Jan Kopecký defeated former champion Pontus Tidemand to the title.
Škoda Motorsport became teams' champion for the third time.
The 2018 FIA WRC2 Championship was the sixth season of WRC2 , a rallying championship organised and governed by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile , running in support of the World Rally Championship . The championship was open to cars complying with R4 , R5 , and Super 2000 regulations.[ 1]
Pontus Tidemand and Jonas Andersson were the defending drivers' and co-drivers' champions. Škoda Motorsport were the defending teams' champions. Although Škoda Motorsport went on to win the teams' championship for the third year in a row, Jan Kopecký and Pavel Dresler succeeded for the drivers' and co-drivers' titles defeating the former champions.
Calendar
The championship was contested over thirteen rounds in Europe, the Middle East, the Americas and Oceania.[ 2]
A map showing the locations of the rallies in the 2018 World Rally Championship season.
Round
Dates
Rally
Rally headquarters
Rally details
Start
Finish
Surface
Stages
Distance
1
25 January
28 January
Rallye Automobile Monte Carlo
Gap , Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur [ a]
Mixed[ b]
17
394.74 km
2
15 February
18 February
Rally Sweden
Torsby , Värmland
Snow
19
314.25 km
3
8 March
11 March
Rally Guanajuato México
León , Guanajuato
Gravel
22
344.49 km
4
5 April
8 April
Tour de Corse
Bastia , Haute-Corse
Tarmac
12
333.48 km
5
26 April
29 April
Rally Argentina
Villa Carlos Paz , Córdoba
Gravel
18
358.25 km
6
17 May
20 May
Rally de Portugal
Matosinhos , Porto
Gravel
20
358.19 km
7
7 June
10 June
Rally Italia Sardegna
Alghero , Sardinia
Gravel
20
313.46 km
8
26 July
29 July
Rally Finland
Jyväskylä , Keski-Suomi
Gravel
23
317.26 km
9
16 August
19 August
ADAC Rallye Deutschland
Bostalsee , Saarland
Tarmac
18
325.76 km
10
13 September
16 September
Marmaris Rally of Turkey
Marmaris , Muğla
Gravel
17
312.44 km
11
4 October
7 October
Wales Rally GB
Deeside , Flintshire
Gravel
23
318.34 km
12
25 October
28 October
RACC Rally Catalunya de España
Salou , Tarragona
Mixed[ c]
18
331.58 km
13
15 November
18 November
Rally Australia
Coffs Harbour , New South Wales
Gravel
24
318.64 km
Source: [ 2] [ 3] [ 4] [ 5] [ 6] [ 7] [ 8] [ 9] [ 10] [ 11]
Calendar changes
The Rally of Poland was removed from the calendar after the FIA repeatedly raised concerns about the event's safety.[ 12] The FIA had previously ordered a review of the event's safety standards ahead of the 2017 event, threatening to rescind the rally's World Championship status if conditions were not improved.[ 13]
The Rally of Poland was replaced by the Rally of Turkey , which returned to the calendar for the first time since 2010 .[ 2] The event, which was previously based in Istanbul , return to south-western Turkey. It was based in the coastal resort town of Marmaris in Muğla Province ,[ 14] with the route running along the Mediterranean coastline.[ 15]
