2010_World_Rally_Championship_season

2010 World Rally Championship

2010 World Rally Championship

38th season of the FIA World Rally Championship

The 2010 World Rally Championship was the 38th season of the FIA World Rally Championship. The season consisted of 13 rallies, beginning with Rally Sweden on 11 February and ended with Wales Rally GB on 14 November.

"WRC 2010" redirects here. For the video game, see WRC: FIA World Rally Championship (2010 video game).

France's Sébastien Loeb won the drivers championship, his seventh consecutive title, after winning his home rally on 3 October and Citroën secured their sixth Manufacturers' title.[1] In the junior classes held alongside the main championship, Aaron Burkart won the JWRC Drivers' championship, Xavier Pons won the SWRC Drivers' championship, Red Bull Rally Team won the WRC Cup and Armindo Araújo retained his PWRC Drivers' championship title.

2010 was the final season that the 2.0 litre engine package–which débuted in the 1997 World Rally Championship–was used. It was also the final season that Pirelli was the sole tyre supplier for the championship; as DMACK and Michelin became the tyre suppliers and a new 1.6 litre engine package was introduced for the 2011 season.

Changes

Henning Solberg driving a Ford Fiesta S2000 at the 2010 Rally Bulgaria, the new event of the season.
  • Event organisers are given more flexibility. Rallies can be run over two, three or four days, but must finish on a Saturday or Sunday. Mixing asphalt and gravel surfaces is allowed, either within a stage or within the itinerary of a day.[2] There will no longer be a minimum or maximum distance for a special stage. The total stage distance of the event has been changed to 300–500 kilometres. Night stages are permitted but should not form the whole itinerary of a day.[3]
  • There will be a new Super 2000 World Rally Championship (SWRC) class for drivers with Super 2000 cars,[4] and within it there will be a WRC Cup for teams.[5] Teams need to contest at least seven rounds, including at least one outside Europe.[6]
  • The WRC will also introduce a ranking system called the Drivers' World Rally Ranking system in 2010, similar to that in golf or tennis.[7]
  • A new points system has been introduced to all classes for the 2010 season, so that more finishers in a rally are awarded points. Previously points had been awarded to the top eight finishers:[8]
More information Year, 1st ...

It is the first time since 1997 that ten drivers will score points on a rally.[9]

  • From June, the name of the co-driver will be included on the rear side windows of competition cars.[10]

Calendar

WRC debutant Kimi Räikkönen driving a Citroën C4 WRC during the 60th running of the Rally Finland.

The 2010 championship was contested over thirteen rounds in Europe, the Middle East, the Americas, Asia and Oceania.

The 2010 season included thirteen rallies, which was one more than 2009. Australia, Argentina, Cyprus, Ireland, Norway, Poland, Italy and Greece were dropped from the calendar for the 2010 season, while Sweden, Mexico, Jordan, Turkey, Germany, New Zealand, France and Japan returned. Bulgaria was part of the calendar for the first time.[11]

The nine events also part of the Production World Rally Championship were Sweden, Mexico, Jordan, New Zealand, Finland, Germany, Japan, France and Great Britain. The six rallies also on the Junior World Rally Championship were Turkey, Portugal, Bulgaria, Germany, France and Spain. The ten rallies on the new Super 2000 World Rally Championship (for S2000 driver) and WRC Cup (for S2000 teams) were Sweden, Mexico, Jordan, New Zealand, Portugal, Finland, Germany, Japan, France and Great Britain.

The finalised calendar was published by the FIA on 11 December 2009,[4] following earlier proposed calendars issued in September[11] and October 2009.[12]

More information Round, Dates ...

Teams and drivers

In 2010 two categories were eligible to compete for the Manufacturer's championship:

Manufacturer

  • must take part in all the rallies of the Championship with two cars of the same make
  • must enter only cars corresponding to the 2009 homologated version of a World Rally Car in conformity with the 2010 Appendix J
  • must inform the FIA of the name of the first driver entered for the season at the time of registration for the Championship. The driver may change only after the agreement of the WRC Commission. The driver of the second car may be changed for each of the rallies in the Championship

WRC Team

  • must take part in a minimum of 8 rallies, including two outside Europe, with one or two cars; those rallies must be nominated on registering for the Championship
  • cannot enter World Rally Cars homologated during the year 2009 and cannot use parts homologated after 2 January 2010
  • can only score points in the events it nominated on registering.

The registered Manufacturers were Citroën Total World Rally Team and BP Ford Abu Dhabi World Rally Team; the registered WRC Teams were Stobart M-Sport Ford, Munchi's Ford and the Citroën Junior Team.

More information Team, Constructor ...
  •  – indicates a car running with varying numbers during the season

Driver changes

J-WRC entries

[31][32]

More information No, Team ...

S-WRC entries

[33][34]

More information No, Team ...

P-WRC entries

[36][37]

More information No, Driver ...
†^ – At each rally, the organiser may nominate two "guest drivers" from their country to score support category points.

Results and standings

Results

More information Colour, Rally Surface ...
More information Round, Rally name ...

Standings

Drivers' championship

More information Pos., Driver ...

Manufacturers' championship

More information Pos., Manufacturer ...

JWRC Drivers' championship

More information Pos., Driver ...
Notes

† Egoi Eder Valdes Lopez has been removed from the Classification.

SWRC Drivers' championship

More information Pos., Driver ...
Notes

† Andersson's entrant RUFA Sport failed to compete in the required number of events, meaning all of Andersson's points scored with the team have been annulled. His win in Sweden remains as he competed as a wildcard entrant and not with RUFA.[38]

‡ Tuohino has not completed the season due to a lack of budget, which resulted in the FIA excluding him from the championship.

