The World Rally Championship has presented the calendar for the next season.
With barely two months to go before the start of the next season, the World Rally Championship has unveiled the 2023 WRC calendar. There will be, in total, thirteen tests, the same as those held in 2022, but among them is not the Rally of Catalonia.
The WRC season will begin with the unmissable Monte Carlo Rally, which will take place on the weekend of January 19-22, to travel to Sweden two weeks later and later, in March, return to Mexico.
For the first time since the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, the WRC returns to the American continent, with the Guanajato Rally of Mexico and also with the Rally of Chile, which will take place in October.
“We were absolutely determined to get the WRC calendar back to what it was before COVID-19, with a good distribution of events inside and outside of Europe,” said WRC Promoter Senior Director of Events Simon Larkin.
“There was great demand for the limited number of places on the calendar, but we are pleased with the range and variety of events we have. They will provide a great sporting challenge for the competitors, as well as provide the highest profile events in each country.”
The World Rally Championship will also visit Croatia (20-23 April), Portugal (11-14 May), Sardinia (1-4 June), Kenya (22-25 June), Estonia (20-23 June), Finland (3- August 6), Greece (September 7-10) and, after Rally Chile, the great novelty of the WRC 2023 will take place, the Central Europe Rally.
The new test will be held in areas of three countries, Germany, Austria and the Czech Republic, and will be based in the city of Passau, in the southeast of Germany.
The WRC season will end on the weekend of November 16-19 in Mexico, the home of Toyota, a team that in 2023 will go out to defend the drivers’ and manufacturers’ titles it has won this season.
WRC Calendar 2023
- Monte Carlo Rally: January 19-22
- Rally Sweden: February 9-12
- Rally Mexico: March 16-19
- Rally Croatia: April 20-23
- Rally de Portugal: May 11-14
- Rally d’Italia: June 1-4
- Rally Kenya (Safari): June 22-25
- Rally Estonia: 20-23 July
- Rally Finland: 3-6 August
- Rally Greece: September 7-10
- Rally Chile: September 28-October 1
- Central Europe Rally: 26-29 October
- Rally Japan: November 16-19
Dani Sordo, one more year with Hyundai
Dani Sordo will continue to compete with the Hyundai Motorsport team in the 2023 WRC season, driving the Hyundai i20 N Rally1, which he will share on a part program with Craig Breen. The Cantabrian driver, who has raced for Hyundai since 2014, has achieved very good results in 2022, specifically two podiums and a fifth place, before the spectacular abandonment in Japan.
“The decision to re-sign with Hyundai Motorsport was clear and easy for me. Over ten years they have become a family,” Sordo said.
“This is my team and the one I belong to. I have been offered another season where I can share the third car with another crew, which suits my personal preferences. I am motivated to support the team and the other teammates as much as I can.” , added the already veteran pilot.