WRC 2020 set to resume in September, revised calendar announced
The WRC organisers have announced the revised race calendar for 2020, according to which, the championship will resume in Estonia on 4th September. This will be Estonia's WRC debut (not part of the original 2020 calendar), making it the 33rd country to host a WRC round.
By Divyank K. Bansal
As per the revised race calendar, the 2020 WRC season has been shrunk down from the original 13 rounds to just eight rounds. Formerly postponed Rally Argentina has been cancelled.
UPDATE (07/09/2020): Latest WRC 2020 Calendar – Rally Estonia (4-6 SEP), Rally Turkey (18 – 20 SEP), Rally Italia Sardegna (08 OCT – 11 OCT) & Rally Belgium (19 – 22 NOV). Rally Japan and Rally Germany have been cancelled.
After major world championships like F1, MotoGP, and Formula E announced their revised race calendars for the 2020 season, it was only a matter of time for the World Rally Championship (WRC) to follow suit. The WRC organisers have announced the revised race calendar for 2020, according to which, the championship will resume in Estonia on 4th September. This will be Estonia's WRC debut (not part of the original 2020 calendar), making it the 33rd country to host a WRC round.
For those not aware, unlike F1, WRC had managed to run the opening three rounds of the 2020 championship (Monte Carlo, Sweden, and Mexico) successfully. So, Rally Estonia (4-6 September) will be the fourth round and will be followed by Rally Turkey (24 – 27 September). After Turkey, the WRC bandwagon will move to Germany (15 – 18 October), followed by Italy for the penultimate Rally Italia Sardegna (29 October – 1 November). Rally Italia Sardegna was originally scheduled to run from 4 to 7 June. As before, the 2020 WRC season will conclude with Rally Japan (19 – 22 November).
Apart from the five planned rounds, WRC promoters are also in advanced talks with Belgium (Ypres Rally, 2 – 4 October) & Croatia for adding two more rounds to the 2020 season. However, their confirmation is yet to be obtained.
After Rally Mexico (Round 3), Toyota's Sebastien Ogier will head to Estonia as the top-runner on the leaderboard with 62 points. Behind Ogier, teammate Elfyn Evans (54 points), and Hyundai's Thierry Neuville (42 points) round off the top-three. For defending WRC champion Ott Tanak, the proceedings will take a particularly interesting turn, as it will the Estonian's first-ever opportunity to race in front of his home crowd in September! Tanak is currently placed fifth on the leaderboard, with 38 points.
