2017 WRC2 Championship

The 2017 FIA WRC2 Championship is the fifth season of the WRC2, a rallying championship organised and governed by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile, running in support of the World Rally Championship. The Championship is open to cars complying with R4, R5, and Super 2000 regulations.^[1] Esapekka Lappi did not return to defend his 2016 title as he left Škoda Motorsport for the top WRC category to become third driver of Toyota GAZOO Racing. However, Škoda Motorsport retained the title thanks to Pontus Tidemand who won the championship after Rallye Deutschland.^[2]

The season was contested over thirteen rounds in Europe, the Americas and Oceania.^[3][4]

Round	Dates		Rally name	Rally headquarters	Rally details
	Start	Finish			Surface	Stages	Distance
1	19 January	22 January	Monte Carlo Rally	Gap, Hautes-Alpes, France	Mixed[N 1]	15[N 2]	355.96 km
2	9 February	12 February	Rally Sweden	Torsby, Värmland	Snow	17[N 3]	305.83 km
3	9 March	12 March	Rally Mexico	León, Guanajuato	Gravel	17[N 4]	231.25 km
4	7 April	9 April	Tour de Corse	Bastia, Haute-Corse	Tarmac	10	316.76 km
5	27 April	30 April	Rally Argentina	Villa Carlos Paz, Córdoba	Gravel	18	356.49 km
6	18 May	21 May	Rally de Portugal	Matosinhos, Porto	Gravel	19	349.17 km
7	8 June	11 June	Rally Italia Sardegna	Alghero, Sardinia	Gravel	19	312.66 km
8	29 June	2 July	Rally Poland	Mikołajki, Warmia-Masuria	Gravel	22[N 5]	338.34 km
9	27 July	30 July	Rally Finland	Jyväskylä, Keski-Suomi	Gravel	25	315.62 km
10	17 August	20 August	Rallye Deutschland	Saarbrücken, Saarland	Tarmac	21	309.17 km
11	6 October	8 October	Rally Catalunya	Salou, Tarragona	Mixed[N 6]	19	312.02 km
12	26 October	29 October	Wales Rally GB	Deeside, Flintshire	Gravel	20	306.13 km
13	17 November	19 November	Rally Australia	Coffs Harbour, New South Wales	Gravel	19[N 7]	287.68 km
Source:[3][4][13][14]

The FIA re-organised the calendar for the 2017 season to include a greater variation in surfaces between events, bringing the Tour de Corse forward from October to April.^[3][15] The decision was made after concerns were expressed about the 2016 calendar, which originally contained six consecutive gravel events followed by four tarmac rallies.^[16]

The Rally of China was removed from the calendar.^[4] The event had been included on the 2016 calendar before storm damage to the proposed route forced its cancellation.^[16] The round was removed from the 2017 calendar to give event organisers more time to prepare for a future bid to rejoin the calendar.^[17] Similarly, the FIA put the Rallies of Argentina and Poland on notice regarding safety concerns, threatening to rescind their World Championship status for the 2017 season unless safety standards were improved in 2016,^[18][19][20] with drivers citing a lack of safety marshalls and expressing concerns over spectators getting too close to the cars as the main areas to be addressed.^[21] Both events were subsequently included on the calendar.^[3][4]

The Rallies of Sweden and Germany changed their headquarters. The Rally of Sweden stayed within Värmland County, but relocated from Karlstad to Torsby.^[3] The Rally of Germany moved from Trier in Rhineland-Palatine to Saarbrücken in the neighbouring state of Saarland.^[14]

The Rallye Monte-Carlo introduced a heavily revised itinerary, with eighty-five percent of the route used in 2016 being revised for the 2017 event,^[22] which saw the competitive distance increase from 337.59 km to 382.65 km and included the Col de Turini as part of the Power Stage.^[22] Rally Sweden adjusted its route to remove the emphasis on purpose-built stages that had filled out the event itinerary in previous years. The new route raised the average speed of the rally and introduced more competitive mileage in Hedmark County in neighbouring Norway.^[23]

