ERC Historic

[Andre Oliveira]

2021 ERC Historic calendar:




11-13 March 2021
Spain
69 Rally Costa Brava


09-11 April 2021
Italy
36° Sanremo Rallye Storico


05-07 May 2021
Czech Republic
30. Historic Vltava Rallye


27-29 May 2021
Spain
Rallye de Asturias Histórico


24-26 June 2021
Hungary
54. Mecsek Rallye


15-17 July 2021
Austria
Rallye Weiz


13-14 August 2021
Finland
Lahti Historic Rally


23-25 September 2021
Italy
33. Rally Elba Storico


21-23 October 2021
Switzerland
Rallye International du Valais

[Andre Oliveira]

In Portugal we have Period Z to -99 cars. Any news about FIA add more "recent" cars to ERC Historic?

[m-ast]

In Portugal we have Period Z to -99 cars. Any news about FIA add more "recent" cars to ERC Historic?

When period J2 cars (Until december 1990) where included some years ago it was clearly stated by FIA that the age wouldn't move for at least 10 years, and I personally think it shouldn't be moved, we will start losing the old cars, actually there are few category 1 competitors (until 1970) in last years and this is a shame.

Otherwise I hope next year the calendar could run as planned, as this year it was really sad the cancellation of Costa Brava when we were heading there already.

[m-ast]

First round postponed to 19-20 November

[Andre Oliveira]

A landmark moment for historic motor sport


Today’s World Council meeting saw the approval of a rare and significant update to the regulations governing the eligibility of historic cars to take part in motor sport competitions.

These changes to Appendix K of the International Sporting Code mean that, from 2025, racing cars built between the years 1991 and 2000 will be able to carry the Historic Technical Passports that allow them to compete in FIA championships and international motor sport events.

This update will bring many of the world’s most iconic race and rally cars back into the crucible of motor sport, allowing fans and enthusiasts to enjoy the sights and sounds of what was a remarkable decade of technological advancement.

...

The change for historic rally sees a wide range of new cars become eligible, including some of the most iconic categories in recent memory.

The classic Group A period of the mid 90's included cars like the Group A Subaru Impreza, synonymous with the late Colin McRae. The Mitsubishi Lancer and Ford Escort Cosworth were also hugely successful in this era, together with cars from Toyota and Lancia.

As the 90's decade came to an end, the World Rally Car format was introduced in 1997. These turbo 4WD cars were at the cutting edge of transmission technology, braking and performance. The Toyota Corolla WRC, Subaru Impreza WRC, Ford Focus WRC and the Peugeot 206 WRC remain some of the most popular and alluring rally cars to this day.

The move to year 2000 opens up an unprecedented variety of new rally cars from the humble Nissan Micra through to the iconic legendary cars of the sport above.

The FIA will make further announcements and conduct workshops in early 2025 to help the owners of the newly-eligible historic cars apply for their Historic Technical Passports and get the cars racing again.

https://www.fia.com/sites/default/files/styles/image_50__wide/public/wmsc5_1_0.png?itok=EVUmRrPu

https://www.fia.com/news/future-regulations-across-multiple-categories-confirmed-during-world-motor-sport-council

[Andre Oliveira]

Toyota Gazoo Racing WRT

Exciting news for 2025: Jari-Matti Latvala enters the EHRC with this Toyota Celica ST185!

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/GdPJL6hWUAA397F?format=jpg&name=medium

https://x.com/tgr_wrc/status/1861049975318466709?s=46&t=b4dPGn0iXvpuOEgKCIh4hg

[HKSjbg]

It’s weird seeing it in modern GR colours

[AndyRAC]

I would love to see a UK round of the EHRC, but the historic community in the UK won't like 4WD on the entry lists. Anything post 1982 is modern to them.

[HKSjbg]

I would love to see a UK round of the EHRC, but the historic community in the UK won't like 4WD on the entry lists. Anything post 1982 is modern to them.

