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The 2017 World Rally Championship is scheduled to be the forty-fifth season of the World Rally Championship, an auto racing championship recognised by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA) as the highest class of international rallying. Teams and crews are planned to compete in thirteen events—starting in Monte Carlo on 20 January and ending in Australia on 19 November—for the World Rally Championships for Drivers, Co-drivers and Manufacturers. Drivers are free to compete in cars complying with World Rally Car and Group R regulations; however, only Manufacturers competing with World Rally Cars would be eligible to score points in the Manufacturers' championship. The series is scheduled to be once again supported by the WRC-2 and WRC-3 championships at every round.

The 2017 season will see substantial revisions to the technical regulations aimed at improving the performance of the cars and offering teams a greater degree of technical and design freedom. Toyota returned to the sport as a full manufacturer team, entering the Toyota Yaris WRC, as did Citroën, who returned to full-time competition after contesting a partial campaign in 2016. Conversely, Volkswagen withdrew from the championship at the end of the 2016 season.

Sébastien Ogier and Julien Ingrassia are the defending World Drivers' and Co-drivers' Champions, after securing their fourth World Championship titles at the 52º Rally Catalunya. Volkswagen Motorsport, the team Ogier and Ingrassia won their titles with, are themselves the reigning World Manufacturers' Champions, having secured their fourth title at the 72nd Wales Rally GB. However, the team did not return to defend their title after parent company Volkswagen's withdrawal from the sport.

List of planned events

The season is due to be contested over thirteen rounds in Europe, North and South America and Australia.

Round	Dates		Rally name	Rally headquarters	Rally details
	Start	Finish			Surface	Stages	Distance
1	20 January	22 January	85ème Rallye Automobile Monte-Carlo	Gap, Hautes-Alpes	Mixed	17	382.65 km
2	10 February	12 February	65th Rally Sweden	Karlstad, Värmland	Snow	18	337.42 km
3	10 March	12 March	31º Rally Guanajuato México	León, Guanajuato	Gravel	20	393.80 km
4	7 April	9 April	60ème Tour de Corse – Rallye de France	Bastia, Haute-Corse	Tarmac	10	316.76 km
5	28 April	30 April	37º Rally Argentina	Villa Carlos Paz, Córdoba	Gravel	18	356.49 km
6	19 May	21 May	51º Rally de Portugal	Matosinhos, Porto	Gravel	19	359.16 km
7	9 June	11 June	14º Rally d'Italia Sardegna	Alghero, Sardinia	Gravel
8	30 June	2 July	74th Rally Poland	Mikołajki, Warmia-Masuria	Gravel
9	28 July	30 July	67th Rally Finland	Jyväskylä, Keski-Suomi	Gravel
10	18 August	20 August	35. ADAC Rallye Deutschland	Trier, Rhineland-Palatinate	Tarmac
11	6 October	8 October	53º Rally RACC Catalunya – Costa Daurada	Salou, Tarragona	Mixed
12	27 October	29 October	73rd Wales Rally GB	Deeside, Flintshire	Gravel
13	17 November	19 November	26th Rally Australia	Coffs Harbour, New South Wales	Gravel
Source:

Calendar changes

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. The decision was made after concerns were expressed about the 2016 calendar, which originally contained six consecutive gravel events followed by four tarmac rallies.

The Rally of China was removed from the calendar. The event had been included on the 2016 calendar before storm damage to the proposed route forced its cancellation. The round was removed from the 2017 calendar to give event organisers more time to prepare for a future bid to rejoin the calendar. 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, 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. Both events were subsequently included on the calendar.

Entries

The following teams and drivers are scheduled to compete in the World Rally Championship during the 2017 season:

