The 2010 World Rally Championship was the 38th season of the
FIA
FIA is the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (English: International Automobile Federation), the world's governing body for all forms of motor sport where four or more wheels are used.
Fia or FIA may also refer to: People
* Fia Backst ...
World Rally Championship
The World Rally Championship (abbreviated as WRC) is the highest level of global competition in the motorsport discipline of rallying, owned and governed by the FIA. There are separate championships for drivers, co-drivers, manufacturers and t ...
. The season consisted of 13 rallies, beginning with
Rally Sweden
The Rally Sweden ( sv, Svenska rallyt), formerly the International Swedish Rally, and later the Uddeholm Swedish Rally, is an automobile rally competition held in February in Värmland, Sweden and relocated to Umeå in 2022. First held in 1950, ...
on 11 February and ended with
Wales Rally GB
Wales Rally GB was the most recent iteration of the United Kingdom's premier international motor rally, which ran under various names since the first event held in 1932. It was consistently a round of the FIA World Rally Championship (WRC) calen ...
on 14 November.
France's
Sébastien Loeb
Sébastien Loeb (; born 26 February 1974) is a French professional rally, racing and rallycross driver. He is the most successful driver in the World Rally Championship (WRC), having won the world championship a record nine times in a row. He h ...
won the drivers championship, his seventh consecutive title, after winning his home rally on 3 October and
Citroën
Citroën () is a French automobile brand. The "Automobiles Citroën" manufacturing company was founded in March 1919 by André Citroën. Citroën is owned by Stellantis since 2021 and previously was part of the PSA Group after Peugeot acquired ...
secured their sixth Manufacturers' title. In the junior classes held alongside the main championship,
Aaron Burkart
Aaron Nikolai Burkart (born 20 September 1982 in Singen, Baden-Württemberg) is a German rally driver. He is the 2010 Junior World Rally Champion.
Career
Burkart began rallying in 2002. In 2006, he began competing in the Junior World Rally ...
won the JWRC Drivers' championship,
Xavier Pons
Xavier "Xevi" Pons Puigdillers (born 21 January 1980) is a Spanish rally driver who competed in the World Rally Championship from 2003 to 2014.
Career
Pons started his racing career on motorcycles and won the Spanish enduro national championship ...
won the SWRC Drivers' championship, Red Bull Rally Team won the WRC Cup and
Armindo Araújo
Armindo Araújo (born 1 September 1977) is a Portugal, Portuguese Rallying, rally driver. He won the Production World Rally Championship in the 2009 World Rally Championship, 2009 season, repeating the accomplishment in the next year (2010 World R ...
retained his PWRC Drivers' championship title.
2010 was the final season that the 2.0 litre engine package–which débuted in the
1997 World Rally Championship
The 1997 World Rally Championship was the 25th season of the FIA World Rally Championship. The season saw many changes in the championship. Most notably, Group A was partially replaced by the World Rally Car with manufacturers given the option wh ...
–was used. It was also the final season that
Pirelli
Pirelli & C. S.p.A. is a multinational tyre manufacturer based in Milan, Italy. The company, which has been listed on the Milan Stock Exchange since 1922, is the 6th-largest tyre manufacturer and is focused on the consumer production of tyre ...
was the sole tyre supplier for the championship; as
DMACK
DMACK, the parent company of DMACK Holdings Ltd., is a Rovereto, Italy, based tyre manufacturer which started as a company based in Carlisle, United Kingdom.
History
DMACK was founded in 2008 by Dick Cormack to deliver smaller tyre sizes t ...
and
Michelin
Michelin (; ; full name: ) is a French multinational tyre manufacturing company based in Clermont-Ferrand in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes ''région'' of France. It is the second largest tyre manufacturer in the world behind Bridgestone and la ...
became the tyre suppliers and a new 1.6 litre engine package was introduced for the
2011 season.
Changes
![Henning Solberg in Rally Bulgaria 2010](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/8b/Henning_Solberg_in_Rally_Bulgaria_2010.jpg)
* Event organisers are given more flexibility. Rallies can be run over two, three or four days, but must finish on a Saturday or Sunday. Mixing asphalt and gravel surfaces is allowed, either within a stage or within the itinerary of a day. There will no longer be a minimum or maximum distance for a
special stage. The total stage distance of the event has been changed to 300–500 kilometres. Night stages are permitted but should not form the whole itinerary of a day.
* There will be a new
Super 2000 World Rally Championship
The FIA WRC2 (previously also known as World Rally Championship 2 and WRC 2), is a support championship of the World Rally Championship. The calendar consists of the same rallies and stages as the main class and crews usually compete immediately ...
(SWRC) class for drivers with
Super 2000
Super 2000 is an FIA powertrain specification used in the World Rally Championship, the British Touring Car Championship, the World Touring Car Championship, and other touring car championships. The engines were originally 2 L naturally aspirate ...
cars,
and within it there will be a WRC Cup for teams. Teams need to contest at least seven rounds, including at least one outside Europe.
