2022 WRC3 Championship

The 2022 FIA WRC3 Championship was the ninth season of WRC3, a rallying championship organised and governed by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile as the third-highest tier of international rallying, running in support of the 2022 World Rally Championship. It was open to privateers and teams using cars complying with Group Rally3 regulations.^[1]

For the first time, WRC3 was split into Open and Junior championships with driver and co-driver titles awarded within each. The WRC3 Open Championship began in January 2022 with the Rallye Monte-Carlo and concluded in November 2022 with Rally Japan. The WRC3 Junior Championship started in February with Rally Sweden and the five-round championship concluded in September with Acropolis Rally. This was the FIA's new presentation of the previously existing Junior WRC Championship, which reverted back to an FIA title in 2023.

In the open championships, Lauri Joona won the drivers' title.^[2] In the junior championships, Robert Virves won the drivers' title.^[3]

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A map showing the locations of the rallies of the 2022 championship. Event headquarters are marked with black dots.

The 2022 season was contested over thirteen rounds across Europe, Africa, Oceania, and Asia.

Round	Start date	Finish date	Rally	Rally headquarters	Surface	Stages	Distance	Ref.
1	20 January	23 January	Rallye Automobile Monte Carlo	Monte Carlo, Monaco	Mixed[a]	17	296.03 km	[4]
2	24 February	27 February	Rally Sweden	Umeå, Västerbotten County	Snow	17	264.81 km	[5]
3	21 April	24 April	Croatia Rally	Zagreb	Tarmac	20	291.84 km	[6]
4	19 May	22 May	Rally de Portugal	Matosinhos, Porto	Gravel	21	338.34 km	[7]
5	2 June	5 June	Rally Italia Sardegna	Alghero, Sardinia	Gravel	21	307.91 km	[8]
6	23 June	26 June	Safari Rally Kenya	Nairobi	Gravel	19	363.44 km	[9]
7	14 July	17 July	Rally Estonia	Tartu, Tartu County	Gravel	24	314.26 km	[10]
8	4 August	7 August	Rally Finland	Jyväskylä, Central Finland	Gravel	22	322.61 km	[11]
9	18 August	21 August	Ypres Rally Belgium	Ypres, West Flanders	Tarmac	20	281.58 km	[12]
10	8 September	11 September	Acropolis Rally Greece	Lamia, Central Greece	Gravel	16	303.30 km	[13]
11	29 September	2 October	Rally New Zealand	Auckland, North Island	Gravel	17	279.80 km	[14]
12	20 October	23 October	RACC Rally Catalunya de España	Salou, Catalonia	Tarmac	19	293.77 km	[15]
13	10 November	13 November	Rally Japan	Toyota, Chūbu region	Tarmac	19	283.27 km	[16]
Sources:[17][18][19]

The headquarters of the Monte Carlo Rally moved from Gap, Hautes-Alpes to Monaco alone. The rally was previously headquartered solely in Monaco in 2006.^[20] Rally Sweden returned to the championship after a one-year absence. Because of a lack of snow, the organisers moved the rally headquarters for the first time in WRC history.^[21] It relocated from Torsby, Värmland northwards to Umeå in Västerbotten County.^[22] The rally was initially scheduled to cover 303.74 km (188.7 mi) in nineteen special stages, but it was reduced to seventeen in a total of 264.81 km (164.5 mi) due to reindeer movements.^[23][5] Rally Italia Sardegna relocated its rally base back to Alghero following a one-off headquarter in Olbia for the 2021 event.^[24]

Rally New Zealand returned to the championship for the first time since 2012.^[25] The rally had also secured a spot in the calendar in 2020, but the event was not held in response to the COVID-19 pandemic.^[26] Rally Japan took the final spot in the calendar. It was scheduled as the final round in 2020 and 2021, before being called off due to the COVID-19 pandemic.^[27][28] Rally Mexico had contracts to hold the WRC event in 2022 and 2023, but the rally was not included on the calendar.^[29] A national event was held in the bid of a 2023 return.^[30] Rally Chile found itself in a similar situation to Mexico as their contract with WRC Promoter GmbH lasted till 2022. Chile had previously hosted the event in 2019.^[31] Rally GB was bidding for a 2022 return as the event was planned to hold in Northern Ireland, but the proposal was ultimately failed.^[32]

Round	Dates	Rally
1	24–27 February	Rally Sweden
2	21–24 April	Croatia Rally
3	19–22 May	Rally de Portugal
4	14–17 July	Rally Estonia
5	8–11 September	Acropolis Rally

The following crews officially entered into the 2022 WRC3 Open Championship:

