holte’s decision to move his team to America, Sverre Isachsen spoke publicly of his own desire to make the trans-Atlantic move but now says that he has no agreements in place for the 2012 season and has set a deadline of the beginning of February to decide whether he will continue to race in the European championship or take his Focus to the US.

December 28Belgian Jochen Coox says he has ordered a VW Scirocco chassis from Ingvar Gunnarsson Motorsport with which to replace his Skoda Fabia Supercar. Coox will use the running gear from the Skoda in the new car, the rolling shell of the ex-Lars Larsson machine having been sold to Peter Hedström.

December 29Kenneth Hansen Motorsport names Timur Timerzyanov and 19-year-old Norwegian Alexander Hvaal as its drivers in the 2012 European Rallycross Championship. Timerzyanov will drive the team’s new Citroën DS3 while Hvaal will start his first ERC season in a C4. KHM also confirms that Kevin Hansen, the youngest son of team owners Kenneth and Susann, will switch from karting to Rallycross and will drive in the Junior Rallycross Championship in Britain.

January 2American action sports superstar Travis Pastrana is linked to a


[email protected]. 0031 (0)548 - 361385

a potential winner, from start to podium

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» Michael Crawford Motorsports announce that American racer PJ Abbott will be the second driver in its GRC campaign. The former Indy Lights and NASCAR West driver works with MCM in a management role and will complete a ‘limited programme’ of events in a new Volvo C30.

January 15On the closing morning of the FIA Off-Road prize-giving and seminar event at Riga, MAKS Events unveils plans to introduce a Junior class, called ‘JRX’ to run within European championship events. The proposed series is based on a one-make, spaceframe car that will be available for 14 to 18-year-olds.

January 17Swedish veteran Lars Rosendahl says that he will make a concerted effort to tackle the European Rallycross Championship. The 58-year-old appears set to drive in nine of the ten events as the Austrian ERC round clashes with the first round of the Swedish championship (at Höljes) which he also plans to tackle in his TouringCar Fiesta VII.

January 19The Swedish ASN, the SBF, is planning to organise an ‘X Games-style event’ at Stockholm’s new Globe Arena on November 8-9 2013. The proposal is to feature different forms of motor sport; “Our plan is to have the same format as they use in the United States with the car races of X Games, where even Rally cars can participate. The format has not yet been decided, but we want it to be the final round of the Swedish Rallycross Championship series of that year too,” claims Swedish ASN (SBF) chairman Thomas Jansson.

January 25Jussi-Petteri Leppihalme confirms that he will return to SetPromotion for a full season in the European Rallycross Championship. The 19-year-old Finn will switch to the

multiple title-winning team’s newer Renault Clio II, the car used by Timur Timerzyanov in his 2010 championship season and by Andreas Bakkerud to win the 2011 crown. Leppihalme

is clear that he must try to complete a hat trick of titles for the car, “The goal is to be European champion. There are no other goals. Last year showed that there is enough speed. I’m feeling good and expectations are high. We have managed to build a nice package with great sponsors. Now it’s down to me to perform,” he said.

» The recently announced Junior Rallycross Cup or “JRX” gains its first competitor as SetPromotion signs Finnish kart star Teemu Suninen to race in the six-event series. Suninen (17) is part of the Finnish ASN’s talent scheme and was Finnish KF2 champion in 2010, achieving third place in the European and fourth in the under 18 World championships in the same year. Last year he won the Winter Cup and the Supernational event in Las Vegas. The Helsinki-based student plans to continue racing karts with Finnish team SpeedFun this year as a method of keeping himself race ready until the JRX gets underway in June.

Dodge entry into Rallycross. There is no official announcement but sources insist that Pastrana will be part of a two-car team based on the new Dodge Dart – a model that is based on the underpinnings of the Alfa Romeo Giulietta, Dodge part owned by Fiat that also controls Alfa Romeo – most likely paired with US-based Swede Samuel Hubinette who drives for Dodge in drifting.

January 5Peter Hedström confirms his plans to return to Rallycross full time in 2012. The Swede has bought Michael Jernberg’s Skoda Fabia II and all the spare parts for the car along with the ‘Mk1’ Fabia of Jochen Coox. His plan is to form a two-car team to contest European and Swedish events. There is no news on the identity of the second driver, although the team’s ‘anonymous’ financial backer is widely identified as former European champion Olle Arnesson, a neighbour of Hedström.

January 7Swedish rally start PG Andersson is linked to an outing in Hedström’s Skoda Fabia in the Swedish ERC round at Höljes.

January 9Finnish organiser Pekka Mustakallio states his intention of making Finland a long-term fixture in the European Rallycross Championship by lifting the level of the event he will promote at Kouvola in September. Finland returned to the ERC in 2010, having been absent since 1999, but immediately slipped off the calendar again when the event was judged to have fallen short of the necessary standard.

January 10British Super1600 racer Hal Ridge launches his 2012 season with the announcement that he is building a new Renault Twingo with which to replace his Clio. Ridge will drive the car in the newly launched Super1600 class in the British championship as well as taking in a handful of the European rounds.

January 11Liam Doran confirms a programme of American events that is centred on a full season in the Global Rallycross

Championship. Doran has formed a new team drawing together technical services from Mtechnologies and engine preparation from Julian Godfrey Engineering to put together a Citroën C4 to race in the GRC and the X Games for which, as a fold medal holder, he is assured an entry. Doran will also takes part in five Off Road truck events with Stronghold Motorsports and make a bid on Pikes Peak Hillclimb in a Monster Energy-backed RS200.

» French ladies champion Adeline Sangnier has stepped up her bid to win the Super1600 category of the French championship by buying the former title winning Citroën C2 from Steven Bossard.

» The newly formed Scott-Eklund Racing launches a two-car assault on the Global Rallycross Championship. Two of Eklund Motorsport’s three Saab 93 Supercars will be shipped to America for the championship, the first to be driven by Scott. The new team is in negotiation with several other drivers regarding its second car.