World Rally Car entries eligible to score manufacturer points
Constructor	Entrant	Tyres	No.	Drivers	Co-drivers	Rounds
M-Sport (Ford Fiesta WRC)	M-Sport World Rally Team	M	1	Sébastien Ogier	Julien Ingrassia	1
			2	Ott Tänak	Martin Järveoja	1
		D	3	Elfyn Evans	Daniel Barritt	1
Hyundai (Hyundai i20 Coupe WRC)	Hyundai Motorsport	M	4	Hayden Paddon	John Kennard	1
			5	Thierry Neuville	Nicolas Gilsoul	1
			6	Dani Sordo	Marc Martí	1
Citroën (Citroën C3 WRC)	Citroën Total Abu Dhabi WRT	M	7	Kris Meeke	Paul Nagle	1
			8	Stéphane Lefebvre	Gabin Moreau	1
			TBA	Khalid Al Qassimi	TBA	TBA
			TBA	Craig Breen	Scott Martin	TBA
Toyota (Toyota Yaris WRC)	Toyota GAZOO Racing WRC	M	10	Jari-Matti Latvala	Miikka Anttila	1
			11	Juho Hänninen	Kaj Lindström	1
			TBA	Esapekka Lappi	Janne Ferm	TBA
Source:

World Rally Car entries eligible to compete in the WRC Trophy
Constructor	Entrant	Tyres	No.	Drivers	Co-drivers	Rounds
Citroën (Citroën DS3 WRC)	Jourdan Serderidis	M	20	Jourdan Serderidis	Frédéric Miclotte	1
Source:

Major entries ineligible to score manufacturer points
Constructor	Entrant	Tyre	No.	Drivers	Co-drivers	Rounds
Citroën (Citroën DS3 WRC)	Citroën Total Abu Dhabi WRT	M	12	Craig Breen	Scott Martin	1
Source:

Team and crew changes

M-Sport entered the Ford Fiesta WRC, based on the Fiesta RS WRC and updated to fit the 2017 regulations. The team secured Sébastien Ogier and Julien Ingrassia to drive one car, and re-hired Ott Tänak, who returned to the team after contesting the 2016 season with DMACK World Rally Team. Tänak changed co-drivers, with Martin Järveoja replacing Raigo Mõlder. Elfyn Evans and Daniel Barritt returned to the premier class after contesting the 2016 season in the WRC-2 category, replacing Eric Camilli and Benjamin Veillas. Mads Østberg and Ola Fløne, who also drove for the team in 2016, were unable to secure a full-time drive for the 2017 season. M-Sport continues to operate their customer programme, with DMACK World Rally Team scheduled to expand to enter a second car for the 2017 season.

Hyundai entered a three-door variant of the i20 WRC, known as the i20 Coupe WRC, having used the five-door model in competition throughout the 2016 season. The team had previously used a three-door model in 2014 and 2015 before being forced to adopt the five-door model in 2016 for logistical reasons. However, the team considered the three-door model to be better-suited to competition, and developed the i20 Coupe WRC around it. Hyundai elected to retain the three crews—Thierry Neuville and Nicolas Gilsoul, Hayden Paddon and John Kennard, and Dani Sordo and Marc Martí—who drove for the team in 2016 to contest their 2017 campaign.

Citroën returned to the sport with a fully factory-supported team after competing part-time in 2016 to focus on the development of their 2017-generation car. The DS3 WRC was retired from competition and succeeded by the C3 WRC, a brand-new car based on the Citroën C3. The decision to re-enter the World Rally Championship coincided with Citroën withdrawing its factory support for the Citroën C-Elysée WTCC and its World Touring Car Championship programme. The team signed Kris Meeke and co-driver Paul Nagle to contest the full season, Craig Breen and Scott Martin are planned to share a car with Stéphane Lefebvre between events—as they did in 2016—but are scheduled to contest the full season once a third C3 WRC becomes available. Gabin Moreau returned as Lefebvre's co-driver following his injury at the 34. Rallye Deutschland that saw him sit out the final events of the 2016 season. Khalid Al Qassimi is scheduled contest selected events in a fourth C3 WRC.

Toyota returned to the sport after eighteen years, entering the brand-new Toyota Yaris WRC under the banner of Toyota GAZOO Racing WRC. The development and operation of the cars is overseen by four-time World Drivers' Champion Tommi Mäkinen. Jari-Matti Latvala and co-driver Miikka Anttila left Volkswagen Motorsport following the team's withdrawal from the sport to join Toyota, where they are partnered with Juho Hänninen— who returned to the championship—and Kaj Lindström. Reigning WRC-2 champions Esapekka Lappi and Janne Ferm are scheduled to make their début in a WRC specification car, contesting a partial campaign once a third Yaris WRC becomes available. Toyota last competed in the sport as a factory-supported team between 1997 and 1999 with the Corolla WRC before withdrawing ahead of the 2000 season to focus on its Formula One project.

