The fire that destroyed all of Team Special One’s equipment, including the two Lancia Delta Evo-E RXs driven by Sebastien Loeb and Guerlain Chicherit, at the Lydden Hill Circuit on Friday morning has resulted in a program change for the fourth race weekend of the 2023 World Rallycross Championship (WRX).
As the organizers of the series announced on Friday evening, all WRX races scheduled for Saturday will be canceled as the cause of the fire still needs to be investigated. The series of the supporting program are not affected.
A statement from the WRX promoter said: “Following a fire in the Special One Racing Team service area at Lydden Hill Race Circuit in Kent, England, this Friday (July 21), the World Rallycross Championship events scheduled for tomorrow (Saturday, July 22) will be canceled while investigations into the cause of the fire continue.”
“The fire broke out just before 8:45 a.m. and firefighters worked hard to get it under control and extinguish it as quickly as possible. Unfortunately, the entire Special One Racing area burned out, including the two RX1s. There were no injuries and no other race cars were affected.”
“The venue was not open to the public as there were no races scheduled that day.”
“This incident has no impact on the RX2e Championship or the British Rallycross Championship 5 Nations Trophy, which will take place as scheduled. The World RX rounds scheduled for Sunday will be decided on Saturday.”
Loeb, who has returned to WRX this season after a five-year absence, will be driving the Lancia for the GCK-fielded Special One team in 2023 and is eighth in the Drivers’ Championship after the first three rounds.
Five-time and reigning champion Johan Kristoffersson leads the championship standings after winning all the first three races.