The rallies of Great Britain and Catalunya swapped places on the schedule, with Rally Catalunya becoming the penultimate round of the championship.[ 2] Rallye Deutschland relocated to a new headquarters with the service park located at the Bostalsee reservoir in Saarland state.[ 6]
Route changes
Rallye Monte Carlo featured a heavily revised route from the 2017 event , with half the route being brand new.[ 5] After starting in Mexico City in 2017, Rally Mexico returned to its traditional start in Guanajuato . The route featured minor changes and included a new Power Stage .[ 16]
The route for the Tour de Corse was heavily revised, with only two of the seven stages being run as they were in 2017. The headquarters of the event was relocated to Bastia , which hosted the event for the first time since 1978.[ 17]
Organisers of the Wales Rally GB announced plans for a heavily revised route. The changes were made possible by the passage of legislation by the British government allowing public roads to be used for motorsport.[ 18] [ 19]
Entries
Eligible models
The 2018 season saw several new car models become available for competition:
Entry list
The following teams and crews were entered in the 2018 FIA WRC2 Championship:
Manufacturer
Car
Tyre
Driver
Co-driver
Rounds
Ford
Ford Fiesta R5
M-Sport Ford WRT
M
Eric Camilli
Benjamin Veillas
1, 9, 11
Teemu Suninen
Mikko Markkula
1
Marco Bulacia
Fernando Mussano
3
D
5
Nil Solans
Miquel Ibañez
3–6
P
9
Marc Martí
11–12
M
Gus Greensmith
Craig Parry
3, 5–6, 8
Stuart Loudon
9
Alex Gelsomino
10–11
Pedro Heller
Pablo Olmos
3, 5–6, 10, 13
Alberto Heller
José Diaz
5, 13
Jouni Virtanen
Enni Mälkönen
8
P
Georgios Vassilakis
Spyros Koltsidas
10
X-One Racing
P
Kevin Abbring
Pieter Tsjoen
1–2, 6
Tommi Mäkinen Racing
P
Takamoto Katsuta
Marko Salminen
2, 6
M
4, 7–8, 12
Hiroki Arai
Jarmo Lehtinen
7–8
Glenn MacNeall
4
P
2, 6
Tommi Mäkinen Racing 2
M
Jarkko Nikara
Sayaka Adachi
8
TAIF Motorsport
M
Radik Shaymiev
Maxim Tsvetkov
2
GB Motors
P
Gianluca Linari
Nicola Arena
2
Castrol Ford Team Türkiye
P
Murat Bostanci
Onur Vatansever
6, 8, 10
Keane Motorsport
P
Simone Tempestini
Sergiu Itu
6
Lotos Rally Team
P
Kajetan Kajetanowicz
Maciek Szczepaniak
7, 9–10, 12
Ford Motorsport Turkey
P
Yağiz Avci
Ersan Alkir
10
Deniz Fahri
Bahadir Gücenmez
10
Bora Manyera
Cem Çerkez
10
Škoda Auto
Škoda Fabia R5
Škoda Motorsport II
M
Jan Kopecký
Pavel Dresler
1, 4, 7, 9–10
Ole Christian Veiby
Stig Rune Skjærmoen
4, 7
Kalle Rovanperä
Jonne Halttunen
9, 11
Pontus Tidemand
Jonas Andersson
10–11
Škoda Motorsport
2–3, 5–6
Ole Christian Veiby
Stig Rune Skjærmoen
2, 8
Kalle Rovanperä
Jonne Halttunen
3, 5, 8, 12
Juuso Nordgren
Tapio Suominen
6
Jan Kopecký
Pavel Dresler
12
Printsport
M
Łukasz Pieniążek
Przemysław Mazur
2, 4, 6–7, 9, 11–12
Emil Lindholm
Mikael Korhonen
8
P
Lars Stugemo
Kalle Lexe
2, 8
S.A. Motorsport Italia Srl
D
Umberto Scandola
Andrea Gaspari
2, 9
CA1 Sport Ltd
D
Fredrik Åhlin
Joakim Sjöberg
2
Pontus Tidemand Racing
P
Mattias Adielsson
Andreas Johansson
2
Toksport World Rally Team
P
Janne Tuohino
Reeta Hämäläinen
2
Jarmo Berg
Rami Suorsa
2
M
Chris Ingram
Ross Whittock
10–11
Henning Solberg
Ilka Minor
12
Rhys Yates
Elliott Edmondson
12
Motorsport Italia
P
