The awaited and quite controversial first season for the RX1e spec in the FIA World Rallycross Championship season showed us a bit of the same with new things in between, which crowned Johan Kristofferson as the five time champion and added to his legendary status in rallycross. With all of this behind us, it's time to do the usual review of some topics from the World RX sphere.
-Adaptation is the key to success:
What defined Kristofferson's charge for the title and set him apart from the competition was his quickness to adapt to his Volkswagen Polo RX1e, as it needed a new approach due to its separated axles, and this is where his precision based driving was needed. Timmy and Kevin Hansen, along with Nickas Grönholm were formidable contenders, but their driving had something reminiscent of the supercar era and didn't work that well, having only bridged the gap once the teams got more understanding from the cars despite stealing some wins from Kristofferson.
It wasn’t that different from 2018 or 2020, where basically Kristoffersson would have to be marked like a football striker or have some sort of problem, because once he was free, his driving would do the talk, and without an strategic genius like Mattias Ekström on the grid, it would take more than just guts from the Hansen brothers, as they never ran from a battle, but close combat would not work all the time.
-The rise of the newcomers:
Although the final points table doesn't reflect that, it was a good learning year for Gustav Bergström and Klara Andersson, with both being totally capable of fighting to be in the finals and even take some podiums in the process. Andersson’s moment of direct competition with team mate Niclas Grönholm and Bergström’s double podium at Spa-Francorchamps were the highlights of the young duo.
It will take a bit more pace and consistency from the newcomers to be regular contenders, and they aren't that far from this next step.
-A grid with what was possible:
The reliability issues of the Münnich Motorsport SEAT Ibiza RX1e of René Münnich demonstrated that most of the RX1e grid had a short time to get everything running, which also led to only 8 cars for the year and 9 for the season finale. Kreisel’s logistical issues to deliver the powertrain kits had a part in it, leading to the delayed start of the championship, but the quite sudden change to internal combustion to electric still made the teams come up with last hour solutions, like Münnich and his SEAT Ibiza RX, while Hansen WRXT was committed to convert the pair of Peugeot 208 WRXs and not compete in the off-season and Kristoffersson Motorsport based their Polos on the R5 rally version to enter RX1e.
Good thing is that there will be an increase in 2023 with GCK coming back, and the promising pace shown by the GCK Delta Evo-e at Nürburgring might be on their favor, maybe even making Guerlain Chicherit consider a two car effort, which would make it the fourth team eligible for points in the grid.
-Don't mess with a format that works well:
The slightly different format applied to World RX, Euro RX1 and RX2e had everything to not appease the rallycross fans, but when even drivers make open criticisms to it, you know the thing is messed up. Along with scrambled up positions from heat to heat to try to produce equal chances for everyone, a Progression phase would pave the way for the five car Semifinal runs, of which two cars went to the Final directly while the best timed third got the final spot.
This is one of the things that showed that rallycross is about consistency, and deviate too much from the simple wouldn’t go well, even for a World championship, which is why the traditional format until 2021 is returning in 2023.
-The transition period is finally gone:
It isn’t only about the new electric spec, the World RX appeared quite underwhelming due to this transition period from 2020 to 2022 as it passed from IMG to RB Media House, with many opting for a wait and see approach until things get stable. Add the COVID implications to the World and you will understand the size of the damage done to the championship.
2023 appears brighter because not only will the championship visit other continents again, but also because RX1e is quite established and Kreisel Electric will have a less chaotic scenario to deliver new kits to prospecting teams, which saw what the new spec can do. While it’s doubtful that the number of full time cars will increase dramatically, the more stable scenario might be attracting to those wanting to bring new cars to sporadic runs in order to test the waters, just like GCK did, and with the numbers at least increasing, the RX1e might finally have a market that would be minimally stable, although not hitting the supercar depth.
Now it’s time to wait for the deadline period for full time entries to come, and then the 18 June date when the action returns to Hell, in Norway.
PHOTOS: Red Bull Content Pool
Comments
Post a Comment
Do you have an opinion? Feel free to comment.