IMG Motorsport, the promoters of the FIA World Rallycross Championship, have announced a revised calendar for the 2019 season.
With the FIA World Motor Sport Council meeting in St. Peterburg this week, World RX has confirmed a reduction from eleven events to ten events for next years season. The World RX of USA has been dropped from the list for next year with the event on hold until the 2021 season.
World RX has released a revised calendar for the 2019 season. Credit: IMG / FIA World RX
With the original calendar of eleven events announced back in October, there has been a lot of backlash regarding the move to further F1/RX circuits for 2019 such as the Yas Marina and Spa-Francorchamps circuits and the loss of Montalegre in Portugal, where there was a five year deal in place for the World RX of Portugal.
With the loss of the World RX of USA, which is due to return in 2021 as part of the fully Electric World RX Championship, the calendar is now confirmed as the following:
• World RX of UAE: Abu Dhabi – Yas Marina – 5-6 April
• World RX of Spain: Barcelona – 27-28 April
• World RX of Belgium: Spa-Francorchamps – 11-12 May
• World RX of Great Britain: Silverstone – 25-26 May
• World RX of Norway: Hell – 15-16 June
• World RX of Sweden: Höljes – 6-7 July
• World RX of Canada: Trois-Rivières – 3-4 August
• World RX of France: Lohéac – 31 August-1 September
• World RX of Latvia: Riga – 14-15 September
• World RX of South Africa: Cape Town – 9-10 November
The change in Calendar also sees the 2019 finale in South Africa moved from the end of November to the start of the month.
In a bid to cut costs and attract further interest to World RX, the 2019 season is reduced to ten events. Credit: IMG / FIA World RX
World RX Managing Director for IMG, Paul Bellamy, explained the changes further.
“After consulting with the FIA and our World Championship teams, we have decided to reduce the number of events in our 2019 calendar. This decision has been made to help control costs for the teams and ensure the series remains as competitive as possible. We remain very excited about the 2019 season with 10 high-octane events,” said Bellamy.
“We will run a round of the Americas Rallycross Championship (ARX) at COTA on September 28-29, which World Rallycross teams will be welcome to compete in, but it will not be part of the World Championship. We are planning the return of the World Championship to the USA in 2021 when we add electric cars.”
