2021 World Rally Championship-3

The 2021 FIA World Rally Championship-3 was the eighth season of the World Rally Championship-3, an auto racing championship for rally cars that is recognised by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile as the third-highest tier of international rallying. It was open to privately entered cars complying with Group Rally2 regulations.^[1][2] The championship began in January 2021 with the Rallye Monte-Carlo and concluded in November 2021 with Rally Monza, running in support of the 2021 World Rally Championship.

Yohan Rossel won the driver's championship, while Maciej Szczepaniak took the co-driver's title.^[3]

The 2020 WRC-3 driver and co-driver champions Jari Huttunen and did not defend their titles in 2021 due to progression to WRC-2.^[4] Frenchman Yohan Rossel took the driver's title at the final round but due to his employing multiple co-drivers through the season, the co-driver title went to Maciej Szczepaniak, regular co-driver to Kajetan Kajetanowicz.^[5]

The 2021 WRC-3 season was the last to use Group Rally2 cars. From 2022 the championship would use only Group Rally3 cars.

Calendar[]

A map showing the locations of the rallies in the 2021 championship. Scheduled events are in green, while cancelled events are in blue. Event headquarters are marked with a black dot.

The 2021 championship was contested over twelve rounds in Europe and Africa:

Round	Start date	Finish date	Rally	Rally headquarters	Surface	Stages	Distance	Ref.
1	21 January	24 January	Rallye Automobile Monte Carlo	Gap, Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur[a]	Mixed[b]	14	257.64 km	[6]
2	26 February	28 February	Arctic Rally Finland	Rovaniemi, Lapland	Snow	10	251.08 km	[7]
3	22 April	25 April	Croatia Rally	Zagreb	Tarmac	20	300.32 km	[8]
4	20 May	23 May	Rally de Portugal	Matosinhos, Porto	Gravel	20	337.51 km	[9]
5	3 June	6 June	Rally Italia Sardegna	Alghero, Sardinia	Gravel	20	303.10 km	[10]
6	24 June	27 June	Safari Rally Kenya	Nairobi	Gravel	18	320.19 km	[11]
7	15 July	18 July	Rally Estonia	Tartu, Tartu County	Gravel	24	314.16 km	[12]
8	13 August	15 August	Ypres Rally Belgium	Ypres, West Flanders	Tarmac	20	295.78 km	[13]
9	9 September	12 September	Acropolis Rally Greece	Lamia, Central Greece	Gravel	15	292.19 km	[14]
10	1 October	3 October	Rally Finland	Jyväskylä, Central Finland	Gravel	19	287.11 km	[15]
11	14 October	17 October	RACC Rally Catalunya de España	Salou, Catalonia	Tarmac	17	280.46 km	[16]
12	18 November	21 November	ACI Rally Monza	Monza, Lombardy	Tarmac	16	253.18 km	[17]
Sources:[18][19][20][21][22]

The following rounds were included on the original calendar published by WRC Promoter GmbH, but were later cancelled:

Start date	Finish date	Rally	Rally headquarters	Surface	Stages	Distance	Cancellation reason	Ref.
11 February	14 February	Rally Sweden	Torsby, Värmland	Snow	19	313.81 km	COVID-19 pandemic	[23][24]
9 September	12 September	Rally Chile	Concepción, Biobío	Gravel	N/A	N/A	COVID-19 pandemic	[25]
19 August	22 August	Rally GB	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	Financial issues	[26]
11 November	14 November	Rally Japan	Nagoya, Chūbu	Tarmac	20	300.11 km	COVID-19 pandemic	[27][28]

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.^[29] Three events were successful,^[c] but the championship was affected by a series of cancellations in 2019 and 2020 that necessitated changes to the 2021 calendar:

• Rally Catalunya returned to the championship. The rally was removed from the 2020 schedule as part of an event-sharing agreement that would see it removed from the calendar for one year, but was guaranteed a spot on the calendar for the next two.^[18] The rally returned to running exclusively on tarmac roads for the first time since 2009.^[31][d]

The Acropolis Rally of Greece returned to the championship for the first time since 2013.