January 12Rally America makes its return to Rallycross as an event organiser by publishing a calendar of four events that it will run at New Jersey Motorsports Park. Rally America RallycrossMay 19July 21October 20November 17


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Obituary

Bodo HartkoppWe are sad to record the recent death of former German Rallycross driver Bodo Hartkopp (68), who died on December 28 after a short illness. Hartkopp was one of the leading German Rallycross competitors of the late 1970s and early ’80s when he used to drive a Mk1 VW Golf GTI in the up to 1600cc category of the so-called ‘Internationaler Estering-Pokal’ series, the then still unofficial German Rallycross Championship. Hartkopp was third overall in the 1979 series and the runner-up to fellow VW racer Harald Ganschof in 1980, in ’81, as well as claiming the up to 1600cc Danish championship. After this three successful seasons Hartkopp retired from the sport to concentrate on his business.

Wally RichmondPart time journalist and ardent motor sport fan Wally Richmond died in January 10, he was 78-years-old. When Croft reopened as a Rallycross venue in 1982, Richmond was the man who stood beside George Shield as a director of Croft Circuit. The racetrack had closed in 1981 and Richmond had cast around for ways in which to bring it back into use, Shield was also making plans and had settled on establishing a Rallycross track when he hooked up with Richmond and the local Darlington & District Motor Club which went to organise all the Rallycross events at the track. Although he continued to attend events and assist Shield, Richmond had ended his formal involvement before Shield resigned his lease when Croft’s landowners redeveloped the racetrack in 1995.

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Autosport International


Rallycross cars were prominent at Autosport International this year but despite several new machines being on display, perhaps the hottest ticket in the show was the RS200 that Liam Doran will drive at Pikes Peak Hillclimb in July.

“There has been so much attention around the car it’s amazing. It was flat out during the trade days with all kinds of media and press wanting to know about the car, everyone seems to love it!” said Doran who also had the Mtechnologies Citroën C4 Supercar that he will race in the Global Rallycross Championship on display. The Citroën was shown on the Monster Energy stand, the energy drink company also hosting Steve Hill’s Mitsubishi Lancer E10, Andy Knowles’ Citroën C2 Super1600 challenger and Graham Rodemark’s Swift Sport Championship car to launch its new involvement as title sponsor of the 2012 Monster Energy MSA British Rallycross Championship.

Elsewhere in the show there was a good deal of attention for the new Fiesta built by Turkish company Avitas Motorsport for RX150 racer Joe Shrimpton’s move to the Supernational class. The revolutionary car has a full spaceframe chassis with composite body and is powered by a 250bhp, two-litre Duratec engine mounted transversely in the

back of the car. Avitas R&D manager Kerem Orak said the car was designed around new rules, “It fits rules for spaceframe cars that allow us to move the engine position. It’s the first complete car we have built, although we have 30-years experience of building many different components.”

After Autosport International, the car will be returned to Turkey where a programme of testing will be carried out before it is returned to Britain in time for the start of the British championship. “The whole car was built in eight weeks and I’m really pleased with the way it looks, I can’t wait to get going now and see how it performs,” said Shrimpton.

The Clubmans Rallycross Championship was also present at Autosport International, and introduced Lucas Oil as sponsor for its Stock Hatch class. The championship is set to run an eight event schedule this year, although dates and venues have yet to be finalised. It will feature a new double header weekend at Nutts Corner, two rounds of the championship running on consecutive days in June’s four-day Bank Holiday weekend that marks the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee. The events will run on Sunday and Monday June 3-4 at the County Antrim venue in Northern Ireland.

Rallycross stars at Autosport show

Andy Knowles revealed Yacco as the new backer of his Super1600 Citroën. Below: Liam Doran had both the RS200 he’ll drive at Pikes Peak and his GRC Citroën C4 on show.Bottom: Steve Hill’s Lancer E10 had new colours for the show. Revamped Clubmans championship pushed Stock Hatch and entry-point classes as well as new double-header event at Nutts Corner.

The 2011 European Rallycross Championship was incredibly competitive; across the three titles a dozen different drivers won events in a season during which new winners emerged and the trend towards younger drivers finding success in the sport continued. And yet, despite the apparently open nature of the series, all three titles were decided before the final round. This may indicate that there was a pattern here, but each of the champions had quite a different path to glory, the only common links being that all three are Norwegian, and that the trio put the finishing touches to their respective title campaigns in the penultimate round of the championship in Poland.

In this issue we will focus on the performance of the drivers. A detailed review of the championship on an event-by-event basis is available in the Rallycross World Yearbook which is available now from RallycrossWorld.com.

OverviewDuring the year we saw 72 different Supercar drivers start in championship events, 40 of them managing to score points. At the top of the pile Sverre Isachsen put his name to the European championship for the third time. At last January’s prize-giving Isachsen had been asked which of his two titles was the best, a question that drew the cheeky response that the third championship would be the best one! Take nothing away from Isachsen, who came on strong at the end of the year, but you could argue that this was a year in which his challengers lost the championship rather than the Norwegian winning it. Each of the drivers in the top five at the year end won events, four of them climbing to the top step of the podium for the first time, but each of the pack chasing Isachsen stumbled at some point in the year.

1st, Sverre Isachsen, =A year on from the late deal with First Stop that backed his 2010 title campaign, the double champion arrived at Lydden with his Ford Focus rebuilt, but presented to scrutineering in plain white. There were rumours that the champ did not have the budget for the coming year, also that he wanted time out to be at home with his family. Before practice started, decals and vinyl wrap were applied to the car and Isachsen went on to start the year with an event win. His passage through the event was very far from smooth, on Sunday night his team changed the engine in the focus and in Monday’s third heat they were in trouble again when the head gasket failed. Swapping cylinder heads before the final, the team got its man to the grid for


European championship driver by driver

Norsemen of the apocalypseNorwegian trio dominant in European Rallycross Championship

Sverre Isachsen claimed a third consecutive European Rallycross Championship title.

the A final. The failures were put down to the way the water pump was installed and while Isachsen was able to shake off the problems at Lydden and land the win, the following weeks were to be more difficult.

By the end of round two in Portugal Isachsen had added just ten points to his total, beaten in the B final by Frode Holte, the champion had again suffered engine problems and on Sunday night was calling for a man with a van who was prepared to take two engines and drive non-stop to Calais so that the damaged units could be re-prepared in time fore the following weekend’s French event.

