On Saturday, more than a dozen 600-hp modified production cars will line up for the start of the 2016 Red Bull Global Rallycross season. If rallycross hasn’t entered your radar until just now, don’t feel bad about it -- this discipline of motorsport has been more popular on the European side of the pond throughout much of its history, and GRC got its official start just six years ago. Since the series officially began in 2011, it’s become an established version of the sport in the United States. It’s brought in competitors like “Top Gear USA” host Tanner Foust and former NASCAR and Formula One competitor Scott Speed, as well as DC Shoes founder and Gymkhana star Ken Block over the years. GRC officially added a development series, GRC Lites, in 2013. Honda joined GRC over the offseason, as well, meaning that Civics will join the starting grid this weekend in the top Supercar class. The first event of the GRC season is a doubleheader just outside Phoenix at Wild Horse Pass Motorsports Park, a new venue on the schedule. The courses vary from track to track, and the Phoenix circuit will be a 0.929-mile track with 12 turns and an approximate makeup of 80 percent pavement and 20 percent dirt. If you haven’t gotten the chance to add rallycross to your personal motorsports encyclopedia just yet, we’re here break this particular series down for you.

Scott Speed RED BULL

Ken Block heads to the FIA World Rally Championship: Despite coming close on more than one occasion, GRC veteran Ken Block never managed to win a series championship during five seasons. He won’t pursue one this year, either, as his Hoonigan Racing Division team took its efforts to the FIA World Rally Championship for the 2016 season. Block competes alongside teammate Andreas Bakkerud in a new Ford Focus RS RX rallycross car, and they sit 15th and eighth in the championship standings, respectively, three races into the season.

Jeff Ward goes full time in GRC: After making a handful of starts last season, Motorcycle Hall of Fame member Jeff Ward will join the series full time in 2016 with SH Rallycross. Ward has experience in off-road racing, motocross and IndyCar, and he’ll be in a Ford Fiesta ST for the season.

IndyCar driver Sebastian Saavedra to make GRC debut in Phoenix: After competing in the Verizon IndyCar Series periodically between 2011 and 2015, Sebastian Saavedra will head to the season-opening GRC event to make his series debut in the No. 77 Ford Fiesta. The GRC release on Monday did not specify what team he will compete with, and no announcement has been made on whether Saavedra will run more GRC races this season.

Tanner Whitten RED BULL

Rallycross essentially developed from enclosing rally racing, and GRC visits purpose-built racetracks -- occasionally constructed within existing racetracks like Daytona International Speedway -- throughout its 12-race season. The cars run heats and semifinals in order to set the field for the 10-car main event, which makes for a fast-paced race day. Each track shares a few basic characteristics with the rest: racing circuits comprising both dirt and pavement, a 70-foot jump and a "joker lap." The joker lap has to be taken by each driver once per race, and all joker counts reset should a race stoppage occur. It’s essentially a strategy tool, which can either be beneficial or detrimental depending on when a driver takes it and where he or she is in the field at that time.

Red Bull Global Rallycross looks to build momentum in 2016. RED BULL

Tanner Foust: Volkswagen Andretti Rallycross driver and series champion in 2011 and 2012. Both Foust and Scott Speed drive a relatively new car to the series -- the Volkswagen Beetle, which replaced the Polo's run in prior years.

Scott Speed: Volkswagen Andretti Rallycross driver and 2015 series champion. Won his debut in GRC at X Games in 2013 and has been a strong force in the series since.

Patrik Sandell: Bryan Herta Rallysport driver who finished eighth in the 2015 series standings. Defending champion Speed “expected (Sandell) to be the biggest competitor” for the title at the end of last season, and perhaps that bodes well for him this year.

Joni Wiman: While Wiman's 2015 season wasn't nearly as strong as the one prior, the 2014 series champion will pilot a car brand new to the series this year -- the Honda Civic rallycross car. The Andretti team learned in 2014 that new cars come with their own set of challenges, but it will be interesting to watch how Wiman and the Honda Red Bull OMSE team perform this year.

This content is created and maintained by a third party, and imported onto this page to help users provide their email addresses. You may be able to find more information about this and similar content at piano.io