Nother CarGuy

Volkswagen never made a Polo R… for the road, anyway. It did one for the World Rally Championship, but it shut that down last year. Yet here we have a new one. Created for the FIA World Rallycross Championship, this new VW Polo R Supercar packs 570 horsepower and all-wheel drive – perfect for the kind of showboating spectacle for which rallycross has become known. The front end looks more aggressive than last year’s car, and allows for both better engine cooling and more aerodynamic downforce. There’s a new rear wing at the back, adjustable for a greater range of setups. And the engine has been heavily revised as well. “Volkswagen R has always drawn inspiration and passion from motor racing,” said division chief Jost Capito. “We will now actively build on these qualities in close cooperation with our colleagues at Volkswagen Motorsport and the PSRX team. The FIA World Rallycross Championship will be really exciting and we are looking forward to working with our partners.” ...

The Hyundai i20 is heading to the FIA World Rallycross Championship. Only it’s not Hyundai that’s taking it there. Instead the i20 has been adapted to rallycross spec by GRX TANECO – the team run by two-time world rally champion Marcus Grönholm. The pair of new i20 supercars are based on the platform that Hyundai ran in the 2016 WRC. FIA WRX Supercars pack 2.0-liter turbocharged engines, sending 600 horsepower to all four wheels to deliver 0-60 times of 1.9 seconds. Short of full factory support, the partnership stems from Grönholm’s personal relationship with Hyundai rally team principal Michel Nandan. “We don’t have any manufacturer backing like some of the other teams in World Rallycross,” said Grönholm, “but we have a lot of information from when we bought the cars from Hyundai.” Reached for comment, Hyundai’s motorsport department confirmed that “this is a private project with no manufacturer involvement.” The i20s will replace the Ford Fiestas that GRX has run un...

Peugeot has some serious rally chops behind it. But while it has left the top tier of the World Rally Championship to its sister-brand Citroën, it actively competes in rallycross – and this is its new contender. The French automaker’s will compete in this year’s FIA World Rallycross Championship with the new 2018 Peugeot 208 WRX. It’s based on the same vehicle the French marque has fielded in the series since 2014, but upgraded with key enhancements for the season ahead. Those upgrades include a new aerodynamics package to increase downforce, with a new wing and rear bumper. The suspension has been revised as well, with a new front setup, fresh dampers and bigger wheels, as well as a quicker-shifting gearbox and a new roll cage. It’s all wrapped in a fresh appearance that ought to make it stand out further from the crowd of other entries on the grid. Peugeot developed the new challenger in-house this time, instead of farming it out to Hansen. Timmy Hansen will st...

Rallycross is rapidly growing in popularity as a form of motorsport to the point that we have two rival series on opposite sides of the Atlantic. There's the Global RallyCross Championship in North America, and the FIA World Rallycross Championship in Europe. (Both are sponsored, naturally but incidentally, by energy-drink brands.) But now the European series is coming to America for the first time. Organizers of the international series have announced that they'll be holding their first event in the US at the Circuit of the Americas in Austin, Texas, next year. The round will be held the weekend of September 29-30, 2018, at the same world-class facility that hosts Formula One, MotoGP, and the FIA World Endurance Championship (among so many others). "We are delighted to announce that another FIA World Championship will be coming to COTA," said circuit chief Bobby Epstein. "The addition of a world-class rallycross circuit will be a welcome addition to our...

Ken Block’s Hoonigan Racing Division team has confirmed it will leave the World Rallycross Championship at the end of this season. The outfit entered the sport in 2016 with backing from Ford and hit the grid with two Ford Focus RS RX models. Racing alongside Block was Andreas Bakkerud and while the squad claimed third position in last year’s driver’s championship, 2017 has been less successful. Both Ford Performance and Block say the decision to stop competing has been made because of uncertainty in how the sport will develop in the future. “Although we have thoroughly enjoyed competing in the exciting FIA World Rallycross Championship, it’s a natural time for us to take a break as the future of the series takes shape,” global director of Ford Performance Dave Pericak said. “To continue in WRX would have required the development of a new race car, and with so much discussion happening around the future of rallycross from a powertrain package standpoint, it made sens...