Red Bull Global Rallycross

Red Bull Global Rallycross
Category Rallycross
Country USA
Inaugural season 2011
Folded 2018
Tyre suppliers BFGoodrich
Last Drivers' champion United States Scott Speed
Last Teams' champion Volkswagen Andretti Rallycross
Official website www.redbullglobalrallycross.com

Red Bull Global Rallycross (official abbreviation Red Bull GRC) was a self-owned rallycross series run in the United States. Started as Global RallyCross Championship in 2009 by Brian Gale and Chip Pankow, the series transitioned ownership in 2013 to Colin Dyne. Broadcast live on NBC since 2014, the series was the fastest growing form of motor sport in the United States.

The events were previously run with heavily modified production cars called Rallycross Supercars with 600-horsepower, however these were to be replaced with upgraded 'Lites' class cars in what the series referred to as its 'Gold' class.[1]

The GRC Lites development series featured equally prepared 300-horsepower cars and usually less experienced drivers. The e-GRC electric series was slated to launch in 2018.

Courses included a mix of dirt, tarmac and jumps. In most seasons its name has been a misnomer as almost all of its rounds have taken place in North America.[2]

History

Ken Block (left) and Brian Deegan participating in a 2015 event at Marine Corps Air Station New River

Following Rallycross's inclusion in the 2010 Los Angeles X Games, three demonstration events were held in late 2010 at the New Jersey Motorsports Park, and Global Rallycross Management organized their first championship season of five events in 2011. Tanner Foust won the inaugural championship title in 2011. He retained the title again in 2012.

In addition to promoting the series, Global Rallycross Management managed invitations and competition for X Games Rallycross contests.

In 2013, the series held races outside the United States for the first time. Later in the season, it introduced the Lites division, a developmental series. Making its debut at New Hampshire Motor Speedway, Joni Wiman was the inaugural champion after winning all six races.[3]

On October 28, 2016, the series announced the formation of an electric racing division.[4]

In 2018 Global Rallycross ceased operations. To date Red Bull GRC hasn't made an official statement regarding its future.

Format

Qualifying

Qualifying was conducted over the course of one hour. The field was broken up into small groups that took to the track in 10-minute sessions. Seeding for heat races was determined by a driver's qualifying lap time.

Heats

A race weekend consists of one or two rounds of heats that count for championship points, as well as a semifinal. The heats always consist of three sessions of four or five cars each, while the semifinals consist of two sessions of six or more cars each. In the case of an event with only one round of heats, such as a doubleheader race, points are awarded in the semifinal, but not otherwise.

The top three finishers in the semifinals transfer into the main event, giving their teams time to work on their cars while others continue to compete. All drivers who do not make it into the main event via the semifinals will compete in the last chance qualifier for the final four remaining qualifying spots. Ten cars then compete in the main event.

Start

Global Rallycross races begin with a standing start, where drivers are given 30- and 10-second intervals before the green. During that time they must activate launch systems, including an anti-lag system, before starting the race. The fastest driver in the previous session is given the inside lane to the first corner.

Joker lap

Each course is equipped with two routes: the main route, and the joker lap route, which each driver must only take once per race. The GRC joker lap route typically shortens the length of the track significantly (while in the FIA World Rallycross Championship the JL detour is longer than the main route, to slow the cars down for a minimum of two seconds), so when a drive takes the joker lap can affect their race strategy. Depending on venue, the joker lap route may have additional obstacles which significantly slow the cars thus making the main route faster. In mid season 2015, GRC made some change to the joker lap, now drivers are not allowed to take the joker lap on the first lap.

Penalty box

The penalty box was a new addition to series for the 2013 season, and is designed to deal with on-track infractions without having to red flag or restart the race. In event of a jump start or unsportsmanlike driving, the penalised driver will pull into a 50-meter lane off track, where they will be held until a track official releases them. The penalty box was first used at the first event at X Games Brazil, when Nelson Piquet Jr. jump-started at the beginning of Heat 2.

Championship points

As of 2014, championship points are awarded only to drivers who have committed to running at least half of the season. Under the current point system, one-off drivers are skipped over when points are awarded; for example, if the race winner was not eligible to earn points, the event runner-up would earn first place points. Points are awarded at the conclusion of the event to eligible finishers as follows:

Position 1st 2nd 3rd 4th 5th 6th 7th 8th 9th 10th 11th and below
Points 50 45 40 35 30 25 20 15 10 5 1

In addition, points are awarded in all rounds of heats and semifinals. First place earns five points, second place earns four points, and so on through fifth place and below, which earn one point. Only drivers who are disqualified from a heat or fail to pull to the starting grid do not receive points for their heats. On race weekends with three rounds of heats, the third round solely determines starting spots in the main event and does not award points.

At the end of the season, the driver to score the most points is crowned Global Rallycross champion. The top two cars per manufacturer also score points in the manufacturer's championship.

Venues

The Global Rallycross Championship uses (mostly temporary) tracks which are between half a mile and a mile in length, and contain both dirt and tarmac sections, as well as various other obstacles. Rallycross tracks can be built in a large variety of locations, which can influence the circuit layouts.

