Rallycross
Encyclopedia
- For the PlayStationPlayStationThe is a 32-bit fifth-generation video game console first released by Sony Computer Entertainment in Japan on December 3, .The PlayStation was the first of the PlayStation series of consoles and handheld game devices. The PlayStation 2 was the console's successor in 2000...
videogame based on this autosport, see Rally CrossRally CrossRally Cross is a 1997 racing game for the Sony PlayStation. A sequel was released in 1998. The cover picture does not accurately portray the vehicles featured in the game as it does not show a rallycross car, but rather a rally raid racer in action....
.
Rallycross is a form of sprint
Sprint (race)
Sprints are short running events in athletics and track and field. Races over short distances are among the oldest running competitions. The first 13 editions of the Ancient Olympic Games featured only one event—the stadion race, which was a race from one end of the stadium to the other...
style automobile racing
Auto racing
Auto racing is a motorsport involving the racing of cars for competition. It is one of the world's most watched televised sports.-The beginning of racing:...
, held on a closed mixed-surface racing circuit, with modified production or specially built road car
Automobile
An automobile, autocar, motor car or car is a wheeled motor vehicle used for transporting passengers, which also carries its own engine or motor...
s, similar to the World Rally Car
World Rally Car
World Rally Car is a term used to describe racing automobiles built to the specification set by the FIA, the international motorsports governing body, and used to compete in the outright class of the World Rally Championship...
s, although usually with about 200 bhp stronger engines, due to e.g. their 45 mm turbo restrictor plate
Restrictor plate
A restrictor plate or air restrictor is a device installed at the intake of an engine to limit its power. This kind of system is occasionally used in road vehicles for insurance purposes, but mainly in automobile racing, to limit top speed and thus increase safety, to provide equal level of...
s. It is mainly popular in the Nordic countries
Nordic countries
The Nordic countries make up a region in Northern Europe and the North Atlantic which consists of Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway and Sweden and their associated territories, the Faroe Islands, Greenland and Åland...
, the Netherlands
Netherlands
The Netherlands is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, located mainly in North-West Europe and with several islands in the Caribbean. Mainland Netherlands borders the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east, and shares maritime borders...
, Belgium
Belgium
Belgium , officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a federal state in Western Europe. It is a founding member of the European Union and hosts the EU's headquarters, and those of several other major international organisations such as NATO.Belgium is also a member of, or affiliated to, many...
, France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
and Great Britain
Great Britain
Great Britain or Britain is an island situated to the northwest of Continental Europe. It is the ninth largest island in the world, and the largest European island, as well as the largest of the British Isles...
. An inexpensive, entry level type of rallycross is the Swedish folkrace
Folkrace
Folkrace is a popular, inexpensive, and entry-level form of Swedish rallycross that originally came from Finland, where it was called Jokamiesluokka . The sport also exists in Norway and Denmark, where it is known as Bilcross and Folkerace respectively.The races are run on special gravel or tarmac...
or its Norwegian counterpart, the so-called bilcross. In Europe rallycross can also refer to racing 1:8 scale off-road radio-controlled buggies
Radio-controlled car
Radio-controlled cars are self-powered model cars or trucks that can be controlled from a distance using a specialized transmitter...
.
Rallycross history
The sport started as a TV show (with especially invited rallyRallying
Rallying, also known as rally racing, is a form of auto racing that takes place on public or private roads with modified production or specially built road-legal cars...
drivers), produced by Robert Reed of ABC television
Associated British Corporation
Associated British Corporation was one of a number of commercial television companies established in the United Kingdom during the 1950s by cinema chain companies in an attempt to safeguard their business by becoming involved with television which was taking away their cinema audiences.In this...
for ITV
ITV
ITV is the major commercial public service TV network in the United Kingdom. Launched in 1955 under the auspices of the Independent Television Authority to provide competition to the BBC, it is also the oldest commercial network in the UK...
s World of Sport
World of Sport (UK TV series)
World of Sport was a British television sport anthology programme which ran on ITV between 2 January 1965 to 28 September 1985 in response to competition from BBC's Grandstand...
programme, at Lydden Circuit
Lydden Race Circuit
Lydden Hill Race Circuit is the UK's shortest road racing circuit at exactly one mile , based at Wootton about half-way between Canterbury and Dover in Kent. The track is mainly used for rallycross, drift, saloon and sports car racing as well as motorcycle racing...