Maybe if it was anything other than the Roger Albert Clark Rally then the existing 4WD entries would mean there’d be no reason to complain. I’d like to see the Scottish re-invented as an Historic event (still with contemporary entries allowed for the SRC-counting clubman event of course), or maybe Rally North Wales…

[PLuto]

Maybe if it was anything other than the Roger Albert Clark Rally then the existing 4WD entries would mean there’d be no reason to complain. I’d like to see the Scottish re-invented as an Historic event (still with contemporary entries allowed for the SRC-counting clubman event of course), or maybe Rally North Wales…

I dont know exactly, but how much are historic cars in UK suitable with FIA rules? Has this cars valid FIA HTP passports?

[Steve Boyd]

I dont know exactly, but how much are historic cars in UK suitable with FIA rules? Has this cars valid FIA HTP passports?Most are run to UK historic regulations but there are some FIA HTP cars competing in UK. British historic championship events have classes for "Appendix K" cars running to FIA rather than UK regulations.

[Andre Oliveira]

https://scontent.fopo4-2.fna.fbcdn.net/v/t39.30808-6/470226821_122193412124085814_4629162491512708394_n .jpg?_nc_cat=104&ccb=1-7&_nc_sid=833d8c&_nc_ohc=1fUlZd4L3Z0Q7kNvgHsMYnv&_nc_zt=23&_nc_ht=scontent.fopo4-2.fna&_nc_gid=AlYYKDxWvVnWFHVW25TPRBJ&oh=00_AYA5OWEIOiw-SvlQO15uUswpYS483KgvYgv-dJVvuhMCnQ&oe=675FB902

[Andre Oliveira]

Finally a portuguese round. I heard about a portuguese driver to do some rounds in a Mitsubishi Lancer.

[Andre Oliveira]

Rui Madeira and Nuno Rodrigues da Silva will do Costa Brava, Asturias and Fafe in their Mitsubishi Lancer Evo III. Could be on two more rounds.

https://vmotores.pt/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/spirit-3-780x470.jpeg

https://vmotores.pt/2025/01/13/rui-madeira-ataca-o-europeu-de-historicos-em-2025/?fbclid=IwZXh0bgNhZW0CMTEAAR2DlxrtucVE9sWOgjFZ9Yv2 gtfyMGOXT6nRNubfN4HGkebPLdk2KVXiNgU_aem_EkawSLOtgf CTR-xuKpE0_A

[tbazsi95]

Test Day Rally Costa Brava 2025 | FIA ERC Historic [Passats de canto]
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XzcDrHBSXr4

[tbazsi95]

FIA EHRC Scrutineering underway at rallycostabravaoficial
https://www.instagram.com/reel/DHImU8-tIcS/

[focus206]

Nice to see more interest for the European Historic Championship, but I doubt anybody can challenge Latvala for the title. I'd be happy to see Jari-Matti get a title in his career though :)

[Jarek Z]

I normally don't care much about historic rallying, but this entry list looks interesting indeed. There's even a guy with BMW M1 (#42). I have never seen this car in action!
https://www.ewrc-results.com/entries/90580-kh-7-rally-costa-brava-2025/

[tbazsi95]

Jari-Matti and the Celica ST185 out front on the first full day of the historic season
https://www.instagram.com/reel/DHMR447sYJ1/

[tbazsi95]

FIA ERC Historic Rally Costa Brava 2025 | Highlights [Passats de canto]
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4pthheT_r9c

[Jarek Z]

Latvala won every single stage.

[Andre Oliveira]

Too much dominant.

[focus206]

Latvala is the best driver by far and drives one of the newest cars accepted by the championship - which is AWD vs mostly RWD cars.
Dumas is a good asphalt rally driver but not on Latvala's level, and drives a 70's Porsche. The only other drivers I recognize outside of the Historic championship bubble are Johansson (did few WRC events in the 2005 with private Impreza WRC), Tony Fassina (winner of WRC Sanremo '79 with a private Stratos, he's now 79 years old!).
Then there's Rosenberger and Madeira but they are not eligible because I guess they drive too modern cars (and they were miles behind Latvala anyway).

