World Rally Championship 2016

2016 WRC season

World Champion
Driver:	Sébastien Ogier
Manufacturer:	Volkswagen
Season dates
Number of rallies:	14th
<2015 season	2017 season>

The 2016 World Rally Championship was the 44th FIA World Rally Championship. It started on January 21st in Monte Carlo and ended on November 20th in Australia.

From the regulations

Points and Penalties

The scoring system for the first ten drivers is 25-18-15-12-10-8-6-4-2-1. The same system also applies to the manufacturers' classification whose teams have been registered for it. For the power stage , the three fastest drivers each receive 3-2-1 bonus points for the drivers' world championship. If a participant appears too late to a checkpoint or to the start of a special stage, he will be given a time penalty. The stay in the Service Park is precisely defined. If this period is exceeded, there is also a time penalty.

vehicles

The vehicles are divided into three classes and these in turn into further categories . The WRC is the premier class in the World Rally Championship , followed by WRC2 and WRC3 . The junior class Junior World Rally Championship ( JWRC ) is integrated in the WRC3 .

Rally 2 regulations

Vehicles that retire on one day of the rally due to a technical defect or accident, but can be repaired, may start again the next day with a time penalty of five minutes for each missed special stage. You are still entitled to score world championship points. Drivers who start under the Rally 2 regulations are entitled to collect World Championship points in the Power Stage. The drivers who start under the rally 2 regulations must be the first vehicles to enter the special stages in the upcoming special stages.

Teams and drivers

Manufacturers can add up their drivers' points. The two drivers who were previously nominated by their team can score points for the manufacturers' championship. If a pilot who has not been nominated for manufacturer points ranks in the points, he will receive driver points, but for the manufacturer's ranking the nominated pilot who was best placed behind moves up.

Registered drivers entitled to points for the manufacturers' classification
automobile	team	No.	driver	Co-driver	rally
Volkswagen Volkswagen Polo R WRC	Volkswagen Motorsport	1	Sébastien Ogier	Julien Ingrassia	1-2
		2	Jari-Matti Latvala	Miikka Anttila	1-2
	Volkswagen Motorsport II	9	Andreas Mikkelsen	Jæger is different	1-2
Hyundai Hyundai i20 WRC	Hyundai Motorsport	3	Thierry Neuville	Nicolas Gilsoul	1-2
		4th	Dani Sordo	Marc Martí	1
			Hayden Paddon	John Kennard	2
	Hyundai Motorsport N	10			1
		20th	Dani Sordo	Marc Martí	2
Ford Ford Fiesta RS WRC	M-Sport World Rally Team	5	Mads Østberg	Ola Fløene	1-2
		6th	Eric Camilli	Nicolas Klinger	1-2
	DMACK World Rally Team	12	Ott Tanak	Raigo Mõlder	1-2
	Yazeed Racing	30th	Yazeed Al-Rajhi	Michael Orr	2

Registered drivers without entitlement to points for the manufacturers' classification
automobile	team	No.	driver	Co-driver	rally
Citroën Citroën DS3 WRC	Abu Dhabi Total WRT	7th	Kris Meeke	Paul Nagle	1-2
		8th	Stéphane Lefebvre	Gabin Moreau	1
		14th	Khalid Al-Qassimi	Chris Patterson	2
		15th	Craig Breen	Scott Martin	2
	D-Max Racing	18th	Felice Re	Mara Bariani	1
Ford Ford Fiesta RS WRC	BRC Racing Team	16	Robert Kubica	Maciek Szczepaniak	1
	Adapta Motorsport	16	Henning Solberg	Ilka Minor	2
	M-Sport World Rally Team	17th	Bryan Bouffier	Victor Bellotto	1
	FWRT srl	37	Lorenzo Bertelli	Simone Scattolin	1-2
Mini Mini John Cooper Works WRC	Eurolamp World Rally Team	81	Valeriy Gorban	Volodymyr Corsia	2
		95	Mait Maarend	Mihkel Kapp	2

Volkswagen

After 2013 , 2014 and 2015 , Volkswagen will also start in 2016 with drivers Sébastien Ogier , Jari-Matti Latvala and Andreas Mikkelsen as well as the Polo R WRC model .
Anders Jæger replaces Ola Fløne in the passenger seat of Andreas Mikkelsen.

Hyundai

In 2016, Hyundai is driving a completely new vehicle based on the current generation of the i20 . The debut of the new rally car should originally have taken place in the 2015 season , but was then postponed by a year. The regular drivers are Dani Sordo , who has a contract until the end of the 2016 season, and Hayden Paddon , who is bound up to and including 2018. According to team boss Michel Nandan, Thierry Neuville's contract for 2016 was never up for discussion. In view of the extensive test and development program with regard to the rule changes for 2017, test driver Kevin Abbring as well as the regular Hyundai drivers will be able to tackle some starts in world championship races. Abbring already competed in five rallies in the 2015 WRC season.

