Nürburgring RX becomes World RX season finale

The FIA World Rallycross Championship will see further changes in its 2021 calendar, with the long awaited debut of the Nürburgring RX needing a bit more time to happen, this time with circumstances not related to the current COVID-19 pandemic but equally as catastrophic.

The savage flooding that ravaged Belgium, Germany and Netherlands affected the areas around the Nürburgring complex, and another World RX venue, the Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps, had extensive damage in its surroundings and access roads due to the natural disaster. In Germany, Ahrweiler suffered the major part of the damage, but other neighbor towns were far from unscathed.

With the resulting damage in the region, the Ring is being used right now as some sort of aid center for the victims of the flooding, meaning that all motorsport and driving-related activity in the circuit is suspended until August, meaning that the 1 August date reserved for the World RX double header had to be changed, so the alternative was to move it to the end of the season, with the new date being 28 November.

The Nürburgring RX debut is already postponed in a year, as the heavy COVID crisis that Germany suffered at the end of 2020 made it impossible to hold the expected season, and with the Spa RX cancellation, the past season was cut short and crowned Johan Kristoffersson as champion after four double headers, so the extra round in 2021 is to actually compensate for the 2020 event not being held.

The first rallycross event at the Ring will be held at the Müllenbach section at the southern part of the GP-Strecke, making use of most of the area from the exit of the Ford Kurve to halfway into the Schumacher-S, with the necessary changes to include loose surface sections in the layout.

With the German round being moved away, the next trip is to Sweden, as Höljes will be the host of the second round on 22 August, and the other rounds won’t suffer any changes too unless it’s necessary.

PHOTO: Nürburgring