WRC Cup for Super 2000 Teams championship

More information Pos., Team ...

PWRC Drivers' championship

More information Pos., Driver ...
Notes

† Miguel Baldoni has been removed from the Classification.[39]

References

  1. [1]
    "Sebastien Loeb wins seventh straight World Rally crown". BBC Sport. BBC. 2010-10-03. Archived from the original on 4 October 2010. Retrieved 2010-10-03.
  2. [2]
    Coursey, Scott (2009-06-24). "World Motor Sport Council: WRC Decisions: 2010 Calendar – S2000 'WRC Cup' – 1600cc Turbo for 2011". rallybuzz.com. RallyBuzz. Archived from the original on 2011-10-06. Retrieved 2010-01-06.
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    "More WRC rule changes announced". World Rally Championship. International Sportsworld Communicators. 2009-06-25. Retrieved 2010-01-06.[permanent dead link]
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    "New S-WRC gets the green light". World Rally Championship. International Sportsworld Communicators. 2009-12-11. Archived from the original on 2009-12-31. Retrieved 2010-01-06.
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    "World Motor Sport Council, 24/06/2009". fia.com. Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile. 2009-06-24. Archived from the original on 6 January 2010. Retrieved 2010-01-06.
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    Evans, David (2009-06-25). "WRC to introduce ranking system". autosport.com. Haymarket Publications. Retrieved 2010-01-06.
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    "FIA introduces new WRC points allocation". World Rally Championship. International Sportsworld Communicators. 2010-02-10. Archived from the original on 2010-02-13. Retrieved 2010-02-10.
  9. [9]
    Beer, Matt (2010-02-10). "WRC to use new F1 points system". autosport.com. Haymarket Publications. Archived from the original on 13 February 2010. Retrieved 2010-02-10.
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    "World Motor Sport Council: 23/06/2010". fia.com. Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile. 2010-06-23. Archived from the original on 26 June 2010. Retrieved 2010-06-23.
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    "World Motor Sport Council, 21/10/2009". fia.com. Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile. 2009-10-21. Archived from the original on 24 October 2009. Retrieved 2009-10-21.
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    "Citroen extends its WRC programme". World Rally Championship. International Sportsworld Communicators. 2009-07-30. Archived from the original on 2012-07-03. Retrieved 2009-07-30.
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  21. [21]
    "Munchi's Ford World Rally Team". World Rally Championship. International Sportsworld Communicators. 2010-01-29. Archived from the original on 2013-01-05. Retrieved 2010-02-02.
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  23. [23]
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  24. [24]
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  25. [25]
    "Solberg stays with Citroen in 2010". World Rally Championship. International Sportsworld Communicators. 2010-01-12. Archived from the original on 2010-01-15. Retrieved 2010-01-12.
  26. [26]
    "Solberg picks his new co-driver". World Rally Championship. International Sportsworld Communicators. 2010-06-29. Archived from the original on 2010-07-02. Retrieved 2010-06-29.
  27. [27]
    "List of Entries approved by F.I.A." Rallye de France. Fédération Française du Sport Automobile. 2010-09-10. Archived from the original on 3 October 2010. Retrieved 2010-09-13.
  28. [28]
    "Introducing the Monster World Rally Team—Ken Block goes global in a Ford" (PDF). monsterworldrallyteam.com. Monster World Rally Team. 2010-01-06. Retrieved 2010-01-06.[permanent dead link]
  29. [29]
    Ryan, Nate (2010-01-05). "USA's Block to race on rally circuit". USA Today. Gannett Co. Inc. Retrieved 2010-01-06.
  30. [30]
    "Monster World Rally Team: first pictures". World Rally Championship. International Sportsworld Communicators. 2010-01-26. Archived from the original on 2010-01-29. Retrieved 2010-01-26.
  31. [31]
    "J-WRC Drivers". World Rally Championship. International Sportsworld Communicators. Archived from the original on 2010-02-18. Retrieved 2010-04-15.
  32. [32]
    "FIA Junior World Rally Championship: Final List of Entrants". fia.com. Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile. 2010-05-05. Archived from the original on 7 May 2010. Retrieved 2010-05-07.
  33. [33]
    "S-WRC Drivers". World Rally Championship. International Sportsworld Communicators. Archived from the original on 2010-03-11. Retrieved 2010-02-06.
  34. [34]
    "FIA Super 2000 World Rally Championship: Final List of Entrants". fia.com. Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile. 2010-04-14. Archived from the original on 17 April 2010. Retrieved 2010-04-15.
  35. [35]
    Evans, David (2010-02-11). "Al-Attiyah aims for four titles in 2010". autosport.com. Haymarket Publishing. Retrieved 2010-02-11.
  36. [36]
    "P-WRC Drivers". World Rally Championship. International Sportsworld Communicators. Archived from the original on 2009-12-31. Retrieved 2010-02-04.
  37. [37]
    "FIA Production Car World Rally Championship: Final List of Entrants". fia.com. Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile. 2010-04-14. Archived from the original on 17 April 2010. Retrieved 2010-04-20.
  38. [38]
    "PG focussed on 2011 after S-WRC campaign falters". wrc.com. North One Sport. 2010-09-15. Archived from the original on 2012-04-03. Retrieved 2010-09-15.
  39. [39]
    "2010 Production Car WRC Classification". fia.com. Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile. Retrieved 2010-09-16.
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