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| rowspan="1" | {{flagicon|FIN}} [[Jari-Matti Latvala|Latvala Motorsport]]
| rowspan="1" | {{flagicon|FIN}} [[Jari-Matti Latvala|Latvala Motorsport]]
| [[Toyota Yaris WRC]]
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| align="center" id="10" | TBA
| align="center" id="10" | 10
| nowrap | {{flagicon|FIN}} [[Jari-Matti Latvala]]
| nowrap | {{flagicon|FIN}} [[Jari-Matti Latvala]]
| {{flagicon|FIN}} [[Juho Hänninen]]
| {{flagicon|FIN}} [[Juho Hänninen]]

Revision as of 20:39, 16 January 2020

Ott Tänak (left) and Martin Järveoja (right) are the defending Drivers' and Co-drivers' Champions.
Hyundai (i20 Coupe WRC pictured) start the season as the defending Manufacturers' Champions.

The 2020 FIA World Rally Championship is the forty-eighth season of the World Rally Championship, an auto racing competition recognised by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA) as the highest class of international rallying. Teams and crews are due to compete in fourteen rallies for the World Rally Championships for Drivers, Co-drivers and Manufacturers. Crews are free to compete in cars complying with World Rally Car and Group R regulations; however, only manufacturers competing with World Rally Cars homologated under regulations introduced in 2017 are eligible to score points in the Manufacturers' championship. The championship is due to begin in January 2020 with the Rallye Monte Carlo and conclude in November 2020 with Rally Japan.[1][2] The series will be supported by the World Rally Championship-2, World Rally Championship-3 and Junior World Rally Championship categories at selected events.[3]

Ott Tänak and Martin Järveoja are the defending Drivers' and Co-drivers' Champions, having secured their maiden titles at the 2019 Rally Catalunya.[4] Hyundai Shell Mobis WRT, the team Tänak and Järveoja will compete for, are the defending Manufacturers' Champions.[5][a] Hyundai won their maiden manufacturers' title when the final round of the 2019 championship was cancelled.[7]

Calendar

A map showing the locations of the rallies in the 2020 championship. Event headquarters are marked with a black dot.

The 2020 championship is due to be contested over thirteen rounds in Europe, Africa, Asia, the Middle East, North and South America and Oceania.[1][2]

Round Start date Finish date Rally Rally headquarters Surface Stages Distance Ref.
1 23 January 26 January Monaco Rallye Automobile Monte Carlo Gap, Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur Mixed[b] 16 304.28 km [8]
2 13 February 16 February Sweden Rally Sweden Torsby, Värmland Snow 19 301.26 km [9]
3 12 March 15 March Mexico Rally Guanajuato México León, Guanajuato Gravel 24 325.28 km [10]
4 16 April 19 April Chile Rally Chile Concepción, Biobío Gravel Cancelled[c] [11]
5 30 April 3 May Argentina Rally Argentina Villa Carlos Paz, Córdoba Gravel TBA TBA
6 21 May 24 May Portugal Rally de Portugal Matosinhos, Porto Gravel TBA TBA
7 4 June 7 June Italy Rally Italia Sardegna Alghero, Sardinia Gravel TBA TBA
8 16 July 19 July Kenya Safari Rally Kenya Nairobi, Nairobi County Gravel TBA TBA
9 6 August 9 August Finland Rally Finland Jyväskylä, Central Finland Gravel TBA TBA
10 3 September 6 September New Zealand Rally New Zealand Auckland, Auckland Region Gravel TBA TBA
11 24 September 27 September Turkey Rally of Turkey Marmaris, Muğla Gravel TBA TBA
12 15 October 18 October Germany ADAC Rallye Deutschland Bostalsee, Saarland Tarmac TBA TBA
13 29 October 1 November United Kingdom Wales Rally GB Llandudno, Conwy Gravel TBA TBA
14 19 November 22 November Japan Rally Japan Nagoya, Chūbu Tarmac TBA TBA
Source:[1][2][12][13]

Calendar changes

With the addition of Rally Chile to the calendar in 2019, the FIA opened the tender process for new events to join the championship in 2020.[14] Bids to revive Rally Japan and the Safari Rally were received, and candidate events were run in 2019.[15][16] Both events were accepted to the 2020 calendar, as was a proposal to revive Rally New Zealand.[1]

