While rallycross may be reaching new heights in 2014 with the inaugural season of the FIA World Rallycross Championship presented by Monster Energy, championship managing director Martin Anayi says “is the best is yet to come.”
Preparations are in full swing ahead of the championship, which takes in ten rounds in Europe alongside visits to North and South America, an expansion that Anayi admits has come a year earlier than expected.
“We were planning to move to FIA World Championship status in 2015, but we were astounded by the support when we were a European series and therefore decided to go for it a year earlier than initially planned,” said Anayi.
“We know the future of World RX is huge and now we have world status, we’ve got the perfect opportunity to showcase our sport across the globe.”
Championship promoters IMG Motorsport are hoping to arrange for World RX to be broadcast in over fifty countries this season, with British Eurosport set to televise eight events live in the UK. Anayi feels rallycross’ unique formula makes it an exciting spectacle to watch.
“Rallycross has a mix of the best elements that motorsport has to offer: it is a drag race off the lights, they take corners like a drift car and jumps like a rally car,” he commented.
“A typical rallycross Supercar is based on a standard road car but it has an incredible amount of power, with over 600 bhp, and they can reach nought to sixty in 1.9 seconds.
“The semi-final/final knockout format creates exciting wheel-to-wheel race action. This makes it the perfect spectator sport but also means that it lends itself well to the small screen too.”
While the sport is as popular as it has been since the 1980’s, IMG are not resting on their laurels and work is already taking place to ensure the growth of rallycross over the next few years, with Anayi feeling there’s a bright future for World RX.
“We’re looking to build a sustainable championship, but also looking to expand it at the same time,” he concluded. “We’ve been working to build our relationships within Europe, but we’re also focusing on new emerging markets such as Asia, the Middle East and Latin American countries where there is a lot of interest in motorsport.
“It’s an exciting time for World RX but I have no doubt that the best is yet to come…”