Volkswagen scaled back their involvement in the sport, withdrawing their entry as manufacturer at the end of the 2016 season and cancelling the Polo R WRC programme in light of the emissions scandal that broke in 2015. Volkswagen instead switched focus from a factory-supported team to a customer programme with a Polo rally car built to R5 regulations and scheduled for introduction in 2018. The 2016 specification of the Polo R WRC was retired from competition and the 2017 model abandoned. While Latvala and Anttila and Ogier and Ingrassia left to join Toyota and M-Sport, Andreas Mikkelsen and Anders Jæger were unable to secure a seat in a World Rally Car and so started the season contesting the World Rally Championship-2 in a Škoda Fabia R5.

Regulation changes

Technical regulations

The sport underwent a revision of the technical regulations for 2017, introducing a variety of changes aimed at improving aerodynamic and mechanical grip, with modelling suggesting that average stage speeds is expected to increase to the point where stage records could be broken by up to thirty seconds and drawing comparisons to the defunct Group B regulations. These changes include:

• An increase in the power output of the engine, from 300 bhp (223.7 kW) to 380 bhp (283.4 kW), the equivalent of a TC1-specification World Touring Car Championship engine. The engine will be capable of producing 450 N⋅m (331.9 lb⋅ft) of torque.
• A larger turbo restrictor, increasing from 33mm in 2016 to 36mm in 2017; however, the maximum allowable turbo pressure remains fixed at 2.5 bar absolute.
• A reduction of the he overall weight of the car, cutting 25 kg (55.1 lb) from the monocoque.
• An increase in the overhang of the front and rear bumpers and increases in the size of the door sills, door pillars and the fixed rear wing, permitting the inclusion of additional aerodynamic aids, all aimed at improving aerodynamic grip. However, the bodywork of the 2017 model must be able to cover the bodywork of the 2016 model of car.
• Deregulation of the rules governing the rear diffuser to allow manufacturers to develop a wider range of aerodynamic shapes. There was also further deregulation of the rules governing the wheel arches, allowing the introduction of additional brake cooling ducts.
• The reintroduction of an active centre differential for the first time since the 2010 season. Similarly, electronic differentials are permitted in the sport for the first time.

In order to promote further manufacturer participation, homologation requirements were relaxed to allow any production car that is at least 3.9 m (12.8 ft) long to be eligible for recognition as a World Rally Car. The designs of the cars were to be finalised by September 2016 and submitted for homologation by 1 November 2016.

Sporting regulations

The points-scoring system for the World Championship for Manufacturers was changed, with manufacturers permitted to enter at least two and as many as three crews in each round, with the best two results being awarded points.

The FIA will exercise stricter controls over which drivers are eligible to compete in 2017-specification cars by only permitting registered manufacturers to enter 2017-specification cars. The rule was introduced as a response to concerns over inexperienced drivers and drivers paying for the opportunity to race being able to compete in the more powerful 2017 cars without oversight. The controls stop short of a licensing system similar to the one used in Formula One to allow experienced guest drivers to compete part-time. To complement this, a new privateers' championship to be known as the WRC Trophy is scheduled to be contested for crews entering World Rally Cars used between 2011 and 2016. Crews competing in the WRC Trophy will nominate seven rounds at which they will be eligible to score points, with their six best results counting towards their final points tally.

Further changes were made to the sporting regulations, with the rules governing the running order—the order in which crews enter a stage—reverting back to the system used in 2014 to address concerns over road sweeping, whereby championship leaders were forced to clear the roads of loose gravel, costing them time and exposing the harder-packed and faster road base for following drivers to take advantage of. Under the reintroduced rules, the crews will enter a stage in championship order for the first day of competition, and then in reverse championship order for the remaining legs of the event.

