FIA 2-Litre World Rally Cup
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The ''FIA 2-Litre World Rally Cup'' was a sub-section of the
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 ...
from 1993 to 1999. It involved mostly or ,
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,
front wheel drive Front-wheel drive (FWD) is a form of engine and transmission layout used in motor vehicles, where the engine drives the front wheels only. Most modern front-wheel drive vehicles feature a transverse engine, rather than the conventional longitu ...
cars. The series was discontinued due to high costs, and the new Super 2000 class was amalgamated into 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 th ...
, whilst the 1600cc cars were generally modified for usage in the
Super 1600 Super 1600, also known as S1600, is a rally car formula that was primarily used in the Junior World Rally Championship between 2001 and 2010, as well as international rallycross championships and various national rally championships. Any automobil ...
class, which formed the basis of 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 ...
in 2001. The most successful manufacturer was
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, who won the title three times in a row with their
SEAT Ibiza The SEAT Ibiza is a supermini car that has been manufactured by Spanish car manufacturer SEAT since 1984. It is SEAT's best-selling car. The Ibiza is named after the Spanish island of Ibiza and was the second SEAT model to be named after a Spa ...
Kit Car. As the 1990s progressed the 2 litre cars proved to be exceptional tarmac rally cars. With more engine freedoms and lighter weights they could match, even beat the turbo 4WD Group A and WRC cars. In particular the kit cars built by the French manufacturers Peugeot and Citroën would prove real threats on the
Tour de Corse The Tour de Corse is a rally first held in 1956 on the island of Corsica. It was the French round of the World Rally Championship from the inaugural 1973 season until 2008, was part of the Intercontinental Rally Challenge from 2011 to 2012, and ...
each year as increasingly they become more like circuit racing cars and less like all-terrain rally cars. With the
French Rally Championship The FFSA French Rally Championship or Championnat de France des Rallyes is France's leading domestic motor rally competition. It's a championship that has been won three times by Didier Auriol, Guy Fréquelin, Patrick Bernadini and Philippe Bu ...
increasingly being held on tarmac only events the Peugeot 306 Maxis and Citroën Xsara Kit Cars would become optimised for the domestic and European championships leaving them less competition in World Rally events held on snow or gravel events. Their ability to snatch wins away from WRC teams became a launching pad into World championship careers, led by
Gilles Panizzi Gilles Panizzi (born 19 September 1965) is a former French rally driver. Panizzi was born in Roquebrune-Cap-Martin, Alpes-Maritimes. Like many of his fellow rally racing countrymen, Panizzi spent a great deal of his developmental driving years ...
and
Philippe Bugalski Philippe Bugalski (12 June 1963 – 10 August 2012) was a French rally driver. Bugalski became a works Renault driver in the French Rally Championship in 1994. In 1998, he joined the works Citroën team, with whom he won the French national titl ...
and later emerging French talent
Sébastien Loeb Sébastien Loeb (; born 26 February 1974) is a French professional rallying, rally, auto racing, racing and rallycross driver. He is the most successful driver in the World Rally Championship (WRC), having won the world championship a record nin ...
.


