2013 World Rally Championship
The 2013 World Rally Championship was the 41st season of the World Rally Championship, an auto racing championship recognised by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile as the highest class of international rallying. The season was run over 13 rallies, starting with the Rallye Monte Carlo on 16 January, and finishing with the Wales Rally of Great Britain on 17 November. Volkswagen entered the series as a constructor with the Polo R WRC, while Ford and Mini ended their factory support for the Fiesta RS WRC and John Cooper Works WRC respectively, though both continued to make  their cars available to customer teams. The 2013 season also marked the first appearances of the Super 2000 and Group N replacement category, Group R. As part of this introduction, the support series – Super 2000, Group N Production Cars and the World Rally Championship Academy – were restructured, with the Super 2000, four-wheel-drive Group R and Group N categories reorganised as the FIA World Rally Championship-2, two-wheel-drive Group R categories becoming FIA World Rally Championship-3, and the WRC Academy becoming the FIA Junior World Rally Championship. An FIA Production Car Cup will also be awarded to a  registered entrant in WRC-2 who is driving a Group N car. Sébastien Loeb started the season as the defending World Champion after securing his ninth consecutive title in 2012. However, Loeb did not return to contest the full 2013 season. Citroën were the defending Constructors' Champions. Both Loeb and Citroën secured their titles at the 2012 Rallye de France Alsace. Volkswagen Motorsport driver Sébastien Ogier won the Drivers' Championship at the Rallye de France Alsace, after Qatar World Rally Team driver Thierry Neuville failed to score maximum points on the rally-opening power stage. Neuville finished runner-up in the  championship, ahead of Ogier's teammate, Jari-Matti Latvala. In the Manufacturers' Championship, Volkswagen Motorsport won the Championship at the Rally de España as Ogier and Latvala finished in the top two placings. Abu Dhabi Citroën Total World Rally Team finished second with Qatar M-Sport World Rally Team in third. Calendar. The 2013 calendar was announced at a meeting of the FIA World Motor Sport Council in Singapore on 28 September 2012. The 2013 championship was contested over thirteen rounds in Europe, North America, South America and Oceania. Signed teams and drivers. World Rally Championship. The following teams and  drivers are scheduled to compete in the World Rally Championship during the 2013 season: Changes. Class changes. The 2013 season will see the introduction of a new rally category, Group R. No new cars will be homologated under the Group A and Group N regulations for production cars, and will instead be reclassified under Group R before being phased out of competition. With the introduction of Group R, the rules for the feeder categories re-written in a bid to boost entries: Organisational structure. After the collapse of promoter North One Sport and parent company Convers Sports Initiatives in early  2012, and being forced to arrange event coverage on an event-by-event basis for most of the 2012 season, the World Rally Championship sought out a new promoter for 2013 in Red Bull House Media. At the end of the 2012 season, the FIA elected not to renew their contract with British firm Stage One Technology to provide timing services for stages. They were replaced by Spanish outfit Sistemas Integrales de Telecomunicacion. Rally summaries. Round 1 — Monte Carlo Rally. The opening event of the season was run in difficult conditions, with heavy snowfalls recorded the length of the route . In his final appearance at the Monte Carlo Rally, Sébastien Loeb secured a record seventh victory on the event, winning by over a minute and a half. The World Champion took the lead during the first day and quickly established a one-minute margin to his former teammate, Sébastien Ogier. Ogier went on to finish second in the Volkswagen Polo R WRC's debut, having set the fastest time on the opening stage of the rally. Teammate Jari-Matti Latvala was less-fortunate, sliding off the road on the fourth leg of the rally and retiring. Despite beating Loeb's  times on several stages, Ogier was quoted as saying he had no intention of challenging Loeb's lead as it was "never a part of the plan", whilst team principal Jost Capito stated that it was more important for the team to secure a strong result than it was to challenge for outright victory. Nevertheless, some observers admitted that Loeb was untouchable, regardless Ogier's motivation. Dani Sordo secured third place after