2020 FIA World Cup for Cross-Country Rallies explained

The 2020 FIA World Cup for Cross-Country Rallies was set to be the 28th season of the FIA World Cup for Cross-Country Rallies; an annual rally raid competition for cars, buggies, side-by-sides, and trucks held in multiple countries. Due to COVID-19 pandemic all events but one were cancelled, and FIA considered that only one event wasn't enough to award a World title and cancelled the season.[1]

Calendar

The original calendar for the 2020 edition of the world cup featured five events; four cross-country rallies and one cross-country marathon; the Silk Way Rally, which was included for the first time.[2] Four events on the schedule are shared with the 2020 FIM Cross-Country Rallies World Championship; the Qatar round being the only exception.[3]

RoundDatesRally nameRef.
122–27 February Qatar Cross-Country Rally[4]
Cancelled due to the 2019-20 coronavirus pandemic[5] [6]
Original DateRally name
24-29 May Rally Kazakhstan
2-16 July Silk Way Rally
9-14 October Rallye du Maroc
20-26 March Abu Dhabi Desert Challenge

Regulation Changes

Starting with the 2020 season the vehicle classes have been reorganized into the following classifications:

The FIA awards the world cup to drivers, co-drivers, and teams competing in the T1 category; whilst drivers and teams in the T3 and T4 categories are awarded FIA cups. The T2 production class will no longer be awarded an end of season trophy. Likewise, the T5 'truck' category is recognized, but not awarded any end-of-season cup or trophy.[7]

Notable teams and drivers

ConstructorCarTeamDriverCo-driverCategoryRounds
Can-AmCan-Am Maverick X3 Snag Racing Aleksei Shmotev Andrei RudnitskiT31
Saleh Alsaif Saleh Alsaif Ali Hassan Obaid1
QMMF Team Ahmed Al-Kuwari Manuel Lucchese1
Rashid Al-Mohannadi Pedro Santos1
Mubarak Al-Hajri Laurent Lichtleuchter1
Mohammed Al-Harqan Vili Oslaj1
South Racing Austin Jones Gustavo Gugelmin1
ChevroletChevrolet Buggy Mohammed Al-Meer Mohammed Al-Meer Dmytro TsyroT11
G-ForceG-Force T3GF Adel Abdulla Adel Abdulla Jean-Michel PolatoT31
JeepJeep Abdulla Al-Rabban Abdulla Al-Rabban Igor ChudaykinT11
NissanNissan Patrol Khaled Ahmed Alferaihi Khaled Ahmed Alferaihi Wleed AlfiuamT11
OpelOpel Grandland X Balazs Szalay Balazs Szalay Laszlo BunkozciT11
OverdriveOverdrive OT3 Zavidovo Racing Team Fedor Vorobyev Kirill ShubinT31
Overdrive Racing Kees Koolen Sege Bruynkens1
PolarisPolaris RZR 1000 Turbo QMMF Team Khalid Al-Mohannadi Sebastien DelaunayT31
Gonzalo S. Guayasamin Gonzalo S. Guayasamin Ricardo Adrian Torlaschi1
ToyotaToyota Hilux Toyota Gazoo Racing Nasser Al-Attiyah Mathieu BaumelT11
Overdrive Racing Yazeed Al-Rajhi Michael Orr1
Orlen Team/Overdrive Jakub Przygoński Timo Gottschalk1
Source:[8]

Results

T2, T4 and T5 categories had no competitors in the only event held.

Overall

RoundRally namePodium finishers
RankDriverCarTime
1 Qatar Cross Country Rally1 Nasser Al-Attiyah
Mathieu Baumel
Toyota Hilux11:48:56
2 Yazeed Al-Rajhi
Michael Orr
Toyota Hilux13:20:36
3 Jakub Przygoński
Timo Gottschalk
Toyota Hilux13:50:19

T1 category

RoundRally namePodium finishers
RankDriverCarTime
1 Qatar Cross Country Rally1 Nasser Al-Attiyah
Mathieu Baumel
Toyota Hilux11:48:56
2 Yazeed Al-Rajhi
Michael Orr
Toyota Hilux13:20:36
3 Jakub Przygoński
Timo Gottschalk
Toyota Hilux13:50:19

T3 category

RoundRally namePodium finishers
RankDriverCarTime
1 Qatar Cross Country Rally1 Ahmed Al-Kuwari
Manuel Lucchese
Can-Am Maverick X315:25:09
2 Saleh Alsaif
Ali Hassan Obaid
Can-Am Maverick X315:36:06
3 Khalid Al-Mohannadi
Sebastien Delaunay
Polaris RZR 1000 Turbo15:39:30

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Rally-Raid Network - FIA World Cup for Cross Country Rallies and Bajas Calendars for 2020 and 2021. 10 October 2020 .
  2. News: FIA announces World Motor Sport Council decisions. 5 December 2019. 29 December 2019. fia.com.
  3. Web site: Cross-Country Rallies and Bajas: 2019 Calendars. fim-live.com. 1 October 2018. 1 March 2019. 6 March 2019. https://web.archive.org/web/20190306043456/http://www.fim-live.com/en/article/bajas-and-cross-country-2019-calendars/. dead.
  4. Web site: Qatar Cross-Country Rally 2020: Al-Attiyah tops quality Manateq Qatar Cross-Country Rally field from 17 nations. rallyraidnetwork.com. 18 February 2020. 18 February 2020. 18 February 2020. https://web.archive.org/web/20200218200647/https://www.rallyraidnetwork.com/rally/index.php/news/middle-east/qatar-cross-country-rally-2020-al-attiyah-tops-quality-manateq-qatar-cross-country-rally-field-from-17-nations.html. dead.
  5. Web site: FIM Cross-Country Rallies World Championships. Fédération Internationale de Motocyclisme. 30 June 2020. 15 July 2020. 17 July 2020. https://web.archive.org/web/20200717044340/http://www.fim-live.com/fileadmin/user_upload/FIM_Cross-Country_Rally_World_Championship_-_2020_Calendar__UPDATE_30_JUNE_-_Rally_Kazakhstan_cancelled.pdf. dead.
  6. Web site: Caancellation of the Silk Way Rally 2020. Fédération Internationale de Motocyclisme. 28 May 2020. 15 July 2020.
  7. Web site: 2020 Cross-Country Rally Sporting Regulations. fia.com. 20 December 2019. 29 December 2019.
  8. News: Qatar Cross Country Rally entry list. 14 February 2020. qatarcrosscountry.com. Qatar Motor & Motorcycle Federation. 15 February 2020. https://web.archive.org/web/20200215015129/https://qatarcrosscountry.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/Entry-List-v1.3.pdf. dead.