2020 World Rally Championship-2

The 2020 FIA World Rally Championship-2 is the eighth season of the World Rally Championship-2, an auto racing championship for rally cars that is recognised by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile as the second-highest tier of international rallying. The category is open to cars entered by manufacturers and complying with R5 regulations.[1] Privately-entered cars may also contest the championship subject to approval from the FIA.[2]

2020 FIA World Rally Championship-2
Previous: 2019 (WRC-2 Pro) Next: 2021
Parent series:
FIA World Rally Championship
Support series:
FIA World Rally Championship-3
FIA Junior World Rally Championship

Kalle Rovanperä and Jonne Halttunen are the reigning drivers' and co-drivers' champions,[lower-alpha 1] but they did not defend their titles as they are contesting the World Rally Championship with Toyota.[3] After three rounds, Mads Østberg and Torstein Eriksen lead the Drivers' and Co-Drivers' championships by nine points ahead of Nikolay Gryazin and Yaroslav Fedorov. In the teams' championship, Hyundai Motorsport N hold a twenty-two point lead over M-Sport Ford WRT.

Calendar

The 2020 championship is contested over ten rallies that form part of the World Rally Championship. Crews nominate eight rounds to compete in, seven of which are in Europe; the eighth must be Rally México or Rally Japan.[2][4] The rallies were mandated by the FIA to prevent a situation that had arisen in 2019 where crews that were competing for championship titles were not competing against each another on the same events.[2]

Round Start date Finish date Rally Rally headquarters Surface Stages Distance Ref.
1 23 January 26 January Rallye Automobile Monte Carlo Gap, Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur Mixed[lower-alpha 2] 16 304.28 km [5]
2 13 February 16 February Rally Sweden Torsby, Värmland Snow 11 171.64 km[lower-alpha 3] [7]
3 12 March 15 March Rally Guanajuato México León, Guanajuato Gravel 24 268.84 km[lower-alpha 4] [9]
4 21 May 24 May Rally de Portugal Matosinhos, Porto Gravel Cancelled[lower-alpha 5] [10]
5 6 August 9 August Rally Finland Jyväskylä, Central Finland Gravel Cancelled[lower-alpha 6] [11]
6 24 September 27 September Rally of Turkey Marmaris, Muğla Gravel TBA TBA
7 15 October 18 October ADAC Rallye Deutschland Bostalsee, Saarland Tarmac TBA TBA
8 29 October 1 November Wales Rally GB Llandudno, Conwy Gravel Cancelled[lower-alpha 7] [12]
9 19 November 22 November Rally Japan Nagoya, Chūbu Tarmac TBA TBA
TBA TBA[lower-alpha 8] TBA[lower-alpha 8] Rally Italia Sardegna Alghero, Sardinia Gravel 20 308.57 km [14]
Source:[15][16][17]

Calendar changes

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.[17] The Tour de Corse and the Rallies of Catalunya and Australia removed from the calendar.[16] 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.[16]

The Rallies of Portugal and Italy were postponed in response to the COVID-19 pandemic.[13] The route of Rally Mexico was shortened to allow teams time to pack up and return to their headquarters before several European nations imposed travel bans in a bid to manage the pandemic.[8]

Entries

The following teams and crews are entered in the 2020 World Rally Championship-2:

Entrant Car No. Driver name Co-driver name Rounds
PH-Sport Citroën C3 R5 20 Mads Østberg Torstein Eriksen 1–2
Hyundai Motorsport N Hyundai i20 R5 21 Nikolay Gryazin Yaroslav Fedorov 1–3
22 Ole Christian Veiby Jonas Andersson 1–3
M-Sport Ford WRT Ford Fiesta R5 Mk.II 23 Adrien Fourmaux Renaud Jamoul 1–2
24 Rhys Yates James Morgan 1–2
Toksport WRT Škoda Fabia R5 Evo 25 Pontus Tidemand Patrik Barth 2–3
Source:[18][19][20]

Summary

Citroën's factory team entered selected rounds of the 2019 championship, but will not compete in 2020 after the company withdrew from rallying. The Citroën C3 R5 will remain available to independent teams.[21] PH Sport will run one C3 R5 for Mads Østberg and Torstein Eriksen.[22]

M-Sport Ford WRT committed two cars to the championship for crews led by Adrien Fourmaux and Rhys Yates.[23] Gus Greensmith and co-driver Elliott Edmondson, who drove for the team in 2019, will not contest the championship as the joined the sport's premier class.[24]

Hyundai Motorsport entered the championship under the name Hyundai Motorsport N. The team entered two Hyundai i20 R5s, one for Nikolay Gryazin and Yaroslav Fedorov, and the other for Ole Christian Veiby and Jonas Andersson.[18]

