2023 FIA World Rallycross Championship explained

The 2023 FIA World Rallycross Championship was the tenth season of the FIA World Rallycross Championship, an auto racing championship recognized by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA) as the highest class of international rallycross.

Johan Kristoffersson won his fourth consecutive drivers championship and his sixth title overall at round 9 in Hong Kong.^[1] Kristoffersson Motorsport entered as the reigning teams champions.^[2]

Calendar

On 7 December 2022, the provisional 2023 calendar was announced during the FIA World Motorsport Council decisions.^[3] A calendar update was issued on 3 March 2023.^[4] On 21 March, the World RX of Hong Kong, China was announced as the season finale. The event hosted in Hong Kong will mark the first ever championship round in the Asia-Pacific region.^[5]

	Event	Date	Venue	Winning driver	Winning team	Report
1	World RX of Portugal	3–4 June	Pista Automóvel de Montalegre, Montalegre	Johan Kristoffersson	Volkswagen Dealerteam BAUHAUS		Report
2	World RX of Norway	17–18 June	Lånkebanen, Hell	Johan Kristoffersson	Volkswagen Dealerteam BAUHAUS	Report
3	World RX of Sweden	1–2 July	Höljesbanan, Höljes	Johan Kristoffersson	Volkswagen Dealerteam BAUHAUS	Report
4	World RX of the United Kingdom	22–23 July	Lydden Hill Race Circuit, Canterbury	Cancelled		Report
5	World RX of Benelux	5–6 August	Circuit Jules Tacheny Mettet, Mettet	Cancelled^[6]		Report
6	World RX of Germany	19–20 August	Estering, Buxtehude	Cancelled^[7]		Report
7	World RX of South Africa	7–8 October	Killarney Motor Racing Complex, Cape Town	Johan Kristoffersson	Volkswagen Dealerteam BAUHAUS	Report
8				Timo Scheider	ALL-INKL.COM Münnich Motorsport
9	World RX of Hong Kong, China	11–12 November	Central Harbourfront Circuit, Hong Kong	Kevin Hansen	Hansen World RX Team	Report
10				Johan Kristoffersson	Volkswagen Dealerteam BAUHAUS

Series News

• After having trialed a new weekend format in 2022, the format was adjusted again for the 2023 season. The weekend structure was reverted to a system of four heats of five cars (reduced to three heats at double-header events), with two semis and a final with six cars each using a staggered grid. Free practice replaced the shakedown as the first session of the weekend. SuperPole was retained from the 2022 season. Heat 2 will have the fastest drivers from heat 1 going first, whereas heat 3 and 4 will have the slowest drivers from the previous heat going first. At the end of the heats, the top 3 drivers in the heat ranking will be given championship points; 3 to the winner of the heat rankings, 2 to second, and 1 to third. After the final, championship points are awarded to the top 15 drivers across the whole weekend.^[8]

Incidents

• On 21 July 2023, at the Lydden Hill Race Circuit in Canterbury, Special ONE Racing's garage was completely destroyed in a fire.^[9] Both of the team's Lancia Delta Evo-e RX electric cars were completely destroyed. No one was injured in the fire. For this reason, the World RX of United Kingdom was subsequently cancelled for the RX1e class while a cause was being investigated.^[10] Special ONE Racing pulled out of the final six rounds of the season as a result of the incident.^[11]
• On 31 July 2023, the World RX of Benelux was also cancelled for the RX1e class since investigations were still ongoing as to what the cause of the Lydden Hill fire was. Subsequently, Johan Kristoffersson, Ole Christian Veiby, Timmy Hansen and Kevin Hansen were all confirmed to take part in the RX2e class at the event instead.^[12]
• On 1 September 2023, it was announced that the final four rounds of the season in Hong Kong and South Africa would go ahead with the RX1e class drivers competing in the ZEROID X1 car used in the RX2e class.^[13] The RX2e season finished at the event before in Germany.

Entries

RX1e

Constructor	Team	Model		Drivers	Rounds
GCK Performance	Special ONE Racing	Lancia Delta Evo-E RX	9	Sébastien Loeb	1–4	^[14]
			36	Guerlain Chicherit	1–4
Peugeot	Hansen World RX Team	Peugeot 208 RX1e	21	Timmy Hansen	1–4	^[15]
			71	Kevin Hansen	1–4
PWR Racing	Construction Equipment Dealer Team	PWR RX1e	12	Klara Andersson	1–4	^[16]
			68	Niclas Grönholm	1–4	^[17]
SEAT	ALL-INKL.COM Münnich Motorsport	SEAT Ibiza RX1e	44	Timo Scheider	1–4	^[18]
Volkswagen	Volkswagen Dealerteam BAUHAUS	Volkswagen Polo RX1e	1	Johan Kristoffersson	1–4	^[19]
			17	Gustav Bergström	1–3
			69	Sondre Evjen	4	^[20]
			96	Ole Christian Veiby	1–4

RX2e

Constructor	Team	Car		Drivers	Rounds
QEV Technologies	Volkswagen Dealerteam BAUHAUS	ZEROID X1	1	Johan Kristoffersson	7–10	^[21]
			19	Mikaela Åhlin-Kottulinsky	9–10	^[22]
			96	Ole Christian Veiby	7–10
	Hansen World RX Team		7	Patrick O'Donovan	9–10	^[23]
			21	Timmy Hansen	7–10
			71	Kevin Hansen	7–10
	Construction Equipment Dealer Team		12	Klara Andersson	7–10
			68	Niclas Grönholm	7–10
	ALL-INKL.COM Münnich Motorsport		44	Timo Scheider	7–10
			77	René Münnich	7–10	^[24]

