Rallye Monte Carlo
The Monte Carlo Rally or Rallye Monte Carlo (officially Rallye Automobile Monte Carlo) is a rallying event organised each year by the Automobile Club de Monaco which also organises the Formula One Monaco Grand Prix and the Rallye Monte-Carlo Historique. The rally now takes place along the French Riviera in the Principality of Monaco and southeast France. Previously, competitors would set off from all four corners of Europe and ‘rally’, in other words, meet, in Monaco to celebrate the end of a unique event. From its inception in 1911 by Prince Albert I it was an important means of demonstrating improvements and innovations to automobiles.
Dates: 16–19 January
Base: Valence, Rhône-Alpes
Surface: Mixed
Rally Sweden
The Rally Sweden (Swedish: Svenska rallyt), formerly the Swedish Rally, and later the Uddeholm Swedish Rally, is an automobile rally competition held in Värmland, Sweden in early February. First held in 1950, when it was called the Rally to the Midnight Sun (Which at this time was a summer rally) with start and finish at separate locations, seventeen years later both start and finish became located in Karlstad. The main service park is located in the town of Hagfors, which is actually much closer to the special stages than Karlstad. The competition is spread out over three days with the start of the first part on Friday morning and the finish on Sunday afternoon.
In 1973 the rally was introduced to the World Rally Championship and started to get international attention; the Swedish Rally has been also traditionally the only rally held on snow. The first non-Nordic winning driver of the Swedish Rally were Frenchman Sébastien Loeb in 2004, Frenchman Sébastien Ogier was the second non-Nordic winner in 2013. Spaniard Carlos Sainz finished second four times and third two times.
The rally has been cancelled twice; in 1974 due to the oil crisis and in 1990 because of the mild weather. The rally was also not held in 2009 due to the WRC's round rotation syetem. Weather continues to be a concern, as rising global temperatures reduce the likelihood of appropriately snowy conditions every year. The 2005 event was one of the warmest ever, turning many stages into mud and destroying the special studded snow tires used by the teams.
Dates: 7–10 February
Base: Hagfors, Värmland
Surface: Snow
Rally Guanajuato México
Rally Mexico, formerly known as Rally America is a round of the FIA World Rally Championship. The rally entered the championship schedule in the 2004 season. The event's itinerary is based in the state of Guanajuato. The stages take place in the environs of cities of León, Silao, Irapuato and Guanajuato; rally headquarters being located at León.
Rally México features the highest stages of all WRC championship rounds, as high as 2700 meters; engines in WRC cars lose up to 20% of their power in these stages as a result, due to the lower air pressure at such altitudes.
In 2004, the Organising Committee won the Inmarsat Star of the Rally award[1] for his first organized WRC rally. In 2008, the Organising Committee of the Corona Rally Mexico won the Abu Dhabi Spirit of the Rally award for the great work done in the organization of the WRC event.
Dates: 8–10 March
Base: León, Guanajuato
Surface: Gravel
Vodafone Rally de Portugal
The Rally de Portugal (formerly: Rallye de Portugal) is a rally competition held in Portugal. First held in 1967, the seventh running of the race, the 7º TAP Rallye de Portugal was the third event in the inaugural FIA World Rally Championship in 1973. The rally remained on the WRC calendar for the next 29 years, and after being dropped for 2002–2006, the event returned to Portugal in 2007. During the 1970s, 1980s and early 1990s, Rally de Portugal was a mixed event between asphalt and gravel. Currently it is an all-gravel event.
Rally de Portugal has been awarded "The Best Rally in the World" five times and in 2000 "The Most Improved Rally of the Year". The most successful driver in the history of the rally is Finland's Markku Alén, who has won the event five times (1975, 1977, 1978, 1981 and 1987).
Dates: 11–14 April
Base: Faro, Algarve
Surface: Gravel
Rally Argentina
The Rally Argentina is an Argentine rally competition that has been both a round of the World Rally Championship, the Intercontinental Rally Challenge, the Codasur South American Rally Championship and the Argentine Rally Championship. The rally is also a round of the South American Rally Championship and the Argentine Rally Championship. It is held in the area around Villa Carlos Paz in Córdoba Province, on narrow gravel roads best known for their water-splashes.
Dates: 3–5 May
Base: Villa Carlos Paz, Córdoba
Surface: Gravel
Acropolis Rally
The Acropolis Rally of Greece (Greek: Ράλλυ Ακρόπολις) is a rally competition, part of the European Rally Championship schedule. The rally is held on very dusty, rough and rocky mountain roads around Athens during the Greek hot summer period. The rally is known for being extremely tough on the competing cars and drivers. The highlight of the rally is the super special stage (SSS). In 2005, it was announced the Rally of the Year.