spending most of the rally trading place with Qatar M-Sport's Evgeny Novikov until the Russian crashed out of the event on the Col de Turini. The  event was ultimately cut short when rally organisers cancelled the final two stages in the face of overwhelming spectator numbers that blocked access to the stages. As a result, no points were offered for the Power stage. Round 2 — Rally Sweden. Sébastien Ogier secured the Volkswagen Polo R WRC's maiden victory in Sweden, winning the rally by forty seconds ahead of Sébastien Loeb. Ogier took the lead of the rally early on the first day, and steadily built up a thirty-second lead over the rest of the field. After struggling with a poor set-up early in the  rally, Sébastien Loeb steadily began to recover, and eventually launched a final assault as the rally crossed over the border into Norway. Loeb successfully took ten seconds away from Ogier as he won three consecutive stages until made a mistake on the penultimate stage and hit a snowbank, at which point he decided to back off. Ogier and teammate Jari-Matti Latvala went on to set the two fastest times on the Power Stage, with the three bonus World Championship points giving Ogier the lead in World Drivers' Championship. Mads Østberg completed the podium, narrowly beating Latvala. Mikko Hirvonen lost  twenty minutes in an accident on the first day and ultimately went on to finish seventeenth, whilst Evgeny Novikov rolled on the final day and fell from fifth to ninth overall. Round 3 — Rally Mexico. With Sébastien Loeb contesting just four events in 2013, the Rally of Mexico became the first rally since the 1992 Rallye Côte d'Ivoire to start without a World Champion driver taking part. The first leg of the rally was marked by a three-way battle, with Thierry Neuville, Sébastien Ogier and Mads Østberg all holding the lead of the rally. As Ogier gradually established a  lead over Østberg as Neuville fell behind until a mechanical issue forced Østberg into a premature retirement. Østberg was able to re-enter the rally the next day under "Rally 2" regulations, but the accompanying five-minute penalty put him out of contention and Mikko Hirvonen emerged as Ogier's closest challenger; Østberg ultimately finished eleventh, but scored two bonus world championship points on the Power Stage. Ogier went on to win his second rally in succession by three and a half minutes, with Hirvonen second and Neuville completing the podium. Dani Sordo—driving for the Citroën works team in  Loeb's absence—was fourth, while Nasser al-Attiyah, Chris Atkinson and Ken Block all marked their return to the WRC with fifth, sixth and seventh place respectively. Round 4 — Rally de Portugal. Sébastien Ogier took his third consecutive win in Portugal. Mads Østberg took an early lead, but rolled his Ford Fiesta RS WRC when he mis-heard a pace note on the first day, and he was forced to retire. Dani Sordo emerged as Ogier's next challenger, but his bid to win the rally came to an abrupt end when he was similarly forced to retire after  crashing. Ogier and teammate Jari-Matti Latvala built up a lead over third-placed Mikko Hirvonen until disaster struck the two Volkswagen Polo R WRCs on the final day. Ogier lost thirty seconds on a single stage with a mechanical problem, whilst the same fate befell Latvala, who subsequently lost second place to Hirvonen. The Volkswagens recovered quickly, and Ogier went on to win the power stage and the rally, but the damage had been done and Latvala finished three minutes behind Hirvonen. Evgeny Novikov recovered from a slow start to his season to finish fourth, the highest-placed Ford  driver, with Nasser Al-Attiyah in fifth and Andreas Mikkelsen sixth in the third Volkswagen. Østberg re-entered the rally after his roll and went on to finish eighth, picking up two extra World Championship points on the power stage. Round 5 — Rally Argentina. After missing the rallies of Mexico and Portugal to compete in the FIA Grand Touring Series, Sébastien Loeb marked his return to rallying with first place in the Rally Argentina. Sébastien Ogier took the lead early on, but made a mistake whilst driving in heavy fog. He lost forty seconds, allowing Loeb to seize the advantage . Jari-Matti Latvala and Mikko Hirvonen fought over the final podium position until Hirvonen's Citroën DS3 WRC developed an electrical problem. Latvala could not afford to rest, as he found himself fighting with Evgeny Novikov. A late charge on the final day—including the fastest time on the power stage—was enough for Latvala to secure third place and his first podium in Argentina. Hirvonen recovered to finish sixth overall, finishing third on the power stage to