The 2017 FIA World Rallycross Championship delivered all sorts of emotions throughout the year and a new champion was appointed, with some goodbyes in the process, as a Volkswagen show was seen by demonstrating a level of dominance never seen in the competition. Here are some of the hot topics of the 2017 season.
-Kristoffersson, a lucky 7 and a brilliant title race
Johan Kristoffersson and Petter Solberg opted to join forces in the new PSRX Volkswagen Sweden outfit, and an overhauled Polo RX supercar was brought, and although the quick car played a part, Kristoffersson’s first world title relies most in the ability of the Swede, with smooth driving opening his way to seven wins, practically not putting a wheel wrong while Mattias Ekström and Petter Solberg, his main opposition, were unable to match his pace, and for Ekström the DTM commitments got in the way of his World RX title defense, which included an absence of his home round at Höljes.
-Hard for the privateers, way harder for the wildcards
It’s not secret that the gap between factory backed teams and privateers appeared in force, but MJP Racing and STARD had to do glorious appearances to overcome the representatives of Volkswagen, Audi, Peugeot and Ford, while GRX, DA Racing and Speedy Motorposrt didn’t come near the top, and being known for a surprise or two, the wildcard pack disappointed, with the equipment disparity could be mentioned as the main reason, as most of the machinery was one or two years old.
-The goodbye of Hoonigan
Factory programs come an go, sometimes quicker than you can notice, and with Ford and the Hoonigan Racing Division we saw two seasons worth notice, and although the 2017 season wasn’t as incredible as 2016, the podiums of Andreas Bakkerud proved the potential of the Focus RS RX, which is why the news of their exit hit even harder. Bakkerud was left again without a ride at the end of the season, and with WRC2 being considered as a possibility if he's out of World RX, he is the main tile of the silly season domino game.
-The others we wave goodbye
Hockenheim and Lydden Hill are the tracks leaving the World RX calendar as the Circuit of the Americas and Silverstone join in, and they delivered some good shows in 2017, but what can be called a road to progress made the championship switch places, which specially left Lydden Hill fans furious. Pat Doran didn’t give up and he expects to bring the World RX back to Lydden Hill someday.
-Cape Town RX - did it worked?
The only thing that can be seen as a negative point of the debut rallycross event in South Africa was some dubious steward decisions in the final stages, but outside this the move to Killarney proved to be successful, with a circuit that delivered lots of action and spectators who wanted some world class racing there for a long time, so this may be a season finale to stay.
In 2018 the World RX is back, with changes coming right after the season finale, but with more to clarify still.
PHOTOS: FIA World Rallycross Championship
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