The 2015 FIA World Rally Championship was the 43rd season of the World Rally Championship, a rallying championship recognised by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile as the highest class of international rallying. Teams and drivers contest thirteen rallies across four continents, competing for the FIA World Rally Championships for Drivers and Manufacturers. The WRC-2, WRC-3 and Junior WRC championships are run in support of the premier championship.
Sébastien Ogier started the season as the defending drivers' champion. His team, Volkswagen Motorsport, were the defending manufacturers' champions. Both Ogier and Volkswagen Motorsport claimed their third consecutive drivers' and manufacturers' championships with 3 rounds to spare by winning in Rally Australia.
Calendar The 2015 calendar was announced at a meeting of the FIA World Motor Sport Council in Beijing in September 2014. The season maintained the same rallies as the 2014 season and was contested over thirteen rounds in Europe, the Americas and Oceania.
Round Dates Rally name Rally headquarters Surface 1 22–25 January Monte Carlo Rally Gap, Hautes-Alpes, France 2 13–15 February Rally Sweden Hagfors, Värmland Snow 3 6–8 March Rally Mexico León, Guanajuato Gravel 4 24–26 April Rally Argentina Villa Carlos Paz, Córdoba Gravel 5 22–24 May Rally de Portugal Matosinhos, Porto Gravel 6 12–14 June Rally Italia Sardegna Alghero, Sardinia Gravel 7 3–5 July Rally Poland Mikołajki, Warmia-Masuria Gravel 8 31 July–2 August Rally Finland Jyväskylä, Keski-Suomi Gravel 9 21–23 August Rallye Deutschland Trier, Rhineland-Palatinate Tarmac 10 11–13 September Rally Australia Coffs Harbour, New South Wales Gravel 11 2–4 October Tour de Corse Ajaccio, Corse-du-Sud Tarmac 12 23–25 October Rally de Catalunya Salou, Tarragona 13 13–15 November Wales Rally GB Deeside, Flintshire GravelSource: Notes: — The Rallies of Germany and France were provisional inclusions subject to negotiation of a new agreement between their organisers and series promoters.
Calendar changes The Rallye Monte Carlo adopted Rally-2 regulations, allowing retired competitors to restart the event the next day with a time penalty. Prior to 2015, the Rallye Monte Carlo was the only event being run without Rally-2 regulations. The Rally de Portugal and Rally Argentina swapped places in the calendar. The Rally of Portugal moved from its base in the town of Faro in the Algarve region—where it had been headquartered from 2007 until 2014—and relocated to the country's north, its original home prior until its removal from the calendar in 2002. On 6 February 2015, the Fédération Française du Sport Automobile (FFSA) announced that the Tour de Corse would replace the Rallye de France Alsace on the calendar for financial reasons.
Teams and drivers The following teams and drivers are scheduled to compete in the World Rally Championship during the 2015 season:
+World Rally Car entries eligible to score manufacturer points Manufacturer Car Entrant Tyre Drivers Rounds Volkswagen Volkswagen Polo R WRC Volkswagen Motorsport 1 Sébastien Ogier Julien Ingrassia All 2 Jari-Matti Latvala Miikka Anttila All Volkswagen Motorsport II 9 Andreas Mikkelsen Ola Fløene 2, 4–13 Citroën Citroën DS3 WRC Citroën Total Abu Dhabi World Rally Team 3 Paul Nagle All 4 Daniel Elena 1 Mads Østberg Jonas Andersson 2–9, 11–13 Stéphane Lefebvre Stéphane Prevot 10 Ford Ford Fiesta RS WRC M-Sport World Rally Team 5 Elfyn Evans Daniel Barritt All 6 Ott Tänak Raigo Mõlder All Jipocar Czech National Team 21 Martin Prokop Jan Tománek 1–9, 11–13 FWRT s.r.l. 37 Lorenzo Bertelli Giovanni Bernacchini 1–5 Lorenzo Granai 6–13 Hyundai Hyundai i20 WRC Hyundai Motorsport 7 Thierry Neuville Nicolas Gilsoul 1–12 Dani Sordo Marc Martí 13 8 Dani Sordo Marc Martí Hayden Paddon John Kennard 2, 10, 13 Hyundai Motorsport N 20 Kevin Abbring Sebastian Marshall 2 Hayden Paddon John Kennard 3–9, 11–12 Dani Sordo Marc Martí 10 Thierry Neuville Nicolas Gilsoul 13
