2016 FIA World Rallycross Championship explained

The 2016 FIA World Rallycross Championship presented by Monster Energy was the third season of the FIA World Rallycross Championship. The season consists of twelve rounds and started on 16 April with the Portuguese round at Montalegre. The season ended on 27 November, at Rosario, Santa Fe in Argentina.

Petter Solberg was the defending drivers' champion. Team Hansen-Peugeot were the defending teams' champions. After 11 rounds, Mattias Ekström clinched the Drivers Championship. His team EKS secured the teams championship at the final round in Argentina.

Calendar

On 30 October 2015 the 2016 calendar was announced, removing the rounds in Italy and Turkey and adding an event in Latvia.^[1] On 2 December 2015 the FIA World Motor Sport Council approved in Paris the 2016 FIA World Rallycross Championship calendar and confirmed the separation of European and World Rallycross heats during events.^[2] The RX Lites category was held in support of the World Championship, which consisted of seven events and a non-championship round in Canada.

	Event	Dates	Venue	Class	Winner	Team	Report
1	World RX of Portugal	16–17 April	Pista Automóvel de Montalegre	Supercar			Report
2		7–8 May	Hockenheimring	Supercar	Mattias Ekström	EKS RX	Report
	RX Lites			Thomas Bryntesson	JC Raceteknik
3	World RX of Belgium	14–15 May	Circuit Jules Tacheny Mettet	Supercar	Mattias Ekström	EKS RX	Report
				RX Lites	Thomas Bryntesson	JC Raceteknik
4		28–29 May	Lydden Hill Race Circuit	Supercar	Mattias Ekström	EKS RX	Report
				RX Lites	Cyril Raymond	Olsbergs MSE
5	World RX of Norway	11–12 June	Lånkebanen	Supercar		Hoonigan Racing Division	Report
				RX Lites	Thomas Bryntesson	JC Raceteknik
6	World RX of Sweden	2–3 July	Höljesbanan	Supercar		Hoonigan Racing Division	Report
				RX Lites	Simon Olofsson	Simon Olofsson
7	World RX of Canada	6–7 August	Circuit Trois-Rivières	Supercar	Timmy Hansen	Team Peugeot-Hansen	Report
				RX Lites²	Mitchell DeJong	Olsbergs MSE
8	World RX of France	3–4 September	Circuit de Lohéac	Supercar	Johan Kristoffersson	Volkswagen RX Sweden	Report
9	World RX of Barcelona		Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya	Supercar	Mattias Ekström	EKS RX	Report
				RX Lites	Cyril Raymond	Olsbergs MSE
10	World RX of Latvia	1–2 October		Supercar	Sébastien Loeb	Team Peugeot-Hansen	Report
				RX Lites	Sondre Evjen	JC Raceteknik
11	World RX of Germany	15–16 October	Estering	Supercar	Kevin Eriksson	Olsbergs MSE	Report
12	World RX of Argentina		Autódromo Rosario	Supercar		Hoonigan Racing Division	Report

¹ = A one-car team is ineligible to score teams' championship points.

² = Non-championship round.

