Extreme Rallycross chooses Hankook Tire for Australian Championship

Australia’s newest sensation of motorsport, Sidchrome Extreme Rallycross, has selected Hankook Tire as the exclusive tire partner for its new national seven-round championship.
 
Part of the growing phenomenon that is rallycross, the Sidchrome Extreme Rallycross Championship uses a global style of headline car, called a Supercar Lite, plus locally-built cars, competing across a number of Australian states, and promises to be one of the most exciting motorsport categories to launch in Australia for some time. As a sub-event of CAMS (Confederation of Australian Motor Series), Extreme Rallycross Championship will open up its first match in Australia at Brisbane’s Lakeside Raceway on September 4-5.
 
Mixing the best aspects from traditional stage rallying and circuit racing, and competing on mixed surfaces comprising both tarmac and gravel, Rallycross has proven hugely popular in Europe and the USA, with the likes of WRC champion Petter Solberg winning the 2014 World Rallycross Championship, and other drivers including Sebastien Loeb, Ken Block, Marcus Gronholm, Tanner Foust and Travis Pastrana, all competing in Rallycross events.
 
Locally, big names that have shown an interest in Extreme Rallycross include Australia’s own WRC driver Chris Atkinson, ARC drivers Jack Monkhouse and Brendan Reeves, and WRC driver and Perth-resident Alister McRae signing on as the first major driver of the series.
 
David Ridden, Director of Sidchrome Extreme Rallycross said: “We’ve had significant support from around the racing community. With seven championship rounds across Australia, we are delivering action-packed events not only to rallycross enthusiasts, but we have the pleasure of introducing the Sidchrome Extreme Rallycross to new crowds. We have very exciting times ahead.”
 
“This is the kind of spectacle Australian motorsport needs,” explained Hankook Tire Australia Motorsport Manager Dean Evans. “Rallycross is undoubtedly the next big thing in global motorsport, and now that we have an Australian version, Hankook wanted to be a part of it from the start – ‘and’ we had the right tire to support it.”
 
All Extreme Rallycross cars will use the same 17-inch Hankook Ventus tire with exacting specifications. “Hankook Australia worked closely with Extreme Rallycross to determine what they were trying to achieve, in regards to grip and ‘the show’,” added Evans. With feedback from Alister McRae and Chris Atkinson during the test day in May, Hankook chose a size, pattern and compound of tire that offered the best balance between grip, cost and durability, and assuring a safe and reliable tire for the Extreme Rallycross championship.
 
All Extreme Rallycross competition vehicles will use the same exclusive control tire, a Hankook Ventus Z213, in 200/625R17, an FIA-spec tire imported specifically for the unique demands of Extreme Rallycross.
 
“We needed something that could cope with both tarmac and dirt, but also jumps, so we chose what Hankook uses for ‘intermediate’ conditions in the WRC, but also something that will add to the spectacle of Extreme Rallycross”, added Evans.
 
Hankook Tire Australia has partnered with Extreme Rallycross for three seasons from 2015 to until 2017, which will include exclusive use of the Hankook Ventus Z213 on all competition vehicles, Hankook branding on all vehicles, and Hankook promotion at all events.