  • The Safari Rally will be run as a World Championship event for the first time since 2002. The event will be based in the Kenyan capital Nairobi and feature stages around Lake Naivasha.[13] In contrast to the event's traditional endurance format, which featured stages hundreds of kilometres long, the 2020 Safari Rally will follow a compact route to comply with FIA regulations mandating the maximum route distance.
  • Rally Japan returns to the calendar for the first time since 2010, replacing Rally Australia as the final round of the championship. The rally will move away from its original headquarters in Hokkaidō to a new base in Nagoya and will be run on tarmac rather than gravel.[12]
  • Rally New Zealand will return to the calendar for the first time since 2012. The event will return to Auckland.[1]

The addition of these events saw the Tour de Corse and the Rallies of Catalunya and Australia removed from the calendar.[2] Organisers of Rally Catalunya agreed to forfeit their place on the 2020 calendar as part of a rotation system that will see European events host rallies in two out of three calendar years. The Tour de Corse was removed in response to concerns from teams about the logistics of visiting Corsica, while Rally Australia was removed as the event's base in a regional centre rather than a major metropolitan area meant that the rally struggled to attract spectators.[2] Rally Chile was included on the original calendar, but was later cancelled in the face of ongoing political unrest in the country.[11] The FIA responded to the cancellation by seeking a replacement event to ensure that the calendar retained its planned fourteen rounds.[17]

Entries

The following teams and crews are under contract to contest the 2020 championship. Ford, Hyundai and Toyota are all represented by manufacturer teams and eligible to score points in the FIA World Rally Championship for Manufacturers. All competitors use tyres supplied by Michelin.[18]

Entrant Car No. Driver name Co-driver name Rounds Ref.
South Korea Hyundai Shell Mobis WRT Hyundai i20 Coupe WRC 6 Spain Dani Sordo Spain Carlos del Barrio TBA [19]
8 Estonia Ott Tänak Estonia Martin Järveoja 1 [6]
9 France Sébastien Loeb Monaco Daniel Elena 1 [20]
11 Belgium Thierry Neuville Belgium Nicolas Gilsoul 1 [21]
Finland Latvala Motorsport Toyota Yaris WRC 10 Finland Jari-Matti Latvala Finland Juho Hänninen TBA [22]
United Kingdom M-Sport Ford WRT Ford Fiesta WRC 3 Finland Teemu Suninen Finland Jarmo Lehtinen 1 [23]
4 Finland Esapekka Lappi Finland Janne Ferm 1 [24]
40 Lithuania Deividas Jocius Lithuania Mindaugas Varža 1 [25]
44 United Kingdom Gus Greensmith United Kingdom Elliott Edmondson 1 [24]
Japan Toyota Gazoo Racing WRT Toyota Yaris WRC 17 France Sébastien Ogier France Julien Ingrassia 1 [26]
18 Japan Takamoto Katsuta United Kingdom Daniel Barritt 1 [27]
33 United Kingdom Elfyn Evans United Kingdom Scott Martin 1 [26]
69 Finland Kalle Rovanperä Finland Jonne Halttunen 1 [26]
TBA TBA TBA France Pierre-Louis Loubet France Vincent Landais TBA [28]
Source:[25]

In detail

File:Sheikh Khalid Al Qassimi - WRC Rally Finland 2017.jpg
Citroën (C3 WRC pictured) withdrew from the championship.

Reigning World Champions Ott Tänak and Martin Järveoja left Toyota Gazoo Racing WRT and moved to Hyundai Motorsport.[6] The Estonian pair chose not to compete with the number 1,[29] which may only be used by the defending champions.[30] Thierry Neuville and Nicolas Gilsoul remained with Hyundai, marking their seventh season with the team.[21] Sébastien Loeb and Daniel Elena also renewed their contracts with the team.[20] Loeb and Elena will contest the championship on a part-time basis, sharing their car with the crew of Dani Sordo and Carlos del Barrio.[19] Crews led by Andreas Mikkelsen and Craig Breen were left without drives.[31] Hyundai announced that they could form a second team for Breen and Mikkelsen to contest selected rallies.[31]

The Citroën World Rally Team had committed to entering two full-time entries instead of three, continuing the policy they introduced in 2019. Sébastien Ogier and Esapekka Lappi were under contract to lead the team's crews until the team announced that they would withdraw from the championship with immediate effect. Citroën cited Ogier's decision to leave the team as the reason for withdrawing,[32][d] but pledged support for independent teams competing with the R5 variant of the Citroën C3 WRC in the championship's support categories.[33] The company also expressed a willingness to sell or rent their C3 WRCs to teams looking to compete in the sport's premier category.[34]

