Episode 29

Being able to watch live motorsport once again has reminded me just how much I love it. But that got me thinking. What made me fall in love with it in the first place?

Why I Love Motorsport:

Rallycross

Being able to watch live motorsport once again has reminded me just how much I love it. But that got me thinking. What made me fall in love with it in the first place?

The recent return of motorsport to our TV screens has once again reminded me exactly why I’m writing this blog. I love motorsport. Being able to immerse myself in a sport I’m passionate about, be it through reading the gossip and journalism from the preceding days, donning my bright orange cap for the duration of the weekend, watching and listening to the television coverage, and finally sharing my own thoughts and opinions via the #RaceWatch series, it got me thinking: what exactly is it that I love about this sport?

Now, in itself, this question is complex. After all, ‘motorsport’ is an extremely broad spectrum that encompasses all sorts of vehicles and disciplines. Therefore, lets focus on the specific competitions that I closely follow, starting with rallycross.

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Rallycross, for those who don’t know, is pretty much a mix of circuit racing with stage rally racing. It’s quite complex to explain exactly what goes on, but I’ll give it my best shot, using the premier FIA World Rallycross series as an example. The cars are pretty ridiculous, with 600bhp from just a 2-litre engine, four-wheel drive, and are capable of sprinting from 0-60mph in around two seconds, all whilst wrapped in the chassis of your run-of-the-mill hatchback.

These fire-spitting, anti-lagging machines race on short, challenging circuits made from a combination of tarmac and dirt/gravel, with lap times at most venues around 50 seconds. Races are short but sweet, with four qualifying sessions consisting of 4-lap, 5-car heats, all vying for the fastest aggregate times, followed by 6-lap semi-finals and finals. Alongside this, rallycross houses extra variables such as the drag race to the first corner and the slower, longer joker lap that each driver is required to take once per race.

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With that in mind, what exactly is it about this spectacle that makes me so enthused? Primarily, it comes down to the closeness of the racing. Rallycross cars are fundamentally overpowered, and have very little aerodynamics. When combined, this means the cars are able to run extremely close to each other for pretty much the whole race and, as such, any little driver error is punished. What’s more, with such little aero effect coming from the bodywork, the drivers don’t especially care too much for the outermost panels. The old mantra of ‘rubbing is racing’ is very much applicable here.

The variable track surface also exaggerates the sense of drama from these machines. With rough gravel and dirt on offer, alongside big jumps to handle, cars have to be set up with quite soft suspension, resulting in very apparent pitching and diving from the chassis under heavy acceleration and braking. Combine this with the low grip and high power creating big, dusty powerslides round the bends, and you’re met with an incredible display of car control from the drivers.

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Another aspect of the FIA World Rallycross that initially drew me in related to the calibre of teams and drivers in the series. Whilst many of the big names have since pulled out, I was stumbling across a series with factory outfits from VW, Peugeot and Audi, with big names such as Petter Solberg, Sebastian Loeb and Mattias Ekstrom all within a few inches of each other on track. In short, this was a series full of big teams, hosting some of the best drivers, and creating some of the closest, most enthralling racing there was. It got me hooked within minutes.

Currently, despite a manufacturer exodus at the end of 2018, the series still creates incredible entertainment. Experienced rallycross drivers such as Andreas Bakkerud, Timmy Hansen and Liam Doran are to be reunited with double World Champion Johan Kristoffersson in 2020, returning with his VW Polo R after his brief spell in the World Touring Car Championship. Last year’s Drivers Championship was the closest of any FIA Championship in the world in 2019, with Sweden’s Timmy Hansen finishing just a single point ahead of Norway’s Andreas Bakkerud after an extremely controversial final in which the two drivers collided whilst fighting for the lead.

In short, the closest championship of the year came from a series involving 600bhp, four-wheel drive hatchbacks drifting, bumping and jumping over mixed-surface circuits. When put that way, rallycross sounds like an absolute riot. And it doesn’t disappoint!

