2018 World Rally Championship: Difference between revisions

2018 FIA World Rally Championship

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Support series:
FIA World Rally Championship-2
FIA World Rally Championship-3
FIA Junior World Rally Championship

Sébastien Ogier is the defending Drivers' Champion.

M-Sport World Rally Team are the defending Manufacturers' Champions.

The 2018 FIA World Rally Championship is the 46th season of the World Rally Championship, an auto racing championship recognised by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA) as the highest class of international rallying. Teams and crews are competing in thirteen events—starting with the Monte Carlo Rally in January and finishing with Rally Australia in November—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 2017-specification World Rally Cars are eligible to score points in the Manufacturers' championship. The series is once again supported by the World Rally Championship-2 and World Rally Championship-3 categories at every round and by the Junior World Rally Championship at selected rounds.

Sébastien Ogier and Julien Ingrassia started the season as the defending drivers' and co-drivers' champions after securing their fifth consecutive World Championship titles at the 2017 Wales Rally GB. M-Sport, the team they drove for in 2017, are the defending manufacturers' champions.

Calendar

The championship is being contested over thirteen rounds in Europe, North and South America and Australia.

Round	Dates		Rally name	Rally headquarters	Rally details
	Start	Finish			Surface	Stages	Distance
1	25 January	28 January	Monte Carlo Rally	Gap, Hautes-Alpes	Mixed	17	394.74 km
2	15 February	18 February	Rally Sweden	Torsby, Värmland	Snow	19	314.51 km
3	8 March	11 March	Rally Mexico	León, Guanajuato	Gravel	22	345.60 km
4	5 April	8 April	Tour de Corse	Bastia, Haute-Corse	Tarmac	12	334.02 km
5	26 April	29 April	Rally Argentina	Villa Carlos Paz, Córdoba	Gravel	18	360.61 km
6	17 May	20 May	Rally de Portugal	Matosinhos, Porto	Gravel	20	357.75 km
7	7 June	10 June	Rally Italia Sardegna	Alghero, Sardinia	Gravel	TBA	TBA
8	26 July	29 July	Rally Finland	Jyväskylä, Keski-Suomi	Gravel	TBA	TBA
9	16 August	19 August	Rallye Deutschland	Bostalsee, Saarland	Tarmac	TBA	TBA
10	13 September	16 September	Rally Turkey	Marmaris, Muğla	Gravel	TBA	TBA
11	4 October	7 October	Wales Rally GB	Deeside, Flintshire	Gravel	TBA	TBA
12	25 October	28 October	Rally Catalunya	Salou, Tarragona	Mixed	TBA	TBA
13	15 November	18 November	Rally Australia	Coffs Harbour, New South Wales	Gravel	TBA	TBA
Source:

Calendar changes

The Rally of Poland was removed from the calendar after the FIA repeatedly raised concerns about the event's safety. The FIA had previously ordered a review of the event's safety standards ahead of the 2017 event, threatening to rescind the rally's World Championship status if conditions were not improved. The event was replaced by the Rally of Turkey, which returned to the calendar for the first time since 2010. The event, which was previously based in Istanbul, will return to south-western Turkey. It will be based in the coastal resort town of Marmaris in Muğla Province, with the proposed route running along the Mediterranean coastline.

The rallies of Great Britain and Catalunya swapped places on the schedule, with Rally Catalunya becoming the penultimate round of the championship. Rallye Deutschland relocated to a new headquarters with the service park located at the Bostalsee reservoir in Saarland state.

Route changes

Rallye Monte Carlo will feature a heavily-revised route from the 2017 event, with half the route being brand-new. After starting in Mexico City in 2017, Rally Mexico will return to its traditional start in Guanajuato. The route will feature minor changes and includes a new Power Stage.

Entries

The following teams and crews are entered in the 2018 FIA World Rally Championship.