Car	Entrant	Driver name	Co-driver name	Rounds
Ford Fiesta Rally3	Hamza Anwar	Hamza Anwar	Adnan Din	6
	Enrico Brazzoli	Enrico Brazzoli	Manuel Fenoli	1, 3, 5, 9
	Jan Černý	Jan Černý	Petr Černohorský	1, 12
			Petr Jindra	3
			Tomáš Střeska	5
			Jan Tománek	8
			Tom Woodburn	9
	Diego Dominguez Jr	Diego Dominguez Jr	Rogelio Peñate	5–6, 10, 12
	Tommi Heino	Tommi Heino	Patric Öhman	8
	Toni Herranen	Toni Herranen	Sebastian Virtanen	8
	Panagiotis Ismailos	Panagiotis Ismailos	Allan Harryman	10
	Lauri Joona	Lauri Joona	Mikael Korhonen	2, 4, 7, 12
			Tuukka Shemeikka	8
	Epameinondas Karanikolas	Epameinondas Karanikolas	Georgios Kakavas	10
	McRae Kimathi	McRae Kimathi	Mwangi Kioni	2–3, 6–7
			Stuart Loudon	4
	Roope Korhonen	Roope Korhonen	Anssi Viinikka	7
	Zoltán László	Zoltán László	Tamás Begala	1
			Tamás Kürti	5, 9, 12
	M-Sport Racing Kft	Zoltán László	Tamás Kürti	3
	Motorsport Ireland Rally Academy	William Creighton	Liam Regan	2–4, 7, 10
	Sami Pajari	Sami Pajari	Enni Mälkönen	1–4, 7
	Ivica Siladić	Ivica Siladić	Jasna Durak	3
	Henri Timonen	Henri Timonen	Jussi Kärpijoki	8
	Jeremy Wahome	Jeremy Wahome	Victor Okundi	6
	Maxine Wahome	Maxine Wahome	Murage Waigwa	6
Sources:[33][34][35][36][37][38][39][40][41][42]

The following crews officially entered into the 2022 WRC3 Junior Championship:

Car	Entrant	Driver name	Co-driver name	Rounds
Ford Fiesta Rally3	Jon Armstrong	Jon Armstrong	Brian Hoy	1–5
	Jean-Baptiste Franceschi	Jean-Baptiste Franceschi	Anthony Gorguilo	1–3
	Lauri Joona	Lauri Joona	Mikael Korhonen	1–5
	McRae Kimathi	McRae Kimathi	Mwangi Kioni	1–2, 4–5
			Stuart Loudon	3
	Motorsport Ireland Rally Academy	William Creighton	Liam Regan	1–5
	Sami Pajari	Sami Pajari	Enni Mälkönen	1–5
	Panagiotis Roustemis	Panagiotis Roustemis	Christos Bakloris	1
	Starter Energy Racing	Robert Virves	Aleks Lesk	1–3
			Julia Thulin	4–5
Sources:[34][35][36][39][42]

The following titles will be contested within WRC3 in 2022:^[1]

• Open Championship for Drivers
• Open Championship for Co-Drivers
• Championship for Teams
• Junior Championship for Drivers
• Junior Championship for Co-Drivers

In a change from the 2021 season, a teams championship will be contested but drivers will not be obliged to run in one. Points from the highest scoring 4 rounds of 5 entered will be considered for the championship.

The WRC3 Junior championship will be organised by M-Sport Ltd as an arrive-and-drive style competition as previously presented in Junior WRC Championship. Ford Fiesta Rally3 cars will be provided on 5 prescribed rounds for drivers born on or after 1 January 1993. Unlike the rules used in WRC2 Junior, drivers of Junior age who do not register and compete in this fashion will not be eligible for the WRC3 Junior championships.^[1]

Round	Event	Winning driver	Winning co-driver	Winning entrant	Winning time	Report	Ref.
1	Rallye Automobile Monte Carlo	Sami Pajari	Enni Mälkönen	Sami Pajari	3:24:39.2	Report	[43]
2	Rally Sweden	Lauri Joona	Mikael Korhonen	Lauri Joona	2:24:33.8	Report	[44]
3	Croatia Rally	Zoltán László	Tamás Kürti	Zoltán László	3:32:47.0	Report	[45]
4	Rally de Portugal	Sami Pajari	Enni Mälkönen	Sami Pajari	4:13:33.2	Report	[46]
5	Rally Italia Sardegna	Jan Černý	Tomáš Střeska	Jan Černý	3:44:23.5	Report	[47]
6	Safari Rally Kenya	Maxine Wahome	Murage Waigwa	Maxine Wahome	5:20:21.6	Report	[48]
7	Rally Estonia	Sami Pajari	Enni Mälkönen	Sami Pajari	3:13:58.6	Report	[49]
8	Rally Finland	Lauri Joona	Tuukka Shemeikka	Lauri Joona	2:42:52.5	Report	[50]
9	Ypres Rally Belgium	Jan Černý	Tom Woodburn	Jan Černý	2:53:14.2	Report	[51]
10	Acropolis Rally Greece	Diego Dominguez Jr	Rogelio Peñate	Diego Dominguez Jr	4:02:20.1	Report	[52]
11	Rally New Zealand	No WRC3 entries				Report	[53]
12	RACC Rally Catalunya de España	Lauri Joona	Mikael Korhonen	Lauri Joona	3:04:36.1	Report	[2]
13	Rally Japan	No WRC3 entries				Report	[54]

