The unusual season that most forms of motorsport are facing in 2020 is still having consequences in the late portion of the year, and the FIA World Rallycross Championship was no different as the Nürburgring RX, expected to close the season, got canceled, which essentially brought the curtains down and gave the titles to Johan Kristoffersson and KYB Team JC.
The Nürburgring RX was expected to finish the season in early December in a new circuit that would use the Mullenbach section of the GP-Strecke, but the German round fell into doubt about its realization due to the previously announced cancellation of the Spa RX in Belgium, which was expected to be held last Sunday. Both rounds were called off for the same reason as concerns about the rise of COVID-19 cases in both Belgium and Germany made the World RX organization IMG to back off, especially as both countries were under high risk of getting a second lockdown period.
Of all rounds called off for the 2020 World RX season, only the Russia RX at Igora Drive had a reason not related to the new Coronavirus, as Montalegre, Hell and Lohéac suffered the earliest hits, with Cape Town and Abu Dhabi following them as logistics were added to the COVID situation.
The 2020 season has hit new lows that proved how unusual it was, since it had the fewest number of rounds, with only eight events being completed, and with the double header format being used for the first time in the World stage, the 2020 season also had the fewest number of venues used, with Höljes, Kouvola, Bikernieki and Barcelona making it a total of four circuits.
As the final two rounds were canceled the standings after the Barcelona RX double header were used to decide the champions, so Johan Kristoffersson received his third World RX title while KYB Team JC was crowned the champion team. Oliver Eriksson was crowned the 2020 Euro RX champion, Yuri Belevskiy was the Super 1600 champion and Natalie Barratt got the Projekt E title.
With the 2020 title, Johan Kristoffersson becomes the driver with most World RX titles and he is the only triple champion, with his titles being only separated by a year as Timmy Hansen conquered the 2019 one, and this was also the first title for Volkswagen machinery without factory support since Volkswagen Dealer Team BAUHAUS is the brand in front of the Kristoffersson Motorsport name.
Despite missing the drivers title, Mattias Ekström is part of a second teams title in Audi machinery, as he was driver and team boss back in 2016 with EKS RX, and KYB Team JC gets another one to its string of silverware, as the Swedish team got the 2019 RallyX Nordic and Euro RX titles, both with Ekström acting in off-track support with some one-off drives.
Natalie Barratt conquered the inaugural Projekt E title without winning a single event, as the British driver saw Ken Block and Cyril Raymond on the top step of the podium, but since both of them didn’t take part of the two rounds of the season, Barratt’s 35 points were enough, in a year where electric rallycross stepped into the IMG portfolio of events with STARD taking care of the technical part while having support from Ford and Citroën, with both manufacturers having wins this year.
It is possible that the 2021 calendar will follow a more standard flow compared to 2020, with the canceled rounds set to appear on it, but along with it, the World RX has another major concern that is finding a new promoter since IMG is confirmed to step back after the end of 2020.
PHOTOS: Kristoffersson Motorsport, JC Raceteknik, STARD
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