The World Rallycross Championship support category, RX2 International Series, will run just one round this season, joining the RallyX Nordic bill at Nysum in Denmark.
Series promoters RX Promotion announced that, due to the outbreak of COVID-19 and the subsequent impact has had on motorsport, a ‘winner-takes-all’ event will be held in what is RX2’s final season in its current guise before it is replaced by the new all-electric Junior eRX series next year.
The announcement emphasized that travel and border restrictions in Scandinavia – where the majority of RX2 competitors are from – as well as limited space on the World RX bill also played a part in the double-header finale on the weekend of September 4-6.
RX Promotion CEO Jan-Erik Steen said: “Clearly we are disappointed that RX2 could not continue to support the World Championship for its final season, but our first loyalty has to be to our competitors, and the calendar complications caused by COVID-19 meant it would no longer have been financially viable for them or their sponsors – particularly in the current economic climate.
“Once that became clear, we immediately set to work to find an alternative solution, because we certainly didn’t want to have to abandon the season altogether – there is a lot of prestige in being crowned the last RX2 champion before the series’ exciting electric transition in 2021, and we want to give competitors a chance to fight for that title and the incredible prize drive that accompanies it.”
“With that in mind, we have taken the proactive decision to stage a single-weekend RX2 shoot-out at Nysum, where we know the series’ drivers, teams and partners will derive considerable value from the first-class global livestream and will add an intriguing new element to the racing program.”
RX2 first arrived on the World RX support bill in 2017, having spawned out of RX Lites, with Frenchman Cyril Raymond winning the inaugural title in the same year he won the GRC Lites title in the same machinery in the US. Oliver Eriksson then won back-to-back titles in 2018 and 2019.
Steen added: “Since its inception, RX2 – maintaining the momentum of its predecessor RX Lites – has proved to be a tremendous success story in helping to hone and develop countless promising rallycross drivers for future stardom, with many now to be found running regularly at the front at Supercar level.
“Although the series is entering its final straight, the story is not quite over yet, and we are all extremely excited to see how the final chapter plays out.”
In joining the RallyX Nordic bill at Nysum, RX2 will is expected to receive a send-off in front of a large TV audience following the confirmation earlier this week that the regional RX championship has extended its media coverage until the end of the season.
This month’s ‘All-Star’ Magic Weekend at Höljes hosted a number of RX2 drivers in similar Supercar Lites cars in what was the biggest TV production for rallycross.
The winner of the RX2 meeting will also receive a fully funded, single-round drive in the new-for-2021 electric RX2 season.
