SPAIN: Belgian team Thierry Neuville and Martijn Wydaeghe won RallyRACC 2021 in Salou, Spain. The Hyundai i20 Coupe WRC team dominated the event from stage four onwards, winning 11 of the 17 stages. Another Hyundai Shell Mobis team secured third place.
The RallyRACC Catalunya – Costa Daurada 2021 marked the fifty-sixth edition of the Rally de Catalunya. The event was round 11 of 12 in the 2021 World Rally Championship. Organized by Spain in Salou, Tarragona, the rally took place over four days between October 14 and 17, 2021, and also hosted the Final test of the Junior World Rally Championship 2021. The race has been contested in seventeen special stages totaling 280.46 km of competitive distance between Vilaprana and Riudecanyes.
Of 83 registered crews, 50 qualified. South Korean Hyundai Shell Mobis WRT secured two podium wins: that of the overall winners Thierry Neuville and Martijn Wydaeghe of Belgium and that of the Power Stage winners Dani Sordo and Cándido Carrera of Spain.
RallyRACC Catalunya 2021: overview
On the Costa Daurada hills, Thierry Neuville took control of the final round with eight consecutive best times to secure victory by 24.1 seconds over Toyota Gazoo Racing team Elfyn Evans and Scott Martin. It is Neuville’s second consecutive victory in Spain and a second WRC success with his co-driver Wydaeghe, the successor of Nicolas Gilsoul.
Elfyn Evans and his co-driver Scott Martin secured second place in a Toyota Yaris. The Toyota Gazoo Racing WRT finished ahead of Spaniards Dani Sordo and by 11.2 seconds.
In the Wolf Power Stage, Sordo won to claim five bonus points while Neuville came second with four points. Evans finished third with three points and Ogier secured the fourth position with two points. Kalle Rovanperä netted the final point on the fifth position.
“It was not the perfect weekend. If you have taken a 1-2 in a row it is not a bad set of results but we are fighting a bit of a cause here and it was not what we really wanted”, said Toyota Yaris driver Elfyn Evans
A strong contender for an eighth World Championship in nine seasons, Ogier gave Sordo a tough fight for the final podium. When Sordo won the first three stages on the final day of the race, he was clearly ahead of Ogier and secured a great victory on the Power Stage. This was the 50th podium in Sordo’s career in the WRC.
RallyRACC Catalunya 2021: race result
First place
- Driver: Thierry Neuville, Belgium
- Co-driver: Martijn Wydaeghe, Belgium
- Entrant: Hyundai Shell Mobis WRT
- Car: Hyundai i20 Coupe WRC
- Time: 2:34:11.8
- Points: 25 (event), 4 (stage)
Second place
- Driver: Elfyn Evans, UK
- Co-driver: Scott Martin, UK
- Entrant: Toyota Gazoo Racing WRT
- Car: Toyota Yaris WRC
- Time: 2:34:35.9
- Points: 18 (event), 3 (stage)
Third place
- Driver: Dani Sordo, Spain
- Co-driver: Cándido Carrera, Spain
- Entrant: Toyota Gazoo Racing WRT
- Car: Hyundai i20 Coupe WRC
- Time: 2:34:47.1
- Points: 15 (event), 5 (stage)
Championship classification after the RallyRACC Catalunya 2021
- Sébastien Ogier: 204 pts
- Elfyn Evans: 187 pts
- Thierry Neuville: 159 pts
- Kalle Rovanperä: 140 pts
- Ott Tänak: 128 pts
Manufacturers classification after the RallyRACC Catalunya 2021
- Toyota Gazoo Racing WRT: 476 pts
- Hyundai Shell Mobis WRT: 429 pts
- M-Sport Ford WRT: 190 pts
Rally Monza, which hosted the final round of last year’s Final Rally, has again replaced the recently canceled Rally Japan as the final round of the 2021 World Rally Championship.
As the Monza Rally organizers prepare to meet the expectations of spectators watching the 2021 World Rally Championship final, they must prepare more off-road than paved tracks to please the truly adventurous.
Who is Thierry Jean Neuville
Born in 1988 in St. Vith, Thierry Jean Neuville hails from Belgium. Neuville started racing in 2007 and made his World Rally Championship debut at RallyRACC Catalunya 2009.
After showing quite promising results between 2009 and 2011, he was hired by Citroën Junior Team to make his World Rally Car debut in 2012.
In 2014, Hyundai Motorsport re-entered the sport and hired Neuville as its lead pilot. The same year, Neuville won his first World Rally Championship event at Rally Germany 2014.
To date, Neuville has won 15 world rallies, all for Hyundai. Known initially as an asphalt specialist, he has won events on asphalt, gravel, and snow.
About RallyRACC Catalunya
Rally Catalunya is the greatest rally event in Spain. It takes place around Salou at Costa Daurada and is celebrated on a yearly basis.
The inaugural Rally Catalunya of 1957 covered Spain and France on the route Barcelona-Perpignan-Barcelona. The first winners became Sebastia Salvado and Guillermo Bas Milano with an Alfa Romeo 1900 S.
In 1980, RallyRACC Catalunya became the round of the European Rally Championship for the first time. Antonio Zanini was the most successful driver of that time with five wins.
In 1988, Rally Catalunya merged with Rally Costa Brava in Rallye Catalunya-Costa Brava. In 1991, the Catalan rally became the World Rally Championship event for the first time under the name Rally Spain-Catalunya Costa Brava. The first WRC winner was Armin Schwarz driving a Toyota Celica GT-4.
About FIA
The International Automobile Federation (French: Fédération Internationale de l’Automobile, FIA) is an association established on June 20, 1904. The FIA promotes motorsports and road safety worldwide and works in three interconnected key areas of activity: sport, campaigns, and mobility.
Upcoming schedules
The next FIA World Rally Championship of 2021 is WRC ACI Rally Monza at the Autodromo Nazionale di Monza scheduled for November 19-21, 2021.
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