* The WRC will also introduce a ranking system called the Drivers' World Rally Ranking system in 2010, similar to that in
golf
Golf is a club-and-ball sport in which players use various clubs to hit balls into a series of holes on a course in as few strokes as possible.
Golf, unlike most ball games, cannot and does not use a standardized playing area, and coping wi ...
or
tennis
Tennis is a racket sport that is played either individually against a single opponent ( singles) or between two teams of two players each ( doubles). Each player uses a tennis racket that is strung with cord to strike a hollow rubber ball ...
.
* A new points system has been introduced to all classes for the 2010 season, so that more finishers in a rally are awarded points. Previously points had been awarded to the top eight finishers:
It is the first time since 1997 that ten drivers will score points on a rally.
* From June, the name of the co-driver will be included on the rear side windows of competition cars.
Calendar
![Rally Finland 2010 - EK 1 - Kimi Räikkönen 2](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/1/1f/Rally_Finland_2010_-_EK_1_-_Kimi_R%C3%A4ikk%C3%B6nen_2.jpg)
The 2010 championship was contested over thirteen rounds in
Europe
Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a Continent#Subcontinents, subcontinent of Eurasia ...
,
North America
North America is a continent in the Northern Hemisphere and almost entirely within the Western Hemisphere. It is bordered to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean, to the southeast by South America and the Car ...
, the
Middle East
The Middle East ( ar, الشرق الأوسط, ISO 233: ) is a geopolitical region commonly encompassing Arabian Peninsula, Arabia (including the Arabian Peninsula and Bahrain), Anatolia, Asia Minor (Asian part of Turkey except Hatay Pro ...
,
South America
South America is a continent entirely in the Western Hemisphere and mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a relatively small portion in the Northern Hemisphere at the northern tip of the continent. It can also be described as the southe ...
,
Asia
Asia (, ) is one of the world's most notable geographical regions, which is either considered a continent in its own right or a subcontinent of Eurasia, which shares the continental landmass of Afro-Eurasia with Africa. Asia covers an area ...
and
Oceania
Oceania (, , ) is a region, geographical region that includes Australasia, Melanesia, Micronesia, and Polynesia. Spanning the Eastern Hemisphere, Eastern and Western Hemisphere, Western hemispheres, Oceania is estimated to have a land area of ...
.
The 2010 season included thirteen rallies, which was one more than
2009
File:2009 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: The vertical stabilizer of Air France Flight 447 is pulled out from the Atlantic Ocean; Barack Obama becomes the first African American to become President of the United States; 2009 Iran ...
. Australia, Argentina, Cyprus, Ireland, Norway, Poland, Italy and Greece were dropped from the calendar for the 2010 season, while Sweden, Mexico, Jordan, Turkey, Germany, New Zealand, France and Japan returned. Bulgaria was part of the calendar for the first time.
The nine events also part of the
Production World Rally Championship
The FIA Production World Rally Championship, or PWRC, was a companion rally series to the World Rally Championship, contested by Group N rally cars.
History
The series started in 1987 as ''FIA Cup for Production Rally Drivers'' and obtained the ...
were Sweden, Mexico, Jordan, New Zealand, Finland, Germany, Japan, France and Great Britain. The six rallies also on the
Junior World Rally Championship
The FIA Junior WRC, also known as JWRC and previously known as Junior World Rally Championship, is an international rallying competition restricted to drivers under 29 years old. The championship currently consists of five select rallies of th ...
were Turkey, Portugal, Bulgaria, Germany, France and Spain. The ten rallies on the new
Super 2000 World Rally Championship
The FIA WRC2 (previously also known as World Rally Championship 2 and WRC 2), is a support championship of the World Rally Championship. The calendar consists of the same rallies and stages as the main class and crews usually compete immediately ...
(for S2000 driver) and
WRC Cup (for S2000 teams) were Sweden, Mexico, Jordan, New Zealand, Portugal, Finland, Germany, Japan, France and Great Britain.
The finalised calendar was published by the FIA on 11 December 2009,
following earlier proposed calendars issued in September
and October 2009.
Teams and drivers
In 2010 two categories were eligible to compete for the Manufacturer's championship:
Manufacturer
*must take part in all the rallies of the Championship with two cars of the same make
*must enter only cars corresponding to the 2009 homologated version of a World Rally Car in conformity with the 2010 Appendix J
*must inform the FIA of the name of the first driver entered for the season at the time of registration for the Championship. The driver may change only after the agreement of the WRC Commission. The driver of the second car may be changed for each of the rallies in the Championship
WRC Team
*must take part in a minimum of 8 rallies, including two outside Europe, with one or two cars; those rallies must be nominated on registering for the Championship
*cannot enter World Rally Cars homologated during the year 2009 and cannot use parts homologated after 2 January 2010
*can only score points in the events it nominated on registering.
