The 2019 FIA World Rallycross Championship will head to Abu Dhabi for the season opener following an agreement with promotors and the Yas Marina circuit.

The event on 5-6 April will mark the first competitive rallycross event in the Middle East and use part of the Formula 1 circuit.

“We are delighted to announce this new partnership with Yas Marina Circuit, which enables us to bring rallycross to a part of the world the discipline has never visited before.” said Paul Bellamy, SVP & Managing Director, Motorsports, IMG.

“The Middle East is renowned for its enthusiasm for motorsport, and there is no championship more exciting and action-packed than World RX.

“With so much planned both on and off-track, the Abu Dhabi weekend will be a high-octane weekend of fast drivers, even faster cars and major music acts – the perfect way to kick-start another thrilling season of World RX competition.”

Al Tareq Al Ameri, CEO of Yas Marina Circuit, added “Yas Marina Circuit is proud of its long track record of hosting thrilling internationally acclaimed motorsport races that attract fans from across the globe to Abu Dhabi and we are delighted to welcome the FIA World Rallycross Championship to the ‘Meeting Place of Champions’.

“With the new season being bookended by major sporting events – the Formula 1 2018 Etihad Airways Abu Dhabi Grand Prix in November and the FIA World Rallycross Championship in April – the 2018-19 events calendar promises to be our biggest to date and fully demonstrates that Yas Marina Circuit is ‘Always On’.”