WRC Makes Its Return American Television



Although America rally driver Ken Block is on a limited WRC schedule for 2012, fans will now be able to tune in and enjoy all the WRC action Via Speed. Photo/MWRT

SPEED and SPEED2 will offer coverage of the 2012 World Rally Championship Series beginning this weekend with same-day delay programming from Rally Argentina on Sunday at 11 p.m. ET, and a replay Monday morning at 7 a.m. ET.

In addition, SPEED2 -- SPEED’s authenticated broadband network -- will offer WRC fans a chance to catch up on the first four events of the season, while additionally offering 30-minute highlight packages from each day of competition moving forward.

“This is a great opportunity to deliver a popular race series to the SPEED viewing audience, while at the same time offering complementary programming on SPEED2,” said SPEED President Scott Ackerson. “And after reaching several new carriage deals over the past few weeks, SPEED2 will soon be available to more than 35 million subscribers.”

The broadcast schedule for the next three WRC races SDD on SPEED (full schedule to be released as scheduled; replays the following mornings):

• Sunday, Apr 29, 11 p.m. ET (Argentina)
• Sunday, May 27, 1 a.m. ET (Greece)*
• Sunday, June 24, 11 p.m. ET (New Zealand)

World Rally programming on SPEED2 will join a growing lineup of premier racing events on the network, including Saturday’s live qualifying from the MotoGP race in Spain, where Americans Ben Spies, Nicky Hayden and Colin Edwards battle against the best in the world. For more information on SPEED2, please visit SPEED2.com.

SPEED was home to the World Rally Championship Series from 1997 through 2005.

*Race from Greece is late Sunday night broadcast date; follows Coca-Cola 600 episode of NASCAR Victory Lane

Source> www.speed.com

2012 Rally New York - Streaming live Around The Rally World

Video streaming by Ustream

Rally New York Brings Some High Flying Tarmac Rally Action To Rockhill, New York This Weekend.

Forestburgh, New York (April 18, 2012)  The excitement is building in anticipation of the next running of Rally New York USA on April 21 - 22. Twenty eight teams from the United States and from abroad are on the entry list for the Rally New York USA (www.RallyNewYork.com). In spite of the economy, the number of teams entered exceeds the number of entries in the previous running of the event. The event is one of the only two tarmac championship rallies in the United States.

 This is an all new tarmac event in a new location. All new special stages are located in Rock Hill and Thompson, which include a unique 17-mile tarmac stage and a super special stage at Monticello Motor Club. This new event is taking over the established name of Rally New York USA and is located in Rock Hill, New York. The rally is presented by the Rock Hill Business Association and it is hosted by the Rock Hill Fire Department.

 Rally New York USA is the first round of the 2012 United States Rally Championship (USRC) (www.usrallychampionship.com). Each day is a separate round of the 2012 New York Rally Championship (NYRC). This all-tarmac rally includes 101 miles of special stages in the beautiful southern Catskill Mountains merely 90 miles northwest of New York City. Over ninety percent of the stage mileage consists of entirely new special stages. The total length of the two-day event is 273 miles. A prize fund guarantees that each team finishing in top 30 percent of all finishers, including at least one Production Cup car and one two-wheel-drive car, will receive prize money.

 Notable entries are Charlie Donnelly, who won this event in 2010, and codriver Barry Smyth, Joseph Burke, who took a second in a gravel International Rally New York in the past, and codriver Alex Kihurani, Matt Gottlieb and Austin Gager who are the winners of the last year International Rally New York, and Michael Reilly and Josh Benthien, the 2011 Two-Wheel-Drive (2WD) United States Rally Champions who now appear in an all-wheel-drive car.

 In two-wheel-drive, there are accomplished tarmac specialists Brendan Brosnan and Tommy Commane who travel to this event all the way from Ireland and a Canadian-Irish team of Donal Crooke and Noel Joyce. Another driver of note is Erika Detota, the 2010 2WD United States Rally Champion who is entered with a new codriver Gregorz Dorman.

 Three new local teams participate in Rally New York USA with generous sponsorship from Robert Cella, a retired engineer and a Rally New York radio operator. They are the teams of Hollen Groff and Allison Hirsch, Sid Sareen and Tim Oliver, and Rory Gardiner with Brian Johnson.

 The United States Rally Championship is taking bold steps to make national competition more affordable and accessible to a larger number of rally teams. This is the sixth season of the  Championship structure that minimizes or, for many teams, eliminates the need for repeated cross-country travel during the Championship season by providing competition on each side of the country. The final round of the Championship at the end of the year counts both in the Atlantic Division and the Pacific Division and together with the results from all previous rounds decides the top spots in the Championship. Any championship team competing in an out-of-division event receives a free entry. Most events in the United States Rally Championship allow for reconnaissance of the rally course.