• Rally Chile was due to return after a one-year absence. The rally had been included on the original draft of the 2020 calendar, but was later cancelled in the face of ongoing civil unrest in the country.^[33] Organisers of the event negotiated a return to the calendar for the 2021 championship, but it was again cancelled due to continued travel and other restrictions amid the COVID-19 pandemic. Acropolis Rally is set to replace the rally after a seven-year absence on the calendar.^[34]
• Rally Croatia made its championship debut, replacing Rally Mexico.^[18] Croatia thus became the 34th country to host a World Rally Championship round. It was based in Zagreb, and ran on tarmac roads.
• Rally Deutschland was removed from the calendar. The event had planned to run in 2020, but was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.^[35] It was not included on the 2021 calendar.
• The Rallies of Finland and Portugal also returned to the championship after a one-year absence. The 2020 events were cancelled in response to the COVID-19 pandemic.^[36][37]

The Ypres Rally's debut made Belgium the 35th nation to hold a World Rally Championship event.

• Rally GB was replaced by the Ypres Rally in Belgium.^[26] Rally GB had originally planned to move from Wales to Northern Ireland, but the event was replaced when organisers were unable to come to an agreement with the government of Northern Ireland to support the rally.
• Rally Japan was scheduled to return to the calendar for the first time since 2010,^[18] but it was ultimately called off due to the COVID-19 pandemic.^[28] The rally was also originally included on the 2020 calendar, but was also cancelled because of the pandemic.^[38] Rally Monza was confirmed to hold the season finale for the second year in a row.^[22]
• The Safari Rally was run as a World Championship event for the first time since 2002. The event was based in the Kenyan capital Nairobi and featured stages around Lake Naivasha.^[39] The event had been planned to make its return to the championship in 2020, but was cancelled in response to the COVID-19 pandemic.^[40]

The Arctic Rally became the first World Rally Championship round to be held inside the Arctic Circle.

• Rally Sweden was included on the first draft of the calendar with its traditional February date,^[41] but was cancelled before the start of the season due to the COVID-19 pandemic.^[42][24] The Arctic Rally in northern Finland was chosen as a replacement to ensure that a winter rally was included on the calendar.^[43][e]

In light of the disruption caused by the pandemic in 2020 and in anticipation of further delays, the calendar included an additional six reserve rounds that could be included in the event of rallies being cancelled. These events include rallies in Turkey, Argentina and Latvia.^[18][45] The Ypres Rally had also been included on this reserve list before it replaced Rally GB,^[26] so as the Acropolis Rally and Rally Monza.^[25][22]

Entries[]

The following crews have entered, or will enter, the 2021 World Championship-3:

Car	Driver name[f]	Co-driver name	Rounds
Citroën DS3 R5			9
Citroën C3 Rally2	Yoann Bonato		1
			1, 3–5
			4
		Marc Martí	4–5, 9
	Armin Kremer		11
			1
			12
			9
			8
	Yohan Rossel		1
		Alexandre Coria	3–5, 8–9
			12
	Jan Solans		4–5, 11
	Michał Sołowow		2
			12
			1, 8
	André Villas-Boas		4
Ford Fiesta R5			6
Ford Fiesta Rally2			3
			12
			8
			9
			6
			7
			3–4
			1, 3
			11
	Maxime Potty		8
			3
			1
Hyundai i20 R5			9
	Bruno Magalhães		4
			4
			8, 11
			8
	[g]	[h]	7
			10
			10
Hyundai i20 N Rally2			12
	Lambros Athanassoulas		9
			12
			12
			12
Škoda Fabia R5			1, 9
			3
			5
			8
		Stéphane Prévot	1
			12
			8
			9
			8
			10
			10
			2
			2
			2
			10
			1–2, 5
			4
	Paulo Nobre		9–10
			12
			2
			8
			4
			12
			4
			2
	Bernardo Sousa		4
			2
			12
			2
			6
Škoda Fabia Rally2 Evo	Armindo Araújo		4
		Marko Salminen	2, 10
			5
			8
			12
			12
			2
			4
			8
			1, 3, 8
			8
			12
			1–2, 7, 9–11
	Mattias Ekström	Emil Bergkvist	2
			4–5, 7, 9
			8
			2, 7, 10–11
	Chris Ingram		3–5, 9, 11–12
			2, 4
			7, 10
			2, 7
	Kajetan Kajetanowicz	Maciej Szczepaniak	3–5, 7, 9, 11–12
			9
		Ilka Minor	1, 3
			2–3
			4–5, 7, 9–10
			11[i]
	Pepe López	Diego Vallejo	4–5
			7–8, 10
		Borja Rozada	11
	Aleksey Lukyanuk[j]	[k]	7
			3, 11–12
			5
			12
			12
			2
			11
			11
			4
	Albert von Thurn und Taxis		2
			9
		Carlos del Barrio	2–5, 7, 9, 11
Volkswagen Polo GTI R5			2, 7
			12
			4
	Egon Kaur		2, 4–5, 7, 10
	Armin Kremer		5
	Johan Kristoffersson		2
			10
			6
			6
			8
			9
	Carl Tundo		6
			8
Sources:[46][47][48][49][50][51][52][53][54][55][56][57]