score an additional World Championship point. Round 6 — Acropolis Rally. Jari-Matti Latvala took his first win of the 2013 season, and  his first win for Volkswagen on the Acropolis Rally. The opening forty-seven kilometre stage proved to be difficult, claiming three high-profile victims in Sébastien Ogier, Mads Østberg and Mikko Hirvonen in short order, and Evgeny Novikov emerged as the surprise early leader, building up a thirty-second advantage at the end of the first leg. The Russian's lead was short-lived, as he developed a puncture early in the second leg and was forced to limp back to the service park. Latvala took control of the rally while Andreas Mikkelsen in the third factory-supported Polo R  began to work his way up through the points-paying positions. He ultimately missed out on a podium finish of his own, as Dani Sordo and Thierry Neuville each took their second podium finish of the season with second and third place respectively. Latvala's result was briefly challenged by Citroën, who believed his car was in violation of the technical regulations, but the protest was dismissed and Latvala's result was confirmed, allowing him to secure second place in the drivers' championship standings behind teammate Ogier. Round 7 — Rally Italia Sardegna. Sébastien Ogier held the lead of the rally  from start to finish; with three stage wins on the first day, Ogier held a lead of 46.6 seconds over Mikko Hirvonen, who battled for second with Thierry Neuville, with a difference of only 3.1 seconds at the end of the day. Both Qatar M-Sport World Rally Team drivers, Mads Østberg and Evgeny Novikov retired. On the second day, Hirvonen started with a stage win, but on the next stage went wide and got stuck into a ditch, leaving second place to Neuville. Ogier's teammate, Jari-Matti Latvala recovered from 12th position after a puncture on stage one , to finish third. Dani Sordo was the best Citroën finisher in fourth, ahead of Martin Prokop in fifth, while Elfyn Evans finished sixth on his début in a World Rally Car. Michał Kościuszko got his best result of the year in seventh, ahead of Østberg – recovering from his accident – to finish eighth via Rally-2. Robert Kubica got his first championship points by finishing ninth and Khalid Al Qassimi completed the top ten finishers. Round 8 — Rally Finland. Sébastien Ogier won the rally to become the fifth non-Scandinavian driver to win the rally. Rally Finland started with a four-way  fight between Volkswagen Motorsport's Ogier, Citroën Total Abu Dhabi WRT's Mikko Hirvonen, Qatar M-Sport WRT's Mads Østberg and Qatar World Rally Team's Thierry Neuville. Ogier won the first stage, but Neuville won the second one to become the leader jointly with Hirvonen. Ogier set the fastest time for the third stage, and joined Neuville at the front. Hirvonen fought back on the very next stage, and returned to the joint lead with Neuville. The next stage saw heavy rain and a complicated Hirvonen lost sixteen seconds to be back in the fight. Østberg won the  stage, but Neuville became the outright leader. Jari-Matti Latvala hit a rock on the second stage and had to retire for the day. The second day started with a swap of the leading position between M-Sport's Neuville and Østberg. But on the second loop, both hit trouble and Ogier become the leader by over 30 seconds. Kris Meeke lost nearly 25 seconds behind Evgeny Novikov, but Meeke was attributed his afternoon time for both passes through the stage, and finished the day in fifth. The final day saw the podium finishers remain as the previous evening, after  second placed Neuville won the battle with Østberg, when the latter went off to avoid a rock. Hirvonen finished fourth, with teammate Dani Sordo finishing fifth after Meeke rolled his Citroën DS3 WRC. Novikov recovered to finish sixth, with local Jari Ketomaa in seventh in his Ford Fiesta R5. The top ten finishers were completed by Per-Gunnar Andersson, Robert Kubica – scoring again with the Citroën DS3 RRC – and Andreas Mikkelsen. Round 9 — Rallye Deutschland. Dani Sordo won his first ever WRC event at the all-tarmac Rallye Deutschland after fighting back from fourth place. The first day finished with  Volkswagen Motorsport's Sébastien Ogier and Jari-Matti Latvala in first and second, with Thierry Neuville in third. The second day of competition started with leader Ogier off the road after missing a braking point. This handed the lead to teammate Latvala, who fought to maintain this position from Neuville. Neuville won the first three stages of the day, but Latvala went on to win three stages from the second loop. Latvala lost the lead after an accident on stage 12, on a stage where