This was a big effort on the part of all involved, engine builder Julian Godfrey getting the motors back to Essay and allowing Isachsen to tackle the French event fully equipped. This, however, would be another trying weekend and amid a large and very competitive entry, Isachsen sunk into the C final and gathered just five points.

Things began to look up as the championship moved to Norway, Isachsen qualifying on pole for the A final. But there was very little joy in the eventual second place. Isachen’s demeanour on the podium made it quite apparent that he

had expected to win from pole, and if being beaten was bad, being beaten by another Norwegian, specially a younger one, in Norway, was absolutely the worst thing that could have happened on home ground.

Sweden was next on the agenda and would, if anything, bring even worse fortune. In Norway Isachsen was not fast enough in the A final; plain and simple as that. A week later at Höljes he was fastest in the first two heats and then led the A final on Sunday afternoon. Streaking away from the pack, even when his Focus picked up a rear puncture, it looked as though the advantage built in the first few laps would be enough for him to remain ahead and take the win. But in the last corner of the race an ECU fault caused the engine to stop and, with the finish line in sight, Isachsen slumped to fourth place.

Things did not improve after the summer break, Belgium bringing another C final appearance and the lowest score of the year, just four points added.

The common theme through these events was that Isachsen said he was not happy with the car. In Norway and Sweden it was clearly working well, although to say he was unhappy when the engine stopped in Sweden would be an understatement of


enormous proportion.Holland brought a turn in fortune, although a little like the

championship itself, this was an event in which the failure of others helped Isachsen to take his second win of the year. After non-finishing the second heat, he was ‘only’ fourth on the A final grid, but charged up the order, running second in the first lap and then taking the lead in the second. As Isachsen had discovered earlier in the year, it never rains, but it pours. And the change of luck now not only brought a win, but the added bonus that only one of his title rivals made it to the A final, and he ended up in last place.

The Dutch win also appeared to boost Isachsen’s confidence and belief in his car: in Austria he systematically took the opposition apart. Fastest in each of the first two heats, he was did not fail in the A final despite being put under some pressure by those chasing him, made tactically strong use of the Joker Lap and won again. This was the point at which the season really spun in Isachsen’s favour.

It’s perhaps indicative of the way the year had been that, in Poland, neither the Norwegian nor anyone in his team appreciated just how finely balanced the championship had

suddenly become. Once again the picture changed as potential title rivals hit problems, those who could still deny Isachsen the crown, falling at different stages, but as Isachsen celebrated the event win, he was not aware that it had also secured his third title.

Going to the final round of the championship with the title in his pocket and the party already done, Isachsen drove freely, was fastest in the first and second heats, chilled out while the rest sweated in the third and then won the A final pretty much as he pleased.

At his best, and when the car was with him, or perhaps more accurately, when he believed the car was with him, Isachsen was devastatingly fast. The last three events typify this perfectly, but those difficult events earlier in the year, and the poor showing in Belgium, demonstrate that he is not unbeatable. Those events also show that when Isachsen does not believe that his car is working properly, he can be shaken, but that also underlines just how, as the championship becomes ever more competitive, the whole package needs to be right, how this is developing into a team activity.



2nd, Tanner Foust, +9A limited campaign in 2010 demonstrated that Tanner Foust had what it takes to run at the front of the ERC, but at the start of 2011 there was still the question about how he would fare in a full season; a lot of the tracks would again be new territory and with the stated aim of challenging for the title, he would have the pressure of expectation as well as the absolute necessity to deliver results at every event.

The year did not start well, Foust and team boss Andreas Eriksson both missing the A final at Lydden, the latter acknowledging that the Fiesta lacked pace on the fast track. It was a different story in Portugal where, on a track that both drivers love, and which clearly suited the car very well, the Ford boys operated very nicely as a team. Foust had the edge on Eriksson in terms of pace and dropped his car on pole ahead of his team mate. There was a challenge in the A final, but as that faded and Foust kept his nose clean, it became clear that the American was set to enter his name in the record book once again. His first win was nicely done but in both of the next two rounds things went pear-shaped. In both France and Norway Foust went directly to the A final, but in both he

was out in the first lap. In France the legacy of a third heat incident caused a failure that put Foust out, while in Norway he was the cause of a stoppage in the first lap of the main event after driving into the back of Timur Timerzyanov and then bouncing off the track and into the wall.

If those two events represent opportunities lost, then Sweden was a chance taken. Foust qualified on the front row alongside Isachsen, but, such was the champion’s dominance, there appeared little real likelihood of anything better than second place in the final. Isachsen was pushed by Kenneth Hansen in the first lap, but when the Swede took an early Joker, was off the hook and, alone up front, lapping fast. Foust, however, kept up his own pace and when the leader suffered a puncture, was close enough to take advantage, make a pass and his second win of the year. It would have been easy to have settled for second, drive safely to the finish. In which case, he would probably not have been close enough to make the pass. A classy drive, this was perhaps a more impressive all round performance than Portugal.

Maasmechelen in Belgium opened the second half of the season and would, ultimately, be the event around which

Foust’s entire would revolve. It was, however, a difficult race for the American. Eriksson had rolled out of the Swedish event and did not race again. Foust was on his own in Belgium, completely as illness now kept Eriksson away even from his team manager role. A tough run into the B final and nine points was not what the championship leader would have expected, but worse was to come.

Foust was excluded from the Dutch event, a decision that set in chain a series of events that did not conclude until November when Foust learned that his appeal to the FIA had been successful, and that he had been reinstated in the Dutch event. The American had failed to make it to the finals in what was probably his worst event ever in Europe. The difference between being excluded and not is that as an excluded competitor Foust would have to count the zero score in his championship total. As a non-qualifier he could use the zero as his drop score, thus counting the nine points earned in Belgium. Foust stood on the bottom step of the podium in the three remaining rounds, controversially winning through from the B final in Poland. But, as Isachsen was on the top step in all three events, and also in Holland, this run of results was

too little, too late. Foust ended up locked in a battle for second place with Timerzyanov, a battle that was eventually resolved in Paris long after the racing had finished and which was settled as Foust’s Belgian points came back into play.

3rd, Timur Timerzyanov, new entryThe Super1600 champion made his presence felt from the off and went to the A final in each of the first four rounds of the championship and going into round five as the points leader.

