2012 World Rally Championship season
The 2012 World Rally Championship season is the fortieth season of the FIA World Rally Championship. The season will be run over thirteen rallies, beginning with the Rallye Automobile Monte Carlo on 17 January.
Calendar
The 2012 calendar was announced at a meeting of the FIA World Motor Sport Council in Singapore on 26 September 2011.[1]
| Round |
Rally Name
(Base) |
Surface |
Dates |
Support Categories |
| 1 |
80ème Rallye Automobile de Monte-Carlo
(Monte Carlo, Monaco) |
Mixed
(Tarmac, snow) |
17—22 January |
S2000 WRC
Production WRC |
| 2 |
60th Rally Sweden
(Karlstad, Värmland) |
Snow |
9—12 February |
Super 2000 WRC |
| 3 |
25º Rally México
(León, Guanajuato) |
Gravel |
8—11 March |
Production WRC |
| 4 |
46º Rally de Portugal
(Faro, Algarve) |
Gravel |
29 March—1 April |
Super 2000 WRC |
| 5 |
32º Rally Argentina
(Villa Carlos Paz, Córdoba) |
Gravel |
27—29 April |
Production WRC |
| 6 |
58th Acropolis Rally
(Loutraki, Corinthia) |
Gravel |
25—27 May |
Production WRC |
| 7 |
42nd Rally of New Zealand
(Auckland, Auckland) |
Gravel |
22—24 June |
Super 2000 WRC
Production WRC |
| 8 |
62nd Rally Finland
(Jyväskylä, Keski-Suomi) |
Gravel |
2—5 August |
Super 2000 WRC |
| 9 |
30. Rallye Deutschland
(Trier, Rhineland-Palatinate) |
Tarmac |
24—26 August |
Production WRC |
| 10 |
68th Wales Rally GB
(Cardiff, South Glamorgan) |
Gravel |
13—16 September |
Super 2000 WRC |
| 11 |
Rallye de France - Alsace
(Strasbourg, Alsace) |
Tarmac |
4—7 October |
Super 2000 WRC |
| 12 |
Rally d'Italia[2]
(Enna-Pergusa,[2] Province of Enna) |
TBA |
18—21 October |
Production WRC |
| 13 |
47º Rally de España
(Salou, Tarragona) |
Mixed
(Tarmac, gravel) |
8—11 November |
Super 2000 WRC
Production WRC |
Calendar changes
- Early plans to run the 2012 Rally Argentina over an "endurance" format with stages in neighbouring Uruguay and Chile were abandoned in favour of a new route which will feature over 500 km (311 mi) of competitive stages and make it the longest rally in the modern era of the sport.[3] The rally will also feature the longest stage of the championship, the 66 km (41 mi) El Durzano—Ambul stage. The extended rally route has been promoted as a prototype of a format proposed by FIA President Jean Todt.[3]
- The Jordan Rally was removed from the calendar. Rally Abu Dhabi was expected to be promoted in its place, but was omitted from the final calendar and given candidate status for future inclusion in the championship.
- The Wales Rally GB was brought forward from its traditional November date to September, making Rally of Spain the season finale.
- The Rally d'Italia was moved back from May to October. It will follow the route of the Targa Florio Rally in Sicily, which was previously a round of the European and Italian Rally Championships.[2]
- The Rallye Automobile Monte Carlo returns to the calendar after a three-year absence.
- The Rally New Zealand replaced Rally Australia, in keeping with their event-sharing arrangement.
Teams and drivers
World Rally Championship entries
- Team and driver changes
- The Citroën World Rally Team will expand to a three-car operation, entering a third Citroën DS3 WRC for 2011 Dakar Rally winner Nasser Al-Attiyah.[6] Al-Attiyah will contest every event with the exception of the Rallye Monte Carlo owing to a date clash with the 2012 Dakar Rally.[19]
- François Delecour will return to the WRC to compete in the 80ème Rallye Automobile de Monte-Carlo.[13] Delecour will drive a Ford Fiesta RS WRC in the rally, his first event at the WRC level since the 2002 Rally of Great Britain. The Rallye Monte Carlo is Delecour's only planned appearance in the 2012 season.
- 2011 championship runner-up Mikko Hirvonen and co-driver Jarmo Lehtinen moved from the Ford World Rally Team to Citroën.[5]
- Lotus Cars will enter a Lotus Exige R-GT at all tarmac events on the 2012 calendar, pending the homologation of the car.[15][16] The Lotus Exige R-GT will be Lotus' first entry in the World Rally Championship since the Talbot Sunbeam Lotus in 1983 Rally of Portugal.
- Mini will only enter one worked driver at every event in 2012, after the team was unable to find the budget for two full-time entries.[14] Dani Sordo will enter in every event, with the second car driven by local competitors. The team has stated that Kris Meeke will not compete in every rally, but will remain a part of the team.[14]
- Thierry Neuville, winner of the 2011 Tour de Corse in the Intercontinental Rally Challenge, will compete in nine rallies at the WRC level — with a provision for two more — in a Citroën DS3 WRC prepared by Citroën Racing Technology[20] and run by PH Sport, which was re-opened after being closed down for the 2011 season.[7] Neuville had previously contested the Junior World Rally Championship in with a Citroën C2 S1600 in 2010.
