The 2020 FIA World Rallycross Championship hasn’t started in the way they had hoped due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic which has caused many of the rounds to be either postponed to later this year or completly cancelled.
Because of this there are only seven rounds left on the current revised World RX calendar, but now Finland and the Kouvola track are in the talks to bring a round back to Finland for first time since 2014 this summer. The round is set to take one week after World RX of Sweden in August.
The World RX of Finland has been hosted only one time and was won by Tanner Foust, who is the only American to date to have won a round, the track has played host to FIA European Rallycross Championship in many years before the series became a world championship.
The Finnish local news magazine Kouvola Sanomat from the region where the track is located at, was first out with the news on Monday afternoon stating that the city of Kouvola was ready to support this project by funding €15,000 towards the plans.
The event will not be hosted by the Finnish national motorsport association AKK-Sport Oy but by the World RX and nine-time FIA European Rallycross Championship winning team SET Promotion from Finland.
In an interview with the Finnish motorsport news publication UrheilUutiset, Jussi Pinomäki, Team Principal of SET Promotion explained the situation; “The desire is strong and it is currently being looked at whether it can be done or not. The schedule is tight and conditions around the world are challenging, but because of them, such an opportunity has opened up. Now we are working hard to get it done.”
“We are in touch with the team on a weekly basis in video calls in the same way as the other teams, go through the situation in the series and plan, think of alternatives and how to get the season started. As part of those discussions, such an opportunity then came and we announced that we have an interest in organizing the event.”
“The time is still a little open. The situation in Sweden will affect everything. It might be we can host it but also it may be changing still. Within a week and a half, the week after the Midsummer [this weekend], we need to make a decision in one direction or another. Of course, the biggest thing is to get the funding piled up to be able to complete the event at world level. After that, there are still a lot of small things to be done.”
According to the interview, SET Promotion asked for €45,000 by the Kouvola city but the proposal of €25,000 was granted, but the city decided to vote on it and it ended up as €15,000.
“Of course, it would have helped significantly at this point if the support had been what we were sought for… the rest is largely raw work. If we have the resources to do that, then it will be done. Good negotiations are underway and there has been a positive attitude, this has been seen as a positive topic for this gloomy spring,” Pinomäki added.
If the plans will suceed, the 2020 World RX of Finland is set to be held at last weekend of August, and The Checkered Flag will be there to report live from the paddock.
