2023 WRC3 Championship

The 2023 FIA WRC3 Championship was the tenth season of WRC3, a rallying championship organised and governed by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile as the third-highest tier of international rallying. It was open to privateers and teams using cars complying with Group Rally3 regulations. The championship began in January 2023 with the Rallye Monte-Carlo and concluded in November 2023 with Rally Japan, and ran in support of the 2023 World Rally Championship.

Lauri Joona and Enni Mälkönen entered as the defending drivers' and co-drivers' champions.

Roope Korhonen and Anssi Viinikka won the 2023 drivers and codrivers championships.

Calendar

A map showing the locations of the rallies in the 2023 championship. Event headquarters are marked with black dots.

The 2023 season was contested over thirteen rounds crossing Europe, Africa, North and South America, and Asia.

Round Start date Finish date Rally Rally headquarters Surface Stages Distance Ref.
1 19 January 22 January Rallye Automobile Monte Carlo Monte Carlo, Monaco Mixed 18 325.02 km
2 9 February 12 February Rally Sweden Umeå, Västerbotten County, Sweden Snow 18 301.18 km
3 16 March 19 March Rally Guanajuato México León, Guanajuato, Mexico Gravel 23 315.69 km
4 20 April 23 April Croatia Rally Zagreb, Croatia Tarmac 20 301.26 km
5 11 May 14 May Rally de Portugal Matosinhos, Porto, Portugal Gravel 19 329.06 km
6 1 June 4 June Rally Italia Sardegna Olbia, Sardinia, Italy Gravel 19 322.88 km
7 22 June 25 June Safari Rally Kenya Naivasha, Nakuru County, Kenya Gravel 19 355.92 km
8 20 July 23 July Rally Estonia Tartu, Estonia Gravel 21 300.41 km
9 3 August 6 August Rally Finland Jyväskylä, Central Finland, Finland Gravel 22 320.56 km
10 7 September 10 September Acropolis Rally Greece Lamia, Central Greece, Greece Gravel 15 270.89 km
11 28 September 1 October Rally Chile Concepción, Biobío, Chile Gravel 16 321.06 km
12 26 October 29 October Central European Rally Passau, Bavaria, Germany Tarmac 18 310.01 km
13 16 November 19 November Rally Japan Toyota, Aichi, Japan Tarmac 22 304.66 km
Sources:

Calendar changes

The championship was expected to be expanded to fourteen rounds from the thirteen rounds in the previous season by WRC Promoter GmbH, with eight Europe-based rallies and six fly-away events covering the season. However, when the calendar was released in late November following a lengthy delay, the number of the events was reduced to thirteen with the anticipated Saudi Arabian rally based at Jeddah, absent from the calendar.

Rally Mexico (picured in 2008 with a Subaru Impreza WRC) returned to the calendar.

Several rally organizers also expressed their interests to return to the championship, including Rally Argentina, Rally Australia, the German Rally, and an event in Northern Ireland. The Argentine, Australian and Northern Irish bids failed and Germany organized the Central European Rally along with Austria and the Czech Republic. In addition to the candidate events, the WRC Promoter GmbH was also working on the calendar expansion to the Middle East and United States, but no rallies were added for the 2023 season.

Location changes

Entries

The following crews are set to enter into the 2023 WRC3 Championship:

Car Entrant Driver name Co-driver name Rounds
Ford Fiesta Rally3 Hamza Anwar Hamza Anwar Adnan Din 2, 6–7
Martin Brady 4
Alexander Kihurani 8
Julia Thulin 10
Jason Bailey Jason Bailey Shayne Peterson 3, 13
Jamie Willetts 7
Roberto Blach Roberto Blach Mauro Barreiro 4, 6, 8, 10
Petr Borodin Petr Borodin Roman Cheprassov 9
Eduardo Castro Eduardo Castro Carla Salvat Trías 10
Fernando Mussano 11
Brendan Cumiskey Brendan Cumiskey Arthur Kierans 8
Martin Connolly 9
Giorgos Delaportas Giorgos Delaportas Evangelos Panaritis 10
Diego Dominguez Jr Diego Dominguez Jr Rogelio Peñate 2–3, 7, 10–11
Spiros Galerakis Spiros Galerakis Konstantinos Soukoulis 10
Toni Herranen Toni Herranen Mikko Lukka 2, 5, 8–9
Jesse Kallio Jesse Kallio Jussi Lindberg 2, 9
Epaminondas Karanikolas Epaminondas Karanikolas Giorgos Kakavas 10
McRae Kimathi McRae Kimathi Mwangi Kioni 7
Filip Kohn Filip Kohn Tomáš Střeska 2, 4
Tom Woodburn 6, 9, 12
Benjamin Korhola Benjamin Korhola Pekka Kelander 8–9
Roope Korhonen Roope Korhonen Anssi Viinikka 2, 5–6, 8
Ville Laakso Ville Laakso Jani Luhtaniemi 9
Motorsport Ireland Rally Academy William Creighton Liam Regan 2, 4, 6, 8, 10
Eamonn Kelly Conor Mohan 2, 4, 6, 8, 10
Kristian Nieminen Kristian Nieminen Valtteri Nieminen 9
Marek Paciorkowski Marek Paciorkowski Kamil Heller 9
Laurent Pellier Laurent Pellier Marine Pelamourgues 2, 4
Kévin Bronner 6, 8, 10
RACB National Team Tom Rensonnet Loïc Dumont 2, 4, 6, 8, 10
Martin Ravenščak Martin Ravenščak Dora Ravenščak 4, 12
Fabio Schwarz Fabio Schwarz Bernhard Ettel 12
Henri Timonen Henri Timonen Jussi Kärpijoki 9
Ali Türkkan Ali Türkkan Burak Erdener 6, 8–10
Tuomas Vihtari Tuomas Vihtari Ville Harvia 9
Jeremiah Wahome Jeremiah Wahome Victor Okundi 7
Renault Clio Rally3 Efthimios Halkias Efthimios Halkias Nikos Komnos 10
Sources:

Results and standings

Season summary

Round Event Winning driver Winning co-driver Winning entrant Winning time Report Ref.
1 Rallye Automobile Monte Carlo No WRC3 entries Report
2 Rally Sweden Roope Korhonen Anssi Viinikka Roope Korhonen 2:44:25.9 Report
3 Rally Guanajuato México Diego Dominguez Jr. Rogelio Peñate Diego Dominguez Jr. 3:46:34.2 Report
4 Croatia Rally Eamonn Kelly Conor Mohan Motorsport Ireland Rally Academy 3:20:15.7 Report
5 Rally de Portugal Roope Korhonen Anssi Viinikka Roope Korhonen 4:11:51.5 Report
6 Rally Italia Sardegna Roope Korhonen Anssi Viinikka Roope Korhonen 4:14:20.0 Report
7 Safari Rally Kenya Diego Dominguez Jr. Rogelio Peñate Diego Dominguez Jr. 4:37:57.1 Report
8 Rally Estonia Roope Korhonen Anssi Viinikka Roope Korhonen 2:57:16.2 Report
9 Rally Finland Benjamin Korhola Pekka Kelander Benjamin Korhola 2:54:27.0 Report
10 Acropolis Rally Greece Diego Dominguez Jr. Rogelio Peñate Diego Dominguez Jr. 3:24:38.9 Report
11 Rally Chile Eduardo Castro Fernando Mussano Eduardo Castro 3:36:41.7 Report
12 Central European Rally Filip Kohn Tom Woodburn Filip Kohn 3:23:04.4 Report
13 Rally Japan Jason Bailey Shayne Peterson Jason Bailey 5:03:05.7 Report

Scoring system

Position 1st 2nd 3rd 4th 5th 6th 7th 8th 9th 10th
Points 25 18 15 12 10 8 6 4 2 1

FIA WRC3 Championship for Drivers

Pos. Driver MON
SWE
MEX
CRO
POR
ITA
KEN
EST
FIN
GRE
CHL
EUR
JPN
Points
1 Roope Korhonen 1 1 1 1 100
2 Diego Dominguez Jr. 4 1 NC 1 NC 1 Ret 87
3 Jason Bailey 2 2 1 61
4 Tom Rensonnet 5 2 6 8 3 55
5 Filip Kohn 9 6 9 NC 3 1 52
6 William Creighton 2 5 2 10 8 51
7 Eamonn Kelly Ret 1 7 Ret 2 49
8 Roberto Blach Núñez 3 4 5 5 47
9 Laurent Pellier 3 Ret 5 2 10 44
10 Eduardo Castro 4 1 37
11 Toni Herranen 8 2 3 DNS 37
12 Hamza Anwar 7 4 8 Ret 6 Ret 30
13 Benjamin Korhola 9 1 27
14 Ali Türkkan 3 4 Ret Ret 27
15 Jesse Kallio 6 2 26
16 Fabio Schwarz 2 18
17 Martin Ravenščak Ret 3 15
18 McRae Kimathi 3 15
19 Brendan Cumiskey 7 6 14
20 Henri Timonen 4 12
21 Tuomas Vihtari 5 10
22 Efthimios Halkias 6 8
23 Ville Laakso 7 6
24 Spiros Galerakis 7 6
25 Petr Borodin 8 4
26 Giorgos Delaportas 9 2
Pos. Driver MON
SWE
MEX
CRO
POR
ITA
KEN
EST
FIN
GRE
CHL
EUR
JPN
Points
Source:
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)

FIA WRC3 Championship for Co-Drivers

Pos. Driver MON
SWE
MEX
CRO
POR
ITA
KEN
EST
FIN
GRE
CHL
EUR
JPN
Points
1 Anssi Viinikka 1 1 1 1 100
2 Rogelio Peñate 4 1 NC 1 NC 1 Ret 87
3 Loïc Dumont 5 2 6 8 3 55
4 Liam Regan 2 5 2 10 8 51
5 Conor Mohan Ret 1 7 Ret 2 49
6 Mauro Barreiro 3 4 5 5 47
7 Shayne Peterson 2 1 43
8 Tom Woodburn 9 NC 3 1 42
9 Mikko Lukka 8 2 3 DNS 37
10 Kévin Bronner 5 2 10 29
11 Pekka Kelander 9 1 27
12 Burak Erdener 3 4 Ret Ret 27
13 Jussi Lindberg 6 2 26
14 Fernando Mussano 1 25
15 Jamie Willetts 2 18
16 Bernhard Ettel 2 18
17 Marine Pelamourgues 3 Ret 15
18 Dora Ravenščak Ret 3 15
19 Mwangi Kioni 3 15
20 Martin Brady 4 12
21 Jussi Kärpijoki 4 12
22 Carla Salvat Trías 4 12
23 Ville Harvia 5 10
24 Tomáš Střeska 9 6 10
25 Adnan Din 7 8 Ret 10
26 Alexander Kihurani 6 8
27 Martin Connolly 6 8
28 Nikos Komnos 6 8
29 Arthur Kierans 7 6
30 Jani Luhtaniemi 7 6
31 Konstantinos Soukoulis 7 6
32 Roman Cheprassov 8 4
33 Evangelos Panaritis 9 2
Pos. Driver MON
SWE
MEX
CRO
POR
ITA
KEN
EST
FIN
GRE
CHL
EUR
JPN
Points
Source:
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)

Notes

  1. ^ The Monte Carlo Rally is run on a tarmac and snow surface.

References

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