Here we publish the latest official information on the FIA WRC 2021 calendar. Although the schedule was published almost before the end of the 2020 season, there is still the possibility to remove some races from the calendar. Let’s not forget that everything is possible: from postponement to new rally rounds.
The original WRC 2021 calendar – the official version in 2020.
Sweden had previously assumed the position after the Monte Carlo leg in February. But it was quickly withdraw from the 2021 game due to the deteriorating Covid19 situation in the country. At the same time, despite the negative situation, the Monte Carlo Rally remains and scheduled for 21 and 24 January.
Meanwhile, nobody expected that the Croatia Rally would get a place in this list. Croatia is a big surprise for rally fans. But it worked. Despite the predictions, Rally Croatia was a great success. Perhaps because of a change in circumstances. But unpredictable events cough the hearts of rally fans from all over the world. Therefore, Rally Croatia was added in FIA WRC Calendar 2022. As a result of harsh weather conditions, the event was unpredictable and even more interesting.
In fact, it is a good step into the real game to bet on the small countries. Bringing the FIA World Rally Championship round to where it is most desirable, even with the small fan base. It could help to resist the pandemic situation.
WRC 2021 Calendar – January Updates
It was necessary to adapt the rally schedule very quickly to the events and there was no time to think. Thus, the Croatia Rally cancelled for a while, and the stage was replaced by one of the coldest and most driving. Arctic Rally Finland also attracted the attention of non-racing fans, allowing Mercedes Formula 1 team driver Valtteri Bottas to take part in the event, preparing for Santa Claus “journey home.
March and April’ Updates in the rally schedule 2021.
Shortly afterwards it was clear that the Rally of Greece could not take the place, as the pandemic situation in the country is increasing. In order to take care of the people, it was decided on 26 March 2021 to replace the leg with the Rally of Chile. Nevertheless, it was quite difficult to predict the situation before two or three mounths.
Thus, the Rally of Acropolis returned to the rally calendar after a while. At the same time, the Rally of Chile focused on remaining in the Rally of 2021. In order to plan to replace Greece, but the situation in the country changed the plans.
In April 2021, the entire world racing series tried to adjust their schedules in the wake of a pandemic, although hosting Formula 1 races or rallies behind closed doors was a disaster for some countries.
So the Acropolis Rally reverses its course and sets the same date from 9 to 12 September, while the Chile Rally is windrawing from the WRC 2021 calendar. Finland’s 70th anniversary Rally postponed to early October and takes place in Jyvaskyla from 20 September to 3 October.
WRC 2021 Calendar – Final updates in August.
That was the big point of hesitation and any other option in the 2021 rally schedule. No changes and no new stages. Pretty clear, travelling to Japan was the serious risk during the pandemic situation. As last year in the WRC 2020 calendar, the only decision in the FIA World Rally Championship was to replace the last stage in Japan with a specific and memorable Italian rally in Monza.
ACI Rally Monza 2021, which included nature stages as well as stages at Formula 1 circuit Monza, proved to be an incredible event. If not for the weather, we could call it one of the gold Rallies of WRC Calendar 2021. The pictures from the event will be added to the world Motorsport archives. Besides, such an event was able to attract even Formula 1 fans. It was wonderful to see how Ott Tanak or Elfyn Evans were speeding up their I20 and Yaris WRC at the home of Formula 1.
Perhaps there was only one thing that we needed the most. It would be the golden race if we could see the racing battle between WRC rally cars and Formula 1 cars on ACI Rally Monza 2021.
Sums Up:
All season long, the FIA WRC Calendar 2021 has been changing. It was need to monitor the situation, current restrictions and fix the additional problems very fast. WRC Promoter therefore already had two-three backup plans in case everything went wrong. In this situation, Rally Croatia and Rally Greece help to organize the race as well as introduce race fans to new areas and amazing races that they may not have had the chance to experience before.
The FIA World Rally Championship 2021 season passed the test of shifting stages successfully. Furthermore, the round in Finland became the most elaborate. After a pandemic, rally championship returned to race fans all over the world step by step.
Although, the real back of rally racing sports started only in 2022 WRC season. In some countries authorities had scheduled to held the best rally event yet. The new FIA President Mohammed Ben Sulayem has one of the most significant responsibilities of supporting spectators at events and provide all the necessary safety rules.
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