That was the good news, plenty of it. The less good came in the depth of the rivalry between Timerzyanov and KHM team mate Liam Doran. Team mate might not be the right term here, stable mate would be more appropriate and the trouble that Kenneth Hansen had with his two charges illustrates the difficulty that any team will have if it is running two individual drivers, each capable of winning events and the championship. Ultimately the infighting benefitted only others.

Two fourth places and a brace of thirds in the first four rounds marked Timerzyanov out as an immediate title prospect in Supercar and for all there were problems with Doran, he showed maturity in Sweden where, running in the


Tanner Foust bagged his first ERC win with a polished performance in Portugal.

Class newcomer Timur Timerzyanov led the championship and gained his first win in Belgium.


C final and with nothing to gain at the end of a tough event, he parked the car.

The second half of the season started with the KHM boys in magnificent form and dominating in Belgium. There was nothing to choose between the pair but at the start of the A final it was Timerzyanov who had his nose ahead and who went on to take his first win in an impressive drive that saw the Russian hold everything together even when his car suffered a puncture in the last lap.

The following weekend in Holland the C4 broke, pitching Timerzyanov into the barriers in the heats and leaving him as a C final qualifier. This should have been the low point of the second half of the year, but worse was to come.

In Austria, Timerzyanov emerged from the B final and drove his heart out in a stunning A final run in which he pulled himself up to second place. Isachsen was on the ball and took his Joker Lap early as a perfect defensive move, otherwise Timerzyanov’s drive may just have been enough to bring another win.

Going to Poland, Timerzyanov was the one who could still realistically deny Isachsen the title. The heats did not go

well, however, and Timerzyanov ended up in the B final. That race ended in acrimony, Doran excluded after a clash with Timerzyanov and the win being handed to Foust. The incident ended Timerzyanov’s title hopes and was the point at which it became clear to those who wanted to see it that the only one of the KHM pair could remain with the Swedish team for 2012.

The final round started off with Timerzyanov rolling his C4 in practice. Damage was light and the Russian fought back with determination to make it to the A final and fourth place.

There were disappointments for Timerzyanov but overall this was an impressive debut season, one in which speed, resilience and determination were on display at all times.

4th, Frode Holte, +3With strong performances in the second half of the 2010 season much was expected of Frode Holte but the start of the year was not very good, a run into the B final at Lydden was less than a championship contender would have hoped for and while Portugal eventually brought fourth place, it was not a smooth event for the Norwegian who almost missed timed practice and went to the main event via victory in the B final.

Holte turned things around in France and, as is so often the case, when he eventually bagged his first ERC victory, it appeared to be the easiest thing in the world. Fastest times in the second and third heats put Holte on pole, from where he drove a clean and perfectly paced race, holding off Mats Lysen’s last lap challenge in the Joker Lap to take the win.

While a first win can sometimes be the turning point for a driver, lifting confidence and opening the floodgates on a series of victories, for Holte it soon began to look like a blip in form. In Norway the Volvo driver was at the tail end of the B final, in Sweden he slipped into the C and, despite that maiden victory, the first half of the year did not look very pretty.

Part two started out better, second place in Belgium putting Holte between the sparring KHM Citroën boys but again the form was not maintained, Holland turning into a nightmare event as Holte twice fell into the capacious sand traps and non-qualified. It has to be said that his second visit to the beach came in the controversial race with Foust...

Despite the problems so far Holte remained in with a shot at the title and things did pick up a little in the last three events. A final starts in Austria, Poland and the Czech Republic were

no more than what was expected, necessary of a driver in Holte’s position. Fifth in Austria, he was still a title prospect in Poland and, after Timerzyanov’s failure to escape the B final, the last man who could deny Isachsen the crown. Holte’s slim chance went west when he was forced to park the car after a rough first lap. Another A final start and fifth place in the series finale secured fourth place in the championship, his best result to date.

5th, Mats Lysen, +4After his debut Supercar season with a Fiesta, the 2009 Super1600 champion struck a deal with the Swedish Helmia team to run one of its Renault Clios in 2011, a season that brought him a maiden victory, an improved end of year placing, but also two rollover incidents.

Not unlike compatriot Holte, Lysen started the year less well than we may have expected, or he would have wanted, B final runs in the first two rounds not reflecting Lysen’s experience or raw speed. To give him some credit, Lysen had no real seat time in the Clio before the year started, so those first two events were also spent getting the car setup to his liking.


Frode Holte made the breakthrough and scored his first ERC win in France.

The impressive career of Mats Lysen continued with a maiden Supercar win in Norway.


In France, the 20-year-old came within a metre or two of denying Holte the win, it was that close on the exit of the Joker in the last lap. Buoyed by this result. Lysen went into his home event in good spirits and had winning pace all weekend. His drive in the A final was specially impressive; Isachsen led but Lysen won on sheer speed, he was, quite simply, faster.

The week after the win Lysen slipped back into the B final, this disappointing result in Sweden ending the first half while an even worse run in Belgium opened part two. A roll in practice left Lysen on the back foot and with no real chance to get back into the running, a single point from the C final poor reward for a lot of hard work.

While others struggled in Holland Lysen shone, qualifying second for the A final alongside Michael De Keersmaecker. Lysen then looked set for second place until, in the last corner and under intense pressure from Ludvig Hunsbedt, the Clio slid into the sand and he could only watch as the four behind him zipped by.

Austria was also cruel to Lysen who went off with Doran and Koutny in the first heat. He drove his heart out in the rest of the event, but when you are down it’s so difficult to

get back into contention and his run ended in the B final. The B beckoned again in Poland but in the Czech Republic he was right back on the pace and into the A final in third place. A podium place was in sight when he messed up in the penultimate lap and rolled out of the race, a poor end to an otherwise solid year and one that, without those points lost in Holland and Czech would have resulted in fourth place.

Sixth to 10thEach of the next five drivers might have been expected to make it into the top five, none of them would have been out of place higher up the championship ranking.

In his first full ERC season Toomas Heikkinen drove well everywhere. The Finnish teenager’s results show two things; that he is immediately fast on the fast and smooth tracks (Lydden) and that where he has some experience he can also run with the best. Perhaps too much was expected of Heikkinen, those hopes ramped up after he featured in the A final in round one. Portugal should have brought points but a puncture in the first heat and then a clash with with Marc Laboulle for which the Finn was excluded put paid to that.

