Less than two weeks to go to the Austrian ERC round at Greinbach where the international Rallycross drivers will be guests in Styria for the third round of the 2012 FIA series.

All preparations are nearly finished and during today’s press conference the organisation’s leader Erich Petrakovits gave a forecast to the event. “After the huge success of last year we have worked extremely hard to increase the level further. This is only possible by our sponsors who are supporting us again this year. With REMUS (the world leader in sporting exhausts), RED BULL (the world’s biggest energy drink producer), ALL-INKL.COM (webhosting, server and domains in Europe), CITROËN AUSTRIA, FORD KÄFER, PEUGEOT FRIESZL and CORONA EXTRA (the finest beer from Mexico), we have reliable partners in the team. To be prepared for the visitors, for the first time we have a grandstand on the start-finish line to accommodate 500 fans. Right next to the paddock there will be a possibility for camping. As the equipment of the participants will be expanded once again, we have also expanded our paddock to provide enough space for the teams. To be prepared for many drivers we have 3400 square metres of additional paddock with a gravel base and recycled asphalt surface. For the off-road sections of the track we have used recycled asphalt surface as well. In addition these parts of the track have been prepared with Dustex to avoid the formation of dust,” said Petrakovits. A lot of things have happened in the PS Racing Center Greinbach over the passed months and Petrakovits adds: “This week we have a final briefing with the complete organisation team and after that we are ready for the event of the year.”

Petrakovits proudly presented the entry list during the press conference. A total of 60 drivers from 16 nations have submitted their entries so far, some more will come up in the days prior to the event. Most entries are for the Super1600s category, homeboy Christian Petrakovits (VW Polo) will get hard competition. Above all others, the two leaders of the European Championship, Norwegian Andreas Bakkerud (Renault Twingo) and Finn Jussi-Petteri Leppihalme (Renault Clio). The other Austrians beside Petrakovits junior are Klaus Freudenthaler (Škoda Fabia), Manfred Beck (MG Rover), Werner Panhauser (Citroën C2) and Erwin Frieszl (Peugeot 207).

Against the top drivers of the SuperCars class the locals Peter Ramler (Seat Leon), Alois Höller, Jürgen Weiß (both Ford Focus) and Tristan Ekker (VW Polo) are ready to compete. On Saturday May 26, at 11.00h, the cars will be called to the starting line for the first free practice session and Greinbach will become the Mecca of European Rallycross for two days.