Citroën / Abu Dhabi Total WRT / PH team

The manufacturer Citroën has made a long-term commitment to the World Rally Championship (WRC) and is developing a new vehicle for the new technical regulations that will apply from 2017. During this development, however, Citroën paused and will not start the 2016 season as a works team. With the decision to stay in the WRC, Citroën ended its involvement in the WTCC after the 2016 season. After dominating the WTCC in the last two seasons, 2016 will be over after the end of the third year. Mads Østberg is leaving the team as he wants to run a full-time program in the 2016 season. Østberg returns to M-Sport , where Ott Tänak could not recommend himself in the past season.

Kris Meeke , Stéphane Lefebvre , Khalid Al Qassimi and Craig Breen contest alternately world championship races for Citroën . The four drivers are behind the wheel of the 2015 DS3 WRC . The operations are organized and accompanied by the private PH team. The team officially appears under the name Abu Dhabi Total WRT .

DMACK

The DMACK World Rally Team of the tire manufacturer of the same name has signed Ott Tänak . The team provides Tänak with a Ford Fiesta RS WRC in cooperation with M-Sport for all 14 world championship races. The team has never competed in the top rally class, the WRC, but had rallied in WRC2 with Tanak in previous years . For DMACK, the commitment in 2016 is a further step on the way to later supporting a works team and has already been registered for the manufacturers' world championship. In addition to Tänak, Sander Pärn and Marius Aasen will take the wheel for DMACK in the 2016 WRC season . In contrast to the returning Tänak, the two young drivers each drive a Ford Fiesta R5 and compete in the WRC2 classification .

M-Sport

Mads Østberg , who has been released from Citroën , returns to M-Sport after two years and replaces Ott Tänak . In addition to Østberg, Eric Camilli drives a Ford Fiesta RS WRC from M-Sport. For the first time in his career, Camilli has a chance to drive in the top tier of rallying, replacing Elfyn Evans . In 2015 Camilli competed in the WRC2 class with a Ford Fiesta R5 and was able to draw attention to his talent with several podium places. Also, M-Sport already focused on the Neureglementierung 2017 and the construction of a new car. M-Sport owner Malcom Wilson leaves the option open not to compete in all of the 2016 World Championship races.
Ola Fløne replaces Jonas Andersson in the passenger seat of Mads Østberg.

Course of the season

84th Monte Carlo Rally

With the maximum score of 25 for the victory and three points for winning the Power Stage was Sébastien Ogier (Volkswagen) won the Monte Carlo Rally for the third time in a row. His teammate Andreas Mikkelsen climbed onto the podium of the top three in second. Despite technical problems, Thierry Neuville (Hyundai) came third.

64th Rally Sweden

After twelve special stages, Sébastien Ogier prevailed against Hyundai driver Hayden Paddon , who was second, 29.8 seconds back. Third was Mads Østberg (Ford), who was able to look forward to the first podium after his return to Team M-Sport .

30th Rally Mexico

Jari-Matti Latvala (Volkswagen) made perfect use of his rear starting position on the first few days and was the fastest on Friday and Saturday. Latvala only had to manage the reassuring lead over his team-mate Sébastien Ogier skillfully on the final day and after 21 special stages he was 1: 05.0 minutes ahead of the reigning world champion.

36th Rally Argentina

Hayden Paddon and co-driver John Kennard (Hyundai) win in Argentina and are the first New Zealanders to win a world championship run in the world rally championship .

Competitions

In 2016 the Rally China was added to the calendar, which appeared for the last and only time in 1999 in the World Rally Championship calendar . This meant that 14 world championship races were scheduled, one more than in 2015 . The Rally China took over the date of the Rally Australia in September. The Rally Australia is slipping to the end of the calendar and taking over the season finale from the Rally Great Britain . However, the rally in China did not take place due to flooding in China.