Third place in Sweden was Heikkinen’s best finish of the year, but his Lydden run was perhaps the most impressive.

After placing third in 2010 with two event wins to his name Liam Doran was tipped as a title prospect in 2011. A final appearances in the first three rounds as well as the introduction of the most significant new sponsor for some time did nothing to dispel this even if, by the time we got to Norway, it was becoming apparent that Doran had to win an event to maintain that status. Norway was disappointing, Sweden too, but in the second of the Scandinavia races Doran was left kicking himself after missing the Joker Lap in the second heat. Belgium should have brought a win, but after the early season clashes with team colleague Timerzyanov, Doran played fair when the alternative was to gain the win by running the Russian out of road in the first corner. Like Timerzyanov, Doran was knocked out of the Dutch event by a component failure and, like Lysen, he was unable to get back into contention after being shunted out of the first heat. The B final clash in Poland was effectively the end, Doran angry to have excluded for an incident he felt Foust had caused, specially when the American then became the beneficiary. Going to the

Czech Republic with the stated aim of ‘going large, or going home’ Doran found himself on the way home early after a big crash trashed his car.

When Ludvig Hunsbedt went to Nomaco racing in 2010 it seemed he was equipped to win the title, but that turned out to be a long way from how a disappointing season ended. For 2011 the team was restructured, slimmed down to a singlke entry for Hunsbedt who had a new Volvo C30. Despite this, the year was billed as preparation for a 2012 title assault. On that score it does not look too bad, although we may have expected more than three A finals from a driver who remains one of the best ever. Technically, the team still appears to fall short, it bailed out of the Portuguese event to concentrate on testing after problems in round one and then failed to score in Norway after further difficulty. In Holland, where things were distinctly old skool, Hunsbedt was at his best. The difficulty is he needs to hit that form in every race if those title hopes are to be realised.

At the end of the year Stig-Olov Walfridson announced his intention to withdraw from being a full time ERC contender. The Swedish Renault driver appeared in the A final twice in


Finn Toomas Heikkinen had a good year under the watchful eye of Per Eklund.

Doran’s Monster deal is big for Rallycross. Hunsbedt and Walfridson were in the top ten.


each half of the year, fourth places in Norway and Austria his best results. Along the way, however, there were also four C final appearances, which more or less counteracts the good results. Walfridson has been a good ERC competitor over the last few years and we should all hope that he remains as a team owner to run the car for another driver.

While Walfridson ended his stint in the ERC, Frenchman Davy Jeanney was just beginning, although there is no certainty that he will continue. Jeanney arrived with a bang, climbing onto the podium in third place at Lydden but then finding the going pretty tough until late in the year. There were B and C finals, as well as a terrible non-score in Belgium, before Jeanney’s team accepted the inevitable and put anti-lag in its C4. The result was immediate, in Austria and Poland Jeanney was the only one truly on terms with Isachsen. And yet neither event brought any real joy. Punished for causing a jump start in the Austrian A final – wrongly in the eyes of many – Jeanney was bitterly disappointed. In Poland he was on the pace again and ran Isachsen close in the first couple of laps of the A final before an incident in which the Frenchman felt he’d been brake tested caused contact and enough damage

to slow the Citroën a little. Jeanney did not show for the series finale but if he chooses to return in 2012 he will surely be a formidable opponent.

OthersWhen he set out on his first year of European racing, Andy Scott recognised the challenge ahead of him and had modest hopes of earning a few points. At Lydden he took points but was also taught a lesson by Andreas Eriksson who performed a sort of drive by mugging to deny Scott the C final victory. There were points again in Portugal and also in Sweden. Illustrating perfectly the value of experience, Scott showed his true colours in Belgium and Holland, tracks at which he had prior knowledge. Straight into the main event in Belgium, Scott placed fourth, going one place better in Holland after winning the B final and then working his way up the order. Points scores in the C finals of the remaining three events completed a solid debut year that ended in a strong 11th place.

A champion in both of the support classes, Michael De Keersmaecker has what it takes to complete a hat trick of crowns, if he had the complete technical package. Non-scores

in Britain, Norway and Sweden should not have happened and he is a better driver than C and B final runs in the last two rounds would suggest. A stupendous run from the C final shows the racer’s skill, a canny setup call in Holland his basic grasp of what is needed. The Benelux events were his best and show the form he needs to display across a full campaign.

The most successful driver the sport has ever known, Kenneth Hansen started in just two events, admitted that he was not comfortable enough to be able to extract his new DS3’s ultimate pace, but still bagged a pair of second places. Not bad for an old fella! Hansen’s outings were full of class and in not running the new car more often, Hansen appeared to be keeping his powder dry, not allowing the rest to see just how good the transverse setup really is.

Former champion Jean-Luc Pailler eventually got to the bottom of an electrical problem that had blighted his cars for months and, when he was truly in the mood, was able to turn on the old form. One of those drivers who adores Valkenswaard, Pailler had his best event in the gloom and slime of Holland, fifth place and his only A final start of the year reminding everyone of the worth of both driver and car.

TouringCarThe newest of the three classes in the ERC, TouringCar continued to grow and gain support in 2011 when 32 different drivers took part (30 scoring points) and the class attained a new high point with 24-starters in Sweden. As the number of cars in the class grows, so too does the competitive level and while we ultimately had a clear winner in the championship, his dominance was challenged and, in the midfield drivers from many different countries and with a varied range of cars and technical ideas, have delivered viable cars.

1st, Lars Øivind Enerberg, +3The young Norwegian had amply demonstrated both his speed and ability to win events during 2010 when he drove in some of the ERC events. So, when Enerberg won at Lydden in round one of the 2011 series there was little surprise. Lydden was not, however, quite the walkover that we might think, defending champion Derek Tohill was close and was arguably had done to after a startline clash with Enerberg. That incident caused Tohill to sink into the field and when he emerged behind the duelling Koen Pauwels and Per Magne Røyrås after taking his


Clockwise from here: Davy Jeanney, Andy Scott, Kenneth Hansen and Michael De Keersmaecker.