Rally Mexico also featured route revisions, with the eighty-kilometre Guanajuato stage—the longest in the championship in 2016—removed from the schedule;^[24] however, the addition of new stages and further changes to existing ones meant that the overall competitive distance of the 2017 rally was only six kilometres shorter than the route used in the 2016 event. The rally started in Mexico City with a spectator-friendly stage before moving to its traditional headquarters in León.^[25] The Tour de Corse shortened its route by seventy-four kilometres, from 390.92 km in 2016 down to 316.76 km in 2017, with most of the changes coming from shortening each of the individual stages used in 2016.^[26] Rally Portugal shortened its route by twenty kilometres, reintroducing stages that had not been used for several years and reconfiguring stages from the 2016 event.^[27] Rally Poland also revised its route, introducing a series of brand-new stages close to the Russian border. The changes saw the crews compete on a wider ranges of surfaces—including tarmac and cobblestones—within individual stages, although the rally was still officially classified as a gravel surface event.^[28]

Following the cancellation of stages in Rally Sweden when the front-running cars exceeded the maximum average speed mandated by the FIA,^[8] Rally Finland was forced to revise its route to find ways of keeping the average stage speed down—with some estimates predicting that the 2017 generation of cars could exceed 140 km/h (87.0 mph)—to avoid stage cancellations.^[29] This was achieved by installing artificial chicanes into all but two of the stages, which proved to be controversial as drivers complained that they were too narrow and thus had the potential to damage cars, and were poorly-positioned with little regulatory oversight from rally organisers.^[30] With Rallye Deutschland moving to a new headquarters, the rally routed was revised. The vineyard and military proving ground stages in the Baumholder region were retained, but the final leg of the route was changed to introduce high-speed stages based on country lanes.^[14]

Rally Catalunya introduced several new and returning stages to its route, focusing on the tarmac legs of the event.^[31] Organisers of the Wales Rally GB retained the event route used in 2016, but revised the itinerary to increase its difficulty, with the route featuring earlier start times, later finishes and the reintroduction of night stages.^[32] Rally Australia underwent route revisions, introducing a new loop of stages north of the rally headquarters in Coffs Harbour. The new stages were designed to be faster and more technical than in previous events.^[33]

Crews that are eligible for the WRC2 title Entrant Car Class Tyre Drivers Co-drivers Rounds CHL Sport Auto Citroën DS3 R5 R5 M Yoann Bonato Benjamin Boulloud 1, 4, 6, 8, 10–12 J-Motorsport Citroën DS3 R5 R5 M Emil Bergkvist Joakim Sjöberg 1–2, 4, 6 Ola Fløene 10, 12 M-Sport World Rally Team Ford Fiesta R5 R5 M Eric Camilli Benjamin Veillas 1–4, 6, 10, 12 Teemu Suninen Mikko Markkula 2, 4, 6, 10–12 Gus Greensmith Craig Parry 2, 6, 8–12 Pierre-Louis Loubet Vincent Landais 6–7, 9–10, 12 PH Sport Citroën DS3 R5 2, 4 Škoda Motorsport Škoda Fabia R5 R5 M Pontus Tidemand Jonas Andersson 2–3, 5–6, 10, 12 Škoda Motorsport II 8 Motorsport Italia SRL Škoda Fabia R5 R5 D Benito Guerra Borja Rozada 3, 12 M Daniel Cué 5–6, 8, 10–11 Gekon Racing Citroën DS3 R5 R5 M Simone Tempestini Giovanni Bernacchini 4, 6, 8–12 ACI Team Italia Hyundai i20 R5 R5 M Fabio Andolfi Manuel Fenoli 4, 6–10 Simone Scattolin 11–12 TRT Peugeot World Rally Team Peugeot 208 T16 R5 R5 M Łukasz Pieniążek Przemysław Mazur 4, 6–8, 10–11 Printsport Škoda Fabia R5 12 Source:[34][35][36][37][38][39][40][41][42][43][44][45]

