WRC Calendar History VII: 1997

The 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. […]

Route Preview: Croatia Rally 2021

Croatia 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 […]

WRC Calendar History VI: 1994-1996

In 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 […]

WRC Calendar History V: 1989-1993

During the early 90’s the speed of the cars started growing again, alongside the popularity of the series. Some of the earlier limitations were lifted one by one, and when events couldn’t be made longer by the total distance, endurance aspect was brought in via longer stages. Two new events also made their debut in the series during this era.

WRC Calendar History IV: 1987-1988

After the tragic accidents in Tour de Corse 1986 a lot of changes were imposed quickly. Many of them concerned the routes of the rallies and would change permanently. Some alternate ways were also created to let the big audiences follow the sport safely.

WRC Calendar History III: 1979-1986

The 1979 World Rally Championship started with a new paradigm – drivers’ championship on the side of manufacturers’. The championship conquered a new continent, but towards the end of this era the calendar started to be more stable. Meanwhile stage mileages between rest halts, average speeds and spectator numbers seemed to be growing endlessly, until […]

WRC Calendar History II: 1974-1978

The World Rally Championship didn’t start in easy times. Already on its second year, it was in the middle of a worldwide crisis. After that the calendar seemed to be in constantly changing state as the series was looking for suitable events. The longest events in the history of the series are found from this […]

WRC Calendar History I: 1973

This is the beginning of an article series where we go through the history of the WRC from the viewpoint of the routes and seasonal calendars. There won’t be many mentions of cars, drivers or winners, but plenty of geography, kilometer numbers and rule changes. To kickstart the series, we look at the inaugural WRC […]

Checking my estimate of Arctic Rally Finland pace

The first ever Arctic Rally Finland just ended. Before the rally I posted my estimate of the average speed of each stage (and through that, the whole event). Let’s see how that turned out. Cover Image by Taneli Niinimäki / AKK The original post Estimating the pace of Arctic Rally Finland Stage times Stage Length […]

Estimating the pace of Arctic Rally Finland 2021

Arctic Rally Finland is a completely new event for the WRC. The stages are driven in different configuration than on the national event, which is primarily contested with Rally2 cars. Can we use some mathematics to estimate how fast the upcoming event will be? Cover image by Taneli Niinimäki / AKK Rally2 vs WRC Valtteri […]