Lars Øivind Enerberg overcame cash and crash troubles to win the TouringCar title.

Joker Lap, there was no way to catch Enerberg.With a win under his belt, Enerberg appeared to gain a

massive confidence boost and strolled through the Portuguese event as if nothing and no-one could touch him; fastest times in all three heats preceding a clear win in the A final.

Tohill bounced back and was strong in France but again there was a clash with Enerberg in the final and again it was the Norwegian who came out of it best, regaining the track and then managing to progress as the rest took their Joker Laps and winning for the third time. In Norway, Enerberg was imperious, even home track favourite Ole Håbjørg had to conceded that he could not match his young compatriot.

With four wins in the bag and a maximum score from the first part of the championship in which drivers must drop one score from each five-event half, Enerberg had nothing to gain by going to Sweden. And yet, despite the fact that his budget was already under pressure and that, at that point in the summer he did not have enough funds to complete the year, the points leader was present and not holding back one little bit. After yet another unbeaten run that comprised fastest times in all three heats and his fifth win in as many events,

Enerberg left as the undisputed star of the class.Sensing that this was the last chance, the pack closed on

Enerberg after the summer break. The leader had pole in two heats but drove in the third when things got rough and he was spun out. In the final Roman Castoral pulled out all the stops and delivered a magnificent drive to beat Enerberg and land his first TouringCar win.

Now there appeared to be a little chink in Enerberg’s armour, perhaps wobbled by being beaten, perhaps not as home in the rain as others, the points leader lost pole to Castoral in Holland and then crashed in the A final after running wide and breaking his steering by hitting the banking.

Enerberg’s Fiesta took a hammering in the crash and after the first day in Austria, when he had been relegated to third place, the driver and his team worked into the night setting up the car up again. A brace of fastest times on Sunday put Enerberg on pole, but when it looked as though he would gain his sixth win, the Fiesta slid off the track and out of the race.

Despite the unpredicted collapse in form, Enerberg still led the championship going into the penultimate round in Poland and while he was not dominant, this was where he returned to

the top of the podium, collecting his sixth win and putting the title beyond the reach of his rivals.

The pressure off, Enerberg was at his best in the Czech Republic and looked very comfortable as he added a seventh win to sign-off his title in style. In this form Enerberg is virtually unbeatable but Belgium, Holland and Austria he showed that he can be beaten, and, perhaps, that he does not handle pressure too well. It will only be the end result that is remembered, seven wins and a clear win in the championship for a driver who clearly deserved that success.

2nd, Roman Castoral, +3The Czech racer has been on the ERC trail for a long time now and has adapted quickly and confidently to rear-wheel drive having spent all of his career in front-drive cars. Castoral’s self built car is cleverly engineered, money spent where it’s needed, but certainly not wasted.

Castoral was consistently quick everywhere and in all conditions and went to the A final in all of his nine starts. A non-starter in Norway, he was at his very best in the second part of the season, forcing errors from Enerberg and there to

capitalise when there was even the smallest chance. A hat-trick of events and two second places in the second half of the year speak for themselves and underline Castoral’s considerable ability. The Czech, however, remains very much an old school competitor and with more drivers in top notch equipment coming into the class, and with the presentation standard of teams progressing all around him, it’s difficult to see how he can do better than he has done so far.

3rd, Derek Tohill, -2It’s difficult to assess the season of a champion who slips to third place as anything other than disappointing, but Tohill’s year as defending champion was not as bleak as the bald statistics may show it. Across the first four rounds there was little to choose between Tohill and Enerberg; the clash at Lydden cost Tohill dear and in France where both he and Enerberg spun while contesting the lead in the first lap, Tohill could be judged to have been desperately unlucky to have come off so badly.

Sweden was disappointing, and while Tohill then went to the A final in each of the last five events, he found himself


Roman Castoral bagged three event wins in the second half of the year.

Derek Tohill was close to the leaders, but never quite managed to bag a win.


focussing more on batling with Pauwels for third place than trying to topple Enerberg and Castoral.

As champion, of course, the only way is down and with ambition to graduate to Supercars, it is perhaps the bravest thing possible for Tohill to bide his time and remain in TouringCar, setting himself up to be knocked down.

Fourth to 10thEnerberg and Tohill were the only drivers to start in all ten events, fourth place taken by Koen Pauwels who skipped the Swedish round at Höljes, before spending the second half of the year locked in battle with Tohill and also appearing in the A final in each of the last five events. Second places in France and Austria were Pauwels’ best results of the year, his first season in a rear-drive car and one in which the results appear to validate his decision to step sideways from the Supercar category.

Norwegian Per Magne Røyrås started in seven events and made his way into the A final at all of them, third place finishes in France and Poland his best results. Røyrås appears to be another who over achieves considering the machinery at his

disposal, although as an occasional competitor who clearly is not aiming at winning the title, he also benefits from being able to drive without the pressure of building a championship score.

Newcomer David Nordgård had ups and downs in his debut season, fourth place in France and early high while third in Poland was his best result of the year. There were also, however, non-scores in Sweden and the Czech Republic and the young Norwegian did not take part in the Austrian event. Sixth in his first year would, however, appear a solid base on which to build fore the future.

After trying his hand in the class at the end of 2010, Robin Olsson made the move to TouringCar and drove in all except the last round, fourth place in Austria his best finish while he also made the A final in Portugal.

Anton Marklund made his first start in Norway, then drove in four more rounds, his best result coming with third place at Höljes, while he also went to the A final in Holland and the Czech Republic. The impressive young Swede was another to set down a marker on which he can improve in future.

While there were young drivers showing well, old dog Jos Sterkens made just one start in the first half of the year and

failed to score points in France with his new Volvo C30 that was proving a recalcitrant partner. The Belgian was present throughout the second half, making the A final in Belgium and Austria and climbing quickly into the top ten as he and his devoted team got to grips with the new car.

The last place in the top the was taken by Belgian Ivo Van Den Brandt who started in just four events with his Mitsubishi Colt – a car that looks as though it wants to kill its driver at every corner.

Super1600Now a well established part of the ERC package, Super1600 attracted 90 drivers, 50 of whom managed to score points during the 2011 season. The story here was not unlike that in TouringCar, a clear winner, but one who was worked harder than we might have expected by an industrious underdog.

