IMG, the company behind the promotion of the FIA World Rallycross Championship has announced that they will be launching America Rallycross Championship this year, along with the support ARX2 category featuring Supercar Lites.
“Rallycross is a perfect match for the way we digest entertainment today: short, sharp wheel-to-wheel races that are packed with action. ARX is a very exciting opportunity to use our experience from World RX to grow the sport in the Americas.” said Paul Bellamy, SVP and Managing Director, Motorsports, IMG.
“We see huge potential in ARX and will work closely with all key stakeholders and possible new venues to develop ARX into a major championship over the next few years.”
While the series will be primarily US based, the first round of the four event season will see Silverstone hos the inaugural race on 25-27 May, alongside World RX at the Speedmachine Festival.
The series will visit Trois-Rivières in Canada on 4-5 August, and Circuit of the Americas, in Austin, Texas on 29-30 September, both part of the World RX calendar, plus a fourth round still to be confirmed, but to be based in USA.
Volkswagen of America and Subaru of America have committed to the new series, offering ‘substantial support’, with Tanner Foust and Scott Speed returning for Volkswagen, while Patrik Sandell and Chris Atikinson are back with Subaru.
“Volkswagen of America, in conjunction with our technical partner Andretti Autosport, intends to enter ARX in 2018 with a factory-supported supercar rallycross team.” said Greg Lucia, Director, Experiential Marketing, Volkswagen.
“We are very excited about the future of rallycross in North America and look forward to finalizing all details with IMG and working closely with them to help make ARX a success.”
Rob Weir, Motorsports Marketing Manager, Subaru, added, “IMG has done a fantastic job with the World RX platform, so we’re keen to integrate the Subaru Rally Team USA program in the upcoming ARX series under its guidance.”
World RX partner Cooper Tires will extend there commitments to ARX and become the Official Tire Partner for the series.