The series races on various tracks, ranging from oval speedways to standalone street courses; in 2017, the series raced at three NASCAR short tracks – Memphis International Raceway, Thompson Speedway Motorsports Park and Evergreen Speedway.[5] From 2015 to 2016, the series ran at a military base during the United States' Independence Day weekend, when two races were held at Marine Corps Air Station New River.[6] For the 2017 season, the series made its debut in Canada when it raced at the Canada Aviation and Space Museum in Ottawa.[7]

Cars

The Global Rallycross Supercars class was based on production models from major auto manufacturers, and received significant modifications to chassis, engine, and safety features in line with the series regulations. They produced 600 horsepower and accelerated from 0–60 miles per hour in 1.9 seconds.[8] They were four wheel drive, and built to withstand 70-foot jumps and contact with other vehicles. They did not use electronic traction aids. The Ford Fiesta, Subaru WRX, Volkswagen Beetle, Volkswagen Polo, Hyundai Veloster, Chevrolet Sonic, Dodge Dart, and Honda Civic were used as the basis for Global Rallycross Supercars.[9] Dodge left the series after the 2013 season.[10]

In 2013, a development class was added, GRC Lites. A standard car developed by OMSE, with a spaceframe chassis, a plastic body resembling the Ford Fiesta, a rear-mounted, naturally aspirated 2.4L 320 hp Ford Duratec engine and four-wheel drive.

In 2018, the series announced it would replace the supercar class with a new 'Gold Class', consisting of an updated lites chassis. Alongside the Gold Class, GRC planned to run a secondary spec class based off the Polaris RZR.[11] Neither class saw competition, as the series folded prior to the 2018 season.

Teams and drivers

A significant number of the series' drivers have had careers in other sports like skateboarder Bucky Lasek[9] and BMX rider Dave Mirra.[12] Other drivers have transitioned from other forms of motorsports, for example the former Formula One and NASCAR drivers Scott Speed and Nelson Piquet Jr.[9]

A minority of former World Rally champions also occasionally race in the series, for example Sébastien Loeb and Marcus Grönholm. In 2013, Global Rallycross also featured the Star Car, in which guest drivers would compete. A different driver was chosen to run each of the series’ nine races based on a number of factors including resume and home nation. Speed debuted the car at the Global X Games in Foz do Iguaçu.[13]

Competing teams have experience competing in the World Rally Championship, Rally America, and European rallycross. A team is typically led by an engineer, who makes decisions on how to set up the car and race strategy, and is composed of a handful of mechanics who perform maintenance work on the vehicle. An engine technician is also employed to tune the engines. Competing teams include Hoonigan Racing Division, Pastrana Racing, Rhys Millen Racing, Bryan Herta, Andretti Autosport, SRTUSA and Olsberg MSE.

Coverage

The series had a multi-year programming relationship with ESPN from 2011 to 2013. Global Rallycross broadcasts would be slated to follow NASCAR Nationwide Series and NHRA shows on ESPN and ESPN2, and live event streaming took place on ESPN3.com.

In 2014, the series signed a multi-year deal with NBC that included all but one of the races being shown on NBC either live or tape-delayed as well as re-airs taking place on NBC Sports Network. The one race not shown on NBC would be run in conjunction with the X Games in Austin, Texas, thus being the lone event televised by ESPN.

Champions

Season Championship for Drivers Championship for Manufacturers
Driver Team Car Manufacturer Car
2011 United States Tanner Foust Sweden Olsbergs MSE Ford Racing Ford Fiesta not held
2012 United States Tanner Foust Sweden Olsbergs MSE Ford Racing Ford Fiesta
2013 Finland Toomas Heikkinen Sweden Olsbergs MSE Ford Racing Ford Fiesta ST United States Ford Ford Fiesta ST
2014 Finland Joni Wiman Sweden Olsbergs MSE Ford Racing Ford Fiesta ST United States Ford Ford Fiesta ST
2015 United States Scott Speed United States Volkswagen Andretti Rallycross Volkswagen Beetle United States Ford Ford Fiesta ST
2016 United States Scott Speed United States Volkswagen Andretti Rallycross Volkswagen Beetle Germany Volkswagen Volkswagen Beetle
2017 United States Scott Speed United States Volkswagen Andretti Rallycross Volkswagen Beetle Germany Volkswagen Volkswagen Beetle

References

  1. ↑ https://www.autosport.com/wrx/news/134567/global-rallycross-drops-supercar-class
  2. ↑ https://www.autosport.com/wrx/news/134352/lydden-hill-added-to-2018-grc-calendar
  3. ↑ Leone, Chris (July 11, 2015). "TODAY IN GRC HISTORY: JULY 11". Global Rallycross. Retrieved July 11, 2016.
  4. ↑ "Red Bull Global Rallycross Adding Electric Racing for 2018". Yahoo! Sports. October 28, 2016. Retrieved October 31, 2016.
  5. ↑ Weaver, Matt (March 2, 2017). "Short tracks find new life with Red Bull Global Rallycross". Autoweek. Retrieved March 2, 2017.
  6. ↑ "GRC race preview: MCAS New River". Motorsport.com. July 1, 2016. Retrieved December 8, 2016.
  7. ↑ "Global Rallycross makes debut at Canada Aviation and Space Museum in partnership with Ottawa 2017". Motorsport.com. March 23, 2017. Retrieved March 30, 2017.
  8. ↑ Sorokanich, Bob (October 12, 2016). "How Global Rallycross Cars Can Accelerate Faster Than Gravity". Road & Track. Retrieved October 30, 2016.
  9. 1 2 3 Wagner, Jan (January 28, 2015). "AutoMatters+: Red Bull Global Rallycross 2015". Del Mar Times. Retrieved July 11, 2016.
  10. ↑ Moe, Christian (November 22, 2013). "Dodge and Pastrana part ways, leave Global RallyCross". Road & Track. Retrieved March 22, 2017.
  11. ↑ https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/red-bull-global-rallycross-launches-gold-class-to-debut-in-2018-300604556.html
  12. ↑ DeGroot, Nick (February 5, 2016). "24-time X Games medalist Dave Mirra dies in apparent suicide". Motorsport.com. Retrieved July 11, 2016.
  13. ↑ Leone, Chris (April 12, 2013). "PATH TO BRAZIL: MEET SCOTT SPEED, DRIVER, STAR CAR". Global Rallycross. Retrieved July 11, 2016.
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