PR: The FIA European Rallycross Championship has revealed the biggest and best line up of permanent drivers ever assembled in its 40 year history.
With 15 permanent SuperCar drivers entered, the group is three times bigger than the number that took part in all rounds of the 2012 series and will be supplemented at every Championship event by a mix of star ‘wild card’ entries and national heroes. RallycrossRX is pleased to announce that former World Rally Champion Petter Solberg has committed to drive in all nine rounds of the Championship. Solberg will race a Citroën DS3 SuperCar built and prepared by his own team. “We are delighted that Petter Solberg has chosen to race in the FIA European Rallycross Championship, it’s great for the Championship and will be really interesting to see how the regular guys respond to the challenge of racing against a former World Rally champion”, said Martin Anayi, Managing Director of RallycrossRX at IMG Motorsport.
The SuperCar permanent entry for 2013 features the current FIA European Rallycross Champion Timur Timerzyanov, as well as the 2012 champions from the Super1600 (Andreas Bakkerud) and TouringCar (Anton Marklund) categories, both of whom graduate to race SuperCars in 2013. The all-star field assembled for the 2013 Championship, which is being promoted for the first time by IMG Motorsports, part of IMG Worldwide, the global sports, entertainment and media company, also includes former European champions Mats Lysen, Knut Ove Børseth, Ronny Scheveneels and Michaël De Keersmaecker as well as X Games winner Liam Doran.
“We have put together a top quality entry of permanent drivers in the SuperCar category, half of them already proven European champions, who have committed to take part in all rounds of the Championship. The core entry of 15 permanent SuperCar drivers represents an enormous increase in entry level as only five drivers took part in all rounds of the 2012 Championship. However even more compelling is the fact that we have more than 15 other guys who want to come in and do more than two events each this year, including some of the biggest names in motorsport. We have the perfect balance and we cannot wait to feature these guys in our global TV coverage and start delivering a fantastic platform to take RallycrossRX to the next level”, said Anayi.
The 15 permanent drivers represent six different countries, drive cars from six manufacturer brands and include seven current or former FIA Rallycross champions. Also among them is 20-year-old Swede Timmy Hansen who has made a career change from single-seater racing to Rallycross to capitalise on the introduction of a Championship Promoter for the very first time in its history. With up and coming Norwegian starlet, Alex Hvaal, former French champion Davey Jeanney, as well as current and former Swedish champions Peter Hedström and Stig-Olov Walfridsson and British event winner Andy Scott, there is real talent throughout the field that represents the majority of key Rallycross markets.
“When you look at the permanent driver field RX has and add in the ‘wild cards’ and local Rallycross heroes coming in per event, we see the Championship as becoming a ‘must go to’ event for motor sport fans across Europe in 2013”, added Anayi. The nine-round 2013 FIA European Rallycross Championship opens with the British event at Lydden Hill on Easter weekend (March 31-April 1). The FIA has appointed IMG Motorsports to be the exclusive Championship Promoter for the FIA European Rallycross Championship for the next 10 years as well as granting them exclusive rights to develop a FIA World Rallycross Championship in coming years.
- Permanent Drivers for the 2013 series (alphabetical order):
- #66: Andreas Bakkerud (N) Citroën DS3
- #7: Knut Ove Børseth (N) Škoda Fabia Mk2
- #9: Michaël De Keersmaecker (B) Ford Focus Mk2
- #33: Liam Doran (GB) Citroën DS3
- #21: Timmy Hansen (S) Citroën DS3
- #8: Peter Hedström (S) Škoda Fabia Mk2
- #25: Alexander Hvaal (N) Citroën DS3
- #6: Davy Jeanney (F) Citroën C4
- #22: Mats Lysen (N) Renault Clio Mk3
- #92: Anton Marklund (S) VW Polo Mk5
- #4: Ronny Scheveneels (B) Peugeot 207
- #26: Andy Scott (GB) Peugeot 208
- #TBA: Petter Solberg (N) Citroën DS3
- #1: Timur Timerzyanov (RUS) Citroën DS3
- #5: Stig-Olov Walfridsson (S) Renault Clio Mk3
Photo: Russian Timur Timerzyanov, the reigning European Rallycross Champion, will lead the 2013 ERX field. © JKR/ERC24