Terry Neuwil in the 2019 Ypres Rally. Photo: wrc.com
After three months of speculation, it has become clear that the 2020 World Rally Championship season will end in Belgium. Although it was originally planned that the final stage of the WRC would take place in Japan, which would allow the country to return to the WRC calendar after a ten-year hiatus, it has become known that due to the consequences of Covid-19, the rally will not take place in Japan this year.
“We are very disappointed that the Japanese rally will not take place this year due to the pandemic, especially given the hard work they put into returning to the WRC,” says the FIA rally director. Yves Maiton.
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Photo: Joha Bos
It should be noted that Meaton’s professional frustration has grown into a personal joy, seeing that his homeland will become the 34th country to host the WRC since 1973. “Belgium has a long rally tradition and a passion for rally, as evidenced by the number of Belgians in various roles – pilots, co-drivers, team leaders, journalists,” continues Meitton.
It is known that the Belgian WRC rally will take place on legendary and well-known rally roads. The roads of this rally are described as complicated, narrow and fast asphalt roads, where there are ditches on the sides of the road. Last year, Terry Neiville started the rally with a Hyundai i20 Coupe WRC, where his average speed was 118 km / h.
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Photo: Jerome Deskeuvre
” Ipra Rally has a reputation for cast iron in terms of organization and safety. The city of Ipra has been in the gene rally for 56 years. This rally is an integral part of the city, so we receive a lot of support from the city’s companies to organize the rally in a unique historical context, ” the official statement said.
Meanwhile, the Japanese, who are understandably disappointed that they will not complete the WRC stage this year, have begun work on the Japanese WRC stage for 2021. It is now known that Japan is one of the nine countries approved in next year’s WRC calendar.
It will be recalled that recently Toyota boss Tommy Makakin acknowledged that if the WRC rallies took place in Estonia and Ipria, the Hyundai team would benefit greatly from two Hyundai drivers (Tanakam Estonia and Noivil Belgium). they will be home rallies.
2020 WRC Calendar:
| 1. | Monte Carlo | January 23 – 26 |
| 2. | Sweden | February 13 – 16 |
| 3. | Mexican | March 12 – 15 |
| 4. | Estonia | September 4-6 |
| 5. | Turkey | September 18 – 20 |
| 6. | Germany | October 15-18 |
| 7. | Italy | October 29 – November 1 |
| 8. | Belgium | November 19 – 22 |
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