Rally New York organization also presents the second tarmac event – Rally Delaware that is scheduled for August 24 – 25 and the International Rally New York on October 23 – 24. This gravel event is the final round of the 2012 United States Rally Championship. All Rally New York events are conducted according to the international rules with two-pass reconnaissance and pace notes.

Source: Rally New York

Photo: Neil McDaid / Rally World News

Toyota Looking To Return To FIA Rally With a S2000 Style Car

Automotive giant Toyota has built a Global Race Engine and is being linked to a possible return to the FIA World Rally Championship powered by Nokia.

The 1.6-litre turbocharged engine, which fits perfectly with the FIA’s World Rally Championship technical regulations, has been testing at Toyota Motorsport GmbH in Cologne and is expected to be installed in a chassis - most likely a Yaris - at some point later this year.

A spokesman from TMG said: “We’re leaning towards an S2000-style of car which would be available for customers first. This is a development project, but it’s very early days - the engine only fired up for the first time a few weeks ago - at the very earliest, a car won’t be available until next year. Obviously, this being a Global Race Engine, it could go in any car, but the Yaris seems to make sense.”

Toyota is currently working on an FIA World Endurance Championship entry, but the spokesman admitted rallying was likely to feature in the firm’s medium-term future.

“Medium to longer-term there is a degree of logic in the WRC,” he said. “We have been there [the WRC] and this is a step back into rallying.”

Toyota already has a rally car coming out of TMG, in the shape of an R1 challenge Yaris.

Toyota was one of the powerhouses of rallying, winning seven FIA world titles in the sport and a move back to the WRC would mean joining Ford, Citroen, MINI and Volkswagen.

Source: WRC.COM
Image TRD.AU

Tanner Foust Storms To Victory At Lydden Hill

TANNER FOUST WINS EUROPEAN RALLYCROSS SEASON OPENER  American driver dominates in wet conditions

LONDON, England (April 9, 2012) -- Rockstar Energy Drink driver Tanner Foust dominated in wet conditions to win the opening round of the FIA European Rallycross Championship this weekend in southeast England. "The season can't start much better than this," said Foust at the end of the race. "The team and I worked all weekend to set up the Rockstar Energy Drink Ford Fiesta for the wet conditions and it paid off." The American driver was competitive from the start, setting the pace in timed practice sessions and charging through the heats to claim the pole position for the A-Main final race at the Lydden Hill circuit Monday.   In front of an enthusiastic crowd at the home of rallycross -- the track where the very first rallycross races took place more than 40 years ago -- Foust got a fast start and led to the finish. He was so far out front at the end of the five-lap race that he crossed the finish line alone while his competitors continued to battle it out behind him. "As the only American out here, winning in this series is amazing," said Foust. "To win at the track where the sport was invented feels even better." The victory sets the stage for a strong season for Foust. The three-time X Games Rally gold medal winner finished the 2011 season as the runner-up in the FIA European Rallycross Championship, and took home the first-ever Global Rallycross Championship title. He now leads the points in the 10-round European championship. This weekend's victory was Foust's third in the highly competitive European series. He became the first American ever to win a race in the championship a year ago, at the Portugal round, and repeated in Sweden last July. The Ford Fiesta rallycross car, prepared by the Olsbergs MSE team, proved class-of-the-field and performed flawlessly. The veteran OMSE team continued to develop the Rockstar Energy Drink Ford Fiesta in the off-season and emerged at the first race of the year with a competitive package. The 600-plus horsepower machine is virtually identical to the vehicle Foust runs in the United States at X Games and Global Rallycross contests. Rallycross is a blend of circuit racing, off-road racing and rally competition. It promises intense crowd-pleasing action in a fan-friendly track environment. As many as six drivers line up to start at once, piloting high-horsepower compact cars through race traffic over a challenging short course that features jumps, unbanked turns, hills and transitions between pavement and gravel. Foust is the first American to compete in the European Rallycross Championship. This season marks Foust's second full season in the championship. He made his debut with a select series of events in 2010 and finished the 2011 season in 2nd-place overall.  In addition to rallycross competition in Europe and the United States, Foust's 2012 competition schedule also includes a return to X Games Rally Car Racing events this June.  His next event is the French round of the FIA European Rallycross Championship at Circuit de l'Ouest Parisien in Dreux, France, April 28-29.

TANNER FOUST'S RALLYCROSS PROGRAM IS MADE POSSIBLE BY: Rockstar Energy Drink (www.rockstar69.com); Ford Racing (www.ford.com); Etnies (www.etnies.com) and Motegi (www.motegiracing.com)   PHOTO: Tanner Foust wins European rallycross season opener in the Rockstar Energy Drink Ford Fiesta. (CREDIT: Jan Kare Rafoss)   PHOTO: Tanner Foust takes his first 2012 rallycross win in the Rockstar Energy Drink Ford Fiesta. (CREDIT: Jan Kare Rafoss) -- 30 --