(between Dover
Dover
Dover is a town and major ferry port in the home county of Kent, in South East England. It faces France across the narrowest part of the English Channel, and lies south-east of Canterbury; east of Kent's administrative capital Maidstone; and north-east along the coastline from Dungeness and Hastings...
and Canterbury
Canterbury
Canterbury is a historic English cathedral city, which lies at the heart of the City of Canterbury, a district of Kent in South East England. It lies on the River Stour....
) in Great Britain on Saturday, 4 February 1967. The first ever true rallycross was organised by Bud Smith († 1994) and the Tunbridge Wells Centre of the 750 MC, with the aid of Lydden Circuit owner Bill Chesson († 1999), and was won by later Formula One
Formula One
Formula One, also known as Formula 1 or F1 and referred to officially as the FIA Formula One World Championship, is the highest class of single seater auto racing sanctioned by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile . The "formula" designation in the name refers to a set of rules with which...
driver as well as 1968 Rally Monte Carlo winner Vic Elford
Vic Elford
Victor Henry Elford is a former sportscar racing, rallying and Formula One driver from England. He participated in 13 World Championship F1 Grands Prix, debuting on 7 July 1968...
in a showroom Porsche 911
Porsche 911
The Porsche 911 is a luxury 2-door sports coupe made by Porsche AG of Stuttgart, Germany. It has a distinctive design, rear-engined and with independent rear suspension, an evolution of the swing axle on the Porsche 356. The engine was also air-cooled until the introduction of the Type 996 in 1998...
of the British importer AFN, ahead of Brian Melia in his Ford Lotus Cortina and Tony Fall
Tony Fall
Richard Anthony Fall was a British rally driver. He was born in Bradford. He began his rallying career as a club rally driver in a Mini. He was considerably better than his peers, however, and was soon spotted by the BMC team; this led to a drive in their works team alongside Paddy Hopkirk, Timo...
in a BMC Mini Cooper S.
After that inaugural event there were another two test rallycrosses at Lydden, on 11 March and 29 July, before the new World of Sport Rallycross Championship for the ABC TV viewers started with round one on 23 September, to be followed by round two on 7 October. The series was run over a total of six rounds (three at Lydden and three at Croft) and was eventually won by Englishman Tony Chappell (Ford Escort TwinCam), who became the first ever British Rallycross champion after winning the final round of the new series on 6 April 1968 at Lydden.
However, the true birth of rallycross is often wrongly connected with the cancellation of the 1967 RAC Rally, due to Foot and Mouth disease, in November 1967, about ten months after the maiden event. Some foreign entrants for the RAC had also planned to take part in the 1st international rallycross at Lydden Circuit, on Saturday, 25 November 1967, but went home immediately after the rally had been cancelled at the eleventh hour on the evening of 17 November, and was replaced by a single special stage
Special stage (rallying)
Special stages are the competitive sections of a stage rally event where the goal is to cover a stretch of closed road in the shortest time. On a special stage cars are set off individually at set intervals to reduce the chances of being impeded by other competitors. Each special stage is a...
(won by Swede Erik Carlsson
Erik Carlsson
Erik Carlsson, aka "Carlsson på taket" , was born March 5, 1929 in Trollhättan, Sweden and was a rally driver for Saab. Because of his public relations work for Saab, he is also known as Mr. Saab....
in a Saab 96 V4
Saab 96
For the modern car, see Saab 9-6The Saab 96 is an automobile made by Saab. It was introduced in 1960 and was produced until January 1980, a run of 20 years. Like the 93 it replaced, the 96 was a development from the old Saab 92 chassis and, on account of its improvements and modernisation, it...
) for the sake of the disappointed television companies. RAC rally stage number one by then, Camberley, was on Ministry of Defence land and not affected by movement restrictions caused by the disease in rural areas. Subsequently only British drivers competed in the maiden international rallycross event one week later, which was eventually won by Andrew Cowan
Andrew Cowan
Andrew Cowan is a Scottish former rally driver, and the founder and senior director of Mitsubishi Ralliart until his retirement on 30 November 2005.-Early years:...
and his Hillman Imp
Hillman Imp
The Hillman Imp is a compact, rear-engined saloon car that was manufactured under the Hillman marque by the Rootes Group from 1963 to 1976...