colour Underground gold gravel silver asphalt blue Ice / snow bronze Mixed

No.	rally	rank	driver	vehicle	total time	Number of WP	overall length	of which WP	at the beginning	in the target	Service park
01	Rally Monte Carlo 21.-24. January 2016 → Main article : Rallye Monte Carlo 2016	1.	Sébastien Ogier	Volkswagen Polo R WRC	3: 49: 53.1	16	1488.99 km	377.59 km	88	64	Gap and Monaco
		2.	Andreas Mikkelsen	Volkswagen Polo R WRC	+ 01: 54.5
		3.	Thierry Neuville	Hyundai i20 WRC	+ 03: 17.9
02	Rally Sweden 12-14 February 2016 → Main article : Rally Sweden 2016	1.	Sébastien Ogier	Volkswagen Polo R WRC	1: 59: 47.4	21 8 canceled	1633.77 km	331.21 km 104.73 km	57	38	Karlstad
		2.	Hayden Paddon	Hyundai i20 WRC	+ 00: 29.8
		3.	Mads Østberg	Ford Fiesta RS WRC	+ 00: 55.6
03	Rally Mexico 4th-6th March 2016 → Main article : Rally Mexico 2016	1.	Jari-Matti Latvala	Volkswagen Polo R WRC	4: 25: 57.4	21st	1077.08 km	399.67 km	28	20th	Leon
		2.	Sébastien Ogier	Volkswagen Polo R WRC	+ 01: 05.0
		3.	Mads Østberg	Ford Fiesta RS WRC	+ 05: 36.4
04th	Rally Argentina 22.-24. April 2016 → Main article : Rally Argentina 2016	1.	Hayden Paddon	Hyundai i20 WRC	3: 40: 52.9	18th	1333.26 km	364.68 km	28	23	Villa Carlos Paz
		2.	Sébastien Ogier	Volkswagen Polo R WRC	+ 00: 14.3
		3.	Andreas Mikkelsen	Volkswagen Polo R WRC	+ 01: 05.2
05	Rally Portugal 20. – 22. May 2016 → Main article : Rally Portugal 2016	1.	Chris Meeke	Citroen DS3 WRC	3: 59: 01.0	19th	1688.40 km	368.00 km			Matosinhos
		2.	Andreas Mikkelsen	Volkswagen Polo R WRC	+ 00: 29.7
		3.	Sébastien Ogier	Volkswagen Polo R WRC	+ 00: 34.5
06th	Rally Sardinia 10-12 June 2016	1.	Thierry Neuville	Hyundai i20 WRC	3: 35: 25.8	19th	1403.45 km	322.8 km			Alghero
		2.	Jari-Matti Latvala	Volkswagen Polo R WRC	+ 00: 24.8
		3.	Sébastien Ogier	Volkswagen Polo R WRC	+ 01: 37.8
07th	Rally Poland 1st – 3rd July 2016	1.	Andreas Mikkelsen	Volkswagen Polo R WRC	2: 37: 34.4	21st	1,671.34 km	306.1 km			Mikołajki
		2.	Ott Tanak	Ford Fiesta RS WRC	+ 00: 26.2
		3.	Hayden Paddon	Hyundai i20 WRC	+ 00: 28.5
08th	Rally Finland 29–31 July 2016	1.	Chris Meeke	Citroen DS3 WRC	2: 35: 05.8	24	1370.66 km	333.6 km			Jyväskylä
		2.	Jari-Matti Latvala	Volkswagen Polo R WRC	+ 00: 29.1
		3.	Craig Breen	Citroen DS3 WRC	+ 01: 41.3
09	Rally Germany 19. – 21. August 2016	1.	Sébastien Ogier	Volkswagen Polo R WRC	2: 50: 50.2	18th	1196.78 km	306.8 km			trier
		2.	Dani Sordo	Hyundai i20 WRC	+ 00: 20.3
		3.	Thierry Neuville	Hyundai i20 WRC	+ 00: 20.4
10	Rally Corsica September 30th - October 2nd, 2016	1.	Sébastien Ogier	Volkswagen Polo R WRC	4: 07: 17.0	10	1,255.35 km	390.9 km			Corte
		2.	Thierry Neuville	Hyundai i20 WRC	+ 00: 46.4
		3.	Andreas Mikkelsen	Volkswagen Polo R WRC	+ 01: 10.0
11	Rally Catalonia 14.-16. October 2016	1.	Sébastien Ogier	Volkswagen Polo R WRC	3: 13: 03.6	19th	1389.48 km	322.1 km			Salou
		2.	Dani Sordo	Hyundai i20 WRC	+ 00: 15.6
		3.	Thierry Neuville	Hyundai i20 WRC	+ 01: 15.0
12	Rally Great Britain 28-30. October 2016	1.	Sébastien Ogier	Volkswagen Polo R WRC	3: 14: 30.2	22nd	1,393.52 km	330.2 km			Deeside
		2.	Ott Tanak	Ford Fiesta RS WRC	+ 00: 10.2
		3.	Thierry Neuville	Hyundai i20 WRC	+ 01: 35.4
13	Rally Australia 18. – 20. November 2016	1.	Andreas Mikkelsen	Volkswagen Polo R WRC	2: 46: 05.7	23	948.1 km	287.2 km			Coffs Harbor
		2.	Sébastien Ogier	Volkswagen Polo R WRC	+ 00: 14.9
		3.	Thierry Neuville	Hyundai i20 WRC	+ 01: 12.6

Source:

WRC drivers' championship

There are no deleted results in the World Rally Championship. This season, points were awarded to the top ten drivers according to the following FIA standard.

