World Rallycross News: WRX launches revised 2020 calendar set for August start
The World Rallycross Championship is planning to get its 2020 season underway in late August, the series has revealed as part of a revised nine-round calendar
Prior to the updated calendar being released on Monday, only the first four rounds of the season, in Spain, Portugal, Belgium and Norway had been officially postponed due to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic.
It has now been confirmed that the first round is planned to be held at Holjes, Sweden, in late August, the event moving from its first weekend in July slot.
The French and Latvian rounds maintain their original September locations in the schedule, before the postponed rounds at Spa (Belgium), Montalegre (Portugal) and Barcelona (Spain) are planned to be held over three weeks back-to-back in early October.
The Yas Marina circuit is now scheduled to host World RX's first ever double-header for rounds seven and eight on the last weekend in October, before the season is concluded in mid-December at the Nurburgring.
The Norwegian and South African rounds are not present in the revised calendar.
While the Lanke Circuit at Hell (Norway) is a busy, multi-purpose venue, the lengthy sea-freight logistics to and from South Africa would make it difficult to fit the long-haul event into the packed autumn schedule.
The European Championships for Supercar and Super1600 categories have been dropped to four and five rounds respectively, while the new Projekt E electric series is also planning to be run over four events, with the single-make RX2 series run over five.
While the supporting classes are spread over the European-based rounds, only the World Championship Supercars will compete in the Abu Dhabi double-header.
The planned new Russian round had already been dropped from the 2020 schedule due to contractual issues, prior to COVID-19 affecting the motorsport calendar.
The series has stated that the revised calendar remains provisional and subject to change.
In lieu of real-world racing, WRX has staged two online events on the DIRT Rally video game in association with Motorsport Games, replacing the Catalunya and Montalegre rounds.
Revised 2020 WRX calendar
Sweden - 20-23 August
France - 4-6 September
Latvia - 18-20 September
Belgium - 2-4 October
Portugal - 9-11 October
Spain - 16-18 October
Abu Dhabi - 29-31 October
Germany - 11-13 December
WRX delays electric car introduction due to coronavirus
World Rallycross News: French round cancelled for 2020
From Lebanon to cross-category world titles - a rally legend's top 10
Petter Solberg has called time on his top-flight career after winning titles in two FIA world championships. Here, the 2003 rally and '14/15 rallycross king recalls his 10 best events - including the moment where all his success began
How to make an F1 venue fit for World RX
World Rallycross makes its first appearance at Silverstone this year as part of the 'Speedmachine' festival in May. We take a look at how the new rallycross track fared in its debut event
Volkswagen hasn't disappeared completely
Volkswagen's abrupt departure from the World Rally Championship it was dominating was one of the winter's biggest shocks. Now 2003 WRC champion Petter Solberg's World Rallycross team has VW support. What does that mean for World RX and what remains of Volkswagen Motorsport?
Why rallycross is becoming irresistible
Sebastien Loeb started a new journey in his motorsport career last weekend, but he wasn't the only attraction in Portugal. DAVID EVANS examines why the World Rallycross product works so well
The entries are strong, the cars are powerful and it can teach the WRC a thing or two about promotion. But after visiting the Lydden Hill round, DAVID EVANS still has his doubts
New rallycross golden age comes to Britain
The sport began at Lydden in the late 1960s and this weekend the new-look World Rallycross Championship will strut its stuff at the Kent venue. HAL RIDGE explains why it will be unmissable
Solberg: why rallycross is my future
PETTER SOLBERG had a rough first season back in rallycross, but that hasn't deterred him from signing up for the first year of its new era in 2014, as he explains in his AUTOSPORT column
Petter Solberg says that there's still lots to learn about running a successful rallycross campaign, but he's really enjoying getting back to his roots