. Thames Estuary Automobile Club's (TEAC) premier event, the original Clubman's rallycross, was held the day after. It opened up the new rally drivers' fun-sport to many amateur competitors, proved very successful and thereby paved the way for the first generation of real rallycross specialists, a lot of them coming from the ranges of autocross
British autocross
In the United Kingdom, autocrosses are typically held on a grass or stubble surface. In fact the attraction is the challenge of driving quickly on challenging and difficult surfaces. Cars compete individually against the clock, although more than one car may start at the same time if the circuit is...
and autograss
Autograss
Autograss racing is Britain’s most popular form of amateur motor racing. It takes place at venues throughout England, Wales, Scotland, Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland....
racing.
After one and a half years and several rallycross events at Lydden as well as Croft Circuit
Croft Circuit
Croft Circuit is a motor racing circuit located near Dalton-on-Tees in North Yorkshire, England. The tarmac circuit is just over long and is based on the lands of an airfield, but has long since moved on from being a basic airfield circuit...
(near Darlington
Darlington
Darlington is a market town in the Borough of Darlington, part of the ceremonial county of County Durham, England. It lies on the small River Skerne, a tributary of the River Tees, not far from the main river. It is the main population centre in the borough, with a population of 97,838 as of 2001...
) the BBC
BBC
The British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...
adopted the young sport for its Grandstand
Grandstand (BBC)
Grandstand was a British television sport programme. Broadcast between 1958 and 2007, it was one of the BBC's longest running sports shows, alongside BBC Sports Personality of the Year.Its first presenter was Peter Dimmock...
programme while ITV dropped it after the British Rallycross Winter Series 1968/69. In 1969 Lydden Circuit and Croft Circuit were joined by another RX venue, Cadwell Park
Cadwell Park
Cadwell Park is a motor racing circuit in Lincolnshire, England, south of Louth. It is owned and operated by Jonathan Palmer's Motorsport Vision company....
in Lincolnshire
Lincolnshire
Lincolnshire is a county in the east of England. It borders Norfolk to the south east, Cambridgeshire to the south, Rutland to the south west, Leicestershire and Nottinghamshire to the west, South Yorkshire to the north west, and the East Riding of Yorkshire to the north. It also borders...
. However, while both Lydden and Croft nowadays are still in use for rallycross Cadwell Park later dropped this type of car racing from its schedule.
Rallycross crossed the Channel in 1969
Rob Herzet (AVROAVRO (broadcaster)
AVRO is a Dutch public broadcasting association operating within the framework of the Nederlandse Publieke Omroep system.-Television programmes:* Andermans veren...
), a Dutch counterpart to Robert Reed, discovered rallycross during a visit to Great Britain in 1968 and immediately understood its potential for the television viewers. By that time there were nearly 10 Million Britons watching some of the events on TV. Back home in the Netherlands Herzet contacted the race and rally driver as well as motoring journalist Gerard van Lennep (a cousin to Formula One driver Gijs van Lennep
Gijs van Lennep
Jonkheer Gijsbert van Lennep is a Dutch esquire and former racing driver who gave a good account for himself in his eight Formula One drives.- Career :...
) to discuss his find. Both agreed that this form of sprint racing could be also appropriate for Holland. Van Lennep soon started his investigations and found a military testing ground near the town of Venlo
Venlo
Venlo is a municipality and a city in the southeastern Netherlands, next to the German border. It is situated in the province of Limburg.In 2001, the municipalities of Belfeld and Tegelen were merged into the municipality of Venlo. Tegelen was originally part of the Duchy of Jülich centuries ago,...
, close to the Dutch-German border. Actually there had been two venues available, the one at Venlo in Limburg and one at Elst
Elst (Overbetuwe)
Elst is a town in the municipality of Overbetuwe in the Dutch province of Gelderland. Elst is situated in the Betuwe, between the cities of Nijmegen and Arnhem. Elst has 19,743 inhabitants....
in Gelderland, but the aid offered by the army turned the decision into the favour of Venlo.
