The 2020 FIA World Rally Championship-3, an auto racing championship for rally cars that was recognised by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile as the third-highest tier of international rallying. It was open to privately-entered cars complying with R5 regulations and was the seventh running of the championship.^[1][2]

Pierre-Louis Loubet and Vincent Landais were the reigning drivers' and co-drivers' champions.^[3][a] Jari Huttunen and Mikko Lukka won the 2020 WRC-3 titles.

Calendar

The 2020 championship was due to be contested over thirteen rounds in Europe, Africa, Asia, the Middle East, North and South America, and Oceania,^[4][5] but the calendar was reduced to seven rounds due to the COVID-19 pandemic.^[6]

Round	Start date	Finish date	Rally	Rally headquarters	Surface	Stages	Distance	Ref.
1	23 January	26 January	Rallye Automobile Monte Carlo	Gap, Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur[b]	Mixed[c]	16	304.28 km	[7]
2	13 February	16 February	Rally Sweden	Torsby, Värmland	Snow	11	171.64 km[d]	[9]
3	12 March	15 March	Rally Guanajuato México	León, Guanajuato	Gravel	21	268.84 km[e]	[11]
4	4 September	6 September	Rally Estonia	Tartu, Tartu County	Gravel	17	232.64 km	[12]
5	18 September	20 September	Rally of Turkey	Marmaris, Muğla	Gravel	12	223.00 km	[13]
6	8 October	11 October	Rally Italia Sardegna	Alghero, Sardinia	Gravel	16	238.84 km	[14]
7	3 December	6 December	ACI Rally Monza	Monza, Lombardy	Tarmac	16	239.20 km	[15]
Source:[6][16][17]

The following rounds were included on the original calendar published by WRC Promoter GmbH, but were later cancelled:

Start date	Finish date	Rally	Rally headquarters	Surface	Stages	Distance	Cancellation reason	Ref.
16 April	19 April	Rally Chile	Concepción, Biobío	Gravel	—	—	Political unrest	[18]
23 April[f]	26 April[f]	Rally Argentina	Villa Carlos Paz, Córdoba	Gravel	16	322.36 km	COVID-19 pandemic	[20][21]
21 May	24 May	Rally de Portugal	Matosinhos, Porto	Gravel	22	331.10 km	COVID-19 pandemic	[22][23]
16 July	19 July	Safari Rally Kenya	Nairobi	Gravel	18	315.12 km	COVID-19 pandemic	[24][25]
6 August	9 August	Rally Finland	Jyväskylä, Central Finland	Gravel	24	321.87 km	COVID-19 pandemic	[26][27]
3 September	6 September	Rally New Zealand	Auckland, Te Ika-a-Māui	Gravel	—	—	COVID-19 pandemic	[28]
15 October	18 October	ADAC Rallye Deutschland	Bostalsee, Saarland	Tarmac	—	—	COVID-19 pandemic	[29]
29 October	1 November	Wales Rally GB	Llandudno, Conwy	Gravel	—	—	COVID-19 pandemic	[30]
19 November	22 November	Rally Japan	Nagoya, Chūbu	Tarmac	19	307.78 km	COVID-19 pandemic	[31][32]
20 November	22 November	Renties Ypres Rally Belgium	Ypres, West Flanders	Tarmac	23	265.69 km	COVID-19 pandemic	[33][34]
Source:[16][17][19]

Calendar changes

With the addition of Rally Chile to the calendar in 2019, the FIA opened the tender process for new events to join the championship in 2020.^[35] Bids to revive Rally Japan and the Safari Rally were received, and candidate events were run in 2019.^[36][37] Both events were accepted to the 2020 calendar, as was a proposal to revive Rally New Zealand.^[4] However, none of the aforementioned events were run due to the COVID-19 pandemic.^[25][28][32]

• The Safari Rally was scheduled to be run as a World Championship event for the first time since 2002. The event was to be based in the Kenyan capital Nairobi and feature stages around Lake Naivasha.^[38] In contrast to the event's traditional endurance format, which featured stages hundreds of kilometres long, the 2020 Safari Rally was planned to follow a compact route to comply with FIA regulations mandating the maximum route distance.^[24]
• Rally Japan was scheduled to return to the calendar for the first time since 2010, replacing Rally Australia as the final round of the championship. The rally was scheduled to move away from its original headquarters in Hokkaidō to a new base in Nagoya and was to be run on tarmac rather than gravel.^[39]
• Rally New Zealand was scheduled to return to the calendar for the first time since 2012. The event was planned to return to Auckland.^[4]