Changes[]

Technical regulations[]

Pirelli will become the WRC's sole tyre supplier following the removal of Michelin and Yokohama from the approved tyre supplier list. Under the terms of the agreement, Pirelli will supply tyres to all crews entering in four-wheel drive cars.^[58]

Sporting regulations[]

Competitors in the WRC-3 category will be awarded Power Stage bonus points for the first time.^[59]

Results and standings[]

Season summary[]

Round	Event	Winning driver	Winning co-driver	Winning time	Report	Ref.
1	Rallye Automobile Monte Carlo	Yohan Rossel		3:08:25.8	Report	[60]
2	Arctic Rally Finland		Marko Salminen	2:11:55.3	Report	[61]
3	Croatia Rally	Kajetan Kajetanowicz	Maciej Szczepaniak	3:03:23.8	Report	[62]
4	Rally de Portugal	Kajetan Kajetanowicz	Maciej Szczepaniak	3:52:49.7	Report	[63]
5	Rally Italia Sardegna	Yohan Rossel	Alexandre Coria	3:30:04.1	Report	[64]
6	Safari Rally Kenya			3:47:37.7	Report	[65]
7	Rally Estonia	Aleksey Lukyanuk[j]	[k]	3:01:45.2	Report	[66]
8	Ypres Rally Belgium	Yohan Rossel	Alexandre Coria	2:42:39.1	Report	[67]
9	Acropolis Rally Greece	Kajetan Kajetanowicz[l]	Maciej Szczepaniak[m]	3:39:48.2	Report	[68]
10	Rally Finland			2:30:06.5	Report	[69]
11	RACC Rally Catalunya de España			2:44:31.9	Report	[70]
12	Rally Monza			2:48:15.5	Report	[5]

Scoring system[]

Points were awarded to the top ten classified finishers in each event. There were 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.^[59][71] Crews were only allowed to enter a maximum of 7 events with the 5 best results scoring points in the championship.

FIA World Rally Championship-3 for Drivers[]