Benito Guerra
Borja Rozada
3, 6–9
Emanuele Inglesi
12
Diogo Salvi
Hugo Magalhães
10
Armin Kremer
Pirmin Winklhofer
13
ACI Team Italia WRC
P
Fabio Andolfi
Simone Scattolin
4, 6, 12
Emanuele Inglesi
8–9, 11
Saba Competición
D
Gustavo Saba
Marcelo der Ohannesian
5
ABR World Rally Team
D
Tiago Weiler
Fabian Cretu
5
TGS Worldwide
M
Eerik Pietarinen
Juhana Raitanen
8
Škoda Auto Deutschland
M
Fabian Kreim
Frank Christian
9
BC Vision Motorsport
M
Burak Çukurova
Vedat Bostanci
10
P
Erkan Güral
Burak Koçoğlu
10
Race Seven
D
Marco Bulacia
Fabian Cretu
11–12
2C Competition
M
Sylvain Michel
Anthony Gorguilo
12
Peugeot
Peugeot 208 T16 R5
Peugeot Belgium Luxembourg
M
Guillaume De Mévius
Louis Louka
1, 4
Citroën
Citroën DS3 R5
PH Sport
M
Eddie Sciessere
Flavio Zanella
1
Citroën C3 R5
Ole Christian Veiby
Stig Rune Skjærmoen
11
Citroën Total
M
Stéphane Lefebvre
Gabin Moreau
4, 6–9, 11–12
Simone Tempestini
Sergiu Itu
7–12
Ole Christian Veiby
Stig Rune Skjærmoen
12
CHL Sport Auto
M
Yoann Bonato
Benjamin Boulloud
4, 9
Sports & You
M
Pepe López
Borja Rozada
12
Hyundai
Hyundai i20 R5
Hyundai Motorsport
M
Jari Huttunen
Antti Linnaketo
2–3, 6, 8–9, 11–12
Nicolas Ciamin
Thibault de la Haye
4, 7–9
Max Vatanen
Christopher Guieu
6
BRC Racing Team
M
Pierre-Louis Loubet
Vincent Landais
4, 6–9, 11–12
Hyundai Paraguay
D
Diego Dominguez
Edgardo Galindo
5
Metior Sport
M
Eddie Sciessere
Pietro Ometto
9
Hyundai Motor España
M
José Antonio Suárez
Cándido Carrera
9, 12
Volkswagen
Volkswagen Polo GTI R5
Volkswagen Motorsport
M
Eric Camilli
Benjamin Veillas
12
Petter Solberg
Veronica Engan
12
Subaru
Subaru Impreza WRX STi
GB Motors
P
Gianluca Linari
Pietro Ometto
13
Source: [ 22] [ 23] [ 24] [ 25] [ 26] [ 27] [ 28] [ 29] [ 30] [ 31] [ 32] [ 33] [ 34] [ 35]
Results and standings
Season summary
Scoring system
Points were awarded to the top ten classified finishers in each event. Six best results counted towards championship.
Position
1st
2nd
3rd
4th
5th
6th
7th
8th
9th
10th
Points
25
18
15
12
10
8
6
4
2
1
FIA WRC2 Championship for Drivers
Key
Colour
Result
Gold
Winner
Silver
2nd place
Bronze
3rd place
Green
Points finish
Blue
Non-points finish
Non-classified finish (NC)
Purple
Did not finish (Ret)
Black
Excluded (EX)
Disqualified (DSQ)
White
Did not start (DNS)
Cancelled (C)
Blank
Withdrew entry from the event (WD)
FIA WRC2 Championship for Co-Drivers
Key
Colour
Result
Gold
Winner
Silver
2nd place
Bronze
3rd place
Green
Points finish
Blue
Non-points finish
Non-classified finish (NC)
Purple
Did not finish (Ret)
Black
Excluded (EX)
Disqualified (DSQ)
White
Did not start (DNS)
Cancelled (C)
Blank
Withdrew entry from the event (WD)
FIA WRC2 Championship for Teams
Key
Colour
Result
Gold
Winner
Silver
2nd place
Bronze
3rd place
Green
Points finish
Blue
Non-points finish
Non-classified finish (NC)
Purple
Did not finish (Ret)
Black
Excluded (EX)
Disqualified (DSQ)
White
Did not start (DNS)
Cancelled (C)
Blank
Withdrew entry from the event (WD)
Notes
References
External links
Categories within the World Rally Championship
Teams and drivers that are eligible to score manufacturer points