References

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2. ^ Evans, David (2 November 2016). "Volkswagen confirms it will leave the WRC at the end of 2016". autosport.com. Haymarket Publications. Retrieved 2 November 2016.
3. Evans, David (16 October 2016). "Ogier takes fourth WRC title with Spain win". autosport.com. Haymarket Publications. Retrieved 16 October 2016.
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8. ^ "Rally China cancelled due to weather damage". wrc.com. WRC Promoter GmbH. Retrieved 21 September 2016.
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23. ^ Evans, David (22 June 2016). "Hyundai to switch its i20 World Rally Championship model for 2017". autosport.com. Haymarket Publications. Retrieved 23 June 2016.
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25. "Hayden Paddon secures Hyundai WRC future". speedcafe.com. 20 October 2015. Retrieved 7 March 2016.
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27. "Citroën commits to WRC future". WRC.com. WRC Promoter GmbH. 19 November 2015. Retrieved 7 March 2016.
28. Evans, David (5 April 2016). "Citroën in race against time to develop all-new WRC C3 for 2017". autosport.com. Haymarket Publications. Retrieved 6 April 2016.
29. Evans, David (22 December 2016). "Citroen 2017 C3 WRC challenger launched in Abu Dhabi". autosport.com. Motorsport Network. Retrieved 22 December 2016.
30. Abbott, Andrew (19 November 2015). "Citroën to end WTCC programme after 2016". TouringCars.Net. Retrieved 9 April 2016.
31. ^ Cite error: The named reference citroen drivers 17 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
32. "Toyota announces WRC return in 2017". Toyota GB Blog. Toyota GB. Retrieved 7 March 2016.
33. "Toyota GAZOO Racing Outlines 2016 Motorsports Activities". Toyota. 4 February 2015. Retrieved 17 April 2016.
34. "Tommi Mäkinen to head up Toyota's WRC bid". speedcafe.com. 7 July 2015. Retrieved 7 March 2016.
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36. Evans, David (18 October 2016). "WRC 2017: Juho Hanninen gets first seat in Toyota's new Yaris". autosport.com. Haymarket Publications. Retrieved 18 October 2016.
37. ^ "WRC cars to become more aggressive in 2017". speedcafe.com. 11 July 2015. Retrieved 7 March 2016.
38. ^ Evans, David (11 April 2016). "Concerns over speed and spectacle of 2017 WRC cars growing". autosport.com. Haymarket Publications. Retrieved 11 April 2016.
39. ^ "Meeke: 2017 Citroën has Group B spirit". wrc.com. WRC Promoter GmbH. 19 April 2016. Retrieved 21 April 2016.
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41. "M-Sport lifts covers off 2017 Fiesta WRC". speedcafe.com. 10 December 2016. Retrieved 10 December 2016.
42. ^ "New regulations coming for the 2017 World Rally Car". fia.com. Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile. 10 July 2015. Retrieved 14 April 2016.
43. ^ "Citroen successfully tests 2017 WRC aero kit". speedcafe.com. 15 June 2016. Retrieved 20 July 2016.
44. "Citroen previews its 2017 WRC challenger". speedcafe.com. Citroën. 21 September 2016. Retrieved 21 September 2016.
45. Evans, David (21 July 2016). "Volkswagen close to finalising 2017 World Rally Car design". autosport.com. Haymarket Publications. Retrieved 21 July 2016.
46. Evans, David (24 June 2016). "No privateer 2017 World Rally Car entries to be permitted by FIA". autosport.com. Haymarket Publications. Retrieved 25 June 2016.
47. Evans, David (5 May 2016). "Drivers of 2017 World Rally Cars must be approved by FIA". autosport.com. Haymarket Publications. Retrieved 6 May 2016.
48. Evans, David (10 May 2016). "Future of existing WRC cars being evaluated by FIA". autosport.com. Haymarket Publications. Retrieved 10 May 2016.
49. ^ Evans, David (30 November 2016). "WRC approves running order rule revamp and 2017 calendar". autosport.com. Motorsport Network. Retrieved 1 December 2016.
50. Evans, David (14 July 2016). "VW WRC boss warns Ogier could quit over 2017 running order rules". autosport.com. Haymarket Publications. Retrieved 15 July 2016.
51. Evans, David (5 November 2016). "Controversial WRC running order rules changed for 2017". autosport.com. Haymarket Publications. Retrieved 6 November 2016.

External links

• Official website of the World Rally Championship

• World Rally Championship seasons
• 2017 in motorsport
• 2017 in rallying
• Scheduled motorsport seasons