Toyota Gazoo Racing WRT will feature an entirely new line-up in 2020.[26] Sébastien Ogier and Julien Ingrassia will replace Ott Tänak and Martin Jarveojä, while Elfyn Evans and Scott Martin were recruited from M-Sport Ford WRT. Reigning World Rally Championship-2 Pro champions Kalle Rovanperä and Jonne Halttunen will make their competitive début in Toyota's third car. Toyota will enter an additional two cars for Jari-Matti Latvala and Takamoto Katsuta on a part-time basis.[35] Katsuta will contest all of the European rallies under the Toyota Gazoo Racing name while Latvala will contest two events—with further starts depending on his budget—as an independent entrant.[35] Former Toyota Gazoo Racing driver Juho Hänninen will be Latvala's co-driver, replacing Miikka Anttila.[22] Kris Meeke remained under contract with the team,[36] but stepped back from full-time competition.[37]

M-Sport Ford WRT continued their policy of entering two crews on a full-time basis and a third crew contesting selected rounds. Teemu Suninen and Jarmo Lehtinen were retained, while Esapekka Lappi and Janne Ferm replaced Evans and Martin in the team's second car.[24] Gus Greensmith and Elliott Edmondson, who contested three rounds of the 2019 championship with the team, will contest an expanded programme of nine rounds in 2020.[24]

Reigning World Rally Championship-2 champions Pierre-Louis Loubet and Vincent Landais will make their début in a World Rally Car during the year.[28]

Regulation changes

Sporting regulations

The eligibility requirements for crews entering events will be simplified and streamlined into a system called the "FIA Rally Pyramid".[3] The top tier of the sport, known as "Rally 1" will be for World Rally Cars built to regulations introduced in 2017. The second tier, "Rally 2", will be for manufacturer teams and professional independent teams entering R5 cars in the World Rally Championship-2. This will be followed by "Rally 3" for privately-entered and "gentlemen driver" crews competing with R5 cars in the World Rally Championship-3. "Rally 4" entries will not contest their own dedicated championship, but will instead serve as a bridging category aimed at making the step from R2 to R5 more managable by allowing R2 entries to be equipped with four-wheel drive. The final tier, "Rally 5", will be for crews entering R2 cars in the Junior World Rally Championship.[3]

