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FIA World Rally Championship competitors face yet another imprint-sleek enlighten on spherical three of the 2021 season, when Rally Croatia makes its debut from April 22-25.

T. Neuville / M. Wydaeghe

Basically based fully fully in the capital metropolis Zagreb, the occasion has its roots in the Delta Rally that first ran in 1974, and has previously been a bit of the FIA European Rally Championship between 2007 and 2013. Marking a return for the WRC to pure asphalt stipulations, the phases are set to feature a combination of archaic and accumulated surfaces and mix speedy roads with extra technical sections.

Twenty-year-previous Kalle Rovanperä will are accessible Croatia as the youngest ever chief of the WRC standings after a noteworthy launch to the season. The Finnish Toyota driver has a four-point advantage over Hyundai’s Thierry Neuville, along with his own physique of workers-mates Sébastien Ogier and Elfyn Evans a further four factors gradual. Ott Tänak is 12 factors from the lead after his grab for Hyundai on Arctic Rally Finland.

Craig Breen stays in the third Hyundai for his first asphalt WRC occasion since 2018. At M-Sport Ford, younger Frenchman Adrien Fourmaux makes the step up from the WRC2 class; it will likely be his maiden appearance at the cease stage alongside the physique of workers’s in fashion driver Gus Greensmith, who will compete in Croatia with a sleek co-driver in the person of Chris Patterson, changing Elliott Edmonsson. Takamoto Katsuta will over any other time force a fourth Toyota Yaris WRC, while Pierre-Louis Loubet strains up in his 2C Competition-entered Hyundai.

In the FIA WRC2 strengthen category, there is a first appearance in 2021 of the reigning champion Mads Østberg, as soon as extra driving a Citroën C3 Rally2 as he appears to be like to enlighten his fellow Norwegian and sequence chief Andreas Mikkelsen. Teemu Suninen swaps locations with Fourmaux for this occasion to line up in a Ford Fiesta Rally2 for M-Sport at the side of Tom Kristensson, who steps up after winning the FIA Junior WRC title in 2020. They’ll also face competitors from Nicolay Gryazin in a Movisport-entered Volkswagen Polo GTI, his physique of workers-mate Enrico Brazzoli, and Toksport’s Marco Bulacia driving a Škoda Fabia Evo.

A total of 15 autos are entered in FIA WRC3, led by Rallye Monte-Carlo class winner Yohan Rossel. The Frenchman will battle it out against fellow countryman Nicolas Ciamin, Austria’s Hermann Neubauer, Belgium’s Cedric de Cecco, plus three-time ERC champion and 2019 WRC2 runner-up Kajetan “Kajto” Kajetanowicz from Poland. Gargantuan Britain’s Chris Ingram, the 2019 ERC champion, will open his debut WRC3 campaign in Zagreb, navigated by fellow Briton Ross Whittock.

The sleek FIA Junior WRC season begins in Croatia with eight younger drivers entered in identical Ford Fiesta Rally4 autos, headed by 2020 runner-up Martin Sesks from Latvia.

THE 2021 ROUTE

Twenty phases totalling 300.32 competitive kilometres lie forward of the drivers on the Croatian Rally. Following a Shakedown on Thursday morning, the rally begins from the Zagreb Magnificent Service Park on Friday morning and takes the crews south-west for a loop of four phases, which is willing to be repeated after the mid-day carrier. Saturday takes space in the identical space with the same format with two loops of four phases. The closing day will be slouch to the north of Zagreb with a pair of phases every to be slouch twice, with the last stage serving as the Wolf Vitality Stage.

MEDIA ACCREDITATION

Media accreditation and attendance is exactly managed with modified phrases beneath COVID-19 guidelines. All attendees are required to conform to the COVID protocol as outlined by the occasion organisers (please refer to Bulletin 2).

Media accreditation deserve to be mute individually by permitted High-tail Holders at the Accreditation Desk situated at the Media Center:  INA-Industrija nafte d.d., Avenija Većeslava Holjevca 10, HR-10020 Zagreb.

