WRC3

The FIA WRC3 is a support championship of the World Rally Championship.^[1] The calendar consists of the same rallies and stages as the parent series and crews usually compete immediately after WRC2 entrants. Entry into WRC3 is limited to cars that are based on production models and homologated under Group Rally3 rules, although prior to 2022 Group Rally2 cars were used.^[2][3][4] There are championship titles awarded to drivers and co-drivers. The series began in 2013 and was limited to production-based cars homologated under the R1, R2 and R3 rules, until its cancellation at the end of 2018. The current format of the series began in 2020.

WRC3

Category	Group Rally3
Country	International
Inaugural season	2013
Tire suppliers	P
Drivers' champion	Lauri Joona
Co-Drivers' champion	Enni Mälkönen
Official website	www.wrc.com
Current season

History

From 2013 the previous Production World Rally Championship was cancelled and replaced by WRC-3.^[5] With the introduction of Group R the new WRC-3 was contested by 2WD production based cars from R1, R2 and R3 classes. Teams and drivers competing in the series were free to contest any rallies forming the World Rally Championship. They had to nominate up to six events to score points in, and their best five results from these six events counted towards their final championship points score. From 2017 this was changed to nominating seven rounds of which their six best results counted.^[6][7] In 2018, FIA announced that the World Rally Championship-3 was being discontinued,^[8] with all WRC championships becoming four wheel drive with the exception of Junior WRC.^[9]

The 2019 season saw the running of two championships in support of the World Rally Championship using Group Rally2 cars. These were known as WRC 2 Pro for professional crews and manufacturer teams, and WRC 2 for privateers. However, this multi-class structure was found to be too confusing, with customer drivers in WRC 2 Pro whilst manufacturer teams were unofficially supporting WRC 2 entries.^[10] The categories were renamed again and the WRC3 name was revived in 2020. Professional crews would now contest WRC2 whilst privateers would contest the WRC3 where teams were not allowed to enter.^[10] Stricter rules on entry eligibility were introduced in 2021 clarifying the line between professional and privateer.

In March 2021 the FIA announced that from the 2022 season WRC3 would be a Group Rally3 car based championship with Open and Junior category titles, also with championship titles for teams.^[2] These two categories were reduced to just one WRC3 title for Drivers and Co-Drivers in 2023 with no provision for teams.

The 2022 FIA WRC3 Junior category consisted of Junior WRC, an arrive-and-drive style format competition organised by M-Sport. Crews born on or after 1 January 1993 registered for the championship and contested up to 5 rallies as set by M-Sport using Ford Fiesta Rally3 cars provided. This category was replaced by the restored FIA Junior WRC in 2023.

Rules

In 2023, WRC3 entries can be made in the name of the driver or competitor. Other than the use of Rally3 cars, there are no restrictions on entry eligibility. Crews can compete in any rally on the WRC calendar but must nominate beforehand any rally that will count towards their WRC3 championship up to a maximum of 5 rounds, with the best 4 results contributing to the championship points tally.

Power Stage points also contributed during the 2021 season but were removed for the following season.^[4]

Results

Drivers' Championship

Group	Year	Champion	Car	2nd place	Car	3rd place	Car
Rally3	2023	Roope Korhonen	Ford Fiesta Rally3	Diego Domínguez Jr.	Ford Fiesta Rally3	Jason Bailey	Ford Fiesta Rally3
	2022	Lauri Joona	Ford Fiesta Rally3	Jan Černý	Ford Fiesta Rally3	Sami Pajari	Ford Fiesta Rally3
Rally2	2021	Yohan Rossel	Citroën C3 Rally2	Kajetan Kajetanowicz	Škoda Fabia Rally2 evo	Emil Lindholm	Škoda Fabia Rally2 evo
	2020	Jari Huttunen	Hyundai i20 R5	Marco Bulacia	Citroën C3 R5	Kajetan Kajetanowicz	Škoda Fabia Rally2 evo
2wd Group R	2018	Enrico Brazzoli	Peugeot 208 R2	Taisko Lario	Peugeot 208 R2	Emil Bergkvist	Ford Fiesta R2T
	2017	Nil Solans	Ford Fiesta R2T	Raphaël Astier	Peugeot 208 R2	Nicolas Ciamin	Ford Fiesta R2T
	2016	Simone Tempestini	Citroën DS3 R3T	Michel Fabre	Citroën DS3 R3T	Fabio Andolfi	Peugeot 208 R2
	2015	Quentin Gilbert	Citroën DS3 R3T	Ole Christian Veiby	Citroën DS3 R3T	Simone Tempestini	Citroën DS3 R3T
	2014	Stéphane Lefebvre	Citroën DS3 R3T	Alastair Fisher	Citroën DS3 R3T	Martin Koči	Citroën DS3 R3T
	2013	Sébastien Chardonnet	Citroën DS3 R3T	Keith Cronin	Citroën DS3 R3T	Quentin Gilbert	Citroën DS3 R3T

