The FIA World Rallycross Championship moves in to a post-manufacturer era for 2019 with the announcement of 16 permanent entries for the season ahead.
While VW, Audi and Peugeot are missing from the grid as factory entries, EKS and Hansen both return to the grid, the latter with backing from MJP.
Andreas Bakkerud and wild-man of rallycross Liam Doran head up a the ‘Monster Energy RX Cartel’ team with a pair of Audi S1’s.
Both Timmy and Kevin Hansen take to the grid in their Peugeot 208’s under the Team Hansen MJP banner as they split their duties between World RX and GRC Europe.
Marcus Gronholm’s GRX Taneco return with two Hyundai i20’s with Timur Timerzyanov and Niclas Gronholm at the wheel.
Reinis Nitiss will join the team for selected rounds alongside driver development duties. His first appearance for the year is lated to be at the first round in Abu Dhabi next month.
After running three cars in 2018, GC Kompetition are set to enter two Renault Megane’s for team owner Guerlain Chicherit and Anton Marklund alongside a GCK Academy team with Cyril Raymond and Guillaume De Ridder in Renault Clios.
STARD have two entries planned for the new season with Janis Baumanis returning alongside a yet-to-be-announced driver in the Ford Fiesta which will benefit from input from Ford Performance this year.
Oliver Bennett returns for his first full World RX season in his XITE Racing Mini Cooper SX1, heading up four individual entries which will not be collecting team points.
DTM Timo Scheider heads up ALL-INKL.COM Munnich Motorsport’s entry in their new Seat Ibiza, with team owner Rene Munnich joining the team for selected rounds.
EKS Sport returns as a privateer entry with Krisztian Szabo driving an Audi S1.
2018 FIA European Rallycross Champion in Super 1600, Rokas Bacisuka will join the grid in the Skoda Fabia for ESmotorsport – Labas Gas.
“What we have put together is a high quality entry list which features names synonymous with world rallycross, and a number of young guns aiming for the world championship crown. This underlines the robust nature of the FIA World Rallycross Championship.” said Paul Bellamy, Senior Vice President of IMG Motorsports.
“The entry list illustrates the lure of World RX for both teams and drivers. We have all the ingredients for a fierce battle among privateer teams seeking the kudos of a world championship in one of motorsports’ most demanding environments.
“To have 11 nationalities of drivers and eight automotive brands going head-to-head adds further spice and intrigue.”
“We will continue to innovate in 2019 by extending our live streaming offer as we seek to broaden our fan appeal,” Bellamy added.
“Last season we attracted over 400,000 views per race weekend on live streaming and our social media presence continues to grow.
“The nature of World RX, short, all-action races, the longest of which is just over five minutes, is very enticing for younger fans in this time-poor world we live in.”
