There are numerous kinds of motorsports all over the world, some have modified road cars, some have bikes, formula cars, even trucks. But one may ask, which one of them is the most exciting to watch? Yes, Formula 1 with its grand scale events and technological achievements is quite interesting, Moto GP offers thrilling bike racing, touring car racing is a great contest among factory cars, Nascar offers loud noise and fast cars, and Rally racing is a great spectacle of driving ability of the drivers. However, if we were to critically name one of these motorsports as the most exciting of all, we would find some issue with each motorsport that might make them less exciting, such as long hours or predictable outcomes or less on track action.
So, what does a motorsport need to be the most exciting to watch? A typical answer from the fans to that would be fast cars, loud noise, on track action, unpredictability, crashes, tactics, shorter attention span etc. Rallycross is exactly that!
Rallycross was invented back in 1967 in the UK as a filler
to other sports. It was meant to be a motorsport a that was weather independent,
a motorsport that can be held on sunny days as well as on rainy and cold days. It
was a big hit with the fans and soon the sport was enjoyed all over the world
in the late 20th century. The sport kept gaining fans with national competitions.
However, the inauguration of FIA World Rallycross Championship (WRX) in 2014 was
a huge landmark for the sport. WRX now has featured some of the best rallycross
drivers from all over the world including DTM veteran Mattias Ekstrom, Rally
legend Sebastien Loeb, Johan Kristoffersson who has the most wins in the series
and Ken Block who is famous for his ‘Gymkhana’ videos.
The success of the sport can be put down to the nature of
the sport. The highlight of the sport is the track, which consists of both
gravel and tarmac sections. Track also features tight corners, long speedy
curves, jumps and straights. Not only that, but Joker Lap is another unique element
of the sport. Every driver must take a joker lap, which is a slightly extended part
of the track, at somepoint during the race. This offers a great challenge for
the drivers while racing bumper to bumper. Races also produce close finishes, touching
and bumping of cars, crashes, and a great spectacle for the fans.
WRX cars are a very close match to the Rally Cars, however, what
rally cars and drivers do on a 10 mile stretch isolated from other cars,
Rallycross cars and drivers do it on a circuit with at least 4 other cars. WRX cars are a modified versions of road cars from manufacturers
like Audi, Hyundai, Peugeot etc. But where road version of these cars have
maximum power of 200hp, Rallycross cars have 600hp. Rallycross cars are also
light weight, 4 wheel drive, and have high performance tyres, wheels and breaks.
WRX is consists of races in Europe, North America, Africa
and middle east. A typical WRX weekend consists of practice sessions, qualifying
races, semi finals and a final. Qualifying rounds only, produce more than 50
races. 12 cars with best times progress into semi finals and top three from
each progress to final. Therefore, a weekend is full of quick action races.
Races are also available to watch on youtube.com in most
countries and since a race can get over within minutes it requires shorter attention
span. Some races can produce as much action just in 6 laps that a F1 race
produces in a whole weekend. High performance cars, skilful drivers,
challenging circuits, close races and crashes only create an exciting weekend
of motorsport. Moreover, weather conditions
are no issue for these cars and drivers heat or rain or even snow. Overall, WRX
provides great entertainment for the motorsport fans and a breath of fresh air.
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