The 2023 FIA WRC3 Championship was the tenth season of WRC3, a rallying championship organised and governed by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile as the third-highest tier of international rallying. It was open to privateers and teams using cars complying with Group Rally3 regulations.[1] The championship began in January 2023 with the Rallye Monte-Carlo and concluded in November 2023 with Rally Japan, and ran in support of the 2023 World Rally Championship.

Lauri Joona and Enni Mälkönen entered as the defending drivers' and co-drivers' champions.[2]

Roope Korhonen and Anssi Viinikka won the 2023 drivers and codrivers championships.[3]

Calendar

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A map showing the locations of the rallies in the 2023 championship. Event headquarters are marked with black dots.

The 2023 season is scheduled to be contested over thirteen rounds crossing Europe, Africa, North and South America, and Asia.

Round Start date Finish date Rally Rally headquarters Surface Stages Distance Ref.
1 19 January 22 January   Rallye Automobile Monte Carlo Monte Carlo, Monaco Mixed[a] 18 325.02 km [4]
2 9 February 12 February   Rally Sweden Umeå, Västerbotten County, Sweden Snow 18 301.18 km [5]
3 16 March 19 March   Rally Guanajuato México León, Guanajuato, Mexico Gravel 23 315.69 km [6]
4 20 April 23 April   Croatia Rally Zagreb, Croatia Tarmac 20 301.26 km [7]
5 11 May 14 May   Rally de Portugal Matosinhos, Porto, Portugal Gravel 19 329.06 km [8]
6 1 June 4 June   Rally Italia Sardegna Olbia, Sardinia, Italy Gravel 19 322.88 km [9]
7 22 June 25 June   Safari Rally Kenya Naivasha, Nakuru County, Kenya Gravel 19 355.92 km [10]
8 20 July 23 July   Rally Estonia Tartu, Estonia Gravel 21 300.41 km [11]
9 3 August 6 August   Rally Finland Jyväskylä, Central Finland, Finland Gravel 22 320.56 km [12]
10 7 September 10 September   Acropolis Rally Greece Lamia, Central Greece, Greece Gravel 15 270.89 km [13]
11 28 September 1 October   Rally Chile Concepción, Biobío, Chile Gravel 16 321.06 km [14]
12 26 October 29 October   Central European Rally Passau, Bavaria, Germany Tarmac 18 310.01 km [15]
13 16 November 19 November   Rally Japan Toyota, Aichi, Japan Tarmac 22 304.66 km [16]
Sources:[17][18]

Calendar changes

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The championship was expected to be expanded to fourteen rounds from the thirteen rounds in the previous season by WRC Promoter GmbH, with eight Europe-based rallies and six fly-away events covering the season.[19] However, when the calendar was released in late November following a lengthy delay, the number of the events was reduced to thirteen with the anticipated Saudi Arabian rally based at Jeddah, absent from the calendar.[20][21]

 
Rally Mexico (picured in 2008 with a Subaru Impreza WRC) returned to the calendar.

Several rally organizers also expressed their interests to return to the championship, including Rally Argentina, Rally Australia, the German Rally, and an event in Northern Ireland.[30][31][32][33] The Argentine, Australian and Northern Irish bids failed and Germany organized the Central European Rally along with Austria and the Czech Republic.[34][35] In addition to the candidate events, the WRC Promoter GmbH was also working on the calendar expansion to the Middle East and United States, but no rallies were added for the 2023 season.[36]

Location changes

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Entries

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The following crews are set to enter into the 2023 WRC3 Championship:

