MOTORSPORT: Crunch time for new rallycross series

The start of Australia's new national rallycross series has been pushed back a week and the venue changed to Brisbane's Lakeside, but cars and drivers are not locked in yet for the proposed premier class at the opening round.

However, Extreme Rallycross Championship organiser David Ridden says he remains confident of at least five $250,000 Super Lites to kick off the series.

Confirmed orders will need to be lodged within the next couple of weeks for rallycross specialists Olsbergs MSE in Sweden to supply those cars in time – and they will need to be air-freighted.

One Super Lite – with Ford Fiesta bodywork – has been in Australia for a couple of months, was used at a launch and test day at Sydney Motorsport Park six weeks ago, and has been earmarked for a team representing series sponsor Sidchrome.

But there has been no confirmation of profile rally stars Chris Atkinson and Alister McRae participating, even though they enthusiastically attended the Sydney test day.

The 300-horsepower Super Lites are the second-tier category to the 600-horsepower Supercar class in the European-based World Rallycross Championship and America's Global Rallycross.

Petter Solberg and Mattias Ekstrom are World RX's superstars, while Ken Block and Travis Pastrana participate in America.

Ridden has announced today that the first round will be on September 4-5, rather than August 28-29, and that it will be at Brisbane's Lakeside Park, where a 350m dirt section and jumps will be added to the traditional race circuit, rather than a temporary circuit that was envisaged at the Mudgeeraba Sporting Complex on the Gold Coast.

Melbourne's Calder Park and Sydney Motorsport Park each are listed for two rounds of the inaugural seven-event series, one at Adelaide's Wayville Showground and another at Lakeside.

Ridden said that, irrespective of the size of the Super Lites field for the first round, there were two "grassroots" categories – for turbocharged four-wheel-drive cars and naturally-aspirated two-wheel-drives – with about 20 prospective entries.

"We have been working closely with venues and our track designer has been working overtime," Ridden said.

"The dates and locations are all locked away.

"We're kicking it off in a big way on September 4 at Lakeside Park.

"It's going to be a massive event and the track design is guaranteed to deliver some wild overtaking moves and big jumps.

"The Lakeside set up is going to be amazing. The track is being purpose-built to a world-class standard. Its natural amphitheatre will give spectators an amazing view of the action from every vantage point.

"At each track [in the championship] there is one massive jump that will sort the men from the boys.

"Rallycross isn't just about the racing. From the minute the gates open on Friday to when the DJ drops the final track on Saturday night it's one massive party.

"We have just locked away a couple of big name DJs for the first two rounds."

John Tetley, who operates Lakeside Park in Brisbane's north as well as Queensland Raceway at Ipswich, said he was "very excited to be hosting two rounds [of the rallycross championship] to make sure it's a success".

"We are investing heavily to make the rallycross circuit both challenging and rewarding for the drivers with lots of places to make a daring move," Tetley said.

"The viewing areas will provide spectacular viewing of the whole track for both fans and teams. It will not be dull!

"The professional approach of Global Rallycross Australia [the company of which Ridden is managing director] guarantees there can be a huge future for the sport.

"Our plan is to make Lakeside Park the best place for rallycross in Australia.

"We are going to make the new track available to everybody. In addition to hosting the Sidchrome Extreme Rallycross Championship events, QR will run a six-round state championship with some help from the team at Global Rallycross Australia."

Separately, rally legend Bob Watson – a rival of Peter Brock, Allan Moffat, Colin Bond and Larry Perkins in the previous era of rallycross in Australia in the 1970s – is reviving the sport – a combination of rallying, supercross and circuit racing – in southern Australia.

Watson's first event at Broadford, 90km north of Melbourne, is scheduled for July 19 with another later in the year.

The announcement from Ridden's Extreme Rallycross Championship today was its first for six weeks.

Queried after the announcement about cars and drivers for the series, Ridden said: "Ideally we'd like to have 10 Super Lites [for the first round]. I'm reasonably sure we will have five – two potentially with manufacturer support.

"That would be magnificent.

"There are a lot of people ready to go, but they haven't made the leap yet [in ordering a car from Olsbergs MSE].

"They'll need to order cars by the first week of July for them to be here in time – and they'll need to be air-freighted now, because sea freight would take eight to 10 weeks, but the people we're talking to don't seem to see air-freight as a big problem.

"Olsbergs allocated eight cars to Australia this year ... all they need are gearboxes to be fitted.

"The cars are there. They would just need eight to 10 days to assemble them before they were freighted."

Rallycross Super Lites specifications

Body
>>  Tubular Spaceframe Structure combined with high-performance composite plastic exterior and interior body.
>>  CDS rollcage.
>> Length 380cm, width 180cm, wheelbase 248.9cm.
>> Weight 1100kg minimum with driver.

Engine
>> Naturally aspired Duratec block 2400cc.
>> Four cylinders, 16 valves.
>> Power 310 BHP.
>> Torque 300 Nm.

Transmission
>> Permanent four-wheel-drive with two LSD differentials.
>> Six-speed sequential SADEV gearbox.
>> ALCON two-plate clutch.

Suspension
>> Front – double wishbone suspension, Ohlins  TTX adjustable dampers.
>> Rear – double wishbone suspension, Ohlins TTX adjustable dampers.

Brakes
>> Front – Alcon 33cm ventilated brake discs with four-piston brake calipers.
>> Rear – Alcon 330cm ventilated brake discs with four-piston brake calipers.