Speedleague has announced that it has teamed up with Austrian organisation STARD to start a new Rallycross championship in late 2017 where the series will feature Electric powered Rallycross cars built by Manfred Stohl’s operation.
Speedleague is already involved in Rallycross circles as it organises the venues and building of racetracks for the world famous X-Games events, however this move to introduce a fully electric off road series sees the sport taking the next step into an area already being explored by other worldwide motorsport series.
The series, to be known as E/Racing, will make stops in five North American cities, including Los Angeles and New York City and will run through to the spring of 2018. The series kick-off will be October 31-November 1st, 2017 in Las Vegas. The Red Bull Global Rallycross Championship is already big news and the new E/Racing series adds to the high profile sport in the US.
The Red Bull Global Rallycross Championship has increased the high profile sport of Rallycross in the US. Credit: Louis Yio/Red Bull Global Rallycross
Series Creator Brian Gale explains the reasons further behind the move to create this series.
“Besides the clear environmental and technological benefits it’s obvious that, when it comes to rallycross, electric powered race cars will provide us with a superior competition platform. They also make available more venue options, offering a better experience for fans,” says Gale.
“The idea has intrigued me for years but, until now I haven’t found a partner able to provide a comprehensive engineering solution for the race cars. That’s why we are so excited about teaming up with STARD to create E/RACING.”
In an exclusive arrangement, the Austrian firm STARD, which is part of former WRC & WRX Star Manfred Stohl’s Group, will be the Principle Engineering Partner for the series and supply engineering support, unique components and complete cars to the League and teams.
Former WRC star Manfred Stohl took part in the 2015 FIA World Rallycross Championship for World RX Team Austria and his outfit have developed the new electric Rallycross car. Credit: IMG / FIA World RX
Stohl, who last competed in World RX in 2015, explains the reasonms behind the Tie-Up with the E/Racing series.
“For the last couple of years we have believed that EV Technology is the future in motorsport, opening up a huge number of new possibilities,” says Stohl. “The success of Formula E and the huge interest in our worlds first “HIPER MK1” electric rallycross development car indicate this proving correct. Rallycross-style racing and electric race cars seems to be a perfect match.”
The series will also run a charter system, allowing teams interested in taking part to either lease cars or to purchase them outright. This will also allow the entrants in the series to earn long-term benefits for the teams, including sharing in certain revenues. To begin with there will be 12 charters in the first season before the series moves to a maximum of 18.
