Croatia Rally Explained

Croatia Rally
Status:active
Genre:Motorsporting event
Frequency:Annual
Country:Croatia
First:1974

The Croatia Rally is an international rallying event based in Zagreb, Croatia and is planned to be the third round of 2021 World Rally Championship.[1] The event is organised by Automobile Clubs D.T. Motorsport and Cro Dakar Team with the support of Croatian Car and Karting Federation and was a round of the European Rally Championship from 2007 until 2013. The event was known in the past as Delta Rally and Croatia Delta Rally. It has been a tarmac rally since at least the late 1980s.

History

The very first Croatia Rally was held in 1974, under the name INA Delta TLX Rally. It took only three years to grow from a regional race into a national championship event of former Yugoslavia. From the very beginning, the main characteristic of the rally was the extremely long itineraries, which passed through Gorski Kotar, Lika, Primorje and Continental Croatia until the mid-1980s.

The first international recognition that the race experienced was in 1986, when it entered the FIA calendar. That same year, special stages located at Žumberak, Plešivica, Zagrebačka gora and Hrvatsko Zagorje were driven by the crews from Austria, Germany, Czechoslovakia. It was the beginning of the project with the goal of entering the European Championship. Again, in 1986, first nomination towards the FIA was sent. But, the race had to wait for the European pedigree for six years.

Despite the ongoing Croatian War of Independence, Delta Rally had become recognized internationally and was growing rapidly. Good organization has brought it a coefficient 10 by the year 1995, and a year later the organizer nominated it under the name Croatia Rally for the highest coefficient of the contemporary European Championship – 20. It took even eleven years until the prestigious series in Croatia.

In late 2006 FIA has reported that the European Championship (ERC) will spread. 34. Croatia Rally 2007. has entered the calendar as a third out of ten ERC events. The first ERC Croatia Rally was won by the domestic crew Juraj Šebalj and Toni Klinc in Mitsubishi Lancer Evo IX. The remaining two rallies held in Zagreb and its surroundings were won by foreign competitors – Italians Corrado Fontana and Renzo Casazza, along with Bulgarians Krum Donchev and Peter Yordanov.

After three successfully organized ERC events in Zagreb, the economic recession has caused the relocation of the race to Rijeka. In 2010, Croatia Rally was organized by the Automotive Association of Primorje-Gorski Kotar County, and in the next two years by local AC MRC. Special stages were held in Gorski Kotar, Učka, Ćićarija, Istria, and particularly attractive was Super special stage at Opatija Circuit.

In 2013, Croatia Rally moved again. This time to Istria and the town of Poreč, which is the host and co-organizer of the event. The rally was organized by the Croatian Car and Karting Federation and the special stages were driven at Učka, Ćićarija and in the triangle of the cities of Buzet, Motovun and Pazin.

The most wins in the history of Croatia Rally were achieved by Slovenians, driver Branislav Kuzmič and co-driver Rudi Šali, each with five victories. They are followed by the Croatian crew Juraj Šebalj - Toni Klinc with four victories and Croatian driver Tihomir Filipović and his co-driver Davor Devunić, with three victories each.

WRC

On October 10, 2020, FIA World Motorsport Council has confirmed Croatia Rally as a new round of the World Rally Championship. The country is set to become the thirty-fourth nation to stage a championship round in the WRC. FIA President Jean Todt congratulated Croatian Automobile & Karting Federation president Davorin Štetner and pointed out that successful including in the 2021 calendar was possible thanks to support of Mayor of Zagreb and Croatian Government. The dates for Croatia Rally 2021 were from April 22 until April 25. Rally Headquarters, start and finish podium will be in Zagreb and itinerary will pass through Karlovac County, Zagreb County and Krapina-Zagorje County. The surface of Special Stages is tarmac.[2]

The idea of bringing WRC to Croatia was born by Daniel Šaškin in 2013 while Croatia Rally was part of the European Rally Championship. Lobbying for the WRC in Croatia began in 2015 thanks to Zrinko Gregurek, Secretary General of CCKF at the time, as well as a member of World Motor Sport Council (WMSC) since 2009. From 2015 to 2020, Gregurek lobbied very strongly and continuously, at the end successfully, for the award of WRC to Croatia.

After Jean Tod's visit to Zagreb in July 2020, during the next WMSC meeting held in October, the decision on Croatia's inclusion in the FIA WRC Calendar 2021 was adopted. Immediately after the end of the WMSC meeting, Gregurek sent this notice to the Croatian Car and Karting Federation.

List of winners

Sourced in part from:[3] [4] [5]

YearWinnerCar
Delta Rally
1974 Tomislav MarktBMW 1600
1975 Aleksandar MačešićDatsun 1200
1976 Berislav ModricFiat 128 SC
1977 Aleš PušnikRenault 5
1978 Aleš PušnikRenault 5
1979 Borko SkurićOpel Kadett GT/E
1980 Leon PoberajZastava 101
1981 Leon PoberajZastava 101
1982 Borko SkurićOpel Kadett GT/E
1983 Brane KuzmičRenault 5 Turbo
1984 Brane KuzmičRenault 5 Turbo
1985 Brane KuzmičRenault 5 Turbo
1986 Romana ZrnecRenault 11 Turbo
1987 Brane KuzmičRenault 5 GT Turbo
1988 Brane KuzmičRenault 5 GT Turbo
1989 Tihomir FilipovićLancia Delta HF Integrale
1990 Tihomir FilipovićLancia Delta HF Integrale
1991 Tihomir FilipovićLancia Delta HF Integrale
1992 Žarko ŠepetavcLancia Delta HF Integrale
1993 Raimund BaumschlagerFord Escort RS Cosworth
1994 Niko PulićLancia Delta HF Integrale
1995 Niko PulićLancia Delta HF Integrale
Croatia Delta Rally
1996 Kurt GöttlicherFord Escort RS Cosworth
1997 David PattisonFord Escort RS Cosworth
1998 Enrico BertoneToyota Celica GT-Four
1999 Enrico BertoneRenault Mégane Maxi
2000 Bert de JongSubaru Impreza WRC
2001 Krum DonchevPeugeot 306 Maxi
2002 Leszek KuzajToyota Corolla WRC
2003 Václav Pech Jr.Ford Focus RS WRC
2004 Juraj ŠebaljSubaru Impreza WRX STi
2005 Juraj ŠebaljCitroën C2 S1600
2006 Václav Pech Jr.Mitsubishi Lancer Evo IX
2007 Juraj ŠebaljMitsubishi Lancer Evo IX
2008 Corrado FontanaFiat Abarth Grande Punto S2000
Croatia Rally
2009 Krum DonchevPeugeot 207 S2000
2010 Luca RossettiFiat Abarth Grande Punto S2000
2011 Luca RossettiFiat Abarth Grande Punto S2000
2012 Juho HänninenŠkoda Fabia S2000
2013 Jan KopeckýŠkoda Fabia S2000
2014 Juraj ŠebaljMitsubishi Lancer Evo IX
2015 Murat BostanciFord Fiesta R5
2016 Vlastimil MajerčakFord Fiesta R5
2017 David BotkaŠkoda Fabia R5
2018–2020Not held
World Rally Championship
2021
2022Toyota GR Yaris Rally1
2023
2024 Sébastien Ogier

External links

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Craig. Jason. WRC Rally GB moves to August, addition of new Croatia round. 2020-10-12. Autosport.com. 9 October 2020 . en.
  2. Web site: Croatia Rally u kalendaru WRC-a! Todt: Poseban dan za Hrvatsku. 2020-10-12. Hrvatska radiotelevizija.
  3. Web site: Previous winners – 44. Croatia Rally 2017 . 2020-07-12 . rally-croatia.com.
  4. Web site: Croatia Rally. eWRC-results.com.
  5. Web site: Delta Rally. eWRC-results.com.