World Rally Car entries eligible to score manufacturer points

Manufacturer	Entrant	Car	Tyre	No.	Driver name	Co-driver name	Rounds
Ford	M-Sport Ford WRT	Ford Fiesta WRC	M	1	Sébastien Ogier	Julien Ingrassia	1–2
				2	Elfyn Evans	Daniel Barritt	1–2
				3	Bryan Bouffier	Xavier Panseri	1
					Teemu Suninen	Mikko Markkula	2
Hyundai	Hyundai Shell Mobis WRT	Hyundai i20 Coupe WRC	M	4	Andreas Mikkelsen	Anders Jæger	1–2
				5	Thierry Neuville	Nicolas Gilsoul	1–2
				6	Dani Sordo	Carlos del Barrio	1
					Hayden Paddon	Sebastian Marshall	2
Toyota	Toyota Gazoo Racing WRT	Toyota Yaris WRC	M	7	Jari-Matti Latvala	Miikka Anttila	1–2
				8	Ott Tänak	Martin Järveoja	1–2
				9	Esapekka Lappi	Janne Ferm	1–2
Citroën	Citroën Total Abu Dhabi WRT	Citroën C3 WRC	M	10	Kris Meeke	Paul Nagle	1–2
				11	Craig Breen	Scott Martin	1–2
					Sébastien Loeb	Daniel Elena	TBA
				12	Mads Østberg	Torstein Eriksen	2
				TBA	Khalid Al-Qassimi	TBA	TBA
Source:

World Rally Car entries ineligible to score manufacturer points

Manufacturer	Entrant	Car	Tyre	No.	Driver name	Co-driver name	Rounds
Ford	Henning Solberg	Ford Fiesta WRC	TBA	14	Henning Solberg	Cato Menkerud	2
	F.W.R.T		M	37	Lorenzo Bertelli	Simone Scattolin	2
	Manuel Villa	Ford Fiesta RS WRC	D	18	Manuel Villa	Daniele Michi	1
	Yazeed Racing		M	21	Yazeed Al Rajhi	Michael Orr	2
Source:

Team changes

Citroën reduced its commitment to two full-time entries, with a third car entered at selected events. At the same time, the C3 WRC made available to privateer entrants. The cars will be leased to drivers but their operation will be run by Citroën Racing's sister team PH Sport, allowing Citroën to retain control over the cars.

Ford increased its factory support for M-Sport's programme, with the team officially known as "M-Sport Ford World Rally Team". Their support will include engine, chassis and aerodynamic development. Ford will be recognised as the manufacturer entry, marking the company's return to the sport for the first time since 2012. Ford's support extends to M-Sport's World Rally Championship-2 programme.

Tyre supplier DMACK scaled back its involvement in the championship from full-time competition to supporting World Rally Championship-2 entries. The company had previously supported its own eponymous team before becoming a supplier to and sponsor of M-Sport's third entry in 2017.

Crew changes

Nine-time World Champion Sébastien Loeb will return to the championship with Citroën in 2018.

Nine-time World Champions Sébastien Loeb and Daniel Elena will return to the World Rally Championship with Citroën. They will contest selected rounds of the championship, allowing Loeb to compete in the Dakar Rally and the World Rallycross Championship. Loeb had previously been enlisted by the team to assist with development of the C3 WRC, particularly on loose surfaces, after Citroën endured a difficult championship campaign in 2017. With Citroën scaling back its commitment to two full-time entries, Stéphane Lefebvre left the championship to contest the World Rally Championship-2 in an R5 variant of the C3 WRC. Mads Østberg left Jipocar World Rally Team and moved to Citroën, signing a one-event agreement with the team to drive their third, part-time entry. He retained ownership of the Ford Fiesta WRC that he competed with in 2017 through the Adapta World Rally Team, entering it separately to his own entry with Citroën.

Andreas Mikkelsen and Anders Jæger returned to full-time competition with Hyundai Motorsport. Mikkelsen and Jæger, who were left without a seat at the end of 2016 following Volkswagen Motorsport's withdrawal from the sport, contested selected rounds of the 2017 championship for Citroën and Hyundai before joining the team for 2018. Hyundai chose to split their third car between Hayden Paddon and Dani Sordo. The team will enter four i20 Coupe WRCs in the Rally de Portugal to ensure that both Paddon and Sordo contest seven rounds of the championship each. Sordo also changed co-drivers, ending his four-year partnership with Marc Martí. He instead reunited with Carlos del Barrio, who previously drove with Sordo in 2013.

Ott Tänak and Martin Järveoja left M-Sport to join Toyota, where they replaced Juho Hänninen and Kaj Lindström. Hänninen and Lindström remained with the team, with Hänninen taking on a test driver role and Lindström joining the team's management. Following the departure of Tänak and Järveoja, M-Sport promoted Teemu Suninen and Mikko Markkula from their World Rally Championship-2 team. Suninen and Markkula will share the car with Bryan Bouffier, who will contest Rallye Monte Carlo and the Tour de Corse. Bouffier was hired for his specialist knowledge of the events.

Rule changes

Sporting regulations

The FIA took responsibility for the placement of artificial chicanes in stages, with regulations dictating their placement, width and frequency of use. The changes were introduced following the 67th Rally Finland where event organisers placed chicanes that were criticised by drivers for being too narrow, poorly-positioned and potentially dangerous.