The Acropolis Rally has been held for 51 years by the Greek motorsports organization Automobile and Touring Club of Greece (ELPA), making it one of the longest-standing in world rallying. Many famous rallying individuals have won this event including Walter Röhrl, Björn Waldegård, Ari Vatanen, Stig Blomqvist, Juha Kankkunen, Carlos Sainz and Colin McRae, among others. Due to the nature of the rally, with a mix of rough, twisty mountain stages and coupled with blistering heat and choking dust, the Acropolis Rally is one of the toughest on the world rally circuit. Cars that are used in this race have to be built with extra sturdiness in order to cope with the fast but rock-strewn stages. Drivers and co-drivers also have to contend with the pounding terrain and high summer temperatures which often reach 50°C within the cockpit.
In 2005 a new stage was introduced; a superspecial stage held within the Olympic Stadium of Athens. In 2006 there were 2 superspecials, again in the same stadium. The rally headquarters and the service park also moved from Lamia to the Athens Olympic Sports Complex. In the 2007 event, the superspecial (along with the rally headquarters and the service park) moved to the Markopoulo Olympic Equestrian Centre. In 2008 the super special stage was held twice at the Tatoi military airport.Since 2009 the rally headquarters and the service park were moved to the Greek city of Loutraki near the famous Corinth Canal.
Dates: 31 May–2 June
Base: Loutraki, Corinthia
Surface: Gravel
Rally d'Italia Sardegna
The Rally d'Italia Sardegna is a rally competition that has been a round of the World Rally Championship (WRC) schedule and also the Intercontinental Rally Challenge (IRC). The rally is held on narrow, twisty, sandy and bumpy mountain roads around the town of Porto Cervo. The Italian round of the World Rally Championship was previously the Rallye Sanremo, held first as a mixed surface event and later on asphalt roads around the resort of Sanremo, but Rally d'Italia Sardegna replaced it in the WRC schedule from the 2004 season.
The 2008 event was held from 15 to 18 May 2008 and the latest stage, Liscia Ruja (2.69 km, near the five-star hotel Cala di Volpe, well known as James Bond's favourite resort), was broadcast live. The 2010 rally was the first running of the event under IRC rules and four stages were also broadcast live by Eurosport.
Dates: 21–23 June
Base: Olbia, Gallura
Surface: Gravel
Lotos Rally Poland
The Lotos Team WRC is an Polish motor racing team that made its debut in the World Rally Championship at the 2013 Rallye Monte Carlo.
The team was formed by Motorsport Italia team manager Bruno di Pianto from the remains of the WRC Team Mini Portugal (which closed at the end of the 2012 season) with the support of Polish oil conglomerate Grupa Lotos. The team was scheduled to contest the 2013 season with a Mini John Cooper Works WRC driven by Polish driver and 2012 Production Car World Championship runner-up Michał Kościuszko.[1] However, the team abandoned the Mini John Cooper Works WRC halfway through the season and withdrew their entry from the Acropolis Rally to focus on changing to the Ford Fiesta RS WRC, making their debut with the new car at the Rally d'Italia in Sardinia.
Although the team was recognised by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile as a manufacturer team for the 2013 season, only the team's best eight results from thirteen rallies will be counted towards the team's final points tally. Ultimately, the team only contested seven rounds of the championship; after competing in Sardinia, Kościuszko skipped Rally Finland before returning for Rallye Deutschland in what would be his final appearance during the 2013 season.
The team finished the season in eighth and last place, with twenty points and a best finish of seventh place in the Rally d'Italia.
Dates: 26 June–29 June
Base: ?
Surface: Gravel
Neste Oil Rally Finland
The Neste Oil Rally Finland (formerly known as the 1000 Lakes Rally) is a rally competition held in Jyväskylä in the Finnish Lakeland in Central Finland. The rally is driven on wide and smooth gravel roads, featuring blind crests and big jumps. It is the fastest event in the World Rally Championship and has been dubbed the "Grand Prix of rallying". Rally Finland is among the largest annually organised public events in the Nordic countries, attracting hundreds of thousands of spectators each year. The rally has been known to be very difficult for non-Nordic drivers; only five drivers from countries other than Finland or Sweden have won the event.
Rally Finland was first held under the name Jyväskylän Suurajot (Jyväskylä Grand Prix) in 1951. Originally an endurance event that stretched to Lapland in Northern Finland, the rally was at the forefront of the adoption of the modern rally format, splitting the route into a number of special stages in the mid-1950s. With increasing international attention, it became part of the European Rally Championship programme in 1959. After the start of the World Rally Championship in 1973, the event became the Finnish round in the series. Rally Finland is now among the most popular and prestigious rallies in the championship.
