Everything about WRC special stages
Vaheri is one of the 1000 Lakes Rally classic stages, driven all the way since the 60’s. In latter decades a nearby skiing center of Himos has also had its namesake stage and occasionally these two stages were merged together. In Rally Finland 2021 the area will return with the new Patajoki stage. This article […]
Read More Vaheri and Himos – Classic meets modernRally Estonia joined the WRC last year amid a storm of COVID-cancelled events. However, they had already arranged a pair of candidate events so the place was well deserved, and the continuation of the deal was no surprise. Thus we will see the fast but soft gravel roads of Rally Estonia again. This year’s route […]
Read More Route Preview: Rally Estonia 2021The WRC had rebooted itself in 1997 and the format was found successful. The calendar changed mostly only by one event a year, although new events were eager to join in. Rallies started to concentrate their routes on smaller areas, with less service area locations combined with longer stages. Meanwhile, new rules were being experimented […]
Read More WRC Calendar History VIII: 1998-2003Safari Rally was set to return to the WRC already in 2020 but COVID-19 delayed the return by one year. As we know the event will be very different than in 2002 when it was last run in WRC, now run on 10-30 km stages on closed areas. The roads will still be completely unique […]
Read More Route Preview: Safari Rally 2021The route of Rally Italia Sardegna hasn’t changed a lot in the past years. However, this year the base of the rally is moved from Alghero to Olbia – from West to East – with some new roads. The Friday and Saturday stages are driven in instantly-repeated pairs which is a unique solution. The character […]
Read More Route Preview: Rally Italia Sardegna 2021Rally Finland’s 70th anniversary run in 2020 had to be canceled and the 2021 event was further complicated by having to be moved to October, in order to secure better COVID-situation and secure allowing spectators for the event. The compact three-day route of the event was published today, and this is a quick analysis of […]
Read More Rally Finland 2021 Route RevealedRally Portugal is one of the classics of WRC. Like many events, it was cancelled last year because of COVID-19, but the 2020 route will be used this year with small updates. Portugal can be classified as a technical, hot and dusty gravel rally, but it’s the fastest and one of the smoothest out of […]
Read More Route Preview: Rally Portugal 2021The World Rally Championship adopted a new format in 1997. The rotation was abandoned and all rallies were again included in the championship. Now there were fourteen events, and all top drivers would take part in all of them. To compensate this, the rallies were made shorter and some had to adjust their traditional dates. […]
Read More WRC Calendar History VII: 1997Croatia Rally is a new tarmac event on the WRC calendar. Not much was known about its character before the recce videos, but it seems we’re in for mostly fast roads on worn tarmac, but also technical or smooth sections. There’s similarities to many previous established tarmac rallies, but also some unique features. Cover image […]
Read More Route Preview: Croatia Rally 2021In 1994 the WRC calendar was reshaped drastically. A new rotation rule meant that every WRC event — even the classic ones — would take their turn in having a year off the WRC Calendar within a three-year period. The calendar became shorter, but more competitive. Another big change on service areas would follow a […]
Read More WRC Calendar History VI: 1994-1996