Car Entrant Driver name Co-driver name Rounds
Ford Fiesta Rally3   Hamza Anwar   Hamza Anwar   Adnan Din 2, 6–7
  Martin Brady 4
  Alexander Kihurani 8
  Julia Thulin 10
  Jason Bailey   Jason Bailey   Shayne Peterson 3, 13
  Jamie Willetts 7
  Roberto Blach   Roberto Blach   Mauro Barreiro 4, 6, 8, 10
  Petr Borodin   Petr Borodin   Roman Cheprassov 9
  Eduardo Castro   Eduardo Castro   Carla Salvat Trías 10
  Fernando Mussano 11
  Brendan Cumiskey   Brendan Cumiskey   Arthur Kierans 8
  Martin Connolly 9
  Giorgos Delaportas   Giorgos Delaportas   Evangelos Panaritis 10
  Diego Dominguez Jr   Diego Dominguez Jr   Rogelio Peñate 2–3, 7, 10–11
  Spiros Galerakis   Spiros Galerakis   Konstantinos Soukoulis 10
  Toni Herranen   Toni Herranen   Mikko Lukka 2, 5, 8–9
  Jesse Kallio   Jesse Kallio   Jussi Lindberg 2, 9
  Epaminondas Karanikolas   Epaminondas Karanikolas   Giorgos Kakavas 10
  McRae Kimathi   McRae Kimathi   Mwangi Kioni 7
  Filip Kohn   Filip Kohn   Tomáš Střeska 2, 4
  Tom Woodburn 6, 9, 12
  Benjamin Korhola   Benjamin Korhola   Pekka Kelander 8–9
  Roope Korhonen   Roope Korhonen   Anssi Viinikka 2, 5–6, 8
  Ville Laakso   Ville Laakso   Jani Luhtaniemi 9
  Motorsport Ireland Rally Academy   William Creighton   Liam Regan 2, 4, 6, 8, 10
  Eamonn Kelly   Conor Mohan 2, 4, 6, 8, 10
  Kristian Nieminen   Kristian Nieminen   Valtteri Nieminen 9
  Marek Paciorkowski   Marek Paciorkowski   Kamil Heller 9
  Laurent Pellier   Laurent Pellier   Marine Pelamourgues 2, 4
  Kévin Bronner 6, 8, 10
  RACB National Team   Tom Rensonnet   Loïc Dumont 2, 4, 6, 8, 10
  Martin Ravenščak   Martin Ravenščak   Dora Ravenščak 4, 12
  Fabio Schwarz   Fabio Schwarz   Bernhard Ettel 12
  Henri Timonen   Henri Timonen   Jussi Kärpijoki 9
  Ali Türkkan   Ali Türkkan   Burak Erdener 6, 8–10
  Tuomas Vihtari   Tuomas Vihtari   Ville Harvia 9
  Jeremiah Wahome   Jeremiah Wahome   Victor Okundi 7
Renault Clio Rally3   Efthimios Halkias   Efthimios Halkias   Nikos Komnos 10
Sources:[41][42][43][44][45][46][47][48]

Results and standings

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Season summary

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Round Event Winning driver Winning co-driver Winning entrant Winning time Report Ref.
1   Rallye Automobile Monte Carlo No WRC3 entries Report [49]
2   Rally Sweden   Roope Korhonen   Anssi Viinikka   Roope Korhonen 2:44:25.9 Report [50]
3   Rally Guanajuato México   Diego Dominguez Jr.   Rogelio Peñate   Diego Dominguez Jr. 3:46:34.2 Report [51]
4   Croatia Rally   Eamonn Kelly   Conor Mohan   Motorsport Ireland Rally Academy 3:20:15.7 Report [52]
5   Rally de Portugal   Roope Korhonen   Anssi Viinikka   Roope Korhonen 4:11:51.5 Report
6   Rally Italia Sardegna   Roope Korhonen   Anssi Viinikka   Roope Korhonen 4:14:20.0 Report [53]
7   Safari Rally Kenya   Diego Dominguez Jr.   Rogelio Peñate   Diego Dominguez Jr. 4:37:57.1 Report [54]
8   Rally Estonia   Roope Korhonen   Anssi Viinikka   Roope Korhonen 2:57:16.2 Report [55]
9   Rally Finland   Benjamin Korhola   Pekka Kelander   Benjamin Korhola 2:54:27.0 Report [56]
10   Acropolis Rally Greece   Diego Dominguez Jr.   Rogelio Peñate   Diego Dominguez Jr. 3:24:38.9 Report [57]
11   Rally Chile   Eduardo Castro   Fernando Mussano   Eduardo Castro 3:36:41.7 Report [3]
12   Central European Rally   Filip Kohn   Tom Woodburn   Filip Kohn 3:23:04.4 Report
13   Rally Japan   Jason Bailey   Shayne Peterson   Jason Bailey 5:03:05.7 Report

Scoring system

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Position 1st 2nd 3rd 4th 5th 6th 7th 8th 9th 10th
Points 25 18 15 12 10 8 6 4 2 1