On Saturday 17 May 1969 a group of invited rally and racing drivers went to the spot for a test day. Everybody was really satisfied and enthusiastic and only three weeks later, on Saturday 7 June the first ever rallycross event on the European continent was held. The track consisted of a section of concrete runway, loose sections through heathland and a hollow, about 40 metres long and 10 metres deep, usually used for tank testing. Although the soft heath soil and the muddy hollow hampered most of the two dozen or so competitors, or at least their mostly rather aged cars, the event produced a lot of fun for all concerned as well as the TV audience. Overall victory went eventually to Hans Kok and his valuable NSU 1200 TT.
The Dutch television company AVRO gave green light to Rob Herzet as well as another three rounds counting towards the so-called AVRO-Trophy and on 16 August of the same year NSU campaigner Hans Kok claimed the first national Dutch rallycross title. On 1 November the Dutch Rallycross Association was founded and, during 1970, organised another five events at Venlo. For 1971 the Nederlandse Rallycross Vereniging (NRV) moved the sport to its new continental home at Valkenswaard
Valkenswaard
Valkenswaard is a municipality and a town in the southern Netherlands, in the province of North Brabant. The municipality had 30,871 citizens and spans an area of 56,50 square kilometers ....
near Eindhoven. The Eurocircuit opened on Saturday 17 April with a race that was won by Jan de Rooy and his famous DAF 55
DAF 55
The DAF 55 is a small family car produced by the Dutch company DAF from December 1967 to September 1972. At that time it was replaced with the DAF 66....
5 Coupé 4WD and became the first ever track in the World that was especially designed and built purely for rallycross purposes.
Rallycross in Australia
Rallycross came to AustraliaAustralia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
in 1969 with a one off meeting at Leppington. Events were held at Calder Park Raceway
Calder Park Raceway
Calder Park Raceway is a motor racing circuit in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. The complex includes a drag strip, a road circuit with several possible configurations, and the "Thunderdome", a high-speed banked oval equipped to race either clockwise or counter-clockwise .-History:Calder Park...
in Melbourne
Melbourne
Melbourne is the capital and most populous city in the state of Victoria, and the second most populous city in Australia. The Melbourne City Centre is the hub of the greater metropolitan area and the Census statistical division—of which "Melbourne" is the common name. As of June 2009, the greater...
till the mid 1970s and at the Catalina Park
Catalina Park
Catalina Park is a disused motor racing venue, located at Katoomba,in the Blue Mountains, New South Wales, Australia. It was the official Dog Off Leash area for Katoomba and is recognised as an Aboriginal Place due to the long association of the local Gundungarra and Darug tribes to the...
circuit at Katoomba
Katoomba, New South Wales
Katoomba is the chief town of the City of Blue Mountains in New South Wales, Australia and the administrative headquarters of Blue Mountains City Council. It is on the Great Western Highway 110 kilometres west of Sydney and 39 kilometres south-east of Lithgow. Katoomba railway station is on the...
in New South Wales
New South Wales
New South Wales is a state of :Australia, located in the east of the country. It is bordered by Queensland, Victoria and South Australia to the north, south and west respectively. To the east, the state is bordered by the Tasman Sea, which forms part of the Pacific Ocean. New South Wales...
from 1972 until the early 1980s. Circuits at Towac near Orange
Orange, New South Wales
Orange is a city in the Central West region of New South Wales, Australia. It is west of the state capital, Sydney, at an altitude of . Orange has an estimated population of 39,329 and the city is a major provincial centre....
in New South Wales
New South Wales
New South Wales is a state of :Australia, located in the east of the country. It is bordered by Queensland, Victoria and South Australia to the north, south and west respectively. To the east, the state is bordered by the Tasman Sea, which forms part of the Pacific Ocean. New South Wales...
and Tailem Bend in South Australia
South Australia
South Australia is a state of Australia in the southern central part of the country. It covers some of the most arid parts of the continent; with a total land area of , it is the fourth largest of Australia's six states and two territories.South Australia shares borders with all of the mainland...
were also used, but after a dozen or so years the sport faded in Australia. Peter Brock
Peter Brock
Peter Geoffrey Brock, AM otherwise known as "Peter Perfect", "The King of the Mountain" or simply as "Brocky" was one of Australia's best-known and most successful motor racing drivers. Brock was most often associated with Holden for almost 40 years, although he raced vehicles of other...
was especially successful driving for the Holden Dealer Team
Holden Dealer Team
The Holden Dealer Team was Holden’s semi-official racing team from 1969 until 1987, primarily contesting Australian Touring Car events but also rallying, rallycross and sports sedans during the 1970s...
in a supercharged Holden Torana GTR.