The registered ''Manufacturers'' were
Citroën Total World Rally Team
Citroën () is a French automobile brand. The "Automobiles Citroën" manufacturing company was founded in March 1919 by André Citroën. Citroën is owned by Stellantis since 2021 and previously was part of the PSA Group after Peugeot acquired ...
and
BP Ford Abu Dhabi World Rally Team
The Ford World Rally Team, also known as the ''Ford Motor Co. Team'' prior to 2005, is Ford Motor Company's full factory World Rally Championship team. In its current form, it has been a competitor since the 1997 season, when Ford Motor Compa ...
; the registered ''WRC Teams'' were
Stobart M-Sport Ford,
Munchi's Ford
The Munchi's Ford World Rally Team was a private team competing in the World Rally Championship. The team made its debut in the 2007 Swedish Rally. The cars are prepared and run by the Cumbria based M-Sport operation and Martin Christie is the tea ...
and the
Citroën Junior Team
The Citroën Junior Team is a World Rally Championship team, which competed in the 2009–2010 and 2012 seasons. It was set up and run as Citroën's secondary team in the World Rally Championship, pitched against the existing Stobart Ford World Ra ...
.
* – indicates a car running with varying numbers during the season
Driver changes
* Kimi Raikkonen joined
Citroen Junior Team fulltime after leaving
Scuderia Ferrari
Scuderia Ferrari Società per Azioni, S.p.A. () is the racing division of luxury Italian auto manufacturer Ferrari and the racing team that competes in Formula One racing. The team is also known by the nickname "The Prancing Horse", in refere ...
Formula One
Formula One (also known as Formula 1 or F1) is the highest class of international racing for open-wheel single-seater formula racing cars sanctioned by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA). The World Drivers' Championship, ...
and making his WRC debut during
2009 Rally Finland
The 2009 Neste Oil Rally Finland was the 59th running of the Rally Finland and the ninth round of the 2009 World Rally Championship season. The rally consisted of 23 special stages and was won by Ford's Mikko Hirvonen. This marked his third victor ...
.
*
Evgeniy Novikov and
Conrad Rautenbach
Conrad Rautenbach (born 12 November 1984) is a rally driver from Zimbabwe who competed in the World Rally Championship for the Citroën Junior Team along with his co-driver Daniel Barritt. He won the African Rally Championship twice, in 2007 a ...
both left Citroen Junior Team.
*
Ken Block
Kenneth Paul Block (November 21, 1967 – January 2, 2023) was an American professional rally driver with the Hoonigan Racing Division, formerly known as the Monster World Rally Team. Block was also one of the co-founders of DC Shoes. He also ...
joined the series with
Monster World Rally Team
The Hoonigan Racing Division is a motor racing team that competes in the American Rally Association fielding a Hyundai i20 Coupe WRC car for Ken Block. The team previously competed in the World Rally Championship, Global RallyCross Championship, ...
to contest selected rounds of the season.
J-WRC entries
S-WRC entries
P-WRC entries
:† – At each rally, the organiser may nominate two "guest drivers" from their country to score support category points.
Results and standings
Results
Standings
Drivers' championship
Manufacturers' championship
JWRC Drivers' championship
;Notes:
†
Egoi Eder Valdes Lopez
Egoi was a minor divinity among the Basques associated with the south wind
A south wind is a wind that originates in the south and blows in a northward direction.
Words used in English to describe the south wind are auster, buster (a violent sou ...
has been removed from the Classification.
SWRC Drivers' championship
;Notes:
† Andersson's entrant RUFA Sport failed to compete in the required number of events, meaning all of Andersson's points scored with the team have been annulled. His win in Sweden remains as he competed as a wildcard entrant and not with RUFA.
‡ Tuohino has not completed the season due to a lack of budget, which resulted in the FIA excluding him from the championship.
WRC Cup for Super 2000 Teams championship
PWRC Drivers' championship
;Notes:
†
Miguel Baldoni
-->
Miguel is a given name and surname, the Portuguese and Spanish form of the Hebrew name Michael. It may refer to:
Places
*Pedro Miguel, a parish in the municipality of Horta and the island of Faial in the Azores Islands
*São Miguel (disambi ...
has been removed from the Classification.
References
External links
Official website of the World Rally ChampionshipFIA World Rally Championship 2010at ewrc-results.com
{{DEFAULTSORT:World Rally Championship, 2010
2010
File:2010 Events Collage New.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2010 Chile earthquake was one of the strongest recorded in history; The Eruption of Eyjafjallajökull in Iceland disrupts air travel in Europe; A scene from the opening ceremony of ...
2010 in motorsport