Updated: 2022 WRC calendar | Ypres Rally in Belgium returns | GRR

Update: Ypres Rally returns Belgium to the WRC

Updated 14:30 Friday 18^th February 2022. Belgium will host its second-ever round of the World Rally Championship in 2022, as the tarmac Rally Ypres steps in to fill a gap in the 2022 WRC calendar.

The event, which has run as a regional event for decades, was added to the 2021 calendar when the continuing Covid-19 pandemic caused multiple flyaway destinations to cancel, including Japan.

Last year’s event took place later in the season, but this year’s Ypres will fit into 18^th-21^st August. That spot had been left open on the calendar, with talks still carrying on in an attempt to resurrect the British round of the championship in Northern Ireland.

Those talks were confirmed to have failed earlier this year, as funding didn’t materialise to put the event on. As a result the calendar remained short of one rally, and that was filled by Ypres.

In 2021 it was home hero Thierry Neuville who won the first WRC event held in his own country, leading for the entire distance. After a difficult start for the Hyundai driver to the 2022 season, he will be hoping that a return home helps to bring an upswing in form.

The tarmac rally will take place on tight and twisty roads around Flanders, with the service park taking place right in the centre of the historic town of Ypres.

The 2022 WRC calendar is still subject to some changes, with rounds in New Zealand and Croatia both subject to some contractual agreements, and is split heavily biased toward Europe, with 10 of the 13 rallies on the continent. WRC Promoter had been targeting a 50-50 divide between European rallies and flyaway events, but pressures caused by the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic have led to a restricted travel plan.

The announcement of the calendar also means that for the first time in several years the WRC circus will not pay a visit to South or Central America, with none of Rallies Mexico, Chile or Argentina making the cut.

Rally GB also fails to make an appearance on the calendar, leaving one of the traditional cornerstones of the WRC season off the schedule for the third year running.

The championship will begin with its traditional Monte Carlo opener toward the end of January, before returning to Sweden for the first time since 2018 for the only snow round of the year. Croatia will return after successfully stepping in to host a round in 2021 before rounds in Portugal and Italy finish the first European leg of the season.

Kenya’s Safari Rally will return for the second year after much appreciated appearance in 2021 before Estonia hosts a rally for the third year running. Rally Finland will take its more traditional place in the height of summer in August before the TBC round at the end of the month and the Acropolis Rally in September.

The teams will then fly across the globe to New Zealand for the first trip to the Island since 2012. The legendary roads around Auckland have been off the WRC calendar for nearly a decade so a long hoped-for return will be welcomed by most of the paddock, although the long trip around the globe only to come back for Rally Spain three weeks later may not be.

The long travel schedule will continue to the final rally of 2022, as the teams fly back out to Japan for the closing event and Asia’s first appearance on the calendar since 2010. Although the round has appeared on the calendar for the last two seasons, it has been cancelled due to the pandemic each time.

Speaking about the new calendar WRC Promoter managing director Jona Siebel said: “Next year will be a momentous and thrilling one for the FIA World Rally Championship as we welcome the new hybrid era Rally1 cars, part of a portfolio of regulations to drive the series towards a greener and more sustainable future.

“Next year also marks the WRC’s 50^th season and we have a calendar to match. We’re delighted to welcome back New Zealand, a rally which first appeared in 1977. Its gravel roads are a drivers’ delight and although our plans to return in 2020 were unfortunately derailed by Covid-19, it’s fantastic we can now push through with those.

“The pandemic sadly brought the globe to its knees but as the world recovers so, too, does the WRC. We previously outlined our strategy for an equal spread of rallies between Europe and long-haul destinations and the 2022 calendar is a significant step towards that goal.” 

2022 WRC calendar

Images courtesy of Motorsport Images.