The penultimate event on the 2021 FIA World Rallycross Championship calendar will move forward by one week to October 16-17 in an effort to maximise the spectator experience at the Circuito Internacional de Montalegre.

A staple on the World Championship calendar from 2014 to 2018, it was announced earlier in the year that Montalegre will return this season. Following consultation with the FIA and all stakeholders, it was agreed to change the date to provide the best opportunity of welcoming as many spectators on-site as possible while ensuring everybody enjoys a spectacular show.

“The close interaction between competitors and fans is one of the key factors that makes this sport so unique, and we as the World Championship promoter have a duty to provide our loyal and enthusiastic audience with the very best experience that we can,” said Arne Dirks, Executive Director, Rallycross Promoter GmbH.

“We successfully trialled the return of spectators to the paddock in France last weekend, marking a significant step forward on our path back to ‘normality’, and we want to ensure that every future event is able to welcome as many fans as possible on-site to reinstate the unmistakeable atmosphere for which rallycross is so renowned.

“We have consulted closely with all key parties, particularly the Circuito Internacional de Montalegre, and we are all firmly in agreement that bringing World RX of Portugal forward by a week will give us the best chance of achieving this objective.”

Montalegre’s undulating layout and unpredictable weather has produced absorbing rallycross battles over the years, and the 2021 edition – featuring both the headline World RX act and the competitive Euro RX3 support series – is set to generate more of the same.