Teams and drivers

Supercar

Permanent entries
Constructor	Entrant	Car		Driver	Rounds
Audi	EKS RX^[3]	Audi S1	5	Mattias Ekström	All
			57	Toomas Heikkinen	All
	Larsson Jernberg Motorsport^[4]	Audi A1	4	Robin Larsson	All
Citroën	Petter Solberg World RX Team^[5]	Citroën DS3	1	Petter Solberg	All
Ford	Hoonigan Racing Division^[6]		13	Andreas Bakkerud^[7]	All
			43	Ken Block	All
	Olsbergs MSE^[8]		68	Niclas Grönholm	1–11
			96	Kevin Eriksson	1–7, 9-12
			29	Yann Le Jossec	8
			15	Reinis Nitišs	9-10, 12
	World RX Team Austria^[9]		6	Jānis Baumanis	All
			7	Timur Timerzyanov	All
Mini	JRM Racing^[10]	Mini Countryman	33	Liam Doran^1	1–6
	65		Guerlain Chicherit	8–11
	37		Guy Wilks	9-10
	94		Nick Jones	12
Peugeot	Team Peugeot-Hansen^[11]	Peugeot 208	9	Sébastien Loeb	All
			21	Timmy Hansen	All
	Peugeot-Hansen Academy		17	Davy Jeanney	1–6, 8-11
			71	Kevin Hansen	1–2, 4, 8, 11
SEAT			15	Reinis Nitišs^2	1–8
	55		René Münnich	1–11
	44		Timo Scheider	9-10, 12
	24		Tommy Rustad	11
	77		René Münnich	12
Volkswagen	Volkswagen RX Sweden^[12]		3		All
			92	Anton Marklund	All
Non-permanent entries ineligible to score team points Constructor Entrant Car Driver Rounds Audi Racing-Com KFT Audi A1 102 Tamás Kárai 8 Citroën DA Racing Citroën DS3 87 Jean-Baptiste Dubourg 2, 8 Hervé "Knapick" Lemonnier 84 "Knapick" 8 Ford Bompiso Racing Team Ford Focus 41 Joaquim Santos 1 World RX Team Austria Ford Fiesta 31 Max Pucher 2 Ecurie Bayard ASBL 67 François Duval 3 Guy Wilks 37 Guy Wilks 4 Julian Godfrey 51 Julian Godfrey 4 Olsbergs MSE 23 Richard Göransson 6 113 Cyril Raymond 11 Oliver O'Donovan 2 Oliver O'Donovan 8 "M.D.K" 49 "M.D.K" 8, 11 Pascal Le Nouvel 98 Pascal Le Nouvel 8 Reinsalu Sport 10 Janno Ligur 10 80 Andreas Steffen 11 Kia Gigi Galli Kia Rio 25 Gigi Galli 10-11 Mitsubishi Eklund Motorsport Mitsubishi Mirage 60 Joni-Pekka Rajala 11 Peugeot Fredrik Salsten Peugeot 208 11 Fredrik Salsten 8 Albatec Racing 24 Tommy Rustad 8 26 Andy Scott 8 121 Philippe Maloigne 8 Patrick Guillerme 83 Patrick Guillerme 8 Renault Fabien Chanoine Renault Clio 89 Fabien Chanoine 8 Škoda Motorsport LT^[13] Škoda Fabia 88 Nerijus Naujokaitis 10 Volkswagen Volkswagen RX Sweden Volkswagen Polo 34 Tanner Foust 4, 11^[14] Hedströms Motorsport 8 Peter Hedström 11 Per Eklund Motorsport Volkswagen Beetle 53 Alexander Hvaal 11

* Entries in grey denote one-car teams which are ineligible to score teams championship points.

¹ = JRM has announced the termination of Liam Doran's contract with the team following the sixth round (Sweden) of the championship.^[15]

² = Nitišs left the Münnich Motorsport team following event eight (France) and returned to Olsbergs MSE for event nine (Barcelona).^[16]

RX Lites

All teams used identical Olsbergs MSE-produced Ford Fiestas

Entries
Entrant		Driver	Rounds
Olsbergs MSE	13	Cyril Raymond	1-7
	33	Tejas Hirani	1-7
	64	Saeed Bintouq	3-4, NC, 6
	75	Patrick Simon	1
	40	Dan Rooke	3
	21	Marcus Hoglund	5
	24	Mitchell DeJong	NC
	45	Miki Weckström	NC
	27	Andrew Ranger	NC
	51	Sandra Hultgren	NC
	53	Cole Keatts	NC
JC Raceteknik	99	Joachim Hvaal	1-7
	16	Thomas Bryntesson	1-7
	69	Sondre Evjen	1-7
	96	Henrik Krogstad	4
	6	William Nilsson	5
	46	Martin Lapins	7
	3	Per Björnson	5
	14	Magnus Hansen	5
	98	Oliver Eriksson	NC
Santosh Motorsport	86	Santosh Berggren	5
Set Promotion	8	Simon Wago Syversen	1-7
Toksport	18	Ali Turkkan	3
Helmia Motorsport	91	Jonathan Walfridsson	4-5
Sport Racing Technologies	55	Vasily Gryazin	7
Lotto Team	66	Albert Llovera	4-6
Dirtfish Motorsports	121	Conner Martell	NC, 7
ICEPOL Racing Team	26	Regis Gosselin	2
Westlund Entreprenad	47	Alexander Westlund	1-2, 5
Simon Olofsson	52	Simon Olofsson	1-7
Thomas Holmen	56	Thomas Holmen	4-7
Johan Larsson	2	Johan Larsson	5

NC represents participation in the non-championship round in Canada.

