This weekend, the 20-season season of the FIA European Rallycross Championship will begin on the Nirada track in Hungary. Rallycross enthusiasts in Latvia will be of special interest this year in the “Euro RX1” class, in which the home driver Jānis Baumanis will compete for the victories.
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Euro RX1 calendar
The 2022 Euro RX1 season calendar includes a total of six stages. The start of the championship is scheduled for this weekend, when the first stage of the season will take place in Hungary. The competition will bring together rallycross cars equipped with internal combustion engines – both in the all-wheel drive “Euro RX1” class and in the front-wheel drive “Euro RX3” test class vehicles. For the Nirada track, this will be the return to the European Championship, which was last included in the calendar in 2013. The track boasts a number of technically difficult turns and variable terrain, which provides an opportunity for great overtaking maneuvers.
Meanwhile, the next five stages of Euro RX1, including the Ferratum World RX of Riga in Riga, are scheduled to coincide with the FIA World Rallycross Championship in early July in Sweden, mid-August in Norway, early September in Latvia, mid-September in Portugal and early October in Belgium. .
Euro RX1 members
It is difficult to find clear favorites among the participants of the FIA European Rallycross Championship “Euro RX1”, because the overall level of pilots is very high. And yet, one of them will be the Latvian Jānis Baumanis, who, after a great conclusion to the 2021 season (third place in the overall rating), will be among the leading participants of “Euro RX1” this year as well. The 29-year-old athlete has moved to the #YellowSquad team this year as part of the legendary Hansen Motorsport team. In the race, we will see Baumani at the wheel of a Peugeot 208, with the aim of fighting for victories in the stages and in the overall standings of the season.
“I am extremely happy to have the opportunity to join the #YellowSquad team this season,” says Jānis Baumanis. “I started my Supercar career with Hansen in 2015 and it’s great to rejoin the world’s most famous rallycross team for a full Euro RX season. I’m sure this year will be even more exciting, looking forward to showing off my skills on the track and fighting for the top spots! “
The two-time European champion Anton Marklund will start as part of “SET Promotion”, who secured the title in the “TouringCar” test in Hungary in 2012, but for the second time he became the European champion (in the “Supercar” class in 2017), crowned in the competition held in Riga. “On the Nirada track, you can drive at full power on a soft gravel surface, which I really like. It takes a lot of confidence and extreme precision to make everything happen. It’s very challenging, but at the same time very fun. I will enjoy the first stage of the year on a good rallycross track.”
Also among the contenders are the ice master Jean Baptiste Dubors, as well as last year’s Euro RX3 champion Jurijs Beļevskis and last year’s Euro RX1 best debutant Siverts Svardals. We also have to take into account Rene Minnihu, who won last year’s first victory, Enzo Idi, who gained experience in the world championship, as well as rising star Patrick O’Donavan and long-time front-wheel drive car master Ulrik Linneman.
Changes in the technical rules of the competition
With the start of the 2022 season, several changes in the course of the competition will take effect. From now on, five pilots will take part in all races, including the final finals – in addition, they will all start from one starting line, next to each other.
The procedure for determining the participants starting in the semi-finals has also been changed. If previously the fastest 12 were determined in the overall rating of all four qualifying rounds, then this year a separate Progress round has been introduced, according to which the results will determine the ten pilots starting in the semi-finals. How exactly this round will change the order of the rallycross stages and how much the results will be affected – we will be able to see this during the weekend – the stage in Hungary will be the first to use this format.
The scoring system has also changed this year. From now on, the championship points will be awarded only for the place won at the end of the weekend of the competition, and not in its various stages – after the qualifying rounds, semi-finals and finals, as has been the case so far. Also, the maximum amount of points available to one pilot has been changed – the winner of the stage will be awarded 20 points in the future, but the owner of the 15th place – one.
Schedule
The schedule of the stage has remained unchanged, and again this year the training races and the first qualifying rounds will take place on Saturday, meanwhile the decisive events are scheduled for Sunday – the final qualifying round, the progress round, the semi-finals and the final race to determine the winner of the Hungarian stage.
Live broadcasts
Broadcasts of all race races from a variety of angles, both live and replayed, will be available on the RX + platform. The access code for the platform to watch the first stage of the FIA European Rallycross Championship costs 7.99 euros, but a full season subscription, including all stages of the FIA World Rallycross Championship, is currently available for 49.99 euros.
FIA EUROPEAN RALLYCROSS CHAMPIONSHIP CALENDAR, EURO RX1 CLASS
Stage 1 21.-22. May Euro RX of Hungary
Stage 2 2.-3. July Cooper Tires World RX of Sweden
3.posms 13.-14. augusts Ramudden World RX of Norway
Stage 4 3.-4. September Ferratum World RX of Riga
Stage 5 17.-18. September Lusorecursos World RX of Portugal
Stage 6 9.-10. October Benelux World RX of Spa-Francorchamps
PROGRAM SCHEDULE
Saturday, May 21
11.00 Training rides
14.00 1st qualification (Euro RX3, Euro RX1)
16.00 2nd qualification (Euro RX3, Euro RX1)
Sunday, May 22
11.00 Training rides
12.30 Qualification 3 (Euro RX3, Euro RX1)
15.30 Progress Round (Euro RX3, Euro RX1)
18.00 Final races