1st, Andreas Bakkerud, +2A move from his own team to Set Promotion at the end of the 2010 season helped Bakkerud into the top three, the bronze medal he’d aspired to in his debut season. It also made it clear

to the Norwegian that a berth in a pro-team was the way to go for his career to develop and he was back for a full season with the Finnish Renault squad in 2011, hitting the ground running and winning the first two events as he immediately underlined his position as pre-season favourite.

In France Bakkerud showed his class; Steven Bossard was clearly all out to win and Bakkerud did not need to take risks trying to beat the Frenchman, a well measured run to a safe second place was the perfect result.

A few weeks later another second place maintained his championship points lead, but you got the distinct impression that this time Bakkerud was smarting from the defeat which came at the hands of team colleague Ildar Rakhmatullin.

The championship is all about playing the long game and when engine problems halted Bakkerud in Sweden, two wins and a pair of second places were more than sufficient to send him into the summer break with the championship lead.

Second place in Belgium – feeling that he was robbed when the race was cut short – preceded victory in Holland and his best driver of the year. In tricky and changing conditions, Bakkerud shone. While many others faltered or floundered in


Clockwise from here: Koen Pauwels, Per Magne Røyrås, Robin Olsson and David Nordgård.

Andreas Bakkerud started the year with a win at Lydden and was champion by round nine.


the muck and bullets, the Norwegian demonstrated his very best and won with aplomb.

Following that fine showing, there was a poor run in Austria where, with the possibility to take the title, pressure appeared to weigh heavily on the young driver who languished in the B final for the only time in the year.

Setting aside the disappointment of Austria, Bakkerud drove well in Poland, shaking off a clash in the second heats to book himself a place in the A final and, with it, sufficient points to put the championship title beyond the reach of his rivals. Pressure off, Bakkerud was free to race as he wanted in the series finale and added his fourth win of the year, extending his advantage at the top of the table to 36 points, the greatest winning margin in any of the classes.

2nd, Ulrik Linnemann, +8If there were a prize for the unluckiest driver in the championship Linnemann would have won it in 2010, and probably in 2011 too. The Dane is clearly the best of those running his own shown in Super1600, you have to go to down to seventh place to find the next ‘privateer’, and was the man

who kept Bakkerud honest during the year.There were four A final starts in the first half of the year, the

only blip coming in France where Linnemann non-finished the first heat and then got a black flag in the second, cutting his game short. The story was not very much different in the second part of the year, the low coming with a B final run in Poland where he had clashed with Bakkerud in the heats as he fought desperately to try and keep the title race open until the last round. By the year end Linneman had amassed a second, two thirds and four fourth places along with sixth in Austria, a race that he really should have won to max out on a day when Bakkerud was at his weakest.

Against the opposition he has, Linnemann’s second place is one of the most impressive performances in the entire championship and it would be intriguing to see this young driver in a professionally built car and with the resources of a top team behind him.

3rd, Krzyzstof Skorupski, new entryThe anoraks among would have registered Skorupski’s name from an impressive entry to the sport in Poland’s entry-point

Fiat class but to most the Pole was an unknown when he arrived in the paddock at Höljes for his first ERC event. That he came properly equipped for the task ahead is undisputed, his ex-Leganov VW Polo was a proven event winner and in Czech squad Blue Engineering he had the technical backup and knowledge necessary to challenge for top places.

That said Skorupski’s performance in his debut was nothing short of perfect; fastest times in the first two heats and a lights to flag win in the A final, he never set a wheel wrong on a track that can, and regularly does, fell even the most experienced. This sparkling performance was by no means a flash in the pan.Skorupski was present throughout the second half of the year and went to the A final everywhere except Belgium. Another track that is more difficult than it may at first appear, Skorupski worked hard for a B final placing on his first visit but then went to the main event in trying conditions in Holland.

Confident event wins in Austria and on home turf at Slomczyn, prefaced second place in the series finale and the climx of an impressive run that brought him home third in the championship. Had Skorupski been present all year he would, it seems fair to say, have posed a threat to Bakkerud

and Linnemann. As it is he must start the coming season as a favourite for the crown.

Fourth to 10thIn the final round of the year, and with Skorupski on a mission, Johan Larsson was bumped out of third place. The Swede had a mixed year, three A final appearances coming his way in the Citroën C2 that he runs along with his father as satellite of the KHM operation. A third run to fastest time that helped Larsson on his way to third place on the Polish A final grid was the high point of his year, fourth place here the same eventual placing as he achieved in Portugal and Sweden.

Sweden also brought the best place of the year for Clemens Meyer, second a fine reward for the German who lost out at the start of the season when his Skoda Fabia was blighted by driveshaft problems.

Had it not been for the amazing performance of Skorupski, Jussi-Petteri Leppihalme would have been the sensation of the year. The 18-year-old Finn tossed down a marker by climbing onto the podium in his first ever ERC round, completing a top three lockout for Set Promotion in Norway.


Running his own show, Ulrik Linnemann was the man who kept Bakkerud honest.

Krzyzstof Skorupski made a sensational debut in Sweden and then climbed to third in the series.


Like his team mates he struggled in Sweden but was then second in Holland and Poland, on course for a podium again in the Czech Republic when his car broke and he slipped to sixth. Here is another star in the making.

There was heartache and anger for David Johansson at the start of the year when scrutineers rejected his new Citroën DS3. The car was revised in time for Portugal and here, as well as in France, he made it to the A final, the latter a strong result given the vast field and level of competition. There was an A final start in Sweden, but the second half of the year was comparatively bleak and the determined Swede was missing from the series finale.

At the scene of his first ERC win Zdenek Cermak started year strongly with third place at Lydden but his form then slipped and there were B finals in France and Norway before gearbox problems halted him in Sweden. Replacement parts were a long time coming and the Czech reverted to an older Fabia to remain present, but a handful of B and C final placings were disappointing for this seasoned campaigner.