Championship standings

Bonus points are awarded for finishing in the top 3 of the heat ranking. Points are scored as follows:

RX1e Driver's Championship

Driver POR NOR SWE GBR BLX GER ZAF HKG Points 1 Johan Kristoffersson 1^1 1^1 1^1 C C C 1^1 3^2 6^3 1^1 141 2 Kevin Hansen 2 9^3 4^2 C C C 2 2^3 1^1 7^3 104 3 Niclas Grönholm 3^2 2^2 7 C C C 5 6 2^2 5^2 94 4 Timo Scheider 9 3 5 C C C 3^3 1^1 3 8 89 5 Ole Christian Veiby 4 6 3 C C C 6 7 4 2 82 6 Timmy Hansen 7^3 10 2^3 C C C 4^2 4 9 4 78 7 Klara Andersson 5 4 9 C C C 7 5 5 6 71 8 René Münnich 8 8 8 10 30 9 Sébastien Loeb 6 5 8 C 29 10 Guerlain Chicherit 8 7 6 C 27 11 Patrick O'Donovan 7 3 22 12 Gustav Bergström 10 8 10 C C 20 13 Mikaela Åhlin-Kottulinsky 10 9 13 - Sondre Evjen C - Driver POR NOR SWE GBR BLX GER ZAF HKG Points

In-line notation ^1–3 Top 3 heat ranking

RX1e Team's Championship

	Driver	No.	POR	NOR	SWE	GBR	BLX	GER	Points
1	Volkswagen Dealerteam BAUHAUS	1	1^1	1^1	1^1	C	C	C	104
		96	4	6	3	C	C	C
2	Construction Equipment Dealer Team	12	5	4	9	C	C	C	72
		68	3^2	2^2	7	C	C	C
3	Hansen World RX Team	21	7^3	10	2^3	C	C	C	71
		71	2	9^3	4^2	C	C	C
4	Special ONE Racing	9	6	5	8	C			46
		36	8	7	6	C
	Driver		POR	NOR	SWE	GBR	BLX	GER	Points

Notes and References

1. Web site: 2023-11-11 . World RX thrills as Kristoffersson is crowned on Hansen’s day in Hong Kong . 2023-11-12 . FIA World Rallycross Championship.
2. Web site: King Kristoffersson: Super Swede is crowned in Catalunya . 2022-11-01 . FIA World Rallycross Championship . en.
3. Web site: World RX unveils global calendar for 2023 . 2022-12-18 . FIA World Rallycross Championship . en.
4. Web site: Fans to get first taste of 2023 action next month . 2023-03-08 . FIA World Rallycross Championship . en.
5. Web site: Asia-Pacific debut for World RX with Hong Kong season finale . 2023-03-22 . FIA World Rallycross Championship . en.
6. Web site: Boosted RX2e field headlines World RX of Benelux . 2023-07-31 . FIA World Rallycross Championship . en.
7. Web site: Statement regarding World RX at Estering . 2023-08-12 . FIA World Rallycross Championship . en.
8. Web site: Race format changes confirmed for 2023 . 2022-12-18 . FIA World Rallycross Championship . en.
9. Web site: Lancia Delta Evo eRX Rally Cars From Special One Racing Destroyed In Fire . motor1.com . motor1.com . 21 July 2023.
10. Web site: Updated statement regarding Lydden Hill incident . fiaworldrallycross.com . fiaworldrallycross.com . 22 July 2023.
11. Web site: 2023-07-22 . Both Delta cars destroyed by fire . 2023-07-23 . Special ONE Racing . en-GB.
12. Web site: Boosted RX2e field headlines World RX of Benelux . 2023-07-31 . FIA World Rallycross Championship . en.
13. Web site: 1 September 2023 . Season-ending events in Cape Town and Hong Kong confirmed . 2 September 2023 . FIA World Rallycross Championship.
14. Web site: Loeb is back – in a Lancia: A legend returns . 2023-04-17 . FIA World Rallycross Championship . en.
15. Web site: Hansens ready to 'put everything on the table' for 2023 title challenge . 2023-03-29 . FIA World Rallycross Championship . en.
16. Web site: Klara Andersson secures long-term World RX future . 2023-04-20 . FIA World Rallycross Championship . en.
17. Web site: Grönholm targeting ‘the very top’ after extending relationship with CE Dealer Team . 2023-04-12 . FIA World Rallycross Championship . en.
18. Web site: Scheider completes World RX grid with ALL-INKL.COM Münnich Motorsport . 2023-05-30 . FIA World Rallycross Championship . en.
19. Web site: Volkswagen Dealerteam BAUHAUS commits to renewed three-car assault . 2023-05-04 . FIA World Rallycross Championship . en.
20. Web site: New name at Volkswagen Dealerteam BAUHAUS for Lydden Hill . 2023-07-13 . FIA World Rallycross Championship . en.
21. Web site: 1 September 2023 . Season-ending events in Cape Town and Hong Kong confirmed . 2 September 2023 . FIA World Rallycross Championship.
22. Web site: 1 November 2023 . Åhlin-Kottulinsky completes World RX grid for Hong Kong season finale . 2 November 2023 . FIA World Rallycross Championship.
23. Web site: 19 October 2023 . Rising star O’Donovan to step up to World RX with Hansens in Hong Kong . 19 October 2023 . FIA World Rallycross Championship.
24. Web site: 20 September 2023 . Cape Town entry list confirmed . 22 September 2023 . FIA World Rallycross Championship.