Key Icon Class R4 Classification within Group R R5 S Super 2000

Crews that are ineligible for the WRC2 title Entrant Car Class Tyre Drivers Co-drivers Rounds Škoda Motorsport Škoda Fabia R5 R5 M Andreas Mikkelsen Anders Jæger 1, 4, 6 Ole Christian Veiby Stig Rune Skjærmoen 12 Jan Kopecký Pavel Dresler 1, 4, 10 Škoda Motorsport II 7, 11 Juuso Nordgren Tapio Suominen 11–12 TGS Worldwide Mikael Korhonen 9 BRR Baumschlager Rally & Rally Team Škoda Fabia R5 R5 D Armin Kremer Pirmin Winklhofer 1 M Marijan Griebel Stefan Kopczyk 10 Tagai Racing Technology Škoda Fabia R5 R5 D Quentin Gilbert Renaud Jamoul 6, 8–10 D-Max Racing Ford Fiesta R5 M 1 D Andrea Crugnola Michele Ferrara 1 Gemini Clinic Rally Team Ford Fiesta R5 R5 M Bryan Bouffier Denis Giraudet 1, 4 Rhys Yates Alex Lee 11–12 BRC Racing Team Ford Fiesta R5 R5 M Giandomenico Basso Simone Scattolin 1 Sébastien Loeb Racing Peugeot 208 T16 R5 R5 M Quentin Giordano Thomas Roux 1 Printsport Škoda Fabia R5 R5 M Ole Christian Veiby Stig Rune Skjærmoen 2, 4, 7–8 Jari Huttunen Antti Linnaketo 9 Anders Grøndal Rally Team Ford Fiesta R5 R5 P Anders Grøndal Roger Eilertsen 2 Adapta Motorsport AS Ford Fiesta R5 R5 P Eyvind Brynildsen Anders Fredriksson 2 D 12 Škoda Fabia R5 M Bernhard ten Brinke Davy Thierie 10 Hyundai i20 R5 D Tom Cave James Morgan 9 Styllex Motorsport Ford Fiesta R5 12 Škoda Fabia R5 M Martin Koči Lukáš Kostka 4 Edwin Schilt Lisette Bakker 10 C-Rally Ford Fiesta R5 R5 M Jarosław Koltun Ireneusz Pleskot 2, 8 Matthew Wilson Stuart Loudon 12 Russian Performance Motorsport Ford Fiesta R5 R5 M Alexey Lukyanuk Alexey Arnautov 2 Tommi Mäkinen Racing Ford Fiesta R5 R5 M Takamoto Katsuta Marko Salminen 2, 6–7, 9, 11 Hiroki Arai Glenn MacNeall 2, 6–7, 9, 11 Orlen Team Škoda Fabia R5 R5 M Hubert Ptaszek Maciek Szczepaniak 3, 5–6, 8 M-Sport World Rally Team Ford Fiesta R5 R5 M Pedro Heller Pablo Olmos 3, 5–6, 8, 12 Kalle Rovanperä Jonne Halttunen 12–13 D Matt Edwards Patrick Walsh 12 Saintéloc Racing Citroën DS3 R5 R5 M Yohan Rossel Benoît Fulcrand 4, 6–7, 10–11 Easy Rally Citroën DS3 R5 R5 M Laurent Pellier Benoit Neyret Gigot 4 Saba Competitión Škoda Fabia R5 R5 D Gustavo Saba Fernando Mussano 5 Juan Carlos Alonso Matias Mercadal 5 Ford Fiesta R5 M Cristian García Pablo Marcos 11 Drive DMACK Trophy Team Ford Fiesta R5 R5 D Max Vatanen Jacques-Julien Renucci 6, 12 Osian Pryce Dale Furniss 8–9 Jon Armstrong Noel O'Sullivan 10–11 AR Vidal Racing Škoda Fabia R5 R5 M Miguel Campos António Costa 6 FF-Sport Ford Fiesta R5 R5 P Wojciech Chuchała Sebastian Rozwadowski 8 Škoda Fabia R5 D David Bogie Kevin Rae 12 Tehase Auto Škoda Fabia R5 R5 M Raul Jeets Kuldar Sikk 8–9, 12 S.A. Motorsport Italia Srl Škoda Fabia R5 R5 M Umberto Scandola Michele Ferrara 9 Toksport World Rally Team Škoda Fabia R5 R5 D Orhan Avcioğlu Burçin Korkmaz 11–12 Source:[34][35][36][37][38][39][40][41][42][43][44][45]

Key Icon Class R4 Classification within Group R R5 S Super 2000

• The format of the series will change to include three events nominated by the FIA that will be compulsory for all crews competing for points.^[15] This represents a change from previous years, where competitors were free to enter as many rounds of the championship as they wished, nominating individual rounds to count as their points-scoring events. The change was introduced to address concerns over the potential for an anticlimactic championship, where the championship could be resolved without the leading crews directly competing against one another.^[15] The Rallies of Portugal, Germany and Great Britain are the compulsory events for 2017.