Championship Standings

FIA World Rallycross Championship for Drivers

	Driver	POR	HOC	BEL	GBR	NOR	SWE	CAN	FRA	BAR	LAT	GER	ARG	Points
1	Mattias Ekström	10	1	1	1	3	6	8	8	1	2	5	5	272
2	align=left style="padding-right:24px"		6	7	6	12	7	5	3	1	6	5	6	2	240
3	Andreas Bakkerud	4	12	14	6	1	1	2	2	7	4	3	1	239
4	Petter Solberg	1	4	3	2	4	7	5	4	10	19	2	7	239
5	Sébastien Loeb	5	10	2	10	5	2	9	3	8	1	9	8	209
6	Timmy Hansen	12	18	7	3	2	3	1	11	2	3	8	13	178
7	Toomas Heikkinen	3	2	16	11	9	9	4	15	9	9	10	3	150
8	align=left style="padding-right:24px"		16	17	8	5	6	14	7	30	3	6	14	9	117
9	Robin Larsson	2	6	13	15	10	8	16	12	5	12	13	6	109
10	Jānis Baumanis	14	8	9	7	8	10	15	26	4	8	7	12	109
11	Kevin Eriksson	7	11	10	8	13	15	11		11	13	1	16	92
12	Davy Jeanney	8	9	11	13	11	12		7	12	10	11		86
13	Anton Marklund	9	15	4	9	15	4	6	18	14	15	15	11	76
14	Ken Block	18	3	19	14	14	13	10	6	16	16	12	15	63
15	Kevin Hansen	13	19		4				9			4		52
16	Reinis Nitišs	15	13	12	21	12	18	13	5	13	11		10	44
17	Niclas Grönholm	17	14	15	16	16	11	12	14	15	18	19		28
18	Timo Scheider									17	7		4	25
19	François Duval			5										18
20	Liam Doran	10	5	17	19	17	16							9
21	Andy Scott								10					6
22	Tommy Rustad								13			25		4
23	Guy Wilks				17					19	14			3
24	Jean-Baptiste Dubourg		16						17					1
25	Peter Hedström											16		1
26	René Münnich	19	20	18	18	18	19	14	16	18	22	24	14	-3
	Driver	POR	HOC	BEL	GBR	NOR	SWE	CAN	FRA	BAR	LAT	GER	ARG	Points

FIA World Rallycross Championship for Teams

	Team		Drivers	Points
1	EKS RX	5	Mattias Ekström	422
		57	Toomas Heikkinen
2	Team Peugeot-Hansen	9	Sébastien Loeb	387
		21	Timmy Hansen
3	Volkswagen RX Sweden	3		316
		92	Anton Marklund
4	Hoonigan Racing Division	13	Andreas Bakkerud	302
		43	Ken Block
5	World RX Team Austria	6	Jānis Baumanis	226
		7	Timur Timerzyanov
6	Olsbergs MSE	68	Niclas Grönholm	132
		96	Kevin Eriksson
7		15	Reinis Nitišs	67
	55	René Münnich

RX Lites Cup

	Driver	HOC	BEL	GBR	NOR	SWE	CAN	BAR	LAT	Points
1	Cyril Raymond	2	6	1	2	2		1	8	175
2	Thomas Bryntesson	1	1	2	1	4		2	7	167
3	Simon Olofsson	7	2	3	3	1		4	4	151
4	Joachim Hvaal	3	3	4	6	7		7	5	136
5	Simon Wago Syversen	6	5	5	8	11		3	10	115
6	Sondre Evjen	9	4	6	10	13		8	1	98
7	Tejas Hirani	8	7	7	5	16		6	3	96
8	Thomas Holmen				9	9		5	6	55
9	Alexander Westlund	4	9		5					38
10	Saeed Bintouq			10	7		2	10		23 (30*)
11	Patrick Simon	5								21
12	Marcus Hoglund					6				19
13	Albert Llovera				11	17		9		17
14	Johan Larsson					3				17
15	Conner Martell						4		2	16 (21*)
16	Henrik Krogstad				4					15
17	Vasily Gryazin								9	14
18	Dan Rooke			8						13
19	William Nilsson					8				13
20	Regis Gosselin		8							12
21	Martin Lapins								11	11
22	Ali Turkkan			9						11
23	Per Björnson					10				10
24	Jonathan Walfridsson				12	15				8
25	Magnus Hansen					12				6
26	Santosh Berggren					14				3
27	Mitchell DeJong						1			0 (27*)
28	Miki Weckström						5			0 (25*)
29	Oliver Eriksson						3			0 (22*)
30	Andrew Ranger						6			0 (17*)
31	Sandra Hultgren						7			0 (15*)
32	Cole Keatts						8			0 (12*)
	Driver	HOC	BEL	GBR	NOR	SWE	CAN	BAR	LAT	Points