Toksport WRT became the first independent team to join the championship. The team entered a Škoda Fabia R5 Evo for 2017 World Rally Championship-2 drivers' champion Pontus Tidemand, who returned to the championship.[25]

Škoda announced that they would not enter a works team, arguing that Škoda Motorsport had proven themselves as a team and that the company would instead turn to supporting independent teams and drivers in 2020.[26] Similarly, Volkswagen will not enter a works team. The company cancelled all of its petrol-powered motorsports programmes to focus on electric racing, but will allow development of the Volkswagen Polo GTI R5 to continue.[27]

Changes

In 2019, the championship was run as the World Rally Championship-2 Pro, a class within the World Rally Championship-2 for professional crews entered by manufacturer teams. However, the multi-class structure was found to be too confusing,[2] and so the category was re-structured for the 2020 season. Professional crews will contest the World Rally Championship-2 and privateers will contest the World Rally Championship-3.[2] Some privately-entered crews will be eligible to compete in the World Rally Championship-2 provided that they can demonstrate their commitment to contesting the entire championship.[2]

Results and standings

Season summary

Round Event Winning driver Winning co-driver Winning entrant Winning time Report Ref.
1 Rallye Automobile Monte Carlo Mads Østberg Torstein Eriksen PH-Sport 3:25:19.4 Report [28]
2 Rally Sweden Mads Østberg Torstein Eriksen PH-Sport 1:15:53.1 Report [29]
3 Rally Guanajuato México Pontus Tidemand Patrik Barth Toksport WRT 2:58:16.9 Report [30]
4 Rally de Portugal Round cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic Report [10]
Rally Italia Sardegna Round postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic Report [13]
5 Rally Finland Round cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic Report [11]
6 Marmaris Rally of Turkey Report
7 ADAC Rallye Deutschland Report
8 Wales Rally GB Round cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic Report [12]
9 Rally Japan Report

Scoring system

Points are awarded to the top ten classified finishers in each event. Unlike the World Rally Championship, extra points are not awarded for the Power Stage.

Position 1st 2nd 3rd 4th 5th 6th 7th 8th 9th 10th
Points 25 18 15 12 10 8 6 4 2 1

FIA World Rally Championship-2 for Drivers

(Results key)

Pos. Driver MON
SWE
MEX
POR
FIN
TUR
DEU
GBR
JPN
Points
1 Mads Østberg 1 1 C 50
2 Nikolay Gryazin 3 6 2 C 41
3 Pontus Tidemand 3 1 C 40
4 Ole Christian Veiby Ret 2 3 C 33
5 Adrien Fourmaux 2 4 C 30
6 Rhys Yates 4 5 C 22
Pos. Driver MON
SWE
MEX
POR
FIN
TUR
DEU
GBR
JPN
Points
Source:[31]

FIA World Rally Championship-2 for Co-Drivers

(Results key)

Pos. Co-Driver MON
SWE
MEX
POR
FIN
TUR
DEU
GBR
JPN
Points
1 Torstein Eriksen 1 1 C 50
2 Yaroslav Fedorov 3 6 2 C 41
3 Patrik Barth 3 1 C 40
4 Jonas Andersson Ret 2 3 C 33
5 Renaud Jamoul 2 4 C 30
6 James Morgan 4 5 C 22
Pos. Co-Driver MON
SWE
MEX
POR
FIN
TUR
DEU
GBR
JPN
Points
Source:[31]

FIA World Rally Championship-2 for Teams

(Results key)

Pos. Team MON
SWE
MEX
POR
FIN
TUR
DEU
GBR
JPN
Points
1 Hyundai Motorsport N 3 2 2 C 74
Ret 6 3 C
2 M-Sport WRT 2 4 C 52
4 5 C
3 PH-Sport 1 1 C 50
4 Toksport WRT 3 1 C 40
Pos. Team MON
SWE
MEX
POR
FIN
TUR
DEU
GBR
JPN
Points
Source:[31]

Notes

  1. Rovanperä and Halttunen won their titles when the championship was known as the World Rally Championship-2 Pro.
  2. The Monte Carlo Rally is run on a tarmac and snow surface.
  3. The route of Rally Sweden was shortened from 301.26 km over 19 stages to 11 stages totalling 171.64 km. The route was shortened due to a lack of snow.[6]
  4. The route of Rally Mexico was shortened by 56.01 km.[8]
  5. Rally de Portugal was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.[10]
  6. Rally Finland was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.[11]
  7. Wales Rally GB was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.[12]
  8. Rally Italia Sardegna was scheduled to be held between 4 and 7 June, but was postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic.[13]