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Episode 27

Sure, circuit racing is the most common, most popular form of motorsport, but what’s out there if you want to do something different?

What If You Don’t Want To Drive In Circles?

Sure, circuit racing is the most common, most popular form of motorsport, but what’s out there if you want to do something different?

In the first six months of this blog, I’ve pretty much exclusively spoken about circuit racing. However, circuit racing is just one of many different classes of motorsport, and whilst I certainly have the intention of competing on track alongside my competitors, some of you reading this blog may not share the same interest.

With that in mind, how do other categories of motorsport compare in availability and price? Is traditional circuit racing really the best way for me to go, or should I be striving to race in rallycross, hill climb or rally? Let’s find out.

First up, it’s the class of motorsport I’d certainly choose as my personal second choice: it’s Rallycross.

27. What If You Don't Want to Drive in Circles?

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From my research, it seems that the entry point into rallycross is the Swift Rallycross Championship. Using cars based on 2006-2010 Suzuki Swift Sports, the cars use standard engines (albeit with spec ECUs), standard gearboxes and standard brakes, meaning the cars are cost effective to prepare and run, whilst also using controlled tyres, limited to six per round. The Swift championship also boasts the largest grids on the British Rallycross scene, meaning healthy levels of competition.

In terms of pricing, membership cost is £100 for the season, whilst entry costs £380-£450 for each event. Considering there were originally nine planned rounds in 2020, meaning the total season costs would have been £3,520. Pretty cheap, I would say. On the flip side, however, stand the travel costs. The main problem with rallycross stems from the fact there aren’t many facilities for it. Therefore, the venues for the 2020 British Rallycross are Lydden Hill in Kent, Pembrey in South Wales, Mondello Park in County Kildare, Ireland and Knockhill in Fife, Scotland. Not exactly on each other’s doorsteps, are they?

With the exception of the travelling costs, then, I’d say the Swift Rallycross Championship makes for a good introduction to the Rallycross discipline, especially considering the race organisers offer an arrive-and-drive package if you want a taster, or just can’t justify owning your own car.

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Next up, Hill Climb. Immediately, hill climb seems to be the most inclusive form of motorsport I’ve researched so far. For starters, hill climb events occur up and down the country, and the class structure of competitions means you can enter in pretty much any vehicle you wish, even the one you turn up in. Many hill climb events are one-offs, too, meaning you could enter as many or as few events as you please, and the only costs would be the initial entry fee into your hill climb club, and each subsequent event.

Based on this, I’d very much class hill climb as a much more relaxed form of motorsport. For sure, it could get extremely competitive, for example in the headline British Hill Climb Championship, but the grassroots elements seem much less formal.

Finally, let’s have a look at entry level Rallying competitions. For clarity, I’m going to be referring to Stage Rallying, rather than Road Rallies. More specifically still, the BTRDA Rally Championship.

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The 2020 BTRDA Rally Series was due to include seven events, mostly around the Lake District and North Wales, whilst also featuring other areas in the North of England. Within the BTRDA are many sub-championships involving a myriad of classes, meaning a vast spectrum of machinery can enter. Whilst I haven’t been able to find specific event entry costs due to the cancellation of all 2020 rallies, the pricing for membership works out at £80 for drivers and £50 for co-drivers, which I personally see as quite reasonable.

Due to the abundance of classes, there’s also ample opportunity for silverware, which is always aids motivation, especially when you’re just starting out in motorsport. Therefore, whilst geographically I don’t live in the best location to join this series myself, I’m sure it’s a great opportunity for someone who lives further north than I do.

There we go then, proof that circuit racing isn’t the only option for motorsport and, depending on where you live, there’s even some pretty strong arguments to say that it may not even be the best option for motorsport either. Certainly, I may have to look into running a one-off Swift Rallycross event at Lydden Hill if the situation allows, because it’s a class of motorsport I’ve always enjoyed watching, and something I would undoubtedly enjoy, even if I am terrible!

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