+World Rally Car entries ineligible to score manufacturer points Manufacturer Car Entrant Tyre Drivers Rounds Citroën Citroën DS3 WRC Citroën Total Abu Dhabi World Rally Team Mads Østberg Jonas Andersson 1 Khalid Al Qassimi Chris Patterson Stéphane Lefebvre Stéphane Prevot 9, 11, 13 PH Sport Stéphane Lefebvre Stéphane Prevot 12 Sébastien Chardonnet Thibault De La Haye 1 D-Max Racing Yuriy Protasov Pavlo Cherepin 1 Ford Ford Fiesta RS WRC M-Sport World Rally Team Bryan Bouffier Xavier Panseri 1 Thibault De La Haye 11 Juho Hänninen Tomi Tuominen 8 Yuriy Protasov Pavlo Cherepin 2 Alexey Lukyanuk Alexey Arnautov 8 RK World Rally Team Robert Kubica Maciek Szczepaniak 1–9, 11–13 Adapta Motorsport Henning Solberg Ilka Minor 1–2, 8, 13 GP Racing Team Jean-Michel Raoux Thomas Escartefigue 1 Synthos Cersanit Rally Team Michał Sołowow Maciek Baran 2 Motorsport Italia Benito Guerra Borja Rozada 3 Graham Coffey Rally Team Graham Coffey Jenny Gäbler 9 Jipocar Czech National Team Jaroslav Melichárek Erik Melichárek 9 First Motorsport Stéphane Sarrazin Jacques-Julien Renucci 11 Combilift Rallying Josh Moffett John Rowan 13 Sam Moffett Karl Atkinson 13 Hyundai Hyundai i20 WRC Hyundai Motorsport N Kevin Abbring Sebastian Marshall 7, 9, 11, 13 Volkswagen Volkswagen Polo R WRC Volkswagen Motorsport II Andreas Mikkelsen Ola Fløene 1, 3
Driver changes Mikko Hirvonen retired from rallying at the World Championship at the end of the 2014 season. His place was taken by Ott Tänak, who returned to the World Rally Championship after a season in the sport's second-tier category, WRC2. Nine-time World Champion Sébastien Loeb returned to the series for the Monte Carlo Rally, competing in a Citroën DS3 WRC with the Citroën World Rally Team. Mads Østberg remains with the team, driving a non-manufacturer DS3 in Monte Carlo before taking over from Loeb later in the season.
Changes
Regulation changes Competitors who fail to contest a special stage without being able to show cause receive a seven-minute time penalty. Selected rounds of the 2015 season are included in the newly created FIA R-GT Cup—with the remaining rounds taken from the European Rally Championship calendar—for Grand Touring cars entered under Group R-GT regulations. The running order is in championship order for the first two legs of the rally. On the last leg, P1 and P2 crews run in reverse classification order. The transmission of performance data or information to or from a competing car, not in relation with safety, is forbidden during special stages to help promote greater competition. A car which has not started from the start line within 20 seconds will be considered as retired and will be able to restart under Rally 2 on the subsequent day.
Rally summaries
Round 1 — Monte Carlo Rally Round Rally name Podium finishers Statistics Driver Team Time Stages Length Starters Finishers 1 Monte Carlo Rally(22–25 January) — Results and report 1 1 Sébastien Ogier Julien Ingrassia Volkswagen Motorsport (Volkswagen Polo R WRC) 3:36:40.2 (15)14 (355.48 km)335.55 km 94 78 2 2 Jari-Matti Latvala Miikka Anttila Volkswagen Motorsport (Volkswagen Polo R WRC) 3:37:38.2 3 9 Andreas Mikkelsen Ola Fløene Volkswagen Motorsport II (Volkswagen Polo R WRC) 3:38:52.5
Defending World Champion Sébastien Ogier started the season with a win in Monte Carlo, his second consecutive in the principality and the 25th of his WRC career. Returning nine-time World Champion Sébastien Loeb was the early leader of the rally, losing first position to Ogier on the seventh stage after a spin while negotiating a hairpin bend. On the next stage, Loeb hit a rock and lost a total of six minutes, before retiring in the following liaison section. This gave Ogier a lead of almost two minutes over Volkswagen teammate Jari-Matti Latvala. Despite being unable to monitor his rivals' split times during the stages under new rules, Ogier blended a controlled pace with safe tyre choices through the final two days to seal the victory. Latvala finished second, also taking one power stage point, with Andreas Mikkelsen completing a one-two-three for Volkswagen Motorsport. Citroën's Mads Østberg finished the event in fourth position. Hyundai Motorsport duo Thierry Neuville and Dani Sordo finished in fifth and sixth, split by 0.8 seconds. M-Sport's Elfyn Evans finished seventh, having dropped time after he damaged his car's rear suspension against a wall. Evans finished ahead of Loeb, who rejoined under rally-2 rules and won two power stage points. The top ten was completed by Martin Prokop and Kris Meeke, who won the power stage to take three additional points.