Round	Event	Winning driver	Winning co-driver	Winning entrant	Winning time	Report	Ref.
1	Rally Sweden	Jon Armstrong	Brian Hoy	Jon Armstrong	2:24:31.1	Report	[55]
2	Croatia Rally	Lauri Joona	Mikael Korhonen	Lauri Joona	3:07:24.9	Report	[56]
3	Rally de Portugal	Sami Pajari	Enni Mälkönen	Sami Pajari	4:13:33.2	Report	[57]
4	Rally Estonia	Sami Pajari	Enni Mälkönen	Sami Pajari	3:13:58.6	Report	[58]
5	Acropolis Rally Greece	Robert Virves	Julia Thulin	Starter Energy Racing	3:55:38.4	Report	[3]

Crews were only allowed to enter a maximum of 5 events with the 4 best results scoring points in the championship.^[1]

Points were awarded to the top ten classified finishers. An additional point was given for every stage win. The best four results out of five counted towards the final drivers’ and co-drivers’ standings. However, all points gained from stage wins were retained. Double points were awarded at the season's finale to those with at least 3 previous 2022 JWRC round starts.^[1]

Pos. Driver MON SWE CRO POR ITA KEN EST FIN BEL GRC NZL ESP JPN Total points Best 4 1 Lauri Joona 1 2 2 1 1 111 93 2 Sami Pajari 1 4 Ret 1 1 87 87 3 Jan Černý 2 WD 1 2 1 2 104 86 4 Zoltán László Ret 1 2 2 4 73 73 5 William Creighton 2 4 Ret 3 2 63 63 6 McRae Kimathi 3 Ret 3 3 4 57 57 7 Enrico Brazzoli 3 2 Ret 3 48 48 8 Diego Dominguez Jr 1 3 40 40 9 Maxine Wahome 1 25 25 10 Jeremy Wahome 2 18 18 11 Ivica Siladić 3 15 15 12 Henri Timonen 3 15 15 13 Epameinondas Karanikolas 3 15 15 14 Toni Herranen 4 12 12 15 Panagiotis Ismailos 4 12 12 16 Roope Korhonen 5 10 10 Pos. Driver MON SWE CRO POR ITA KEN EST FIN BEL GRC NZL ESP JPN Total points Best 4 Source:[59][60]

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. Driver MON SWE CRO POR ITA KEN EST FIN BEL GRC NZL ESP JPN Total points Best 4 1 Enni Mälkönen 1 4 Ret 1 1 87 87 2 Mikael Korhonen 1 2 2 1 76 76 3 Tamás Kürti 1 2 2 4 73 73 4 Liam Regan 2 4 Ret 3 2 63 63 5 Manuel Fenoli 3 2 Ret 3 48 48 6 Mwangi Kioni 3 Ret 3 4 42 42 7 Rogelio Peñate 1 3 40 40 8 Petr Černohorský 2 WD 2 36 36 9 Tomáš Střeska 1 25 25 10 Murage Waigwa 1 25 25 11 Tuukka Shemeikka 1 25 25 12 Tom Woodburn 1 25 25 13 Victor Okundi 2 18 18 14 Jan Tománek 2 18 18 15 Jasna Durak 3 15 15 16 Stuart Loudon 3 15 15 17 Jussi Kärpijoki 3 15 15 18 Georgios Kakavas 3 15 15 19 Sebastian Virtanen 4 12 12 20 Allan Harryman 4 12 12 21 Anssi Viinikka 5 10 10 Pos. Driver MON SWE CRO POR ITA KEN EST FIN BEL GRC NZL ESP JPN Total points Best 4 Source:[59][60]

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. Driver SWE CRO POR EST GRC Total Points Best 4 1 Robert Virves 6 23 35 217 14 138 130 2 Jon Armstrong 15 45 48 33 26 127 115 3 Sami Pajari 57 Ret8 16 14 56 111 111 4 Lauri Joona 23 11 21 41 6 95 83 5 William Creighton 31 51 Ret1 5 3 68 68 6 McRae Kimathi 4 Ret 5 6 4 54 54 7 Jean-Baptiste Franceschi 3 WD 15 15 Pos. Driver SWE CRO POR EST GRC Total points Best 4 Source:[61][60]

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. Driver SWE CRO POR EST GRC Total points Best 4 1 Brian Hoy 15 45 48 33 26 127 115 2 Enni Mälkönen 57 Ret8 16 14 56 111 111 3 Mikael Korhonen 23 11 21 41 6 95 83 4 Liam Regan 31 51 Ret1 5 3 68 68 5 Julia Thulin 217 14 64 64 6 Aleks Lesk 6 23 35 49 49 7 Mwangi Kioni 4 Ret 6 4 44 44 8 Anthony Gorguilo 3 WD 15 15 9 Stuart Loudon 5 10 10 Pos. Driver SWE CRO POR EST GRC Total points Best 4 Source:[61][60]

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 (in English, French, and Spanish)
• FIA WRC3 Open Championship 2022 at eWRC-results.com
• FIA WRC3 Junior Championship 2022 at eWRC-results.com