- Evgeny Novikov and Ott Tänak will join the M-Sport Ford World Rally Team.[7]
- Sébastien Ogier was released from his three-year contract with Citroën after just one season.[21] Ogier later joined Volkswagen to develop the Polo R WRC for their 2013 WRC entry,[22] while contesting the full 2012 WRC schedule in a Škoda Fabia S2000 with regular co-driver Julien Ingrassia.[18]
- Martin Prokop, who previously competed in the Super 2000 World Rally Championship, will take part in ten rallies driving a Ford Fiesta RS WRC.[9]
- Kimi Räikkönen returned to Formula One.[23] The WRC arm of his ICE 1 Racing team was subsequently shut down.
- 2003 World Champion Petter Solberg secured a seat with the Ford World Rally Team.[12] His privately-entered team, with which he had competed with between 2009 and 2011, was closed down.
Super 2000 entries
- Team and driver changes
Changes
- In November 2011, Europol issued an arrest warrant for Russian banker Vladimir Antonov at the request of Lithuanian prosecutors as part of an investigation into asset-stripping at Antonov's commercial banks, Snoras and Latvijas Krājbanka.[27] Antonov, who held the commercial rights to the sport through Convers Sports Initiatives, was arrested in London two days later and charged with fraud and embezzlement.[28] Convers Sports Initiatives initially claimed to be unaffected by the arrest,[27] but went into receivership at the end of the month.[29] Promoter North One Sport issued a statement clarifying the situation, confirming that they were unaffected by Antonov's arrest and parent company Convers Sports Initiatives entering into receivership and that they would co-operate with the investigation into Bank Snoras.[30]
- The FIA World Motorsport Council permitted tyre suppliers to provide teams and drivers with a second tyre compound, following several complaints from drivers about a lack of grip at the 2011 Rally Australia.[31]
References
- ^ "WRC calendar for 2012 confirmed". World Rally Championship (International Sportsworld Communicators). 26 September 2011. http://wrc.com/news/features/wrc-calendar-for-2012-confirmed/?fid=15428. Retrieved 17 November 2011.
- ^ a b c "Targa Florio automobilism Sicily Rally diventa mondiale Fia World Rally Championship (WRC) in 18/21 Oct 2012 [Targa Florio Rally Sicily goes global: FIA World Rally Championship (WRC) on 18/21 Oct 2012]" (in Italian). sicilydistrict.eu (Provincia di Sicily). 17 November 2011. http://www.sicilydistrict.eu/news/sport/targa-florio-automobilism-sicily-rally-diventa-mondiale-fia-world-rally-championship-wrc-in-18-21-oct-2012/4999. Retrieved 22 November 2011.
- ^ a b Watson, Tony; Evans, David (23 December 2011). "The 2012 WRC Rally Argentina will be the longest route in the sport's recent history". Autosport.com (Haymarket Publications). http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/96834. Retrieved 23 December 2011.
- ^ a b "WRC king Loeb commits to Citroen through 2013". MotorsTV.com (Motors TV). 17 August 2011. http://www.motorstv.com/car/rally/wrc/17082011/wrc-king-loeb-commits-citroen-through-2013. Retrieved 11 November 2011.
- ^ a b c Weeks, James (16 November 2011). "Hirvonen replaces Ogier at Citroen WRC squad". MotorsTV.com (Motors TV). http://www.motorstv.com/car/rally/wrc/16112011/hirvonen-replaces-ogier-citroen-wrc-squad. Retrieved 16 November 2011.
- ^ a b c Fernandes, Anthony (12 December 2011). "Exclusive: Nasser Al Attiyah to race for Citroen in 2012 World Rally Championship". Sport360.com (Sport360°). http://www.sport360.com/article/exclusive-nasser-al-attiyah-race-citroen-2012-world-rally-championship. Retrieved 13 December 2011.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s "80e RALLYE MONTE CARLO 2012". rallye-magazin.de. 27 December 2011. http://www.rallye-magazin.de/fileadmin/pdf/monte2012.pdf. Retrieved 29 December 2011.
- ^ {{cite news|trans_title=Van Merksteijn slow down|url=http://www.rallye-magazin.de/rallyes/wm/nachrichten/news-detail/d/2011/12/31/van-merksteijns-treten-kuerzer/index.html|work=rallye-magazin.de|publisher=rallye-magazin|date=31 December 2011|accessdate=3 January 2012|language=German|
- ^ a b "Martin Prokop v deseti soutěžích MS 2012 [Martin Prokop in ten WRC rallies in 2012]" (in Czech). eWRC.cz (eWRC). 18 November 2011. http://www.ewrc.cz/ewrc/show.php?id=18292&title=martin-prokop-v-deseti-soutezich-ms-2012. Retrieved 18 November 2011.