References

  1. "2019 WRC Sporting Regulations" (PDF). Retrieved 1 February 2019.
  2. 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.
  3. "Toyota reveals 2020 line-up". wrc.com. WRC Promoter GmbH. 27 November 2019. Retrieved 27 November 2019.
  4. "2020: Six reasons to be excited (part 2)". wrc.com. WRC Promoter GmbH. Retrieved 13 January 2020.
  5. "88th Rallye Monte-Carlo". acm.mc. Automobile Club de Monaco. Retrieved 28 September 2019.
  6. "Green light for Rally Sweden". rallysweden.com. Rally Sweden. Retrieved 6 February 2020.
  7. "The race". rallysweden.com. Rally Sweden. Retrieved 26 October 2019.
  8. Herrero, Daniel (15 March 2020). "Rally Mexico shortened by a day due to travel restrictions". speedcafe.com. Speedcafe. Retrieved 15 March 2020.
  9. "ItineraryMx20" (PDF). rallymexico.com. Rally Mexico. Retrieved 2 January 2020.
  10. "Portugal WRC round called off". wrc.com. WRC Promoter GmbH. 30 April 2020. Retrieved 30 April 2020.
  11. "No Neste Rally Finland for 2020". wrc.com. WRC Promoter GmbH. 3 June 2020. Retrieved 3 June 2020.
  12. Herrero, Dan (9 June 2020). "Rally GB cancelled". speedcafe.com. Speedcafe. Retrieved 9 June 2020.
  13. Elizalde, Pablo (25 March 2020). "WRC 2020 season hit by more rally postponements due to coronavirus". autosport.com. Motorsport Network. Retrieved 25 March 2020.
  14. "Itinerary". rallyitaliasardegna.com. Rally Italia Sardegna. Retrieved 25 March 2020.
  15. Herrero, Daniel (27 September 2019). "Australia drops off WRC calendar in 2020". speedcafe.com. Speedcafe. Retrieved 28 September 2019.
  16. Evans, David (27 September 2019). "WRC drops Corsica, Spain and Australia, three events return for 2020". autosport.com. Motorsport Network. Retrieved 28 September 2019.
  17. "Three new rounds in 2020 WRC calendar". wrc.com. WRC Promoter GmbH. 27 September 2019. Retrieved 28 September 2019.
  18. "88e Rallye Automobile Monte-Carlo Entry List" (PDF). acm.mc. Automobile Club de Monaco. 13 January 2020. Retrieved 13 January 2020.
  19. "Rally Sweden 2020 Entry List" (PDF). rallysweden.com. Rally Sweden. 27 January 2020. Retrieved 27 January 2020.
  20. "Rally Guanajuato Mexico 2020 Entry List" (PDF). rallymexico.com. Rally Mexico. 26 February 2020. Retrieved 26 February 2020.
  21. Evans, David (20 November 2019). "Citroen ends WRC programme, cites Ogier's exit as reason". motorsport.com. Motorsport Network. Retrieved 20 November 2019.
  22. Evans, David (9 January 2020). "Mads Ostberg gets works-supported Citroen in WRC 2 for 2020". autosport.com. Motorsport Network. Retrieved 10 January 2020.
  23. "Yates bags M-Sport WRC-2 deal". wrc.com. WRC Promoter GmbH. 9 January 2020. Retrieved 10 January 2020.
  24. 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. "Tidemand signs up for WRC 2 in Sweden". wrc.com. WRC Promoter GmbH. 14 January 2020. Retrieved 18 January 2020.
  26. Evans, David (12 December 2019). "No works Skoda team in WRC next year, team could sign Oliver Solberg". autosport.com. Motorsport Network. Retrieved 12 December 2019.
  27. Coch, Mat (23 November 2019). "Volkswagen ends TCR program amid electric focus". speedcafe.com. Speedcafe. Retrieved 14 January 2020. While development of the forthcoming TCR car has now been scrapped, the company will continue to support the Polo GTI R5, though will not run the car in a factory-backed capacity.
  28. "WRC 2 in Monte: Østberg takes top spot". wrc.com. WRC. 26 January 2020. Retrieved 27 January 2020.
  29. "Sunday in Sweden: Østberg sales WRC 2 victory". wrc.com. WRC. 16 February 2020. Retrieved 16 February 2020.
  30. "Saturday in Mexico: Dominant Tidemand claims WRC 2 win". wrc.com. WRC Promoter GmbH. 15 March 2020. Retrieved 15 March 2020.
  31. "WRC 2 standings". wrc.com. WRC Promoter GmbH. Retrieved 26 January 2020.
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