History

The series started in 1993, then named the ''FIA Cup for Manufacturers of Touring Cars (2-Litre)''. General Motors Europe were the most successful team that year, with Skoda finishing runner-up.
Nissan , trading as Nissan Motor Corporation and often shortened to Nissan, is a Japanese multinational automobile manufacturer headquartered in Nishi-ku, Yokohama, Japan. The company sells its vehicles under the Nissan, Infiniti, and Datsun bra ...
and
Volkswagens Volkswagen (),English: , . abbreviated as VW (), is a German motor vehicle manufacturer headquartered in Wolfsburg, Lower Saxony, Germany. Founded in 1937 by the German Labour Front under the Nazi Party and revived into a global brand post- ...
were the first companies to build true Kit Cars, with the Sunny GTI and Golf Kit Car respectively, with both running for the first time in a WRC event at the
RAC Rally 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 ...
. The rally victories were spread across several manufacturers; GME took the majority of the victories, with seven, whilst several other manufacturers won a single event;
Renault Groupe Renault ( , , , also known as the Renault Group in English; legally Renault S.A.) is a French multinational automobile manufacturer established in 1899. The company produces a range of cars and vans, and in the past has manufactured ...
(with a seemingly unsuitable R18 GTX), Skoda and Lada all achieving this. For 1994, another purpose-built kit car appeared.
Ford Ford commonly refers to: * Ford Motor Company, an automobile manufacturer founded by Henry Ford * Ford (crossing), a shallow crossing on a river Ford may also refer to: Ford Motor Company * Henry Ford, founder of the Ford Motor Company * Ford F ...
debuted their Ford Escort RS2000 Kit Car, which made its WRC debut at that year's Network Q RAC Rally. With the series now renamed the ''FIA 2-Litre World Cup for Manufacturers'', Skoda took the title with their Favorit model, despite it only being a 1300cc class car. The event wins were spread much more evenly than they had been the year before; Skoda, GME and Renault all won two events each, whilst Ford and Nissan won a single event. 1995 saw the series begin to take off. Reigning champions Skoda replaced the Favorit with the new Felicia KC, and initially entered it in both 1300 and 1500cc form.
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 8 ...
entered a ZX 16v Kit Car, whilst their French rivals
Peugeot Peugeot (, , ) is a French brand of automobiles owned by Stellantis. The family business that preceded the current Peugeot companies was founded in 1810, with a steel foundry that soon started making hand tools and kitchen equipment, and then ...
and
Renault Groupe Renault ( , , , also known as the Renault Group in English; legally Renault S.A.) is a French multinational automobile manufacturer established in 1899. The company produces a range of cars and vans, and in the past has manufactured ...
entered their 306 Maxi and Clio Maxi cars respectively.
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completed the new entries with their Ibiza Kit Car. Peugeot were the victors at the end of the season, as GME were not classified. In 1996, SEAT won the title by nine points, ahead of Renault in second place, with the latter company debuting their Renault Megane Maxi. Suzuki built a Baleno Kit Car, and entered it in the 1996 Rally Australia, without success, whilst Ford released an updated version of the Escort with the Escort Maxi Kit Car. In 1997, SEAT won the title by 70 points, ahead of Skoda in second place, with the latter company debuting their Skoda Octavia Kit Car. Also building kit cars for the first time in 1997 were
Hyundai Hyundai is a South Korean industrial conglomerate ("chaebol"), which was restructured into the following groups: * Hyundai Group, parts of the former conglomerate which have not been divested ** Hyundai Mobis, Korean car parts company ** Hyundai ...
, with their Hyundai Coupe Kit Car, whilst Nissan entered a 1300cc Micra Kit Car and a 2000cc Almera GTI Kit Car, with Citroën and Peugeot entering the 1600cc Saxo Kit Car and 106 Maxi respectively.
Gilles Panizzi Gilles Panizzi (born 19 September 1965) is a former French rally driver. Panizzi was born in Roquebrune-Cap-Martin, Alpes-Maritimes. Like many of his fellow rally racing countrymen, Panizzi spent a great deal of his developmental driving years ...
caused a major upset when he finished third outright on the all-tarmac
Rallye Catalunya The Rally Catalunya (formerly: Rallye Catalunya) is a Rallying, rally competition held in Catalonia region of Spain, on the World Rally Championship schedule. Now held on the wide, smooth and sweeping asphalt roads around the town of Salou, Cos ...
in his Peugeot 306 Maxi, defeating all bar two of the World Championship cars. To prove it was not a fluke Panizzi did the same on the
Tour de Corse The Tour de Corse is a rally first held in 1956 on the island of Corsica. It was the French round of the World Rally Championship from the inaugural 1973 season until 2008, was part of the Intercontinental Rally Challenge from 2011 to 2012, and ...
just weeks later with team mate
François Delecour François Delecour (born 30 August 1962) is a French rally driver. Biography Career in World Rally Championship François Delecour began rallying in 1981, in the French national championship. He entered his first major event, the Monte Carlo ...
finishing fourth. This emphasised a split in W2L car production with the French manufacturers building tarmac specialised cars that could win outright at the cost of making them uncompetitive on gravel events. With several national championships in western Europe running all-tarmac series it became a viable option. In 1998, SEAT won the title, making it three back-to-back titles, whilst runners-up Peugeot finished 12 points behind.
Vauxhall Vauxhall ( ) is a district in South West London, part of the London Borough of Lambeth, England. Vauxhall was part of Surrey until 1889 when the County of London was created. Named after a medieval manor, "Fox Hall", it became well known for ...
/ Opel debuted their Astra Kit Car at the 1998 Rally of Great Britain, with a second-place finish for Jarmo Kytolehto. The Peugeot 306 Maxi inched closer to an outright WRC victory, running competitive times all through the Monte Carlo Rally, Rallye Catalunya and
Rallye Sanremo Rallye Sanremo is a rally competition held in Sanremo, Italy. Except for the 1995 event, the event was part of the FIA World Rally Championship schedule from the 1973 season to the 2003 season. Currently, it is a round of the Intercontinental Rall ...
with Francois Delecour finishing second on the Tour de Corse only beaten by Colin McRae's Subaru. In 1999, Renault won the title by seven points from Hyundai, but with only three teams left in the category (one of whom, Volkswagen, were not classified as they had not homologated their new Golf GTI Kit Car), it was phased out at the end of the season. The class was eventually replaced by the
Super 1600 Super 1600, also known as S1600, is a rally car formula that was primarily used in the Junior World Rally Championship between 2001 and 2010, as well as international rallycross championships and various national rally championships. Any automobil ...
-spec
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 ...
, and the Super 2000-spec
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 th ...
. The need for replacement regulations was emphasised when
Philippe Bugalski Philippe Bugalski (12 June 1963 – 10 August 2012) was a French rally driver. Bugalski became a works Renault driver in the French Rally Championship in 1994. In 1998, he joined the works Citroën team, with whom he won the French national titl ...
took his tarmac optimised Citroën Xsara Kit Car to victory in
Rallye Catalunya The Rally Catalunya (formerly: Rallye Catalunya) is a Rallying, rally competition held in Catalonia region of Spain, on the World Rally Championship schedule. Now held on the wide, smooth and sweeping asphalt roads around the town of Salou, Cos ...
and three weeks later the
Tour de Corse The Tour de Corse is a rally first held in 1956 on the island of Corsica. It was the French round of the World Rally Championship from the inaugural 1973 season until 2008, was part of the Intercontinental Rally Challenge from 2011 to 2012, and ...
beating all the WRC cars.


Champions


See also

* Super 2000 World Rally Championship (WRC-2) *
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 th ...
(WRC-3) *
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 ...


References

{{World Rally Championship results World Rally Championship Recurring sporting events established in 1993 Recurring sporting events disestablished in 1999