- ^ "Ford confirms WRC entry and Solberg for 2012". SpeedCafe. 16 November 2011. http://www.speedcafe.com/2011/12/16/ford-confirms-wrc-entry/. Retrieved 16 November 2011.
- ^ "Latvala, Solberg to lead Ford's world rally push". Google News. Agence France-Presse. 15 December 2011. http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5icR208C5iVTYrcB116aF3NxaJWNA?docId=CNG.bc1097eb58074d36423719809ae8c921.551. Retrieved 16 December 2011.
- ^ a b O'Leary, Jamie (15 December 2011). "Petter Solberg joins Ford for 2012 World Rally Championship". Autosport.com (Haymarket Publications). http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/96752. Retrieved 15 December 2011.
- ^ a b "Delecour plans Monte Fiesta run". World Rally Championship (International Sportsworld Communicators). 7 December 2011. http://www.wrc.com/news/delecour-plans-monte-fiesta-run/?fid=15866. Retrieved 8 December 2011.
- ^ a b c d e Evans, David (23 December 2011). "Meeke will not contest the Monte Carlo Rally following Mini's decision to only run one factory driver". Autosport.com. http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/96830. Retrieved 23 December 2011.
- ^ a b Paur, Jason (23 December 2011). "Lotus Shakes Down Its Rally-Spec Exige". Autopia (Wired). http://www.wired.com/autopia/2011/12/lotuss-rally-spec-exige/. Retrieved 27 December 2011.
- ^ a b Holmes, Martin (19 December 2011), The Return of the Rallying Sports Car, http://www.therallysite.com/joomla/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=10124&Itemid=89, retrieved 27 December 2011
- ^ a b "Kevin Abbring Volkswagen junior at Rally Monte Carlo". volkswagen-motorsport.com. 23 December 2011. http://www.volkswagen-motorsport.com/web/news/index.php?&flash=no&lg=e&st=588&id=4792. Retrieved 26 December 2011.
- ^ a b "Sebastien Ogier will contest the full 2012 WRC schedule in a Skoda". Autosport (Haymarket Publications). 24 November 2011. http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/96431. Retrieved 25 November 2011.
- ^ "Citroen announce WRC additions". Speedcafe. 20 December 2011. http://www.speedcafe.com/2011/12/20/dakar-champion-added-to-citroen-wrc-team/. Retrieved 20 December 2011.
- ^ "Citroen gives Thierry Neuville World Rally Championship programme for 2012". Autosport.com (Haymarket Publications). 20 December 2011. http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/96799. Retrieved 20 December 2011.
- ^ "Mikko Hirvonen and Jarmo Lehtinen join Citroën". Citroën World Rally Team (Citroën). 16 November 2011. http://www.citroen-wrc.com/en/season/2011/rally/united-kingdom-1/press-release. Retrieved 23 November 2011.
- ^ Elizalde, Pablo (23 November 2011). "Sebastien Ogier joins Volkswagen's WRC team". Autosport (Haymarket Publications). http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/96401. Retrieved 23 November 2011.
- ^ "Kimi Räikkönen back in F1 with LRGP in 2012". Lotus Renault GP. 29 November 2011. http://www.lotusrenaultgp.com/8034-Kimi-Raikkonen-back-in-F1-with.html?lang=en. Retrieved 29 November 2011.
- ^ a b c d "Kiwi rally star takes S2000 WRC step-up". Speedcafe.com. 20 December 2011. http://www.speedcafe.com/2011/12/20/kiwi-rally-star-takes-s2000-wrc-step-up/. Retrieved 20 December 2011.
- ^ a b c d "Proton to enter S2000 WRC next year". Autosport.com (Haymarket Publications). 21 December 2011. http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/96810. Retrieved 21 December 2011.
- ^ a b "Proton brings McRae name back to WRC". wrc.com (wrc.com). 22 December 2011. http://www.wrc.com/news/proton-brings-mcrae-name-back-to-wrc/?fid=158810. Retrieved 24 December 2011.
- ^ a b Evans, David (23 November 2011). "Arrest warrant for World Rally Championship commercial chief Vladimir Antonov". Autosport.com (Haymarket Publications). http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/96413. Retrieved 20 December 2011.
- ^ Evans, David (25 November 2011). "WRC's commercial boss Vladimir Antonov arrested in London". Autosport.com (Haymarket Publications). http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/96447. Retrieved 20 December 2011.
- ^ Evans, David (29 November 2011). "WRC commercial rights holder's parent company CSI goes into Administration". Autosport.com (Haymarket Publications). http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/96585. Retrieved 20 December 2011.
- ^ "North One Sport statement". World Rally Championship (International Sportsworld Communicators). 1 December 2011. http://www.wrc.com/news/archive/north-one-sport-statement/?fid=15846. Retrieved 20 December 2011.
- ^ Evans, David (7 December 2011). "FIA to allow safer tyre compound in rallies from 2012 WRC season". Autosport.com (Haymarket Publications). http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/96680. Retrieved 20 December 2011.
External links