Pos. Driver MON ARC CRO POR ITA KEN EST BEL GRC FIN ESP MNZ Drops Points 1 Yohan Rossel 13 31 22 13 12 DSQ 21 20 130 2 Kajetan Kajetanowicz 13 13 82 2 11 21 33 26 127 3 Ret 24 101 Ret Ret 32 13 0 73 4 Chris Ingram 55 34 Ret 23 43 84 0 70 5 31 42 45 6 0 57 6 Pepe López Ret 24 42 WD 42 Ret 0 52 7 3 35 25 10 0 51 8 13 6 6 4 71 94 6 4 47 9 5 5 34 65 0 46 10 Egon Kaur 21 Ret 121 103 61 0 45 11 11 0 30 12 12 0 29 13 12 0 29 14 13 Ret 0 28 15 Aleksey Lukyanuk[j] 1 0 25 16 Yoann Bonato 22 0 22 17 24 0 20 18 91 4 0 19 19 2 0 18 20 Carl Tundo 33 0 18 21 34 0 17 22 34 0 17 23 Armin Kremer 7 55 0 17 24 Jan Solans Ret 35 Ret 0 16 25 42 0 16 26 5 7 0 16 27 13 5 84 0 16 28 55 Ret 85 0 16 29 44 Ret 0 14 30 10 4 0 13 31 45 Ret 0 13 32 4 0 12 33 Mattias Ekström 54 0 12 34 7 7 0 12 35 Ret 21 8 9 7 11 0 12 36 55 0 11 37 5 0 10 38 5 0 10 39 5 0 10 40 73 0 9 41 6 11 0 8 42 6 14 0 8 43 18 6 0 8 44 6 0 8 45 6 0 8 46 Paulo Nobre 7 10 0 7 47 7 0 6 48 Armindo Araújo 7 0 6 49 7 0 6 50 Johan Kristoffersson 102 0 5 51 8 Ret 0 4 52 8 14 0 4 53 8 0 4 54 8 0 4 55 8 0 4 56 8 0 4 57 11 20 9 11 12 Ret 0 2 58 9 0 2 59 Michał Sołowow 9 0 2 60 9 0 2 61 9 0 2 62 9 0 2 63 9 0 2 64 9 0 2 65 10 0 1 66 10 15 0 1 67 10 0 1 68 10 0 1 69 10 0 1 70 Lambros Athanassoulas 125 0 1 Pos. Driver MON ARC CRO POR ITA KEN EST BEL GRC FIN ESP MNZ Drops Points Source:[72]

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 italics – Non-scoring result

FIA World Rally Championship-3 for Co-Drivers[]

Pos. Co-Driver MON ARC CRO POR ITA KEN EST BEL GRC FIN ESP MNZ Points 1 Maciej Szczepaniak 13 13 (82) 2 11 21 (33) 127 2 Alexandre Coria 31 22 13 12 DSQ 99 3 55 34 Ret 23 43 84 70 4 31 42 45 6 57 5 101 Ret Ret 32 13 53 6 3 35 25 10 51 7 Carlos del Barrio (13) 6 6 4 61 (94) 6 47 8 21 Ret 121 103 61 45 9 Ret 24 34 37 10 5 34 65 36 11 42 WD 42 32 12 11 30 13 12 29 14 12 29 15 Marko Salminen 13 Ret 28 16 13 28 17 [k] 1 25 18 6 11 5 7 24 19 21 23 20 22 22 21 Diego Vallejo 24 20 22 24 20 23 91 4 19 24 2 18 25 33 18 26 34 17 27 7 55 17 28 20 Ret 35 Ret 16 29 42 16 30 13 5 84 16 31 55 Ret 85 16 32 44 Ret Ret 14 33 45 Ret 13 34 4 12 35 4 12 36 Emil Bergkvist 54 12 37 Ilka Minor 7 7 12 38 Ret 21 8 9 7 11 12 39 10 5 11 40 55 11 41 5 10 42 5 10 43 5 10 44 73 9 45 6 14 8 46 18 6 8 47 6 8 48 6 8 49 7 10 7 50 7 6 51 7 6 52 7 6 53 102 5 54 Marc Martí 8 Ret 4 55 8 4 56 8 4 57 8 4 58 8 4 59 8 4 60 11 9 11 12 Ret 2 61 Stéphane Prévot 9 2 62 9 2 63 9 2 64 9 2 65 9 2 66 9 2 67 9 2 68 10 1 69 10 1 70 10 1 71 10 1 72 10 1 73 125 1 Pos. Co-Driver MON ARC CRO POR ITA KEN EST BEL GRC FIN ESP MNZ Points Source:[72]

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 (res) – Result is non scoring

Notes[]

References[]

External links[]

• Official website (in English, French, and Spanish)
• FIA World Rally Championship-3 2021 at eWRC-results.com