Dates: 1–3 August
Base: Jyväskylä, Keski-Suomi
Surface: Gravel
ADAC Rallye Deutschland
The ADAC Rallye Deutschland is a rally event held in Germany. The event was first held in 1982 and originally hosted by e.g. Frankfurt, Mainz and Koblenz. In 2000, the rally was relocated to the region around Trier. Previously part of the European and German championships, the event has been in the World Rally Championship calendar since the 2002 season.
Rally Deutschland is entirely held on asphalt. A significant part of its attraction originates in the mixture of track characteristics encountered throughout the three-day period. This setup has earned it the description of "three rallies in one".
The vineyard stages consist of tight and twisted support roads, with short straights and hairpins in the steep mountains surrounding the Moselle. Fans particularly like the stages because of the close proximity to the cars, sitting on small walls and in between the vines, often less than 2m from the ideal line. However, this layout has also raised serious concerns with the FIA regarding spectator safety. In 2008, the final stage of leg one was cancelled after too many fans where trying to make their way through the vineyards.[3] The roads on the military training ground, called the panzerplatte or armour flat, near Baumholder are made of rough concrete and surrounded by the dangerous "Hinkelstones" (probably English slang for the more proper '"heinkelsteins" which would translate to "tricky" or "thorny" stones in English) rocks up to a meter in size lining either side the roads as a restraint for military vehicles. The stages are fast and the vast military grounds offer endless spectator points, including the legendary crest known as "Gina". On this terrain small driving-errors almost automatically lead to serious damage to both car and driver, the most prominent victim being Petter Solberg in 2004. Finally, the asphalt roads in the rural northern Saarland are very fast with high-speed curves, only interrupted by some tight turns onto smaller roads.
Besides the different track characteristics, the frequently changing weather makes for additional excitement. Short but strong rainshowers can appear out of nowhere and significantly complicate the tyre-choice. In 2004, Marcus Grönholm became the prominent victim of a rainy morning when he crashed out of the introductory stage on Friday.
Dates: 23–25 August
Base: Trier, Rhineland-Palatinate
Surface: Tarmac
Coates Hire Rally Australia
Rally Australia is an automobile rally event which was held in and around Perth, Western Australia from 1988 until 2006, when that state's tourism commission severed its collaboration with the event. The rally was part of the Asia-Pacific Rally Championship in 1988 and the World Rally Championship from 1989 to 2006. The event returned in 2009 to the Northern Rivers region of New South Wales in early September. The event is now held every second year, alternating with Rally New Zealand. For 2011 the event was relocated to Coffs Harbour.[1] The event has also been a round of the Australian Rally Championship although not consistently as the ARC technical regulations has been incompatible with the WRC in some years. Similarly the Western Australian Rally Championship has also been a part of Rally Australia during its Perth based history.
During the years when Rally New Zealand replaces Rally Australia on the WRC calendar, the rally is still run as an Australian Rally Championship round, titled Coffs Coast Rally.
Dates: 13–15 September
Base: Coffs Harbour, New South Wales
Surface: Gravel
Rallye de France – Alsace
The Rallye de France Alsace is a rally competition held in the Alsace region of France. In 2010, it became the French round of the World Rally Championship, the Rallye de France, replacing the Tour de Corse.
History: From Corsica to Alsace
The Rallye de France has been part of the FIA World Rally Championship schedule since the inaugural 1973 season.
Held for the first time in 1956, the Tour de Corse has been on the World Rally Championship calendar since its inauguration in 1973, and right up to 2008.
The name “Tour de Corse” refered to the fact that in the early days it was run around the island. The rally is held on asphalt roads, and it is known as the “Ten Thousand Turns Rally” because of the twisty mountain roads.
2010 marked a big change for the French round of the World Rally Championship. After 35 years in Corsica, the Rallye de France settles in the Alsace region on a totally new course.
Alsace is Sebastien Loeb country and it was highly fitting that the French ace secured his seventh world crown on a special stage run through the streets of his home town of Haguenau when the region hosted its first WRC qualifier in October 2010.
In 2011, a dramatic conclusion to Rallye de France Alsace saw French ace Sebastien Ogier, in a factory Citroen DS3 WRC, made the most of team-mate and championship leader Sebastien Loeb’s Leg 1 exit to claim his first victory on home soil. Dani Sordo also starred by finishing second in his MINI John Cooper Works WRC.
In 2012, the crowd was ecstatic when Sébastien Loeb and Daniel Elena won the Rally France-Alsace, securing their ninth consecutive World Rally Champion title and last one, since Sébastien Loeb had announced his partial retirement from WRC ten days before.
Didier Auriol has won the event six times (1988, 1989, 1990, 1992, 1994, 1995) as well as Sébastien Loeb (2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2010, 2012). The only non-French drivers to win the event more than once are Sandro Munari, Markku Alén and Colin McRae.