FIA WRC3 Championship for Drivers

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Pos. Driver MON
 
SWE
 
MEX
 
CRO
 
POR
 
ITA
 
KEN
 
EST
 
FIN
 
GRE
 
CHL
 
EUR
 
JPN
 
Points
1   Roope Korhonen 1 1 1 1 100
2   Diego Dominguez Jr. 4 1 NC 1 NC 1 Ret 87
3   Jason Bailey 2 2 1 61
4   Tom Rensonnet 5 2 6 8 3 55
5   Filip Kohn 9 6 9 NC 3 1 52
6   William Creighton 2 5 2 10 8 51
7   Eamonn Kelly Ret 1 7 Ret 2 49
8   Roberto Blach Núñez 3 4 5 5 47
9   Laurent Pellier 3 Ret 5 2 10 44
10   Eduardo Castro 4 1 37
11   Toni Herranen 8 2 3 DNS 37
12   Hamza Anwar 7 4 8 Ret 6 Ret 30
13   Benjamin Korhola 9 1 27
14   Ali Türkkan 3 4 Ret Ret 27
15   Jesse Kallio 6 2 26
16   Fabio Schwarz 2 18
17   Martin Ravenščak Ret 3 15
18   McRae Kimathi 3 15
19   Brendan Cumiskey 7 6 14
20   Henri Timonen 4 12
21   Tuomas Vihtari 5 10
22   Efthimios Halkias 6 8
23   Ville Laakso 7 6
24   Spiros Galerakis 7 6
25   Petr Borodin 8 4
26   Giorgos Delaportas 9 2
Pos. Driver MON
 
SWE
 
MEX
 
CRO
 
POR
 
ITA
 
KEN
 
EST
 
FIN
 
GRE
 
CHL
 
EUR
 
JPN
 
Points
Source:[58][59]
Key
Colour Result
Gold Winner
Silver 2nd place
Bronze 3rd place
Green Points finish
Blue Non-points finish
Non-classified finish (NC)
Purple Did not finish (Ret)
Black Excluded (EX)
Disqualified (DSQ)
White Did not start (DNS)
Cancelled (C)
Blank Withdrew entry from
the event (WD)

FIA WRC3 Championship for Co-Drivers

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Pos. Driver MON
 
SWE
 
MEX
 
CRO
 
POR
 
ITA
 
KEN
 
EST
 
FIN
 
GRE
 
CHL
 
EUR
 
JPN
 
Points
1   Anssi Viinikka 1 1 1 1 100
2   Rogelio Peñate 4 1 NC 1 NC 1 Ret 87
3   Loïc Dumont 5 2 6 8 3 55
4   Liam Regan 2 5 2 10 8 51
5   Conor Mohan Ret 1 7 Ret 2 49
6   Mauro Barreiro 3 4 5 5 47
7   Shayne Peterson 2 1 43
8   Tom Woodburn 9 NC 3 1 42
9   Mikko Lukka 8 2 3 DNS 37
10   Kévin Bronner 5 2 10 29
11   Pekka Kelander 9 1 27
12   Burak Erdener 3 4 Ret Ret 27
13   Jussi Lindberg 6 2 26
14   Fernando Mussano 1 25
15   Jamie Willetts 2 18
16   Bernhard Ettel 2 18
17   Marine Pelamourgues 3 Ret 15
18   Dora Ravenščak Ret 3 15
19   Mwangi Kioni 3 15
20   Martin Brady 4 12
21   Jussi Kärpijoki 4 12
22   Carla Salvat Trías 4 12
23   Ville Harvia 5 10
24   Tomáš Střeska 9 6 10
25   Adnan Din 7 8 Ret 10
26   Alexander Kihurani 6 8
27   Martin Connolly 6 8
28   Nikos Komnos 6 8
29   Arthur Kierans 7 6
30   Jani Luhtaniemi 7 6
31   Konstantinos Soukoulis 7 6
32   Roman Cheprassov 8 4
33   Evangelos Panaritis 9 2
Pos. Driver MON
 
SWE
 
MEX
 
CRO
 
POR
 
ITA
 
KEN
 
EST
 
FIN
 
GRE
 
CHL
 
EUR
 
JPN
 
Points
Source:[58][59]
Key
Colour Result
Gold Winner
Silver 2nd place
Bronze 3rd place
Green Points finish
Blue Non-points finish
Non-classified finish (NC)
Purple Did not finish (Ret)
Black Excluded (EX)
Disqualified (DSQ)
White Did not start (DNS)
Cancelled (C)
Blank Withdrew entry from
the event (WD)

Notes

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  1. ^ The Monte Carlo Rally is run on a tarmac and snow surface.