Round 2 — Rally Sweden Round Rally name Podium finishers Statistics Driver Team Time Stages Length Starters Finishers 2 Rally Sweden(12–15 February) — Results and report 1 1 Sébastien Ogier Julien Ingrassia Volkswagen Motorsport (Volkswagen Polo R WRC) 2:55:30.5 21 308.00 km 44 40 2 7 Thierry Neuville Nicolas Gilsoul Hyundai Motorsport (Hyundai i20 WRC) 2:55:36.9 3 9 Andreas Mikkelsen Ola Fløene Volkswagen Motorsport II (Volkswagen Polo R WRC) 2:56:10.3
Sébastien Ogier won the rally on the last stage to extend his lead in the drivers' championship. The rally started with Pontus Tidemand, competing in a WRC2 Ford Fiesta RRC, winning the Thursday night super special stage in Karlstad. Ogier took the lead on Friday's opening stage, with teammate Jari-Matti Latvala chasing him for the lead. Volkswagen's third driver, Andreas Mikkelsen gained the lead on the ninth stage, after Ogier and Latvala both hit snow banks, dropping to 4th and 23rd respectively. Mikkelsen kept the lead until Saturday's final stage, where Hyundai's Thierry Neuville took the lead after fitting new tyres for the stage; Mikkelsen and Ogier were both in contention however, at deficits of 1.5 and 9.6 seconds respectively. Mikkelsen regained the lead on Sunday's opening stage, and held a three-second lead over Ogier ahead of the final stage, Värmullsåsen, which was also the event's power stage, offering additional drivers' championship points.
Running in reverse order to their rally positions, Ogier bested Neuville's time for the stage – ultimately, the stage's fastest time – and just after he completed the stage, Mikkelsen hit a snow bank and lost 40 seconds to fall behind Neuville in the standings as well. Ott Tänak finished fourth to record his best WRC result since 2012, while Hayden Paddon recorded his best WRC finish – replacing the injured Dani Sordo – in fifth position. Next in the order was British duo Elfyn Evans and Kris Meeke, Martin Prokop finished eighth ahead of Yuriy Protasov, who took his first WRC stage win, on the Kirkenær stage. Completing the championship points was Mads Østberg, who was in position for a podium spot, until he hit a snow bank on the eleventh stage. He also scored an extra point by finishing third on the power stage. After the last stage, Volkswagen Motorsport decided to retire Latvala's car – he had managed to recover up the order to 12th place – due to a rules loophole in relation to the following event, Rally México.
Round 3 — Rally Mexico Round Rally name Podium finishers Statistics Driver Team Time Stages Length Starters Finishers 3 Rally Mexico(6–9 March) — Results and report 1 1 Sébastien Ogier Julien Ingrassia Volkswagen Motorsport (Volkswagen Polo R WRC) 4:19:13.4 21 394.21 km 30 23 2 4 Mads Østberg Jonas Andersson Citroën Total Abu Dhabi World Rally Team (Citroën DS3 WRC) 4:20:32.2 3 9 Andreas Mikkelsen Ola Fløene Volkswagen Motorsport II (Volkswagen Polo R WRC) 4:20:38.5 Sébastien Ogier began the event by winning the shakedown, before the rally proper opened with a night-time special stage in the tunnels of Guanajuato city, a World Heritage Site as denoted by UNESCO. Thierry Neuville became the first leader of the event by winning the stage, in front of Lorenzo Bertelli.