The championship started with Andreas Mikkelsen, in a one-off outing with Škoda Motorsport after losing his WRC drive because of the Volkswagen Motorsport withdrawal from the sport, winning the Rallye Automobile Monte-Carlo by more than 3 minutes from teammate Jan Kopecký. Mikkelsen won 10 out of 15 stages, and led from start to end. The podium was completed by Monte veteran and previous winner Bryan Bouffier. Eric Camilli finished fourth in his first outing with the M-Sport World Rally Team after being demoted from the team's WRC drivers line up.^[46]

Ole Christian Veiby was the early leader of the Rally Sweden, winning the first two stages of the rally, but a push by Pontus Tidemand in which he won five of the remaining six stages of the leg 1,^[47] made him the Leader of the rally, a position he would maintain for the rest of the legs. Tidemand's victory give Škoda Motorsport the second victory of the season in a row. The Podium was completed by M-Sport World Rally Team's Teemu Suninen and Veiby.^[48]

Rally Mexico was a two-way fight between Camilli and Tidemand. By the end of Leg 2, Tidemand was on top by just 2 seconds. Nevertheless, Camilli choose wet tires for the last leg, and could not match the times of Tidemand, thus the Sweden won his second rally in a row, and give Škoda Motorsport the third out of three win in the season. The podium was completed by local and former Production World Rally Champion Benito Guerra.^[49]

Andreas Mikkelsen returned to the Škoda Motorsport's team for the Tour de Corse, and dominated the event, leading from start to finish. Teemu Suninen finished second, taking the position after his teammate Eric Camilli hit trouble in the first leg. The podium was completed by local Yohan Rossel. Mikkelsen's win was his second in as many outings.^[50]

Pontus Tidemand won the Rally Argentina by more than 10 minutes from local Juan Carlos Alonso to continue Škoda Motorsport's winning streak. Tidemand found a trouble-free weekend in one of the roughest events of the year were only five WRC-2 Crews finished the event. Benito Guerra completed the podium.^[51]

Mikkelsen returned for the Rally de Portugal and looked set to take another dominant win, only to roll his car on the very last stage of the rally whilst holding a 3 minute lead. This subsequently handed Tidemand his fourth win from six rallies, with the podium being completed by Teemu Suninen and reigning Junior WRC champion Simone Tempestini.

Round	Event name	Winning driver	Winning co-driver	Winning entry	Winning car	Winning time	Report
1	Rallye Monte Carlo	Andreas Mikkelsen	Anders Jæger	Škoda Motorsport	Škoda Fabia R5	4:09:36.3	Report
2	Rally Sweden	Pontus Tidemand	Jonas Andersson	Škoda Motorsport	Škoda Fabia R5	2:45:14.7	Report
3	Rally Mexico	Pontus Tidemand	Jonas Andersson	Škoda Motorsport	Škoda Fabia R5	3:32:56.5	Report
4	Tour de Corse	Andreas Mikkelsen	Anders Jæger	Škoda Motorsport	Škoda Fabia R5	3:31:04.1	Report
5	Rally Argentina	Pontus Tidemand	Jonas Andersson	Škoda Motorsport	Škoda Fabia R5	3:55:42.7	Report
6	Rally de Portugal	Pontus Tidemand	Jonas Andersson	Škoda Motorsport	Škoda Fabia R5	3:54:17.6	Report
7	Rally Italia Sardegna	Jan Kopecký	Pavel Dresler	Škoda Motorsport II	Škoda Fabia R5	3:36:36.5	Report
8	Rally Poland	Ole Christian Veiby	Stig Rune Skjærmoen	Printsport	Škoda Fabia R5	2:53:39.3	Report
9	Rally Finland	Jari Huttunen	Antti Linnaketo	Printsport	Škoda Fabia R5	2:39:30.9	Report
10	Rallye Deutschland	Eric Camilli	Benjamin Veillas	M-Sport World Rally Team	Ford Fiesta R5	3:08:16.0	Report
11	Rally Catalunya	Teemu Suninen	Mikko Markkula	M-Sport World Rally Team	Ford Fiesta R5	3:09:43.8	Report
12	Wales Rally GB	Pontus Tidemand	Jonas Andersson	Škoda Motorsport	Škoda Fabia R5	3:07:12.2	Report
13	Rally Australia	Kalle Rovanperä	Jonne Halttunen	Kalle Rovanperä	Ford Fiesta R5	3:09:01.1	Report

Points are awarded to the top ten classified finishers.