Co-Drivers' Championship

Group	Year	Champion	Car	2nd Place	Car	3rd Place	Car
Rally3	2022	Enni Mälkönen	Ford Fiesta Rally3	Mikael Korhonen	Ford Fiesta Rally3	Tamás Kürti	Ford Fiesta Rally3
Rally2	2021	Maciek Szczepaniak	Škoda Fabia Rally2 evo	Alexandre Coria	Citroën C3 Rally2	Ross Whittock	Škoda Fabia Rally2 evo
	2020	Mikko Lukka	Hyundai i20 R5	Maciek Szczepaniak	Škoda Fabia Rally2 evo	Aaron Johnston	Volkswagen Polo GTI R5
2wd Group R	2018	Luca Beltrame	Peugeot 208 R2 Citroën DS3 R3T	Tatu Hämäläinen	Peugeot 208 R2	Johan Johansson	Ford Fiesta R2T
	2017	Miquel Ibañez	Ford Fiesta R2T	Frédéric Vauclare	Peugeot 208 R2	Thibault De La Haye	Ford Fiesta R2T
	2016	Giovanni Bernacchini	Citroën DS3 R3T	Maxime Vilmot	Citroën DS3 R3T	Manuel Fenoli	Peugeot 208 R2
	2015	Renaud Jamoul	Citroën DS3 R3T	Anders Jeager	Citroën DS3 R3T	Matteo Chiarcossi	Citroën DS3 R3T
	2014	Thomas Dubois	Citroën DS3 R3T	Gordon Noble	Citroën DS3 R3T	Lukáš Kostka	Citroën DS3 R3T
	2013	Thibault De La Haye	Citroën DS3 R3T	Marshall Clarke	Citroën DS3 R3T	Lara Vanneste	Citroën DS3 R3T

Teams' Championship

Season	Champion
2022	Jan Černý[11]
2020–2021	Not awarded
2018	ACI Team Italia
2017	ADAC Sachsen
2016	Saintéloc Junior Team
2015	Printsport
2014	ADAC Team Weser-Ems e.V.
2013	Charles Hurst Citroën Belfast

References

1. "2023 FIA WORLD RALLY CHAMPIONSHIP – SPORTING REGULATIONS" (PDF).
2. "FIA Announces World Motor Sport Council Decisions". Federation Internationale de l'Automobile. 5 March 2021. Retrieved 5 March 2021.
3. "WRC3". WRC - World Rally Championship. Retrieved 3 March 2021.
4. "2021 FIA WORLD RALLY CHAMPIONSHIP – SPORTING REGULATIONS" (PDF).
5. "Exciting changes for 2013 WRC". WRC.com. WRC Official Website. 21 September 2012. Archived from the original on 1 October 2012. Retrieved 1 October 2012.
6. "The WRC Lowdown: Support Championships". wrc.com. 10 January 2017. Archived from the original on 13 January 2017. Retrieved 17 February 2023.
7. "Exciting changes for 2013 WRC". WRC.com. WRC Official Website. 21 September 2012. Archived from the original on 1 October 2012. Retrieved 1 October 2012.
8. "FIA announces World Motor Sport Council decisions". FIA.com. Federation Internationale de l'Automobile. 12 October 2018. Retrieved 15 February 2019.
9. "FIA announces World Motor Sport Council decisions". Federation Internationale de l'Automobile. 12 October 2018. Retrieved 3 March 2021.
10. Evans, David (8 October 2019). "FIA steps up plan to simplify WRC into five-tier career ladder". autosport.com. Motorsport Network. Retrieved 8 October 2019.
11. FIA Prize Giving 2022. Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile. 2 December 2022. p. 32.

External links

• Official website (in English, French, and Spanish)