FIA - WRC | Season - 2013

New Season, New Challenge, New Hopes! 2013 edition of World Rally Championship is all set to kick off in a couple of days. The season is goi...

New Season, New Challenge, New Hopes!

2013 edition of World Rally Championship is all set to kick off in a couple of days. The season is going to be exciting like never before, as there would be a new World Champions for Drivers / Co-drivers for sure, and with a new manufacturer the constructor's title is up for stake too!



All younger generation drivers/co-drivers are more than ready to set the battle for the title for a run. Wishing all the young top-guns to gun for the top! All the best!!

Manufacturers / Constructors line-up,

• New Manufacturer entry by Volkswagen Motorsport with their weapon of choice being, VW Polo R WRC.


• Citroen Racing are on a new mission with a new Chief Sponsor, Abu Dhabi.


• M-Sport are backed-up by new Sponsor Qatar, as Ford (as a manufacturer) decided to stay away from the series.


• BMW / Prodrive's Mini Countryman WRC bitter breakup puts them out of contention, however Prodrive would be more than interested in providing support for the privateer entries. Motorsport Italia are running a full season for Polish rally-ace Michal Kosciuszko in this season.

Competing crew line-up,

• Citroen Racing with a new No.1 driver as Mikko Hirvonen as Sebastien Loeb decides on a limited WRC programme and to take on a different challenge in WTCC. Dani Sordo / Carlos Del Barrio are in a second Citroen DS3 WRC car, while UAE Khalid Al-Qassimi / British Scott Martin will be driving in few WRC events, which are not clashing with the Middle East Rally Challenge. Bryan Bouffier is also getting a seat in the Junior Citroen WRT, starting from Monte-Carlo Rally.


• Volkswagen Motorsport signs Finnish pair Jari-Matti Latvala / Miikka Anttila & promotes Norwegian Andreas Mikkelsen and his new Finnish co-driver Mikko Markkula to drive a 3rd car in the series. Frenchmen Sebastien Ogier / Julien Ingrassia pair was their first choice since the end of 2011.


• M-Sport has appointed Norwegian Mads Ostberg / Jonass Andersson as their no.1 driver for the season. Qatari driver Nasser Al-attiyah / Italian co-driver Giovanni Bernacchini would be joining in a second car after his Dakar outing. Russian Evgeny Novikov / Austrian Ilka Minor will also be driving another Ford Fiesta WRC. Thierry Neuville / Nicholas Gilsoul are also under the Qatar M-Sport programme.

Season 2013 Calendar looks like this,

1. 81º Rallye Monte-Carlo, 15 – 20 Jan 13


2. 61º Rally Sweden, 08 – 10 Feb 13


3. 26º Rally Guanajuato Mexico, 08 – 10 Mar 13


4. 47º Vodafone Rally de Portugal, 12 - 14 Apr 13


5. 33º Philips Rally Argentina, 03 – 05 May 12


6. 59º Acropolis Rally, 31 May – 02 Jun 13


7. 10º Rally d'Italia Sardegna, 21 – 23 Jun 12


8. 63º Neste Oil Rally Finland, 02 – 03 Aug 12


9. 31º ADAC Rallye Deutschland, 23 – 25 Aug 12


10. 22º Rally Australia, 13 – 15 Sep 12


11. 4º Rallye de France - Alsace, 04 – 06 Oct 12


12. 49º Rally RACC Catalunya, 25 – 27 Oct 12


13. 69º Wales Rally GB, 15 – 17 Nov 12

Hope to see all of you folks there/here soon! Happy Rallying!!