The inaugural Australian Rallycross Championship was held at the Tailem Bend circuit on 24 June 1979 and was won by Larry Perkins
Larry Perkins
Larry Clifton Perkins is a former racing driver and V8 Supercar team owner from Australia.-Career:...
, driving a 2.0 litre Volkswagen Beetle
Volkswagen Beetle
The Volkswagen Type 1, widely known as the Volkswagen Beetle or Volkswagen Bug, is an economy car produced by the German auto maker Volkswagen from 1938 until 2003...
for Kruger Motors. This was the only Australian Rallycross Championship to be contested.
Rallycross in the United States
Rallycross was added to the X Games 16 in 2010 under the name Super Rally.In October 2009 Rally America
Rally America
The Rally America National Championship is the national championship of rallying events in the United States. The inaugural season was in 2005. Rally America was also the name given to the organization that sanctioned the championship, was briefly rebranded to RallyCar in July 2010, then reverted...
(now RallyCar) announced it would begin sanctioning European style Rallycross events in the United States. The inaugural season of the RallyCar Rallycross Championship
RallyCar Rallycross Championship
The RallyCar Rallycross Championship is a rallycross championship held in the United States. Founded in 2010, it is the first series in America for European-style rallycross competition...
, held in 2010, featured three events and several rally, rallycross and drifting
Drifting
Drifting may mean:*Drifting In film:*Drifting , a 1923 film directed by Tod Browning*Drifting , the first Israeli gay-themed filmIn music:*Drifting, a song by Jimi Hendrix on his album The Cry of Love...
competitors have shown an interest in contesting these races.
The Global Rallycross Championship is a project aimed to create a champiosnhip that bonds Europe, North America and possibly other regions. It began in 2011 with three of the RallyCar Rallycross rounds and the X Games Super Rally event.
Rallycross today
Martin Schanche
Martin Schanche , a.k.a. "Mister Rallycross", is a former Norwegian motorsport contestant. He started his racing career rather late, only in 1972 when he was already 27 years old. In 1975 he won a silver medal in the Norwegian Ice Racing Championships...
(Norway
Norway
Norway , officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic unitary constitutional monarchy whose territory comprises the western portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula, Jan Mayen, and the Arctic archipelago of Svalbard and Bouvet Island. Norway has a total area of and a population of about 4.9 million...
), Olle Arnesson (Sweden
Sweden
Sweden , officially the Kingdom of Sweden , is a Nordic country on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. Sweden borders with Norway and Finland and is connected to Denmark by a bridge-tunnel across the Öresund....
), Matti Alamäki (Finland
Finland
Finland , officially the Republic of Finland, is a Nordic country situated in the Fennoscandian region of Northern Europe. It is bordered by Sweden in the west, Norway in the north and Russia in the east, while Estonia lies to its south across the Gulf of Finland.Around 5.4 million people reside...
), Kenneth "His Kennyness" Hansen (Sweden) and Per Eklund
Per Eklund
Per Eklund, born on June 26, 1946 in Skönnerud , Eda Municipality of Värmland in Sweden, is a Rally and Rallycross driver who lives in Arvika. His nickname is "Pekka". In rallying he never made it to the very top but he has been very successful in his later rallycross career.- Saab works...
(Sweden) as some of the more famous. British drivers to win European rallycross titles were the first ever European RX champion, Scotsman John Taylor (in 1973) and the two Englishmen Will Gollop (in 1992) and Richard Hutton (in 1994).
In rallycross several cars start abreast at the same time, and drive three to six laps on a rather short racing track, setting the best qualifying times. In the end there are 'C', 'B' and 'A' finals for the 16 fastest drivers of the qualification and the overall winner of the event will be decided in an afternoon showdown. Rallycross is a relatively small sport compared to rally and asphalt racing.
FIA
Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile
The Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile is a non-profit association established as the Association Internationale des Automobile Clubs Reconnus on 20 June 1904 to represent the interests of motoring organisations and motor car users...
