Were you looking forward to catching a piece of the rallycross action at event near you this season? Well we’re afraid we have some bad news. The Red Bull Global RallyCross Championship has closed down.
The news was broken by Lancaster National Speedway. The track near Buffalo in upstate New York was supposed to host the season opener. But according to the facility’s management, “the Red Bull Global Rallycross organization has ceased operations for the 2018 season and the event scheduled for Lancaster on June 9-10 has been canceled,” adding that “Global Rallycross will be issuing refunds to anyone that already purchased tickets for the event.”
The series website is down and no updates have been made to its social media feeds. But as Autosport notes, the development has been looming on the horizon. Several of the participating manufacturers abandoned the series and its top Supercars class at the end of last season. Honda was the first to leave, followed by Volkswagen and Subaru, due to disagreements with series organizers.
Could Be Back In 2019
The Global RallyCross Championship started in 2009 and has competed primarily in the United States. Scott Speed and Tanner Foust have won the bulk of the championship titles to date.
If all goes well, the series may very well return in 2019. But in the meantime, rallycross fans will have to look elsewhere. Fortunately there are other series to check out.
Chief among them is the FIA World Rallycross Championship, which draws participation from several major automakers. It’s based principally in Europe but will be holding rounds at the Circuit of the Americas in Texas and Trois-Rivieres in Quebec this season. Its organizers have also formed an Americas Rallycross series to rival the now-defunct GRC. And the GRC’s European spin-off does not appear to be affected by the latest developments.