Neuville and Mads Østberg also went off the road. Neuville took the lead, but lost  it on the next stage to Citroën Total Abu Dhabi WRT's Sordo. Day 3 finished with Sordo leading by only 0.8 seconds. In the final day of competition, Sordo retained the lead after Neuville went off in the very last stage and settled with second position and Mikko Hirvonen completed the podium. Martin Prokop and WRC-2 frontrunners Robert Kubica and Elfyn Evans got their best results with fourth, fifth and sixth respectively. Latvala went on to finish seventh, with Hayden Paddon in eighth with a Škoda Fabia S2000. Teammates Østberg and Evgeny Novikov completed the top ten finishers. Round  10 — Rally Australia. Sébastien Ogier won the last non-European rally of the year. Volkswagen Motorsport II's Andreas Mikkelsen started leading the event with temporary co-driver Paul Nagle before losing the lead to championship leader Ogier, who won eight stages on the day. Early leader Mikkelsen finished the day in seventh position. On the second day, Ogier kept his stage-winning streak, to extend the lead to 45.9 seconds from Mikko Hirvonen. Kris Meeke went off the road in the third stage of the day. In the final day of competition, Ogier almost claimed the championship, but lost  the opportunity when Hirvonen got a puncture on the final stage of the rally, to lose second place to Thierry Neuville; his fourth consecutive second place. After his puncture, Hirvonen finished third, ahead of Jari-Matti Latvala, Mads Østberg, Mikkelsen, Evgeny Novikov, local Nathan Quinn, Khalid Al Qassimi and Abdulaziz Al-Kuwari. Round 11 — Rallye de France Alsace. Sébastien Ogier clinched the title after Thierry Neuville failed to win the opening stage of the event, which was denoted as the Power Stage. After struggling through the first day, Ogier took the lead on the final day of the rally. Neuville  finished the first day in the lead, but lost it after a puncture on stage 11, and eventually finished fourth. Dani Sordo finished second, after battling for the lead from most of the rally, with Jari-Matti Latvala completing the podium in third overall. Evgeny Novikov finished fifth ahead of Mikko Hirvonen, Andreas Mikkelsen and Mads Østberg. WRC-2 frontrunner Robert Kubica scored more championship points with ninth, with sportscar racer Romain Dumas completing the points in tenth, in a one-off drive. Nine-time World Champion Sébastien Loeb failed to finish his last appearance in the championship after his car  slid wide on stage 15 and rolled into a ditch. Round 12 — Rally Catalunya. The Mixed event saw the first rally of Sébastien Ogier as a World Champion. Ogier started the event in the best way, winning all the night stages of the first day. Teammate Jari-Matti Latvala got the second place from local Dani Sordo on the last stage. On the second day of tarmac stages, Ogier lost the lead to Latvala after a puncture, promoting Sordo and Thierry Neuville to second and third respectively. The last day of competition, on gravel, saw Ogier fight back from sixth  to become the rally leader. Latvala finished second. This one-two finish for Volkswagen Motorsport enabled the team to win the Manufacturers' Championship. Mikko Hirvonen finished third after teammate Sordo retired with a broken suspension. M-Sport's trio of Neuville, Evgeny Novikov and Mads Østberg finished fourth, fifth and sixth respectively, followed by Martin Prokop and Hayden Paddon in seventh and eighth. In ninth was Robert Kubica, to clinch the WRC2 title, ahead of rival Abdulaziz Al-Kuwari. Round 13 — Wales Rally GB. Sébastien Ogier won the last event of the season to round up a year with nine  wins. Ogier led the event from start to finish, with teammate Jari-Matti Latvala and Thierry Neuville completing the podium after taking their final positions on stage 6. Robert Kubica, who was making his début in a Citroën DS3 WRC, rolled his car on the first stage of the second day of competition. Kubica later rejoined on the third day, only to roll out again on stage 11. Day four saw the end of a three-way battle for third in favour of Neuville between him, Mads Østberg and Andreas Mikkelsen, who finished fourth and fifth respectively. Martin Prokop finished  sixth, with Dani Sordo in seventh after taking a five-minute penalty for a breach of the chassis regulations. The top ten finishers were completed by WRC2 drivers Elfyn Evans, Jari Ketomaa and Mark Higgins, all driving Ford Fiesta R5 cars. Notes: Results and standings. FIA World Rally Championship for Drivers. Points are awarded to the top 10 classified finishers. There are also 3 bonus points awarded for Power Stage wins, 2 for second place and 1 for third.