The hype around Norwegian teenager Daniel Holten was probably not helpful to the Citroën driver. And neither was

a crash in a national event that heavily damaged his Saxo between Britain and Portugal. He rented the Bossard C2 for Portugal where third place became his best result. The level of competition is a little lower in Portugal, but the result should illustrate other factors; that a young driver in a family run team is fighting with one arm tied behind his back, that going with an experienced team (Bossard pere et fils were on hand in Portugal to guide Holten) releases that arm and that the tide has finally shifted to the point where trying to do this without experience in the team is unnecessarily difficult. Holten raced everywhere except France but only once showed his true worth, in the Czech republic, a track on which he had experience from 2010... Here is another driver that it would be fascinating to see in a professional team.

Hanging on to a top ten placing after a truncated season, Ildar Rakhmatullin was not seen after Austria, the official reason being that his new job precluded him travelling. It was also apparent that, with just two rounds to run, Rakhmatullin was completely out of the title hunt and, therefore, might as well cut his losses and stay home. The Russian took a bold move to run Set Promotion’s new Twingo and appeared to

struggle to get the best from the car. When he was on it, Rakhmatullin showed he had winning pace; his event win from the B final in Norway was very impressive.

OthersOld hand Jaroslav Kalny was another to have mixed year and here too you can see how the class is developing and moving away from the traditional competitor. The Czech’s new Peugeot 207 had trouble and in the second half of the season he reverted to an old 206. In Austria Kalny also demonstrated that are tracks and times at which his kind of class and sheer determination can overcome outrageous odds and his sublime run to second place was one of the best drives that anybody in any class delivered all year.

While Kalny shone in Austria, the event promised much but ultimately delivered nothing to Christian Petrakovits. On home ground the Austrian was absolutely dominant and was leading the A final when he dropped a wheel of his Polo into a hole, damaging the suspension and ending his day. Elsewhere Belgium offered the best finish to Petrakovits who came through that unusual event in third place.

That Belgian event was where Julian Godfrey became the first British winner in the class. The circumstances were unusual but as Godfrey pointed out he had been within striking distance of winning the event the previous year when bad luck robbed him, so if he had a little good luck to help get the win this year, it did not seem unfair. Whatever, Godfrey showed that he had winning pace, something he’d already demonstrated in Britain with second place and underlined with fourth in Holland.

Further down, Steven Bossard was again hugely impressive in France, running rings around both the ERC regulars and the French championship runners to take the win in his home event with his usual calm ease. The Frenchman was back for the series finale, his first event outside of France coming in Set Promotion’s Twingo which he guided to an accomplished third place. Here too is a driver who can win the title.

The other driver worthy of note here is Russian Vadim Makarov who moved from autocross and drove just twice in his Volland Racing-built Skoda Fabia II. The rookie went to the A final on both occasions and stood on the podium in Austria. Watch him in 2012.


Clockwise from here: Johan Larsson, Clemens Meyer, David Johansson and JP Leppihalme.

Clockwise from here: Zdenek Cermak, Julian Godfrey, Jaroslav Kalny and Ildar Rakhmatullin.


we are making the bodywork from scratch, which is hugely labour intensive. The bodywork has only been able to be done once we finally worked out our desired wheel base and track widths, which as ever included many calculations on loads of bits of paper.

Another problem is the rollcage. For most models of car many different specialist manufacturers make rollcages. This isn’t the case for the Twingo, again based on how new it is, so the only place to get a FIA homologated roll cage from is Renault Sport in France. Those words never sound cheap, but it is something that just has to be overcome unfortunately.

Although things are progressing well with the new car, I haven’t lost sight of how close the new season really is, and, now we know so much more about how we want to set the car up, testing will be a must. I know I have said that many times in the past, but this time it really is the case! There are only 72 days left before the ERC opener at Lydden Hill, and the British Championship, which I am going to race in too, starts two weeks earlier.

I do have a back-up plan. Its not ideal, but, if my engine is back together in time and the Clio is still unsold then I think we could rebuild it for the first two events, it would be silly to

miss those races when the car is just sitting there and could be ready relatively easily.

But, lets hope it doesn’t come to that! Look out for updates and photos on my website, Facebook and Twitter. Check back here next month for Twingo build information and photos.

It has been quite a while since I last wrote here in Rallycross World, and in that time I have had quite a change in plans for the 2012 season. As you may have read on RallycrossWorld.com website, or in Motorsport News, I have decided to build a brand new car. A Renault Twingo to be precise.

On the face of it, this seems like a crazy idea. For somebody who struggles for budget in the way I do this could be viewed as a waste of money for the sake of it. However, I beg to differ and feel that the reasons we are building a new car justify themselves. When we left the last event in 2011 with my beloved Clio, the plan was a total revamp of the suspension, and many other modifications. That is the nature of the development of any racecar. We planned a ground up rebuild...

But, what came as a joking idea of looking into building a Twingo started to become a realistic proposition. For a start, its not a totally new car in that most of the running gear and interior parts etc are being carried over from the Clio, which is now for sale as a rolling shell. My engine that was in the Clio is being rebuilt for more power and drivability with new camshafts, and the gearbox is having a refresh.

As a promotional tool a Twingo, which is a fairly new car that is still available in the dealerships throughout Europe, is

far superior to the more dated Clio. The new shape Clio is, I feel, too big for the Super1600 class, so the Twingo felt like the right way to go. And, it is working on that front. Hopefully in the next few weeks I should be able to announce some new sponsors who are keen to come on board because of the better image a new car offers.

We are implementing what we learned from racing in the ERC with the Clio into the Twingo, having now got a little experience, and a lot of time observing what others have done. I have had the Twingo shell for almost two months now, and it is progressing well. In comparison to the length of time it took to build the Clio it is flying along. This is helped by the fact that I already have a lot of the bits to carry over from the Clio, but also from the experience of building one car already. As ever, quite a large amount of time was taken to carefully strip the Twingo to a bare shell so I could sell all the parts on a well known internet auction site to help fund the project.

However, the newness of the Twingo is having its downfalls. Since there are only two other Twingos currently in use in European Rallycross, model specific parts are hard to find, and expensive. I have been unable to secure any wide arch panels, so together with my long term sponsor Magnum Motorsport


Shoestring stories – the life of a low budget racer in the European championship

New year, new carImmediate interest generated by Twingo move

Ridge is replacing his trusty Clio (right), now for sale, one careful owner… with a new Twingo II, the first example of which was run by SetPromotion last year (bottom right).


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