The 2017 FIA WRC3 Championship was the fifth season of WRC3, a rallying championship recognised by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile, running in support of the World Rally Championship. It was created when the Group R class of rally car was introduced in 2013.
Drivers and teams had to nominate a maximum of seven events, the best six results counted towards the championship.
Simone Tempestini did not return to defend the 2016 title as he competed in the 2017 WRC2 Championship. Nil Solans won the title with a Ford Fiesta R2T.
Calendar
Teams and drivers Car Class Tyre Rounds R3 Cédric Althaus Jessica Bayard 1 Charles Martin Mathieu Duval 1 Rogelio Peñate 1 Luca Panzani Federico Grilli 1 Vieffecorse Peugeot 208 R2 R2 Maurizio Barone Enrico Ghietti CHL Sport Auto Peugeot 208 R2 R2 Raphaël Astier Relly Team GB Ford Fiesta R2 R2 Louise Cook 2, 4 BPS Racing Citroën DS3 R3T R3 Loïc Astier 4 Go+Cars Atlas Ward Citroën DS3 R3T R3 Jakub Brzeziński 4 6–9 Name Rua Racing Citroën DS3 R3T R3 Francisco Name 6–8 M-Sport Ford Fiesta R2T R2 Nil Solans 4, 6–11 Terry Folb 4, 7–11 Nicolas Ciamin 4, 6–11 Robert Duggan 4 7–8 William Wagner 4 Dillon van Way 4, 7–10 Dennis Rådström 4, 7–9, 11 Sebastian Careaga 4 7–10 Emil Lindholm 8–9 ADAC Sachsen Ford Fiesta R2T R2 Julius Tannert 4, 7–11 Cueks Racing Ford Fiesta R2T R2 4, 7–8Source: Key Icon Class R2 Classification R3
Season report
The season started with the Rallye Monte Carlo. In the category, there were six entries, including four by Renault Sport. The rally was won from start to end by Raphaël Astier, winning by more than nine minutes over the rest of the crews. The podium was completed by Renault's Luca Panzani and Charles Martin.
Louise Cook was the sole entrant for Rally Sweden in the category. She had to retire after losing the bumper of her car before the Colin's Crest jump during the second pass over the Vargåsen stage. She was able to re-assemble the car, but an homologation problem in the spare seat brackets, made her unable to start the final leg of the rally, leaving the category with no winner.
After there were no entries in Rally Mexico, the action continued Tour de Corse, which also featured the first round of the Junior WRC championship. Raphaël Astier lead the event from start to finish, winning the event by almost a minute and a half from Junior entrant Nil Solans. The podium was completed by local Nicolas Ciamin, who claimed to that position after a driveshaft problem prevented fellow Frenchman Terry Folb the means to finish in the podium.
Results and standings
Season summary
RoundEvent nameWinning driverWinning co-driver1 4:39:55.8Report2 Rally Sweden No WRC3 finishersReport3 Rally Mexico No WRC3 entriesReport4 Tour de Corse Raphaël Astier Frédéric Vauclare CHL Sport Auto Peugeot 208 R2 3:52:18.7Report5 Rally Argentina No WRC3 entriesReport6 Rally de Portugal Armando Zapata4:37:20.7Report7 Rally Italia Sardegna Nil Solans Miquel Ibáñez M-SportFord Fiesta R2T 4:00:07.8Report8 Rally Poland Nil Solans Miquel Ibáñez M-SportFord Fiesta R2T3:17:47.0Report9 Rally Finland Nicolas Ciamin M-SportFord Fiesta R2T 2:57:23.4Report10 Rallye Deutschland Julius Tannert Jürgen Heigl ADAC SachsenFord Fiesta R2T 3:30:54.4Report11 Nil Solans Miquel Ibáñez M-SportFord Fiesta R2T 3:29:02.3Report12 Wales Rally GB Raphaël Astier Frédéric Vauclare CHL Sport Auto Peugeot 208 R2 3:45:26.7Report13 Rally Australia No WRC3 entriesReport
FIA WRC3 Championship for Drivers
Points are awarded to the top ten classified finishers.
Position 1st 2nd 3rd 4th 5th 6th 7th 8th 9th 10th Points 25 18 15 12 10 8 6 4 2 1
Driver MON SWE MEX FRA ARG POR ITA POL FIN GER ESP GBR AUS Drops Points 1 Nil Solans 2 2 1 1 2 3 1 15 129 2 Raphaël Astier 1 1 Ret 11 2 2 1 0 111 3 Nicolas Ciamin 3 Ret 2 4 1 5 6 0 88 4 5 3 6 4 1 4 0 82 5 6 5 2 3 5 0 61 6 4 4 5 Ret 6 3 0 57 7 Enrico Brazzoli Ret 3 8 4 2 0 49 8 1 DNS 8 0 29 9 9 7 7 5 WD 0 24 10 Luca Panzani 2 0 18 11 10 Ret Ret 3 WD 0 16 12 Charles Martin 3 0 15 13 7 6 WD 0 14 14 4 0 12 15 8 9 9 WD WD 0 8 16 10 Ret 0 1 — Miko-Ove Niinemäe 11 Ret WD — — — Cédric Althaus Ret — — — Louise Cook Ret WD — — — Loïc Astier Ret — — — William Wagner Ret — — Driver MON SWE MEX FRA ARG POR ITA POL FIN GER ESP GBR AUS Drops Points
FIA WRC3 Championship for Co-Drivers
Co-driver MON SWE MEX FRA ARG POR ITA POL FIN GER ESP GBR AUS Drops Points 1 Miquel Ibáñez 2 2 1 1 2 3 1 15 129 2 1 1 Ret 11 2 2 1 0 111 3 3 Ret 2 4 1 5 6 0 88 4 Jürgen Heigl 5 3 6 4 1 4 0 82 5 Johan Johansson 6 5 2 3 5 0 61 6 Christopher Guieu 4 4 5 Ret 6 3 0 57 7 Maurizio Barone Ret 3 4 2 0 45 8 Armando Zapata 1 DNS 8 0 29 9 Dai Roberts 9 7 7 5 WD 0 24 10 Federico Grilli 2 0 18 11 Robert Hundla Ret Ret 3 WD 0 15 12 Mathieu Duval 3 0 15 13 Rogelio Peñate 4 0 12 14 Tom Woodburn 6 WD 0 8 15 Gerard Conway 7 0 6 16 Claudio Bustos 8 0 4 17 Enrico Ghietti 8 0 4 18 Rodrigo Sanjuan 9 9 WD WD 0 4 19 Szymon Marciniak 10 0 1 20 Tomi Tuominen 10 Ret 0 1 — Martin Valter 11 Ret WD — — — Jessica Bayard Ret — — — Stefan Davis Ret WD — — — Loïc Declerck Ret — — — Kévin Parent Ret — — Co-driver MON SWE MEX FRA ARG POR ITA POL FIN GER ESP GBR AUS Drops Points
FIA WRC3 Championship for Teams
Team MON SWE MEX FRA ARG POR ITA POL FIN GER ESP GBR AUS Points 1 1 1 2 1 1 1 143 2 Go+Cars Atlas Ward 2 Ret Ret 1 WD 43 3 1 DNS 3 40 4 1 25 5 Renault Sport Racing Team 2 18 6 Cueks Racing 3 Ret WD 15 Team MON SWE MEX FRA ARG POR ITA POL FIN GER ESP GBR AUS Points
Notes
References
External links Official website of the World Rally Championship Official website of the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile