2022 World Rally Championship

The 2022 FIA World Rally Championship will be the fiftieth season of the World Rally Championship, an auto racing competition recognised by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA) as the highest class of international rallying. Teams and crews are due to compete for the World Rally Championships for Drivers, Co-drivers, Manufacturers. Crews are free to compete in cars complying with Groups Rally1 to Rally5 regulations; however, only manufacturers competing with Rally1 cars homologated under radically new regulations are eligible to score points in the manufacturers' championship. The championship is set to begin in January 2022 with the Rallye Monte-Carlo and is expected to conclude in November 2022 with Rally Japan. The series is supported by the World Rally Championship-2 and World Rally Championship-3 categories at every round of the championship and by the Junior World Rally Championship at selected events.

2022 FIA World Rally Championship
Previous: 2021 Next: 2023
Support series:
FIA World Rally Championship-2
FIA World Rally Championship-3
FIA Junior World Rally Championship
Sébastien Ogier is the reigning driver's champion.
Julien Ingrassia is the reigning co-driver's champion.
Toyota Gazoo Racing WRT (Yaris WRC pictured) are the reigning manufacturers' champions.

Sébastien Ogier and Julien Ingrassia are the defending drivers' and co-drivers' champions, having secured their eighth championship titles at the 2021 Rally Monza. However, Ingrassia would not defend his title as he retired from competition at the end of 2021 season. Toyota are the defending manufacturers' champions.

Entrants

The following teams, drivers and co-drivers are expected to contest the 2022 World Championship under Rally1 regulations.[1][2]

Manufacturer Entrant Car No. Driver name Co-driver name
Ford M-Sport Ford WRT Ford Puma Rally1 16 Adrien Fourmaux Alexandre Coria
42 Craig Breen Paul Nagle
44 Gus Greensmith TBA
Hyundai Hyundai Shell Mobis WRT Hyundai i20 N Rally1 2 Oliver Solberg TBA
6 Dani Sordo Cándido Carrera
8 Ott Tänak Martin Järveoja
11 Thierry Neuville Martijn Wydaeghe
Toyota Toyota Gazoo Racing WRT Toyota GR Yaris Rally1 1 Sébastien Ogier Benjamin Veillas
4 Esapekka Lappi Janne Ferm
33 Elfyn Evans Scott Martin
69 Kalle Rovanperä Jonne Halttunen
Toyota Gazoo Racing WRT Next Generation Toyota GR Yaris Rally1 18 Takamoto Katsuta Aaron Johnston

Team changes

M-Sport is set to enter the championship with a new car based on the Ford Puma crossover, named Ford Puma Rally1,[3] but the car will continue to use the engine from the Ford Fiesta WRC.[4]

Petter Solberg, the 2003 World Drivers' Champion, announced his desire to enter a manufacturer team in the 2022 championship.[5]

Driver changes

Craig Breen and Paul Nagle signed a two-year full-time programme with M-Sport Ford.[6] They are set to compete for the British team with the crew of Adrien Fourmaux and Alexandre Coria.[7][8] Gus Greensmith will also remain with the team and would again contest a full campaign.[9]

Dani Sordo would retire from the sport at the end of the season.

Hyundai retained the crew of Ott Tänak and Martin Järveoja and of Thierry Neuville and Martijn Wydaeghe as their two full-time competitors.[10] Oliver Solberg is set to step up into the Hyundai manufacturer team to share the third car with the crew lead by Dani Sordo.[11] Sordo announced he would retire from the sport after the season, ending his seventeen-year-long WRC career.[12] Andrea Adamo left his role as team principal.[13]

Sébastien Ogier (left) would only contest selected events, while his former co-driver Julien Ingrassia (right) retired from competition.

The crew of Elfyn Evans and Scott Martin and of Kalle Rovanperä and Jonne Halttunen both renewed contracts with Toyota.[14] Eight-time World Champion Sébastien Ogier also announced his intention to retire from the sport.[15] He would step back from the season and only contest selected events.[16] Ogier had previously planned to retire at the end of the 2020 championship,[17] but the disruption brought about by the COVID-19 pandemic and the reduced number of events in 2020 prompted him to reconsider.[18] Benjamin Veillas is set to become Ogier's new co-driver following the retirement of Julien Ingrassia at the end of the 2021 championship.[19] Esapekka Lappi and Janne Ferm, who previously drove for Toyota between 2017 to 2018, would return to the team to share the third car with Ogier and Veillas.[20] Takamoto Katsuta would again contest a full campaign in a fourth car, this time under the new entrant Toyota Gazoo Racing WRT Next Generation, with Aaron Johnston becoming his co-driver on a full-time basis.[21]

Calendar

The 2022 season is scheduled to be contested over thirteen rounds that across Europe, Africa, Oceania and Asia.

Round Start Date Finish Date Rally Rally headquarters Surface Stages Distance Ref.
1 20 January 23 January Rallye Automobile Monte Carlo Monte Carlo, Monaco Mixed[lower-alpha 1] 17 296.03 km [22]
2 24 February 27 February Rally Sweden Umeå, Västerbotten County Snow 19 303.74 km
3 21 April 24 April Croatia Rally Zagreb Tarmac TBA TBA
4 19 May 22 May Rally de Portugal Matosinhos, Porto Gravel TBA TBA
5 2 June 5 June Rally Italia Sardegna Alghero, Sardinia Gravel TBA TBA
6 23 June 26 June Safari Rally Kenya Nairobi Gravel TBA TBA
7 14 July 17 July Rally Estonia Tartu, Tartu County Gravel TBA TBA
8 4 August 7 August Rally Finland Jyväskylä, Central Finland Gravel TBA TBA
9 TBA TBA TBA TBA Tarmac TBA TBA
10 8 September 11 September Acropolis Rally Greece Lamia, Central Greece Gravel TBA TBA
11 29 September 2 October Rally New Zealand Auckland, Te Ika-a-Māui Gravel TBA TBA
12 20 October 23 October RACC Rally Catalunya de España Salou, Catalonia Tarmac TBA TBA
13 10 November 13 November Rally Japan Nagoya, Chūbu Region Tarmac TBA TBA
Sources:[23][24]

Calendar changes
A map showing the locations of the rallies in the 2022 championship. Event Headquarters are marked with black dots.

The rally base of Monte Carlo Rally is set to move from Gap, Hautes-Alpes to Monaco solely.[25]

Rally Sweden is due to return to the championship after a one-year absence, moving its rally headquarters for the first time in history. It will relocate from Torsby, Värmland northwards to Umeå in Västerbotten County.[26]

Rally Mexico has contracts to hold the WRC event in 2022 and 2023, but the rally was not included in the calendar.[27]

Rally Chile finds itself in a similar situation like Mexico when its contract with WRC Promoter GmbH is set to end in 2022. Chile had previously hosted the event in 2019.[28]

Rally New Zealand is set to return to the championship for the first time since 2012.[29] The country had also secured a spot in the calendar in 2020, but their bid to return to championship was taken down due to the cancellation of the event in response to the COVID-19 siutation.[30]

Regulation changes

Technical regulations
Main article: Group Rally1

The championship is due to introduce a new set of technical regulations known as "Rally1" to replace the World Rally Car. The Rally1 regulations will place a greater emphasis on standardised parts than in previous years to make the sport more accessible.[31][32]

Rally1 will also introduce hybrid drivetrains to the sport for the first time.[33] This will take the form of an e-motor that produces 100 kW (134.1 hp) fitted to current 1.6 L turbocharged inline-4 engine and must be used to power the car when travelling around service parks and through built-up areas when driving between stages.[34] Drivers will be free to use the e-motor to offer additional power when competing in a stage, with the FIA dictating how much power can be used and how long a driver can deploy it for.[33] The hybrid system and the software governing its use will be standardised for three years as a way of keeping the costs of competing down.[35] The system will be provided by Compact Dynamics, a subsidiary of Formula E team Audi Sport ABT supplier Schaeffler.[36]

The championship will also introduce a standardised safety structure in a bid to improve safety standards. This will coincide with the homologation requirements being re-written to allow teams to enter a scaled chassis based on production cars rather than having to adapt a chassis to fit a roadgoing model.[33]

Sporting regulations

The eligibility requirements for crews entering events will be simplified and streamlined into a system called the "FIA Rally Pyramid".[31] The top tier of the sport is known as "Rally1". The second tier, "Rally2", will be for manufacturer teams and professional independent teams in the World Rally Championship-2. This will be followed by "Rally3" for privately entered and "gentlemen driver" crews competing in the World Rally Championship-3. "Rally4" and "Rally5" entries will not contest their own dedicated championship, but will be permitted to enter WRC rallies.

Specific liaison sections in which Rally1 competitors must drive in full electric mode will be introduced into the championship.[37]

Notes
  1. The Monte Carlo Rally is run on a tarmac and snow surface.

References
  1. "WRC manufacturers comfirm three-year hybrid agreement". wrc.com. WRC Promoter GmbH. 31 March 2021. Retrieved 31 March 2021.
  2. "WRC roars into hybrid era with expanded 2022 calendar". wrc.com. WRC Promoter GmbH. 15 October 2021. Retrieved 19 October 2021.
  3. "M-Sport Ford unveils Puma Rally1 car – first pictures". wrc.com. WRC Promoter GmbH. 8 July 2021. Retrieved 9 July 2021.
  4. Craig, Jason (22 May 2020). "WRC News: M-Sport making "good progress" on new 2022 car". autosport.com. Motorsport Network. Retrieved 22 May 2020.
  5. Thukral, Rachit (11 April 2020). "Solberg in talks with manufacturers for team return to WRC". autosport.com. Motorsport Network. Retrieved 11 April 2020.
  6. "Breen joins M-Sport Ford on two-year deal". wrc.com. WRC Promoter GmbH. 6 October 2021. Retrieved 6 October 2021.
  7. Muñoz, Kevin (10 August 2021). "Malcom Wilson confirma a Adrien Fourmaux como uno de sus pilotos en 2022" [Malcom Wilson confirms Adrien Fourmaux as one of his pilots in 2022]. revistascratch.com (in Spanish). Retrieved 13 August 2021.
  8. "Fourmaux's new co-driver confirmed". wrc.com. WRC Promoter GmbH. 17 September 2021. Retrieved 17 September 2021.
  9. "Greensmith stays with M-Sport Ford for 2022". wrc.com. WRC Promoter GmbH. 18 November 2021. Retrieved 20 November 2021.
  10. "Breaking: Neuville & Tänak extend Hyundai contracts". wrc.com. WRC Promoter GmbH. 6 May 2021. Retrieved 6 May 2021.
  11. "Sordo and Solberg to share third Hyundai in 2022". wrc.com. WRC Promoter GmbH. 6 October 2021. Retrieved 6 October 2021.
  12. "Dani Sordo put an expiration date on his WRC campaign". automundo.com.ar. 13 October 2021. Retrieved 16 October 2021.
  13. "Breaking: Adamo parts ways with Hyundai". wrc.com. WRC Promoter GmbH. 7 December 2021. Retrieved 7 December 2021.
  14. "Toyota Gazoo Racing confirms 2022 line-up". wrc.com. WRC Promoter GmbH. 7 October 2021. Retrieved 7 October 2021.
  15. Craig, Jason (20 January 2021). "Ogier expects his final WRC season to be the most open yet". autosport.com. Motorsport Network. Retrieved 22 January 2021.
  16. Baldwin, Alan; Lawson, Hugh (7 October 2021). "Lappi to step up in 2022 as Ogier steps back". Reuters. Retrieved 7 October 2021.
  17. Evans, David (1 August 2019). "Sebastien Ogier says 2020 definitely his final World Rally season". autosport.com. Motorsport Network. Retrieved 31 December 2019.
  18. "Ogier signs new deal with toyota". wrc.com. WRC Promoter GmbH. 20 November 2020. Retrieved 20 November 2020.
  19. Barry, Luke (7 October 2021). "Ogier and Ingrassia's partnership to end after 2021". dirtfish.com. Retrieved 7 October 2021.
  20. Barry, Luke (7 October 2021). "Lappi officially joins Toyota for 2022 WRC season". dirtfish.com. Retrieved 7 October 2021.
  21. "Katsuta settles on Johnston for 2022". wrc.com. WRC Promoter GmbH. 29 October 2021. Retrieved 29 October 2021.
  22. "Itinerary Rallye Automobile de Monte-Carlo 2022". eWRC-results.com. Retrieved 22 October 2021.
  23. "Nine events named in partial 2022 WRC Calendar". wrc.com. WRC Promoter GmbH. 8 April 2021. Retrieved 26 April 2021.
  24. "WRC roars into hybrid era with expanded 2022 calendar". wrc.com. WRC Promoter GmbH. 15 October 2021. Retrieved 16 October 2021.
  25. "Monaco base for new-look Rallye Monte-Carlo". wrc.com. WRC Promoter GmbH. 24 July 2021. Retrieved 24 July 2021.
  26. "Rally Sweden moves north to Umea". wrc.com. WRC Promoter GmbH. 8 April 2021. Retrieved 26 April 2021.
  27. Muñoz, Jesús (9 October 2020). "El Rally de México no estará en el WRC 2021, pero volverá en 2022 y 2023" [Rally Mexico will not be in the 2021 WRC, but will return in 2022 and 2023]. soymotor.com (in Spanish). Retrieved 12 April 2021.
  28. Evans, David (29 November 2019). "WRC's 2020 Rally Chile cancelled due to political and social unrest". autosport.com. Motorsport Network. Retrieved 31 December 2019. Rally Chile's Felipe Horta said: 'The decision was to wait a year to take the world championship. We have talked with the FIA and the WRC [Promoter] in Germany, where they have fortunately understood very favourably what is happening and are allowing us to cancel the 2020 date and resume the contract we have established for three years.'
  29. Howard, Tom (16 October 2021). "New Zealand secures spot on 2022 WRC calendar". Motorsport.com. Motorsport Network. Retrieved 16 October 2021.
  30. "New Zealand's 2020 WRC return off". wrc.com. WRC Promoter GmbH. 4 June 2020. Retrieved 4 June 2020.
  31. Evans, David (8 October 2019). "FIA steps up plan to simplify WRC into five-tier career ladder". autosport.com. Motorsport Network. Retrieved 16 March 2020.
  32. Garton, Nick (16 March 2020). "Neuville doesn't see point of "s***" 2022 proposed WRC rules". autosport.com. Motorsport Network. Retrieved 16 March 2020.
  33. Evans, David (21 December 2019). "WRC cars will get a boost from hybrid power on stages from 2022". autosport.com. Motorsport Network. Retrieved 31 December 2019.
  34. "Existing engines to stay in WRC Hybrid switch". wrc.com. WRC Promoter GmbH. 31 March 2021. Retrieved 9 April 2021.
  35. Newbold, James; Evans, David; James, Matt; Malsher, David (26 January 2020). "Digging into the 'scramble for hybrid". autosport.com. Motorsport Network. Retrieved 26 January 2020.
  36. Newbold, James (31 March 2020). "WRC announces exclusive 2022 hybrid systems supplier". autosport.com. Motorsport Network. Retrieved 1 April 2020.
  37. "Electric-only zones compulsory in hybrid era". wrc.com. WRC Promoter GmbH. 27 October 2021. Retrieved 28 October 2021.
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