The addition of these events saw the Tour de Corse and the Rallies of Catalunya and Australia removed from the calendar.^[5] Organisers of Rally Catalunya agreed to forfeit their place on the 2020 calendar as part of a rotation system that will see European events host rallies in two out of three calendar years. The Tour de Corse was removed in response to concerns from teams about the logistics of visiting Corsica, while Rally Australia was removed as the event's base in a regional centre rather than a major metropolitan area meant that the rally struggled to attract spectators.^[5] Rally Chile was included on the original calendar, but was later removed in the face of ongoing political unrest in the country.^[18] The FIA sought a replacement event to ensure that the calendar retained its planned fourteen rounds,^[40] but were unable to do so.^[19]

The Rallies in Italy were postponed as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic.^[21] Events in Argentina,^[41] Portugal,^[23] Kenya,^[25] Finland,^[27] New Zealand,^[28] Germany,^[29] Great Britain^[30] and Japan were cancelled.^[32] Organisers of the championship announced that they were considering adding events to the schedule that had not been part of the original calendar.^[42] Estonia, Belgium, Latvia, Croatia and Czech Republic were among the countries who had expressed interest hosting the event.^[43]

The running date of Rally Turkey was moved forward by a week, which facilitated the opportunity for additional rounds.^[44] Further calendar options included Ypres Rally and Croatia Rally.^[41] Following the cancellation of Rallye Deutschland, the running date of Rally Sardegna moved forward by three weeks.^[45] This decision was intended to avoid the clash with the 2020 Emilia Romagna Grand Prix of Formula One.^[29]

On 2 July 2020, it was announced that the season would return with an updated calendar. The season restarted with newcomers Rally Estonia hosting the resuming round between 4 and 6 September. The country became the thirty-third nation to stage a championship round in the WRC.^[46]

Following the cancellation of Rally Japan, it was announced that Ypres Rally, officially Renties Ypres Rally Belgium, would replace Rally Japan to hold the seventh round of the season. The Sunday's route would feature the iconic Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps in Stavelot, which would run with the 2020 World RX of Benelux of the World Rallycross Championship.^[47] Belgium was set to be the thirty-fourth country to hold a WRC event,^[48] but were unable to do so as the rally was eventually called off due to the COVID-19 pandemic.^[6]

Rally Monza was announced to be the final round of the season on 9 October. This meant Italy staged two WRC events in one season as the country also stages the Sardinia rally.^[49] The rally was based in the famous Autodromo Nazionale di Monza circuit near Milan, where the Italian Grand Prix is held every year.^[50]

Route changes

Prior to the Rally Sweden, it was confirmed that the route for the rally had to be shortened due to a lack of snow.^[8] The route of Rally Mexico was shortened to allow teams time to pack up and return to their headquarters before several European nations imposed travel bans in a bid to manage the pandemic.^[10]

Entries

The following crews compete in the 2020 World Rally Championship-3:

Entrant	Driver name[g]	Co-driver name	Car	Rounds
Motorsport Italia	Paulo Nobre	Gabriel Morales	Škoda Fabia R5	1–3, 5
	Diogo Salvi	Hugo Magalhães		5
CHL Sport Auto	Yoann Bonato	Benjamin Boulloud	Citroën C3 R5	1
Saintéloc Junior Team	Eric Camilli	François-Xavier Buresi	Citroën C3 R5	1, 6
	Sean Johnston	Alex Kihurani		4–6
DG Sport Compétition	Nicolas Ciamin	Yannick Roche	Citroën C3 R5	1, 4, 6
	Pepe Lopéz	Borja Rozada		1
M-Sport Ford World Rally Team	"Pedro"	Emmanuele Baldaccini	Ford Fiesta R5 Mk. II	1, 5–6
	Alberto Heller	José Díaz		3
		Marc Martí		5–6
	Jan Solans	Mauro Barreiro		4–6
BMA Autosport	Grégoire Munster	Louis Louka	Škoda Fabia R5	1
Hyundai Motorsport N			Hyundai i20 R5	2, 4, 7
	Jari Huttunen	Mikko Lukka		2, 4, 6–7
PH Sport	Yohan Rossel	Benoît Fulcrand	Citroën C3 R5	1, 4, 6–7
Sarrazin Motorsport	Stéphane Sarrazin	Kévin Parent	Hyundai i20 R5	1
Hyundai Rally Team Italia	Umberto Scandola	Guido D'Amore	Hyundai i20 R5	1–2, 6–7
Bernini Rally	Andrea Nucita	Bernardo Di Caro	Hyundai i20 R5	1
Calm Compéticio	Miguel Díaz-Aboitiz	Diego Sanjuan	Škoda Fabia R5	1–2
PA Racing	Enrico Brazzoli	Maurizio Barone	Škoda Fabia R5	1, 7
Kristoffersson Motorsport	Johan Kristoffersson	Stig Rune Skjærmoen	Volkswagen Polo GTI R5	2
TGS Worldwide	Rainer Aus	Simo Koskinen	Škoda Fabia R5	4
	Eerik Pietarinen	Antti Linnaketo		4
		Miikka Anttila	Škoda Fabia R5 Evo	2
	Emil Lindholm	Mikael Korhonen		2
Eurosol Racing Team Hungary				7
	Andreas Mikkelsen	Anders Jæger		7
Škoda Motorsport	Oliver Solberg	Aaron Johnston	Škoda Fabia R5 Evo	2, 6–7
PSRX			Volkswagen Polo GTI R5	3–4
Sports Racing Technologies	Raul Jeets	Andrus Toom	Škoda Fabia R5 Evo	2, 4
Red Grey Team	Roland Poom	Ken Järveoja	Ford Fiesta R5	2
		Erik Lepikson	Ford Fiesta R5 Mk. II	4
	Radik Shaymiev	Alexey Arnautov		4
		Maxim Tsvetkov	Ford Fiesta R5	3
Kresta Racing	Filip Mareš	Jan Hloušek	Škoda Fabia R5 Evo	2
Barlinek Synthos Rally Team	Michał Sołowow	Maciek Baran	Škoda Fabia R5	2
SXM Compétition	Joakim Roman	Alexander Glavsjö	Škoda Fabia R5	2
Delta Rally	Giacomo Costenaro	Justin Bardini	Škoda Fabia R5	2
	Alberto Battistolli	Fabrizia Pons		2
		Simone Scattolin	Škoda Fabia R5 Evo	6
Lotos Rally Team	Kajetan Kajetanowicz	Maciek Szczepaniak	Škoda Fabia R5 Evo	3–7
Race Seven	Benito Guerra	Daniel Cué	Škoda Fabia R5	3
Citroën Rally Team Hungary	Marco Bulacia	Giovanni Bernacchini	Citroën C3 R5	3
		Marcelo Der Ohannesian		4–7
	Yağiz Avci	Onur Vatansever		5
Triviño Rally Team	Ricardo Triviño	Marc Martí	Škoda Fabia R5	3
GB Motors	Gianluca Linari	Nicola Arena	Ford Fiesta R5	3
Toksport World Rally Team	Emilio Fernández	Rubén García	Škoda Fabia R5 Evo	3–6
McKenna Motorsport	Barry McKenna	James Fulton	Škoda Fabia R5	3
Printsport	Karl Kruuda	Dale Moscatt	Volkswagen Polo GTI R5	4
	Rakan Al-Rashed	Hugo Magalhães		4
Kaur Motorsport	Egon Kaur	Silver Simm	Škoda Fabia R5 Evo	4
OT Racing	Priit Koik	Uku Heldna	Ford Fiesta R5	4
ALM Motorsport	Georg Linnamäe	Volodymyr Korsia	Volkswagen Polo GTI R5	4
	Gustav Kruuda	Ken Järveoja		4
Plon Rally Team	Jarosław Koltun	Ireneusz Pleskot	Ford Fiesta R5 Mk. II	4
BC Vision Motorsport	Burak Çukurova	Burak Akcay	Škoda Fabia R5	5
Neo Motorspor	Uğur Soylu	Mehmet Köleoğlu	Škoda Fabia R5	5
Free Rally Service	Luciano Cobbe	Fabio Turco	Škoda Fabia R5 Evo	6
Metior Sport	Cédric De Cecco	Jérôme Humblet	Škoda Fabia R5 Evo	7
Motorsport Ireland Rally Academy	Josh McErlean	Keaton Williams	Hyundai i20 R5	7
G. Car Sport Racing	Giacomo Ogliari	Giacomo Ciucci	Citroën C3 R5	7
Source:[51][52][53][54][55][56][57]

Changes

In 2019, the championship was run as the World Rally Championship-2, while the category known as the World Rally Championship-2 Pro was for professional crews entered by manufacturer teams. However, the multi-class structure was found to be too confusing,^[2] and so the category was re-structured for the 2020 season. Professional crews contested the World Rally Championship-2 and privateers contested the World Rally Championship-3.^[2]

Results and standings

Season summary

Round	Event	Winning driver	Winning co-driver	Winning entrant	Winning time	Report	Ref.
1	Rallye Automobile Monte Carlo	Eric Camilli	François-Xavier Buresi	Saintéloc Junior Team	3:24:39.8	Report	[58]
2	Rally Sweden	Jari Huttunen	Mikko Lukka	Hyundai Motorsport N	1:15:46.1	Report	[59]
3	Rally Guanajuato México	Marco Bulacia	Giovanni Bernacchini	Citroën Rally Team Hungary	3:01:25.1	Report	[60]
4	Rally Estonia	Oliver Solberg	Aaron Johnston	PSRX	2:07:32.2	Report	[61]
5	Marmaris Rally of Turkey	Kajetan Kajetanowicz	Maciek Szczepaniak	Lotos Rally Team	2:55:38.2	Report	[62]
6	Rally Italia Sardegna	Jari Huttunen	Mikko Lukka	Hyundai Motorsport N	2:50:19.2	Report	[63]
7	ACI Rally Monza	Andreas Mikkelsen	Anders Jæger	Eurosol Racing Team Hungary	2:19:47.2	Report	[64]

Scoring system

Points were awarded to the top ten classified finishers in each event. Unlike the World Rally Championship, points are not awarded for the Power Stage.

