iRacing Rallycross Race Preview: Hell

The second half of the iRacing Rallycross presented by Yokohama season sends the world’s best sim racers and an all-star lineup of real-world pros and Twitch streamers to Hell—Lankebanen, in Norway, that is—on Wednesday. Races will begin at 4PM ET/1PM PT at iRacing.com/live and across a large slate of Facebook, Twitch, and YouTube channels.

World Championship

It’s two to two in the win column for two of the top drivers in the World Championship standings, as points leader Jon Robertson of Subaru Motorsports USA and third place Tommi Hallman of SET Esports have taken a pair of checkered flags apiece. Hallman struck most recently at Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya last week, but he’ll need a few more strong points days to catch his teammate Jonne Ollikainen for second. Still, the win was enough to give SET a slight advantage in the teams’ championship over Subaru with four races to go.

Drivers saw Hell twice in 2020 owing to its debut on the schedule, but it returns this year in its now-traditional date in the final week of October. Hallman won the “Helloween” race here last year, becoming the fifth different victor in the first five events of 2021. More than half of the drivers who joined him in last year’s final aren’t on this year’s grid, meaning plenty of new names should be expected up front this time around.

Yokohama Pole Award: With four poles in a row, Robertson has all but guaranteed himself the season-long Yokohama Pole Award. A fifth will ensure that no other driver can tie him for the year. Only Ollikainen in Daytona has managed to post a faster qualifying lap.

DirtFish Rookie of the Year: Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing’s Kevin Ellis Jr. remains the top rookie in series standings in fifth, now boasting a 29-point advantage over Logitech G Altus Esports’ Luis Nunez and Hansen Williams Esports’ Jarno Leskinen. The 2021 DirtFish Rookie of the Year will receive a complimentary Three Day course from DirtFish, the Official Rallying School of iRacing Rallycross. To sign up and get behind the wheel yourself, visit drive.dirtfish.com.

Most Improved Driver: Elliott Sadler eSports’ Vicente Salas got his 2021 season back on track with a fifth place finish at Barcelona, his third top-five of the year. He remains sixth in points, a 14-spot increase from last year’s campaign.

Hard Charger: Team Yokohama’s Thomas Wangen remains the most skilled driver in iRX at gaining spots from qualifying to overall classification. He gained 10 more last week in Barcelona to increase his season total to 46, an average increase of more than nine spots per race.

All-Star Invitational

Team Fordzilla’s Pablo Lopez became the fifth different All-Star race winner in five rounds when he took the lead from the debuting Borja Zazo in last week’s event from Barcelona. 2021 eNASCAR Coca-Cola iRacing Series champion Keegan Leahy and his 2020 predecessor Nick Ottinger headline this week’s new all-stars; other newcomers expected to compete this week include popular Twitch streamers David Schildhouse and Michael Cosey Jr., as well as Logitech G Altus Esports team principal Simon Feigl. The expected/invited entry list for this week’s visit to Hell is below; entries are subject to change:

How To Watch

All iRX events will be broadcast in multiple languages for the 2021 season. Here’s where to tune in:

• English: iRacing Facebook, Twitch, YouTube
• Finnish: Finnish Sim Racing Association ry (FISRA)
• French: BenjxMotors
• Norwegian: Norwegian SimRacing Channel