The Calendar for the 2016 RX Lites Cup has been announced, confirming that there will be seven events that take place this year, with another one-off event due to take place at Canada on 5-7 August.
The RX Lites Cup is a one make feeder series for the FIA World Rallycross Championship, where drivers contest the series in identical 310bhp, mid engined, four wheel drive cars designed by the Olsbergs MSE outfit and built in Turkey in co-operation with Avitas Motorsport.
The 2016 RX Lites Cup takes place over the following seven events:
- Hockenheim, Germany 6-8 May
- Mettet, Belguim 13-15 May
- Lydden Hill, Great Britain 28-29 May
- Hell, Norway 10-12 June
- Holjes, Sweden 1-3 July
- Barcelona, Spain 16-18 September
- Riga, Latvia 30 September – 2 October
The winner of this years Cup will receive the prestigious Göran Henriksson Memorial Trophy, which is in memory of the founder of Olsbergs MSE. As in previous seasons, the winner will also have a Supercar Drive during a WorldRX event and in 2016, this will take place at the Estering in Germany.
For the 2nd and 3rd place finishers at the end of the season, their prize will be a test in a WorldRX Supercar. Previous winners of the Supercar Prize have gone on to do well with the opportunity. 2014 Champion Kevin Eriksson finished in 3rd place on his WorldRX Supercar debut and 2015 Champion Kevin Hansen went on to finish in 5th place during his WorldRX Supercar debut.
With the UK RX Talent search being so popular in 2015, the Belgian ASN has launched its own initiative where the winner of the Talent Search will be awarded a fully funded RX Lites drive at the Belgian event in May.
Andreas Eriksson, Olsbergs MSE team owner is very happy with how the RX Lites Cup looks in 2016: “We are delighted to introduce two new circuits to the RX Lites calendar for 2016 and we’re especially excited about visiting Hockenheim for the World RX/DTM double-header.
“It will be a new challenge to go to the Estering as we reward our 2016 winner with a Supercar drive at World RX of Germany. The Estering is a tricky circuit and will be an excellent test for our new Champion. The success from last year’s RX Talent Search in Great Britain has encouraged the Belgian ASN to work on a similar scheme ahead of Mettet. I’m looking forward to developing grassroots rallycross talent in another country as we witness steady growth in both RX Lites and the sport as a whole.”
The closing date for entries to the 2016 RX Lites Cup is Thursday 7 April.