For the power stage , the three fastest drivers each received 3-2-1 bonus points for the drivers' world championship.

Distribution of points
rank	1	2	3	4th	5	6th	7th	8th	9	10
Points	25th	18th	15th	12	10	8th	6th	4th	2	1

rank	driver	MON	SWE	MEX	ARG	POR	ITA	POLE	FIN	GER	FRA	ESP	GBR	OUT	Points
1	Sébastien Ogier	1 1	1 1	2 1	2 3	3 3	3	6th	24	1	1	1	1	2 1	268
2	Thierry Neuville	3	14th	DNF	6th	29	1	4th	4th	3	2	3	3	3	160
3	Andreas Mikkelsen	2 3	4 2	DNF	3	2 1	13	1	7th	4th	3		12	1	154
4th	Hayden Paddon	25th	2	5 3	1 1			3	5	5	6th	4th	4th	4th	138
5	Dani Sordo	6 2	6th	4th	4 2	4th	4th			2	7th	2	6th	5	130
6th	Jari-Matti Latvala	DNF	26th	1 2	16	6 2	2	5	2	48	4th	14th	7th	9	112
7th	Mads Østberg	4th	3	3	5	7th		8th	6th	6th	9	5	8th	6th	102
8th	Ott Tanak	7th	5	6th	15th		5	2		23	10	6th	2	7th	88
9	Kris Meeke	DNF	23 3			1			1		16		5		64
10	Craig Breen		8th					7th	3		5	10			36
11	Eric Camilli	DNF	DNF	16	8th	5	6th	10		50	8th	19th	10		28
12	Stéphane Lefebvre	5						9					9		14th
13	Henning Solberg		7th		9		7th								15th
11	Martin Prokop			7th		8th	9								12
21st	Marcos Ligato				7th										6th
20th	Elfyn Evans	8th	9		17th										6th
22nd	Lorenzo Bertelli	DNF	DNF	8th	13										4th
17th	Teemu Suninen	12	10	9			8th		10						8th
14th	Esapekka Lappi	9	12						8th	7th					12
24	Armin Kremer	10		19th						10					2
25th	Valeriy Gorban		24	10	DNF										1
23	Nicolás Fuchs			14th	10	10									2
16	Kevin Abbring						15th		9			7th			10
18th	Pontus Tidemand					9				8th		9			8th
19th	Jan Kopecký						10			9		8th			7th
rank	driver	MON	SWE	MEX	ARG	POR	ITA	POLE	FIN	GER	FRA	ESP	GBR	OUT	Points

Legend
colour	abbreviation	meaning
gold	-	victory
silver	-	2nd place
bronze	-	3rd place
green	-	Placement in the points
blue	-	Classified outside the point ranks
violet	DNF	Race not finished (did not finish)
	NC	not classified
red	DNQ	did not qualify
	DNPQ	failed in pre-qualification (did not pre-qualify)
black	DSQ	disqualified
White	DNS	not at the start (did not start)
	WD	withdrawn
Light Blue	PO	only participated in the training (practiced only)
	TD	Friday test driver
without	DNP	did not participate in the training (did not practice)
	INJ	injured or sick
	EX	excluded
	DNA	did not arrive
	C.	Race canceled
		no participation in the World Cup
other	P / bold	Pole position
	SR / italic	Fastest race lap
	*	not at the finish, but counted due to the distance covered
	()	Streak results
	underlined	Leader in the overall standings

Individual evidence

1. ↑ motorsport-total.com: Andreas Mikkelsen long-term with Volkswagen in the World Rally Championship , accessed November 28, 2015
2. ↑ motorsport-total.com: Individual starts for Abbring, commitment to Neuville , accessed November 28, 2015
3. ↑ motorsport-total.com: New car in development: Citroen stays true to the WRC! , accessed November 28, 2015
4. ↑ motorsport-total.com: Citroen has four drivers rotating in the WRC in 2016 , accessed December 19, 2015
5. ↑ motorsport-total.com: Ott Tänak returns to DMACK , accessed November 28, 2015
6. ↑ motorsport-total.com: M-Sport obliges Östberg and Camilli for 2016 , accessed November 30, 2015
7. ↑ wrc.com: The World Rally Championship calendar for the 2016 season , accessed on November 7, 2015

Web links

• wrc.com information and results