After a recent break from action, the DiRT Rally 2.0 World Series Season 2 gets back underway this weekend with the Grand Final. With the cancellation of the planned home for the Grand Finals, the Autosport International Show, the show will be broadcast live online through the regular channels to decide the Season 2 Champions across the Rally and Rallycross disciplines.
The Grand Finals are the culmination of a season with amazing action and close battles from the online Qualifying rounds to the Semi-Finals last time out. The competitors will not only be competing for a share of the $20,000 prize pool, but for the Rallycross drivers there is also a test drive in the all-electric RX2e rallycross car which will power the RX2 category in 2021; potentially the first step for players hoping to make the transition to real-world motorsport.
Official Partner Thrustmaster will be supporting the Grand Finals once more in 2021 and ensuring all the drivers have the best hardware to compete with. Despite being scattered all over the globe, all the players have been sent a TS-XW base and Sparco® wheel, T-LCM pedals and a pair of Y350 CPX headsets. Thrustmaster has also added to the prize pool with the top three in each discipline also keeping a selection of the equipment.
The winners get to keep hold of everything, second place keeping the pedals and headset, and third holding onto the headset. Unlike the previous stages of the competition, all the drivers will be driving on equal PC hardware, with consoles prohibited for the final.
The stages, tracks and cars
There are a number of format changes for the Grand Final which differ from the previous events.
Rallycross will now feature six qualifying races across three tracks. Points awarded in these races will determine the starting grid for the final race, with the six-lap race deciding the final series results. They will be at the wheel of Johan Kristoffersson’s 2020 FIA World Rallycross Championship winning car, the Volkswagen Polo R Supercar.
With the recent 25th championship anniversary of rally hero Colin McRae, the rally event will pay homage to the unforgettable 1995 WRC season. The event will be split into two sections. First of all, competitors will tackle four stages (Monte Carlo, Sweden, New Zealand and Spain) with the cumulative time at the end of these stages determining the final positions fourth – sixth.
The top three drivers after stage four will tackle Sweet Lamb, Wales, one at a time. The results from this one stage will decide who is the World Series champion. In true throwback style, the rally competitors will be driving the iconic Subaru Impreza Group A from the 1995 season.
Rally
| STAGE | CAR |
| Monte Carlo – Route de Turini Montee | 1995 Subaru Impreza |
| Sweden – Harma | |
| New Zealand – Elsthorpe Sprint Reverse | |
| Spain – Ascenso bosque Montverd | |
| Great Britain – Sweet Lamb |
Rallycross
| TRACK | CAR |
| Q1 + 2 Montalegre, Portugal | VW Polo RX ’18 |
| Q3 + 4 Holjes, Sweden | |
| Q5 + 6 Bikernieki, Latvia | |
| FINAL Silverstone, Great Britain |
The Drivers
Another Season and another competition, but the cream of rally and rallycross esports drivers always rise to the top.
Reining rally series champion Joona Pankkonen will be keen not to relinquish the crown, while Season 1 finalist Lukáš Matěja will be hoping that competing in both rally and rallycross will land him with at least one World Series title.
Killian Dall’Olmo will be battling for the RX number one place for another season, competing against four other finalists from Season 1, all hoping to take home the $5,000 for first and the Season 2 trophy.
How to watch
The action gets underway on Saturday 27th February with the rally competition at 14:00 UTC / 15:00 CET, with rallycross at 17:00 UTC / 18:00 CET. The shows will be broadcast on the Traxion and DiRT YouTube channels, along with various other platforms including Twitch.
We’ll be watching with you! Let us know on social media or via the livestream chat what you think of the action and keep your eyes peeled for a stage guide by commentator Andrew Coley later today.