The outlet hours are:
Tuesday, April 20: 14: 00-21: 00
Wednesday, April 21: 08: 30-21: 00
Thursday, April 22: 08: 00-21: 00
Friday, April 23: 08: 00-21: 00

2021 WRC RALLY CROATIA TIMETABLE AND MEDIA OPPORTUNITIES

Tuesday, April 20  
Tree planting for invited drivers, Quit point SS Stojdraga – Gornja Vas  
(initiating to permitted PH most productive) 11: 30 – 13: 30
   
Wednesday, April 21  
Obligatory media safety briefing by assignment of video conference (significant factors TBC) 18: 00 hrs
   
Thursday, April 22  
Shakedown for P1 and P2, SD Medvedgrad 09: 00 – 11: 00
Shakedown for all Priority drivers, SD Medvedgrad 11: 00 – 13: 00
Shakedown for all drivers, SD Medvedgrad 13: 00 – 15: 00
FIA Press Conference, by assignment of video conference (significant factors TBC) 15: 30 hrs
– FIA WRC 15: 30 hrs
– FIA WRC2 15: 40 hrs
– FIA WRC3 & guest driver 15: 50 hrs
– FIA Junior WRC 16: 00 hrs
Ceremonial launch, launch podium, Zagreb 18: 30 hrs
   
Friday, April 23  
Start of the rally (Part 1), Zagreb comely SP 07: 46 hrs
First car arrives for media zone, regroup, technical zone & carrier (TC4A), SP 12: 58 hrs
First car arrives for media zone, technical zone & carrier (TC8A), SP 19: 20 hrs
   
Saturday, April 24  
Start of Part 3, Zagreb comely SP 07: 01 hrs
First car arrives for media zone, regroup, technical zone & carrier (TC12A), SP 12: 18 hrs
First car arrives for media zone, technical zone & carrier (TC16A), SP 18: 18 hrs
   
Sunday, April 25  
Start of Part 5, Zagreb comely SP 06: 25 hrs
Podium Ceremony & Price Giving, Vitality Stage build, Kumrovec 14: 00 hrs (approx.)
First car arrives for media zone after having checked in at TC20A, SP 15: 18 hrs
FIA Press Conference, by assignment of video conference (significant factors TBC) 16: 00 hrs (TBC)

FIA PRESS CONFERENCE ATTENDANCE

Thursday, April 22 15: 30 (native time) – WRC
  Toyota Gazoo Racing WRT – Kalle Rovanperä (FIN)
  Hyundai Shell Mobis WRT – Craig Breen (IRL)
  M-Sport Ford WRT – Adrien Fourmaux (FRA)
  Hyundai 2C Competition – Pierre-Louis Loubet (FRA)
   
  15: 40 (native time) – WRC2
  Movisport – Nicolay Gryazin (RUS)
  TRT World Rally Team – Mads Ostberg (NOR)
  M-Sport Ford WRT – Tom Kristensson (SWE)
   
  15: 50 (native time) – WRC3 & guest driver
  Yohan Rossel (FRA)
  Kajetan Kajetanowicz (POL)
  Chris Ingram (GBR)
  Viliam Prodan (HRV) – non-precedence guest driver
   
  16: 00 (native time) – Junior WRC
  Martin Koci (SVK)
  Raul Badiu (ROM)
  Will Creighton (IRL)
   
Sunday, April 25 Successful FIA Junior WRC Championship driver
  Successful FIA WRC3 Championship driver
  Successful FIA WRC2 Championship driver
  High three drivers in the total classification
  Representative of the winning producer

MANUFACTURER WRC ENTRIES, 2021 WRC RALLY CROATIA

Toyota Gazoo Racing WRT Kalle Rovanperä / Jonne Halttunen (#69)
  Sébastien Ogier / Julien Ingrassia (#1)
  Elfyn Evans / Scott Martin (#33)
   
Hyundai Shell Mobis WRT Thierry Neuville / Martijn Wydaeghe (#11)
  Ott Tänak / Martin Järveoja (#8)
  Craig Breen (IRL) / Paul Nagle (ILR) (#42)
   
M-Sport Ford WRT Adrien Fourmaux / Renaud Jamoul (#16)
  Gus Greensmith / Chris Patterson (#44)

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