Organised in turn by each ASN belonging to ad hoc Commission of the FIA, the Prize-Giving of the 2014 Off-Road Championships – Rallycross and Autocross – took place in Vienna, hosted by the OSK (Austrian ASN). The ceremony was held in the presence of approximately 200 people, including drivers, teams’ representatives, officials and organisers, in the magnificent setting of the Vienna Technical Museum. During the day preceding this celebration of Champions, the officials and organisers active in the two disciplines followed several seminar sessions.

The 2014 season will forever remain one of the most significant years in the history of Rallycross. First there was 1967, the year of its birth in Great Britain. Then there was 1976, the year of the first edition of a European Championship officially recognised by the FIA. Then 1987, the year the mixed asphalt/gravel circuits saw the arrival of all these Group B cars newly banned from rallies. And now, the 2014 season will remain forever in the annals of Rallycross, having seen the discipline elevated to the status of an FIA World Championship. 

This rise to world status came about thanks to the joint efforts of the FIA, the Championship promoter (IMG), the organisers and the competitors. A major step forward had already been taken in 2013, with the reformatting of the European Championship and real new media coverage. This status of a World Championship, inaugurated in 2014, opens up new prospects for Rallycross, which has appeared on new continents and whose reputation goes far beyond the borders of the few European countries to which it long remained confined.

Another ambassador who has lent credibility to the discipline is Petter Solberg. A Rally star after having cut his teeth in Rallycross, Petter returned to Rallycross in 2013, and his worldwide reputation has also enhanced the Championship’s image. The Norwegian was already crowned on the evening of the 10^th of the 12 competitions on the programme of the 2014 Championship, at the wheel of a Citroën DS3 prepared by his own team. He is also the only driver to date to have claimed two FIA World Championship titles in two different disciplines. To close the Prize-Giving, he wished to pay tribute to his two runners-up “Topi” Heikkinen and Reinis Nitiss, leaders of the generation of young drivers whose number is increasing in Rallycross. Solberg also addressed the Autocross drivers present with much affection, recalling that he had started out his career in Autocross and that his son is following the same route. The FIA World Championship for Teams Trophy, a new award in Rallycross, was given to Olsbergs MSE, a Swedish team which entered the Ford Fiestas of Reinis Nitiss and Andreas Bakkerud in SuperCar. Also from Sweden was the European Champion of the TouringCar category, Daniel Lundh, who outstripped a Norwegian quartet led by Torleif Lona and Anders Braten.

The other Off-Road discipline honoured in Vienna was Autocross, whose European Championship is solid thanks to very stable technical regulations.  The flagship category is that of SuperBuggy, largely dominated by German Bernd Stubbe, whose collection now amounts to five European Champion trophies. Like twelve months previously, he outdid his compatriot André Hinnenkamp and Czech Ladislav Hanak in the final Championship classification. In Buggy1600, the title went to young German driver René Mandel, up against Kevin Peters from Luxembourg and Michael Buddelmeyer from Germany. At the wheel of a 4X4 Skoda Fabia, Hungarian Tamas Karai claimed victory against the twin car of outgoing Champion, Czech Vaclav Fejfar. In parallel to each round of the European Championship, a JuniorBuggy Cup, reserved for young drivers aged between 13 and 21, was also contested and was won by Czech driver Filip Smid. This Cup will notably be transformed into a real European Championship in 2015, as the category has now matured.

The event in Vienna was once again the occasion to hand over several special awards, dedicated to the best organisers and nations. Like in 2012 and 2013, the trophy for the best Autocross event of 2014 went to the French organisers of Saint Igny de Vers, while the Swedish organisers of Höljes won the same award in Rallycross, for the second year running. Last but not least, it was no great surprise that the 2014 Autocross Nations Cup was claimed by the Czech Republic for the fifteenth consecutive year.