Pos. Driver MON SWE MEX FRA ARG POR ITA POL FIN GER ESP GBR AUS Drops Points 1 Pontus Tidemand 1 1 1 1 2 3 1 15 143 2 Eric Camilli 4 4 2 8 7 1 2 4 91 3 Teemu Suninen 2 2 2 7 1 13 0 85 4 Jan Kopecký 2 7 1 2 2 0 85 5 Ole Christian Veiby 3 5 2 1 WD DNS 16 68 6 Benito Guerra 3 3 11 4 9 3 WD 0 59 7 Simone Tempestini 4 3 10 5 6 5 20 0 56 8 Quentin Gilbert 5 Ret 3 2 4 0 55 9 Andreas Mikkelsen 1 1 Ret 0 50 10 Pierre-Louis Loubet Ret 6 10 5 7 5 8 0 39 11 Gus Greensmith 5 6 7 8 Ret 13 6 0 36 12 Tom Cave 3 3 0 30 13 Łukasz Pieniążek 10 5 6 11 12 6 9 0 29 14 Yohan Rossel 3 16 4 15 WD 0 27 15 Kalle Rovanperä 15 1 0 25 16 Jari Huttunen 1 0 25 17 Juuso Nordgren 9 4 5 0 24 18 Emil Bergkvist 6 6 9 Ret 10 Ret 0 19 19 Juan Carlos Alonso 2 0 18 20 Pedro Heller 4 Ret 8 9 18 0 18 21 Takamoto Katsuta 9 12 3 Ret 14 0 17 22 Bryan Bouffier 3 Ret 0 15 23 Osian Pryce Ret 4 0 12 24 Gustavo Saba 4 0 12 25 Miguel Campos 4 0 12 26 David Bogie 4 0 12 27 Hubert Ptaszek Ret 5 9 Ret 0 12 28 Yoann Bonato Ret Ret 15 5 13 10 11 0 11 29 Raul Jeets Ret 6 12 0 8 30 Wojciech Chuchała 6 0 8 31 Hiroki Arai 7 Ret Ret Ret Ret 0 6 32 Andrea Crugnola 7 0 6 33 Cristian García 7 0 6 34 Matt Edwards 7 0 6 35 Fabio Andolfi WD 13 Ret 8 Ret WD 12 10 0 5 36 Orhan Avcioglu 8 14 0 4 37 Eyvind Brynildsen 8 Ret 0 4 38 Marijan Griebel 8 4 39 Jon Armstrong 14 9 0 2 40 Jarosław Kołtun 10 Ret 0 1 41 Umberto Scandola 10 0 1 Pos. Driver MON SWE MEX FRA ARG POR ITA POL FIN GER ESP GBR AUS Drops Points

Key Colour Result Gold Winner Silver 2nd place Bronze 3rd place Green Points finish Blue Non-points finish Non-classified finish (NC) Purple Did not finish (Ret) Black Excluded (EX) Disqualified (DSQ) White Did not start (DNS) Cancelled (C) Blank Withdrew entry from the event (WD)