Privateers entering 2017-specification World Rally Cars are permitted to enter their cars under their own team names. In 2017, privateers competing in current-specification cars had to have their entries submitted by a manufacturer.

The WRC Trophy will no longer be open to privateers entering World Rally Cars older than 2017-specification models.

Results and standings

Season summary

Round	Event	Winning driver	Winning co-driver	Winning entrant	Winning time	Report
1	Monte Carlo Rally	Sébastien Ogier	Julien Ingrassia	M-Sport Ford WRT	4:18:55.5	Report
2	Rally Sweden					Report
3	Rally México					Report
4	Tour de Corse					Report
5	Rally Argentina					Report
6	Rally de Portugal					Report
7	Rally Italia Sardegna					Report
8	Rally Finland					Report
9	Rallye Deutschland					Report
10	Rally Turkey					Report
11	Wales Rally GB					Report
12	Rally Catalunya					Report
13	Rally Australia					Report

Scoring system

Points are awarded to the top ten classified finishers. In the manufacturers' championship, points are only awarded to the top two classified finishers representing a manufacturer and driving a 2017-specification World Rally Car. There are also five bonus points awarded to the winners of the Power Stage, four points for second place, three for third, two for fourth and one for fifth. Power Stage points are only awarded in the drivers' and co-drivers' championships.

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 for Drivers

Pos. Driver MON SWE MEX FRA ARG POR ITA FIN DEU TUR GBR CAT AUS Points 1 Sébastien Ogier 15 26 2 Ott Tänak 2 18 3 Jari-Matti Latvala 34 17 4 Kris Meeke 41 17 5 Thierry Neuville 52 14 6 Elfyn Evans 6 8 7 Esapekka Lappi 7 6 8 Bryan Bouffier 8 4 9 Andreas Mikkelsen 133 3 10 Craig Breen 9 2 11 Jan Kopecký 10 1 – Dani Sordo Ret 0 Pos. Driver MON SWE MEX FRA ARG POR ITA FIN DEU TUR GBR CAT AUS Points

Key Colour Result Gold Winner Silver 2nd place Bronze 3rd place Green Points finish Blue Non-points finish Non-classified finish (NC) Purple Did not finish (Ret) Black Excluded (EX) Disqualified (DSQ) White Did not start (DNS) Cancelled (C) Blank Withdrew entry from the event (WD) Notes: 1 2 3 4 5 – Power Stage position

FIA World Rally Championship for Co-Drivers

Pos. Co-Driver MON SWE MEX FRA ARG POR ITA FIN DEU TUR GBR CAT AUS Points 1 Julien Ingrassia 15 26 2 Martin Järveoja 2 18 3 Miikka Anttila 34 17 4 Paul Nagle 41 17 5 Nicolas Gilsoul 52 14 6 Daniel Barritt 6 8 7 Janne Ferm 7 6 8 Xavier Panseri 8 4 9 Anders Jaeger 133 3 10 Scott Martin 9 2 11 Pavel Dresler 10 1 – Carlos Del Barrio Ret 0 Pos. Co-Driver MON SWE MEX FRA ARG POR ITA FIN DEU TUR GBR CAT AUS Points

Key Colour Result Gold Winner Silver 2nd place Bronze 3rd place Green Points finish Blue Non-points finish Non-classified finish (NC) Purple Did not finish (Ret) Black Excluded (EX) Disqualified (DSQ) White Did not start (DNS) Cancelled (C) Blank Withdrew entry from the event (WD) Notes: 1 2 3 4 5 – Power Stage position

FIA World Rally Championship for Manufacturers

Pos. Manufacturer No. MON SWE MEX FRA ARG POR ITA FIN DEU TUR GBR CAT AUS Points 1 M-Sport Ford WRT 1 1 33 2 6 3 NC 2 Toyota Gazoo Racing WRT 7 3 33 8 2 9 NC 3 Citroën Total Abu Dhabi WRT 10 4 18 11 7 4 Hyundai Shell Mobis WRT 4 8 14 5 5 6 Ret Pos. Manufacturer No. MON SWE MEX FRA ARG POR ITA FIN DEU TUR GBR CAT AUS Points

Key Colour Result Gold Winner Silver 2nd place Bronze 3rd place Green Points finish Blue Non-points finish Non-classified finish (NC) Purple Did not finish (Ret) Black Excluded (EX) Disqualified (DSQ) White Did not start (DNS) Cancelled (C) Blank Withdrew entry from the event (WD)

External links

• Official website of the World Rally Championship