FIA World Rally Championship-3 for Drivers

(Results key)

Pos.	Driver	MON	SWE	MEX	EST	TUR	ITA	MNZ	Points
1	Jari Huttunen		1		2		1	3	83
2	Marco Bulacia			1	4	2	3	6	70
3	Kajetan Kajetanowicz			4	Ret	1	2	5	65
4	Oliver Solberg		5	Ret	1		6	2	61
5	Emil Lindholm		2					4	30
6	Nicolas Ciamin	2			6		9		28
7	Andreas Mikkelsen							1	25
8	Eric Camilli	1					Ret		25
9	Emilio Fernández			2	Ret	7	10		25
10	Alberto Heller			Ret		4	5		22
11	Umberto Scandola	8	WD				4	Ret	16
12	Yoann Bonato	3							15
13	Johan Kristoffersson		3						15
14	Ricardo Triviño			3					15
15	Egon Kaur				3				15
16	Yağiz Avci					3			15
17	Yohan Rossel	4			9		11	10	15
18	Eerik Pietarinen		4		16				12
19	Benito Guerra			5					10
20	Karl Kruuda				5				10
21	Burak Cukurova					5			10
22	Grégoire Munster	5	WD		11			Ret	10
23	Filip Mareš		6						8
24	Jan Solans				12	6	Ret		8
25	Enrico Brazzoli	6						11	8
26	Josh McErlean							7	6
27	Miguel Díaz-Aboitiz	7	WD						6
28	Raul Jeets		7		Ret				6
29	Rainer Aus				7				6
30	Alberto Battistolli						7		6
31	Cédric De Cecco							8	4
32	"Pedro"	Ret				8	Ret		4
33	Michał Sołowow		8						4
34	Sean Johnston				8	Ret	Ret		4
35	Luciano Cobbe						8		4
36	Giacomo Ogliari							9	2
37	Paulo Nobre	9	WD	WD		WD	WD		2
38	Joakim Roman		9						2
39	Priit Koik				10				1
Pos.	Driver	MON	SWE	MEX	EST	TUR	ITA	MNZ	Points
Source:[65]

FIA World Rally Championship-3 for Co-Drivers

(Results key)

Pos.	Co-Driver	MON	SWE	MEX	EST	TUR	ITA	MNZ	Points
1	Mikko Lukka		1		2		1	3	83
2	Maciek Szczepaniak			4	Ret	1	2	5	65
3	Aaron Johnston		5	Ret	1		6	2	61
4	Marcelo Der Ohannesian				4	2	3	6	53
5	Marc Martí			3		4	5		37
6	Mikael Korhonen		2					4	30
7	Yannick Roche	2			6		9		28
8	François-Xavier Buresi	1					Ret		25
9	Giovanni Bernacchini			1					25
10	Anders Jæger							1	25
11	Rubén García			2	Ret	7	10		25
12	Guido D'Amore	8	WD				4	Ret	16
13	Benjamin Boulloud	3							15
14	Stig Rune Skjærmoen		3						15
15	Silver Simm				3				15
16	Onur Vatansever					3			15
17	Benoît Fulcrand	4			9		11	10	15
18	Miikka Anttila		4						12
19	Louis Louka	5	WD		11			Ret	10
20	Daniel Cué			5					10
21	Dale Moscatt				5				10
22	Burak Akcay					5			10
23	Maurizio Barone	6						11	8
24	Jan Hloušek		6						8
25	Mauro Barreiro				12	6	Ret		8
26	Diego Sanjuan	7	WD						6
27	Andrus Toom		7		Ret				6
28	Simo Koskinen				7				6
29	Simone Scattolin						6		8
30	Keaton Williams							7	6
31	Emmanuele Baldaccini	Ret				8	Ret		4
32	Maciek Baran		8						4
33	Alex Kihurani				8	Ret	Ret		4
34	Fabio Turco						8		4
35	Jérôme Humblet							8	4
36	Gabriel Morales	9	WD	WD		WD			2
37	Alexander Glavsjö		9						2
38	Giacomo Ciucci							9	2
39	Uku Heldna				10				1
Pos.	Co-Driver	MON	SWE	MEX	EST	TUR	ITA	MNZ	Points
Source:[65]