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FIRST WORLD RX TEAM AUSTRIA
World Rallycross Team Austria announces participation of Manfred Stohl in the FIA World RX Championship presented by Monster Energy.
Max J. Pucher, team principal and driver of World RX Team Austria and owner of MJP Racing, announced today that Manfred Stohl will be the star driver of his team to participate in the 2015 FIA World Rallycross Championship for Supercars (http://rallycrossrx.com), sponsored by ISISPapyrus Software and VIPorbit Software.
The FIA World RX Championship was running for the first time in 2014 and won by Petter Solberg, the 2003 WRC champion.
Austrian, Manfred Stohl, was World Rally Champion in Group N in 2000 and fourth in the WRC in 2006. Max Pucher placed third in the 2014 Austrian RX Championship in an OMSE Fiesta Supercar he bought in 2013. His commitment to restore the Austrian RX sport to its former glory met Manfred’s Stohl interest in the race format.
Pucher: “Rallycross racers are the new gladiators. World RX promoter IMG has created a crowd-pleasing format with 10 to 30,000 fans per race. It is fast, driver-to-driver combat with lots of contact and all the driving action on tarmac and gravel that you get in WRC but here with the perfect overview of a motorsport arena. It is the safest motorsport out there and it costs a fraction of WRC participation. That makes it perfect for teams and sponsors who also get a great cost-to-advertising value ratio. It is destined to become one of the most popular motorsports! I am very proud to have Manfred as a teammate and to bring the first Austrian team to FIA World RX.”
Stohl: “When Max Pucher and I had first contact, he immediately told me about his dream and vision to eventually bring an Austrian team to the World RX Championship. Currently Austrian sponsors are not yet seeing the great opportunity, so it was very difficult to get the money together for such a project. Without Max Pucher’s commitment, this project would have never happened. I am very pleased that he chose Stohl Racing to also be the builder of our Ford Fiesta World RX Championship cars. I am certain that we will race state-of-the-art technology and will be right where all the action is.”
Manfred Stohl had the opportunity to test and finally race Max Pucher’s Ford Fiesta Supercar in the 2014 Race of Austrian Champions and won it convincingly. He was further invited by 2014 World RX champion Petter Solberg to drive as his teammate in the final race of the 2014 season in San Luis, Argentina. Manfred Stohl managed to advance to the semi-finals in 9th position but did not finish due to a broken suspension.
Martin Anayi, World RX Managing Director for IMG Motorsport, commented: “It is a pleasure to welcome our first Austrian team to World RX, and we’re very excited to announce a new World Championship team so early in the 2015 season. Manfred made an impressive debut in Argentina at our 2014 season-closer, and he is a great personality to have on board. We are witnessing a growing number of rallye drivers trying out World RX and it will be interesting to watch Manfred battle against Petter, whom he competed against in WRC. I have been very impressed with the professionalism and commitment of World RX Team Austria and on behalf of the IMG Motorsport team, I look forward to welcoming both Max and Manfred to RX in 2015, and wish them the best of luck in both the Drivers’ and Team Championships.”
FIA World Rallycross Championship 2015 Calendar
April 24th to 26th: Portugal-Montalegre
May 15th to 17th: Belgium-Mettet
May 22nd to 24th: Great Britain-Lydden Hill
June 19th to 21st: Germany-Estering
July 3rd to 5th: Sweden-Holjes
August 7th to 8th: Canada-Grand Prix de Trois-Rivières
August 21st to 23rd: Norway-Hell
September 4th to 6th: France-Loheac
September 18th to 20th: Spain-Barcelona
October 2nd to 4th: Turkey-Istanbul
October 16th to 18th: Italy-Franciacorta
November 27th to 29th: Argentina-San Luis
About World RX Team Austria:
Team Principal: Max J. Pucher
More on http://worldrx-austria.com
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