References

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  1. ^ "2022 FIA World Rally Championship – Sporting regulations" (PDF). Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile. Retrieved 24 January 2022.
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  4. ^ "Itinerary Rallye Automobile de Monte-Carlo 2023". eWRC-results.com. Archived from the original on 17 January 2023. Retrieved 19 November 2022.
  5. ^ "Itinerary Rally Sweden 2023". eWRC-results.com. Archived from the original on 15 March 2023. Retrieved 19 November 2022.
  6. ^ "Itinerary Rally Guanajuato México 2023". eWRC-results.com. Archived from the original on 31 March 2023. Retrieved 11 December 2022.
  7. ^ "Itinerary Rally Croatia Rally 2023". eWRC-results.com. Archived from the original on 1 May 2023. Retrieved 21 February 2023.
  8. ^ "Itinerary Vodafone Rally de Portugal 2023". eWRC-results.com. Archived from the original on 10 March 2023. Retrieved 10 March 2023.
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  34. ^ Siriatou, Sofia (22 September 2022). "Rally Argentina stays out of the 2023 WRC calendar". wrcfanatix.com. Archived from the original on 29 September 2022. Retrieved 29 September 2022.
  35. ^ Howard, Tom (31 August 2022). "UK set to miss out as expanded 2023 WRC calendar progresses". Motorsport.com. Motorsport Network. Archived from the original on 29 September 2022. Retrieved 29 September 2022.
  36. ^ Howard, Tom (28 July 2022). "WRC eyeing 2023 Middle East round, USA expansion plans continue". autosport.com. Motorsport Network. Archived from the original on 27 August 2022. Retrieved 27 August 2022.
  37. ^ "L'edizione 2023 del Rally Italia Sardegna si svolgerà dall'1 al 4 giugno" [The 2023 edition of Rally Italia Sardegna will take place from 1 to 4 June]. paradisola.it (in Italian). 26 November 2022. Archived from the original on 27 November 2022. Retrieved 27 November 2022.
  38. ^ "Olibia suburb test to launch Sardinia event". wrc.com. WRC Promoter GmbH. 2 February 2022. Archived from the original on 2 February 2022. Retrieved 3 February 2022.
  39. ^ Oyugi, Ochieng (26 November 2022). "Rally: WRC Safari Rally 2023 dates announced". Standardmedia.co.ke. Archived from the original on 6 December 2022. Retrieved 6 December 2022.
  40. ^ "Safari back in 2020". wrc.com. WRC Promoter GmbH. 27 September 2019. Archived from the original on 27 September 2019. Retrieved 28 September 2019.
  41. ^ "Entry List Rallye Sweden 2023". eWRC-results.com. Retrieved 17 January 2023.
  42. ^ "Entry List Rally Guanajuato México 2023". eWRC-results.com. Retrieved 23 February 2023.
  43. ^ "Entry List Croatia Rally 2023". eWRC-results.com. Retrieved 28 March 2023.
  44. ^ "Entry List Vodafone Rally de Portugal 2023". eWRC-results.com. Retrieved 19 April 2023.
  45. ^ "Entry List Rally Italia Sardegna 2023". eWRC-results.com. Retrieved 9 May 2023.
  46. ^ "Entry List Safari Rally Kenya 2023". eWRC-results.com. Retrieved 29 May 2023.
  47. ^ "Entry List WRC Rally Estonia 2023". eWRC-results.com. Retrieved 27 June 2023.
  48. ^ "Entry List WRC Secto Rally Finland 2023". eWRC-results.com. Retrieved 8 July 2023.
  49. ^ "Entry List Rallye Automobile de Monte-Carlo 2023". eWRC-results.com. Retrieved 10 January 2023.
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  51. ^ "Greenasmith spearheads WRC2 Škoda sweep". wrc.com. WRC Promoter GmbH. 19 March 2023. Retrieved 20 March 2023.
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  53. ^ "Comeback kid Korhonen scores WRC3 hat-trick". wrc.com. WRC Promoter GmbH. 4 June 2023. Retrieved 4 June 2023.
  54. ^ "Safari joy for WRC3 winner Dominguez". wrc.com. WRC Promoter GmbH. 25 June 2023. Retrieved 25 June 2023.
  55. ^ "Korhonen puts one hand on the WRC3 crown". wrc.com. WRC Promoter GmbH. 23 July 2023. Retrieved 23 July 2023.
  56. ^ "Hotshot Korhola secures WRC3 win at home". wrc.com. WRC Promoter GmbH. 6 August 2023. Retrieved 6 August 2023.
  57. ^ "Perfect Dominguez keeps WRC3 title fight alive". wrc.com. WRC Promoter GmbH. 10 September 2023. Retrieved 10 September 2023.
  58. ^ a b "WRC 3 standings 2023". wrc.com. WRC Promoter GmbH. Retrieved 23 January 2023.
  59. ^ a b "Standings". fia.com. Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile. Retrieved 23 January 2023.
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