Notes and References

1. Web site: WORLD RX REVEALS ITS 2016 CALENDAR. fiaworldrallycross.com. 30 October 2015. 3 November 2015. https://web.archive.org/web/20151103051257/http://www.fiaworldrallycross.com/article/9015/world-rx-reveals-its-2016. dead.
2. News: FIA ANNOUNCES WORLD MOTOR SPORT COUNCIL DECISIONS. FIA. 2 December 2015. 12 December 2015.
3. News: EKS becomes a bit Finnish. EKSRX.com. 21 March 2016. 2016-03-21. https://web.archive.org/web/20160422232444/http://www.eksrx.com/eksrx_includes/news/index.php?news=65. 2016-04-22. dead.
4. News: LARSSON SIGNS UP FOR FULL WORLD RX CAMPAIGN. fiaworldrallycross.com. 18 March 2016. 18 March 2016. 18 June 2016. https://web.archive.org/web/20160618114104/http://www.fiaworldrallycross.com/article/9115/larsson-signs-up-for-full. dead.
5. News: BUMPER ENTRY FOR 2016 WORLD AND EURO RX CHAMPIONSHIPS. fiaworldrallycross.com. 25 March 2016. 24 March 2016. 1 May 2016. https://web.archive.org/web/20160501141606/http://www.fiaworldrallycross.com/article/9119/bumper-entry-for-2016-world. dead.
6. News: BLOCK CONFIRMS FULL WORLD RX CAMPAIGN. www.fiaworldrallycross.com. 13 January 2016. 13 January 2016. 10 May 2016. https://web.archive.org/web/20160510185624/http://www.fiaworldrallycross.com/article/9071/block-confirms-full-world-rx. dead.
7. News: Bakkerud joins Ken Block's squad. crash.net. 20 January 2016. 21 January 2016.
8. News: Eriksson and Grönholm in new cooperation for future champions. OlsbergsMSE. 17 March 2016. 17 March 2016. https://web.archive.org/web/20160617101139/http://www.omse.se/?p=1066. 17 June 2016. dead.
9. News: WORLD RX TEAM AUSTRIA SIGNS TIMERZYANOV AND BAUMANIS. www.fiaworldrallycross.com. 17 February 2016. 12 June 2016. https://web.archive.org/web/20160612122825/http://www.fiaworldrallycross.com/article/9093/world-rx-team-austria-signs. dead.
10. News: DORAN JOINS JRM RACING FOR 2016. fiaworldrallycross.com. 22 March 2016. 22 March 2016. 26 April 2016. https://web.archive.org/web/20160426182104/http://www.fiaworldrallycross.com/article/9117/doran-joins-jrm-racing-for. dead.
11. News: Sébastien Loeb joins Rallycross World Champions Team Peugeot-Hansen. Peugeot Sport. 29 February 2016. 29 February 2016. https://web.archive.org/web/20160416114446/http://www.peugeot-sport.com/en/sebastien-loeb-joins-rallycross-world-champion-team-peugeot-hansen/. 2016-04-16. dead.
12. News: Volkswagen's top World Rallycross Championship teams merge for 2016. Autosport. 11 December 2015. 14 December 2015.
13. News: LITHUANIA'S NAUJOKAITIS JOINS WORLD RX IN SKODA FABIA. FIA World Rallycross Championship. 18 August 2016. 23 September 2016. https://web.archive.org/web/20160923134546/http://www.fiaworldrallycross.com/article/9302/lithuanias-naujokaitis-joins-world-rx. dead.
14. News: FOUST TO COMPETE AT LYDDEN HILL RX . FIA World Rallycross Championship . 10 May 2016 . 10 May 2016 . 28 May 2016 . https://web.archive.org/web/20160528161209/http://www.fiaworldrallycross.com/article/9167/foust-to-compete-at-lydden . dead .
15. News: JRM RACING TEAM STATEMENT ABOUT LIAM DORAN. FIA World Rallycross Championship. 21 July 2016. 21 July 2016. https://web.archive.org/web/20160721074154/http://www.fiaworldrallycross.com/article/9268/jrm-racing-team-statement-about. dead.
16. News: Nitiss to race for OlsbergsMSE in Barcelona. Motorsport.com. 31 August 2016.