European Rallycross Championship (ERC) cars are built based on production car body shells but are extensively modified. A typical leading ERC series car, Per Eklund's Saab
Saab
Saab AB is a Swedish aerospace and defence company, founded in 1937. From 1947 to 1990 it was the parent company of automobile manufacturer Saab Automobile, and between 1968 and 1995 the company was in a merger with commercial vehicle manufacturer Scania, known as Saab-Scania.-History:"Svenska...
9-3 Turbo 16 4x4 technical specifications are a 2 litre turbocharged 4 cylinder 16 valve engine with a 45 mm turbo restrictor rated at +550 bhp and 800 newton metre of torque, four wheel drive
Four Wheel Drive
The Four Wheel Drive Auto Company, more often known as Four Wheel Drive or just FWD, was founded in 1909 in Clintonville, Wisconsin, as the Badger Four-Wheel Drive Auto Company by Otto Zachow and William Besserdich.-History:...
with programmable active differentials and six-speed gearbox, 1200 kg (2,645.5 lb) (current FIA regulations) and will do the 0–100 km/h (about 0–62 mph) sprint in less than 2.5 seconds, thereby roughly as fast as a Formula One
Formula One
Formula One, also known as Formula 1 or F1 and referred to officially as the FIA Formula One World Championship, is the highest class of single seater auto racing sanctioned by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile . The "formula" designation in the name refers to a set of rules with which...
racer (capable of 0-60 mph in 2.3 seconds), some other ERC Division 1 cars are already claimed by their drivers to need even less than 2 seconds.
The Race Format
Like other forms of motorsports, the weekend begins with a session of unofficial practice, where laps are timed, but do not affect the running of the weekend. In the ERC, there are two unofficial practice sessions, each lasting an hour, with each car entitled to make four laps in each. Following this is the official practice, where each driver does a number of timed laps (three in the ERC). A driver's fastest lap counts, and this sets the grids for the first heat.There are three heats in the ERC. Each heat is formed of a number of races. In the ERC, cars start 5 abreast on the start line, national championships sometimes use a staggered grid. The first race contains the five slowest cars from official practice. The second race contains the next five slowest, and so on until there are fewer than 10 cars left, when they are split equally for the last two races. The heats in the ERC are all 6 km long.
At the end of a heat, the drivers are given points based on their overall time for the heat. The fastest driver gets 1 point, the second fastest 2 points, and so on. Drivers who did not finish get 80 points, drivers who did not start the heat 85 and drivers who were black flagged 95 points.
The second and third heats take place on the Sunday, after a morning warm-up session, like the unofficial practice. The starting order for the second heat is set by the results for the first heat, and the order for the last heat is set by the results for the first two heats combined.
After all three heats have taken place, each driver is allowed to discard his worst score from an indiviadual heat, so he can keep his two best, which are combined to form a score for the driver, and to rank all the drivers. This sometimes means that a driver who performs in both of the first heats well can decide not to race in the third heat, and still qualify well.
On the Sunday afternoon, the finals take place. In the ERC, the finals involve the top 20 ranked drivers from the heats. The drivers ranked 1-5 qualify directly for the A final, drivers ranked 6-10 qualify for the B final, drivers ranked 11-14 qualify for the C final, and the drivers ranked from 15-20 compete in the D final. This is a new rule for 2009, in previous years, there were only three finals, involving the top 16 drivers, however, points are still awarded up to those in the C final, the top 16. No points are awarded for those lower down, the D final is only for deciding who should score points out of the positions 15-20. Drivers ranked 21 and lower do not compete in the finals, and do not score points for the series. The top two drivers from the D final qualify for the C final (and therefore will score points), the winning driver of the C final qualifys for the B final, and the winning driver of the B final qualifys for the A final.
In the finals, the drivers start in a staggered formation, with three rows of two each. The finals are longer than the heats, at 8 km.
The winner of the A final wins the event, and gains maximum points. Finishers in the B and C finals are ranked below them, and score more minor points.
In every race, the drivers must pass through a longer track section for his so-called Joker Lap once. The alternative route for the Joker Lap is a section that must be at least 2 seconds slower than the normal track, often on a different surface, and the drivers must decide when to take it carefully.
In the ERC series of 10 rounds, the drivers can drop two round scores, one from the first half of the season, and one from the second half.
Different championships have different rules from these ones, and often have fewer drivers competing.