Pos. Co-driver MON SWE MEX FRA ARG POR ITA POL FIN GER ESP GBR AUS Drops Points 1 Jonas Andersson 1 1 1 1 2 3 1 15 143 2 Benjamin Veillas 4 4 2 8 7 1 2 4 91 3 Mikko Markkula 2 2 2 7 1 13 0 85 4 Pavel Dresler 2 7 1 2 2 0 85 5 Stig Rune Skjærmoen 3 5 2 1 WD 16 0 68 6 Giovanni Bernacchini 4 3 10 5 6 5 20 0 56 7 Renaud Jamoul 5 Ret 3 2 4 0 55 8 Anders Jæger 1 1 Ret 0 50 9 Daniel Cué 3 11 4 9 3 0 44 10 Vincent Landais Ret 6 10 5 7 5 8 0 39 11 Craig Parry 5 6 7 8 Ret 13 6 0 36 12 James Morgan 3 3 0 30 13 Przemysław Mazur 10 5 6 12 12 6 9 0 29 14 Benoît Fulcrand 3 16 4 15 WD 0 27 15 Jonne Halttunen 15 1 0 25 16 Antti Linnaketo 1 0 25 17 Tapio Suominen 4 5 0 22 18 Matias Mercadal 2 0 18 19 Pablo Olmos 4 Ret 8 9 18 0 18 20 Joakim Sjöberg 6 6 9 Ret 0 18 21 Marko Salminen 9 12 3 Ret 14 0 17 22 Denis Giraudet 3 Ret 0 15 23 Borja Rozada 3 WD 0 15 24 Dale Furniss Ret 4 0 12 25 Fernando Mussano 4 0 12 26 António Costa 4 0 12 27 Kevin Rae 4 0 12 28 Maciej Szczepaniak Ret 5 9 Ret 0 12 29 Benjamin Boulloud Ret Ret 15 5 13 10 11 0 11 30 Kuldar Sikk Ret 6 12 0 8 31 Sebastian Rozwadowski 6 0 8 32 Michele Ferrara 7 10 0 7 33 Glenn MacNeall 7 Ret Ret Ret Ret 0 6 34 Pablo Marcos 7 0 6 35 Patrick Walsh 7 0 6 36 Manuel Fenoli WD 13 Ret 8 Ret WD 0 4 37 Burcin Korkmaz 8 14 0 4 38 Anders Fredriksson 8 Ret 0 4 39 Noel O'Sullivan 14 9 0 2 40 Mikael Korhonen 9 0 2 41 Simone Scattolin 12 10 0 1 42 Ireneusz Pleskot 10 Ret 0 1 43 Ola Fløene 10 Ret 0 1 Pos. Co-driver MON SWE MEX FRA ARG POR ITA POL FIN GER ESP GBR AUS Drops Points

Key Colour Result Gold Winner Silver 2nd place Bronze 3rd place Green Points finish Blue Non-points finish Non-classified finish (NC) Purple Did not finish (Ret) Black Excluded (EX) Disqualified (DSQ) White Did not start (DNS) Cancelled (C) Blank Withdrew entry from the event (WD)

Pos. Team MON SWE MEX FRA ARG POR ITA POL FIN GER ESP GBR AUS Points 1 Škoda Motorsport 1 1 1 1 1 1 2 1 193 2 M-Sport World Rally Team 3 2 2 2 2 1 1 2 155 3 Printsport 3 4 2 1 1 5 105 4 Motorsport Italia SRL WD 3 2 6 3 5 3 WD 81 5 Gekon Racing 3 3 5 4 3 4 10 80 6 Škoda Motorsport II 1 2 2 4 73 7 TRT Peugeot World Rally Team 5 4 4 6 7 5 58 8 Adapta Motorsport AS 5 2 6 Ret 36 9 Drive DMACK Trophy Team 7 Ret 3 8 7 WD 31 10 Tommi Mäkinen Racing 4 9 3 Ret 10 30 11 ACI Team Italia WD 8 Ret 4 Ret WD 9 6 26 12 Orlen Team Ret 3 5 Ret 25 13 Gemini Clinic Rally Team 2 Ret 8 9 24 14 Styllex Motorsport Ret Ret 3 15 15 BRR Baumschlager Rally & Rally Team Ret 4 12 16 C-Rally 6 Ret 8 12 17 TGS Worldwide 5 10 18 S.A. Motorsport Italia Srl 6 8 19 Toksport World Rally Team 6 8 20 Tehase Auto Ret 7 6 Pos. Team MON SWE MEX FRA ARG POR ITA POL FIN GER ESP GBR AUS Points

Key Colour Result Gold Winner Silver 2nd place Bronze 3rd place Green Points finish Blue Non-points finish Non-classified finish (NC) Purple Did not finish (Ret) Black Excluded (EX) Disqualified (DSQ) White Did not start (DNS) Cancelled (C) Blank Withdrew entry from the event (WD)

• Official website of the World Rally Championship
• Official website of the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile