Tuesday 22nd April 2014

PH takes a Rallycross ride

Rallycross is an official FIA World series for 2014. Best discover what it's all about then!

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The FIA World Rallycross Championship is new for 2014. One of only a handful of official FIA 'World' series, it's for appropriately-named Rallycross Supercars: these are cars derived from regular road-going machines, but boast 2.0-litre turbo engines producing 600hp. With four-wheel drive, it means they can generally accelerate from 0-60mph in 1.9 seconds. On pretty much any surface. Up to 100mph, they're faster than an F1 car.

Just like the road car. With 560hp

And on a Sunny April day at Lydden Hill, I found myself stood next to one, about to be taken out by the man one Rallycross sage said reminded him of Gilles Villeneuve, Andreas Bakkerud. Ordinarily, I'd be nervous as hell, knowing what I was about to experience was a cliché-laden life-changing experience beyond any other. But this is Rallycross. They don't have any time for such fancy nonsense. Someone chucked me a helmet, belted me in, I fist-pumped Andreas and a PIN-like sequence of button-presses fired the thing into life.

A faster Fiesta
Once upon a time, this was a Fiesta ST, something Ford is keen to capitalise on with enhanced support for a sport it has backed since it first began here at Lydden back in 1967 (you know, Vic Elford, Porsche 911 driving through mud - that's the one). Built by Sweden's crack Olsbergs MSE team, it has a glorious spec sheet combination of normality and brutality. It uses a 2.0-litre turbo Ford Duratec, for example - only this one produces 560hp and 619lb ft of torque. It has four-wheel drive and no less than three limited-slip differentials. Suspension that still has a bit of Fiesta blood in it but which now uses Ohlins TTX four-way adjustable dampers and Eibach custom springs.

This is Andreas. He drives very fast

It's the F1 car of Ford Fiestas, and a world away from a Demon Tweeks special.

When it comes from OMSE, it's beautifully engineered and detailed too. This gives me confidence. Andreas' confidence and command of his highly focused team adds to my confidence: this is a crack operation alright (BTCC champion Andrew Jordan cut his teeth in Rallycross and is back as a wild card entry in the Lydden round - who else to drive for but OMSE?). As I admired all this, we shot off, with the force you'd expect of something with this much power, making the loud, motorsport-tuned yet gruff noise you'd expect of a Ford-derived four-pot. Even the engine likes to keep it real.

'Did he really just do that?'
We were first onto tarmac, then onto the soft infield, then through a hugely aggressive chicane and back onto tarmac. All very cheery, I thought. Then, would you believe, Andreas actually did put his foot in: wham, holy lord. Not only that, he was pointed straight at the broken-up infield section, crater-like surface and all, rather than the track itself. The tarmac went left. We went straight on. Jesus. Genuinely frightened, how I braced myself for the impact and inevitable smash-crash. Every bone of my body said we should still be on the tarmac in a car this fast, exotic and focused: the next few seconds passed in the widescreen, ultra-vivid, pre-accident slow motion everyone who's been in a smash talks about.

"Three, two, one, go, right?"

So I can remember with complete clarity how the car didn't actually crash to earth but compressed into it with remarkable controlled compliance, how Andreas remained hard on the power, how we accelerated downhill to an impossibly tight hairpin with fine control - then braked with unbelievable force down to a slow enough speed to ballet-pitch it sideways before Senna-like stabs of the throttle to rotate us around the corner and then out of it with a stupendous blast thanks to traction even now I can't believe was generated. Squirming sideways with it... before we hit tarmac and everything straightened up again to focus this acceleration missile-like onto the apex of the corner now right upon us.

More braking, more sideways, more power-out, then a feeling of pure torque-laden drive up the steep Lydden Hill that was just glorious. Deep, monstrous and utterly commanding surge that made it seem as if the hill was simply not there. Or so I thought. Because going down it again was like jumping out an aircraft - THE most staggering feeling of free flight, as Andreas seemed to punch in two gears a second and, I was later told, we touched nearly 140mph.

Fiesta's speed astonishing on Tarmac...

In Rallycross, if you're doing nearly 140mph at the bottom of a hill with a choice of going straight ahead on tarmac or pitching it sideways onto chewed-up mud and gravel, it seems you take the option that involves a half-Scandinavian flick and again make your astounded passenger fully expect the car to simply explode with the forces instantly shot through it, then listen to them write an imaginary £300,000 cheque to buy one of these amazing cars that can do all this so repeatedly. Utterly, utterly incredible. And then, repeat: brilliant!

Follow the man
It will be to my eternal regret that we eventually had to stop but at least I had chance to shout a conversation with Andreas. Imagine a chatty Kimi mixed with wit, friendliness and cheeky charm, and you've got the Gilles Villeneuve of Rallycross. Everyone I spoke to couldn't speak highly enough of him: hopefully now it's on the world stage, Bakkerud will get the recognition he deserves. Seriously, a man this talented, with just 1,450 followers on Twitter? Let's put that right!

... even more so on gravel!

It surely won't be long. Already a sport massively popular with its fans, Rallycross this year aims to find many more. The made-for-TV sport is made-for-multimedia, and the guys-like-us star professionals it's got working in it are certain to put on short-sharp, quick-fire thrills throughout the year. Already heavily backed by Monster Energy, Andrew Jordan has brought with him Red Bull backing too - yes, he'll be driving the 'Red Bull of Rallycross' next month at Lydden.

The format is the same as it ever was: an event is made up of practice, four qualifying heats, two semi-finals and one final. A maximum of five cars start abreast in the heats, six starters begin two-by-two in the semis and six battle it out for the six-lap final. Points are vital but the winner of the final wins the event overall: it's eight points for a win and the maximum anyone can take from one of the 12 rounds is 30 points. Clear? If not, just watch a race. It soon will be.

Certainly it's got the names. Villeneuve junior, fittingly, is entering it, as is Petter Solberg, and Jordan, and local lad Liam Doran will likely show up a world champion or two with his understated brilliance. Then there's Bakkerud. Who made a near-600hp Ford Fiesta do beautiful, brilliant things.

It's motorsport, of course Red Bull is involved

Rallycross rules? It may soon...
To the outsider, WRC is imploding and we can barely watch it on TV anyway; its drivers are instructed not to talk to us and, utterly baffling as it is, the sport seems determined to throw away the gilt-edged opportunity of large manufacturer support plus big-name drivers like Kubica, Meeke and Ogier. Rallycross is the refreshing, professional, accessible, charming and cheeky alternative that's fixes WRC's promotional ills and, as I discovered, has cars that, to all intents, are 1980s Group B cars modernized and legalized. Rallycross embraces its fans and puts on a genuine show all day long. It's that sort of motorsport: for its fans.

It all starts in Portugal on May 3-4, before heading to Lydden Hill on May 24-25. Lydden is, right now, charging £40 for a full weekend ticket, or from £20 a day. Your new favourite FIA world championship to watch? We'd highly recommend going along to find out.

[Lowtimer]

I'd much rather watch Rallycross than WRC these days. Rallycross has always been a terrific spectator sport, the perfect thing to introduce a new TV-viewing generation to the joys of motorsport.