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Making its debut into the FIA World Rally Championship this year and to the top level of rallying is newcomer Rally Croatia for round 3 of the Championships.
With its service park based in the capital city of Zagreb to the northwest of Croatia, this new Asphalt rally has already delivered an extremely challenging opening day for the worlds best rally drivers from the WRC, WRC-2, WRC-3, and Junior WRC.
Making its debut into the FIA World Rally Championship this year and to the top level of rallying is newcomer Rally Croatia (22nd – 25th April). First held back in 1974 as a national rally and then incorporated into the European championship in 1986; from then on the Croatians have enjoyed rallying ever since.
Ahead of Round 3 of the 2021 FIA World Rally Championships in Croatia, Hyundai WRT despatched its squad to the Italian coastal city of Sanremo for the 68th edition of this long-standing iconic asphalt rally.
Whilst their competitors such as Toyota Gazoo Racing WRT opted for local pre-event test days in Croatia, Hyundai chose a competitive environment in addition to its preparation. With the aim of not only providing some valuable seat time on Asphalt for a number of its crews but also to gain some further experience of running the Pirelli P-Zero tyres under competition conditions.
Just two final stages covering approx 45km were all that remained on the final leg of the Arctic Rally Finland (Round 2 of the 2021 FIA World Rally Championships), and Estonian Ott Tanäk was on course to be written into the World Rally history books.
With an overnight temperature drop and some fresh snow, the conditions on the 28km Aittajärvi stage were ideal for this final high-speed blast on the snow and ice.
As the sun rose over a picturesque Arctic Circle, the crews faced the main bulk of the rally, with 144km spread over 6 stages (3 stages repeated in two loops). Leg 2 of this second round of the FIA World Rally Championships was the longest of this short 10 stage event but would deliver plenty of moments and drama for some.
Overnight Rally leader, Ott Tänak entered the day with a 16.2 seconds lead over his fellow Hyundai team-mate Craig Breen. Whilst his Championship rival, Sébastien Ogier who battled with his road position on the first two stages of the event on the opening day would continued to struggle.
For the second round of the 2021 FIA World Rally Championships, we have ventured far North into the Arctic Circle for the first time in its 49 year history. The Rovaniemi based Arctic Rally event in the North of Finland has come to rescue in place of the fallen Swedish rally and has created much excitement amongst World Rally fans, despite being a non-spectator event, like Round 1 the Monte Carlo was.
Following their pre-rally event test where the Hyundai pair of Ott Tänak and Thierry Neuville recently both competed on the Estonian Otepää Winter Rally and won the event with a team 1-2. Tänak and Neuville continued to get to grips with the wintery snow and icy conditions as they set the top two fastest times on the mornings shakedown for the 2nd round of the FIA World Rally Championships, on the outskirts of Rovaniemi, Northern Finland.
Following an open invitation by the event organisers where the COC suggested that WRC teams could simply stop by Estonia on route to Finland ahead of the Arctic Rally Finland (the second round of the FIA World Rally Championships) and use their event, the Otepää Winter Rally (which was the opening round of the Estonian Rally Championship) as a shakedown.
Further challenges could face RedBull the FIA World Rally Championships promoter with further alterations to the 2021 Calendar.
Rumours surface that once again for the second consecutive year The Safari Rally Kenya may have to sit out from the FIA World Rally Championships.
Ypres is suggested to move back to its traditional late June date and perhaps an alternative reserve event, possibly The Acropolis Rally Greece could fill the August slot in the WRC schedule.
Approx 260km across a possible 10 stages are expected for the Arctic Rally Finland behind closed doors.
It is to be expected that the 2nd round of the FIA World Rally Championships will like the Monte Carlo Rally did, run behind closed doors with no spectators.
The Lapland Regional Government currently have in place a ban on holding public events for more than 50 people until the end of February.