Notes

  1. ^ Tänak and Järveoja won their titles with Toyota Gazoo Racing WRT but left the team to join Hyundai for the 2020 championship.[6]
  2. ^ The Monte Carlo Rally is run on a tarmac and snow surface.
  3. ^ Rally Chile was cancelled due to political unrest.[11]
  4. ^ Citroën had previously announced that they would withdraw at the end of the 2021 championship, co-inciding with the planned introduction of hybrid powertrains. The planned withdrawal was attributed to Citroën's existing partnership with Formula E team Techeetah.[33]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e Herrero, Daniel (27 September 2019). "Australia drops off WRC calendar in 2020". speedcafe.com. Speedcafe. Retrieved 28 September 2019.
  2. ^ a b c d e Evans, David (27 September 2019). "WRC drops Corsica, Spain and Australia, three events return for 2020". autosport.com. Motorsport Network. Retrieved 28 September 2019.
  3. ^ a b c Evans, David (8 October 2019). "FIA steps up plan to simplify WRC into five-tier career ladder". autosport.com. Motorsport Network. Retrieved 8 October 2019.
  4. ^ Barry, Luke (27 October 2019). "WRC Spain: Toyota's Tanak takes '19 title, Neuville wins for Hyundai". autosport.com. Motorsport Network. Retrieved 28 October 2019.
  5. ^ "Hyundai celebrates title". wrc.com. WRC Promoter GmbH. 13 November 2019. Retrieved 13 November 2019.
  6. ^ a b c "Tänak quits Toyota". wrc.com. WRC Promoter GmbH. 31 October 2019. Retrieved 31 October 2019.
  7. ^ Howard, Tom (12 November 2019). "UPDATE: Rally Australia cancelled due to bushfires". speedcafe.com. Speedcafe. Retrieved 12 November 2019.
  8. ^ "88th Rallye Monte-Carlo". acm.mc. Automobile Club de Monaco. Retrieved 28 September 2019.
  9. ^ "The race". rallysweden.com. Rally Sweden. Retrieved 26 October 2019.
  10. ^ "ItineraryMx20" (PDF). rallymexico.com. Rally Mexico. Retrieved 2 January 2020.
  11. ^ a b c Evans, David (29 November 2019). "WRC's 2020 Rally Chile cancelled due to political and social unrest". autosport.com. Motorsport Network. Retrieved 30 November 2019.
  12. ^ a b "Three new rounds in 2020 WRC calendar". wrc.com. WRC Promoter GmbH. 27 September 2019. Retrieved 28 September 2019.
  13. ^ a b "Safari back in 2020". wrc.com. WRC Promoter GmbH. 27 September 2019. Retrieved 28 September 2019.
  14. ^ "FIA announces World Motor Sport Council decisions". fia.com. Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile. 12 October 2018. Retrieved 12 October 2018.
  15. ^ Evans, David (8 April 2019). "FIA visits Japan and Kenya in next step for WRC returns in 2020". autosport.com. Motorsport Network. Retrieved 5 May 2019.
  16. ^ Evans, David (2 July 2019). "Safari Rally could officially return in WRC calendar vote this week". autosport.com. Motorsport Network. Retrieved 3 July 2019.
  17. ^ Evans, David (16 December 2019). "Rally Chile replacement call unclear, could be made during 2020 WRC". autosport.com. Motorsport Network. Retrieved 2 January 2020.
  18. ^ Evans, David (20 December 2019). "Pirelli wins tyre tender to supply WRC top tier and R5s from 2021". autosport.com. Motorsport Network. Retrieved 10 January 2020.
  19. ^ a b "Sordo extends Hyundai contract". wrc.com. WRC Promoter GmbH. 9 October 2019. Retrieved 15 October 2019.
  20. ^ a b "Loeb joins Hyundai". wrc.com. WRC Promoter GmbH. 13 December 2018. Retrieved 15 October 2019.
  21. ^ a b "Neuville signs new Hyundai deal". wrc.com. WRC Promoter GmbH. 12 September 2018. Retrieved 12 September 2018.
  22. ^ a b Evans, David; Benyon, Jack (14 January 2020). "Ex-WRC driver Haninen to co-drive for Latvala on 2020 Rally Sweden". autosport.com. Motorsport Network. Retrieved 14 January 2020.
  23. ^ "Eight drivers, one seat". wrc.com. WRC Promoter GmbH. 30 November 2019. Retrieved 7 December 2019. With Hyundai Motorsport and Toyota Gazoo Racing having finalised their line-ups for 2020, the last remaining factory car untaken is the Ford Fiesta next to Teemu Suninen's in M-Sport's workshop.
  24. ^ a b c d Evans, David (2 January 2020). "Citroen WRC exile Lappi joins M-Sport alongside Suninen and Greensmith". autosport.com. Motorsport Network. Retrieved 2 January 2020.
  25. ^ a b "88e Rallye Automobile Monte-Carlo Entry List" (PDF). acm.mc. Automobile Club de Monaco. 13 January 2020. Retrieved 13 January 2020.
  26. ^ a b c d "Toyota reveals 2020 line-up". wrc.com. WRC Promoter GmbH. 27 November 2019. Retrieved 27 November 2019.
  27. ^ Klein, Jamie (14 December 2019). "Toyota hands Katsuta eight WRC starts for 2020". motorsport.com. Motorsport Network. Retrieved 14 December 2019.
  28. ^ a b "Loubet set for World Rally Car début". wrc.com. WRC Promoter GmbH. Retrieved 13 January 2020.
  29. ^ "Champ Ott shuns #1 at Hyundai". wrc.com. WRC Promoter GmbH. 13 January 2020. Retrieved 13 January 2020.
  30. ^ "2019 FIA World Rally Championship Sporting Regulations" (PDF). Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile. 12 December 2018. p. 22. Archived from the original on 27 July 2019.
  31. ^ a b Evans, David (10 December 2019). "Hyundai could run second WRC team for exiles Breen, Mikkelsen". autosport.com. Motorsport Network. Retrieved 10 December 2019.
  32. ^ Evans, David (20 November 2019). "Citroen ends WRC programme, cites Ogier's exit as reason". motorsport.com. Motorsport Network. Retrieved 20 November 2019.
  33. ^ a b Evans, David (15 November 2019). "Citroen won't be part of World Rally Championship hybrid era in 2022". motorsport.com. Motorsport Network. Retrieved 15 November 2019.
  34. ^ Evans, David (3 December 2019). "Citroen's WRC cars could be bought or rented after its WRC exit for 2020". autosport.com. Motorsport Network. Retrieved 10 January 2020.
  35. ^ a b Evans, David (29 November 2019). "Latvala could get five-round 2020 WRC deal in a Toyota Yaris". motorsport.com. Motorsport Network. Retrieved 29 November 2019.
  36. ^ Evans, David (6 December 2019). "Kris Meeke facing uncertain future after Toyota WRC exit". motorsport.com. Motorsport Network. Retrieved 7 December 2019.
  37. ^ Lillo, Sergio; Evans, David (9 January 2020). "Meeke accepts full-time WRC career is over, now exploring options". autosport.com. Motorsport Network. Retrieved 10 January 2020.
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