[dupanton]

There's even a guy with BMW M1 (#42). I have never seen this car in action!
https://www.ewrc-results.com/entries/90580-kh-7-rally-costa-brava-2025/

That guy has a small collection of cars, and he is driving them all (together with his son):
https://breitt-gallery.com/breitt-racing/voitures-de-rallye/
https://breitt-gallery.com/breitt-racing/voitures-de-circuit/
https://breitt-gallery.com/breitt-gallery/show-room/

(not everything is on the website yet)

[tbazsi95]

Jari-Matti Latvala FULL ONBOARD - Toyota Celica Turbo ST185 - Rally Costa Brava 2025
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=knBWbKndIyI

[Jarek Z]

That guy has a small collection of cars, and he is driving them all (together with his son):
https://breitt-gallery.com/breitt-racing/voitures-de-rallye/
https://breitt-gallery.com/breitt-racing/voitures-de-circuit/
https://breitt-gallery.com/breitt-gallery/show-room/

Wow! Mate, this is beautiful!!!

[Jarek Z]

Speaking of historic cars, two weeks ago I was spectating the second round of European Historic Rally Championship, Vltava Rallye in Czech Republic. On rough and damaged tarmac some of those historic drivers were driving very carefully, but on the hairpin bends in the mountains those cars looked and sounded very good. Unfortunately, there was not much fight, because Latala won all but one stage :)

Here is my short photo gallery from this event:
https://www.ewrc-results.com/photo/92146-smucler-historic-vltava-rallye-2025/473/

[focus206]

Latvala won 5 stages out of 8 at Rallye d'Antibes but then retired on the 9th and final stage for electrical issues, he had 1m 06s gap on the 2nd.

[Sal yet again]

Not sure what joy JML will be getting from this series as obviously head and shoulders above the rest of the field both experience and machinery wise. I think some of the drivers would be better off doing demo events like Eifel Rallye certainly some of the cars with original provenance must be getting too expensive to risk in full competition.

[focus206]

I think he really enjoys driving his Celica, I guess that he still prefers to do timed stages instead of shows like Eifel. Historic ERC doesn't have a high level of competition, but it's still the highest historic rally competition there is, no much choice.
On another note, Jari-Matti never won a title in his career, if I were him (or other top WRC drivers who never won titles, like Hirvonen) I'd also try something like that. I'd rather see him in ERC, but he can't drive his Celica there :D

[mousti]

Think the same, no pressure. Also experiencing new rallies in Europe with a nice schedule, mostly around 10 rallies.

Verstuurd vanaf mijn 2406APNFAG met Tapatalk

[Jarek Z]

On another note, Jari-Matti never won a title in his career, if I were him (or other top WRC drivers who never won titles, like Hirvonen) I'd also try something like that.

Yes, we were talking about it with my friends when we were watching him on the Historic Vltava Rallye. Latvala was once one of the best drivers of the world, but he has actually never won any title. Maybe he just wants to put some cup on a shelf at home finally ;)

And this result shows that he is still too fast to sit at home :)
https://www.ewrc-results.com/final/85534-secto-rally-finland-2024/

[Jarek Z]

If it continues like that, Lavala will not win this championship. It's the third rally in a row when he has a technical problem with the car. 0 points again.
https://www.ewrc-results.com/results/92149-lahti-historic-rally-2025/?s=506540

[focus206]

If it continues like that, Lavala will not win this championship. It's the third rally in a row when he has a technical problem with the car. 0 points again.
https://www.ewrc-results.com/results/92149-lahti-historic-rally-2025/?s=506540

I saw that as well... weird to have 3 terminal problems in a row, is the team doing something wrong? Some wrong knowledge of an old machinery? Celicas didn't use to be so unreliable...

[TWRC]

I saw that as well... weird to have 3 terminal problems in a row, is the team doing something wrong? Some wrong knowledge of an old machinery? Celicas didn't use to be so unreliable...
In Ypres I think he said that by solving a problem they created another that caused that retirement. Strange as they are a very experienced team I think, and I would believe that knowledge transfer from Toyota would not be an issue for them.

[samzon100]

Pictures EM-Lahti Historic Rally 2025
SS1, SS4 and SS9

https://samzon.kuvat.fi/kuvat/EM-Lahti+Historic+Rally+08.25/

[Jarek Z]

Latvala and de Mevius on the entry list for Rally Acropolis:
https://www.ewrc-results.com/entries/92150-historic-acropolis-rally-2025/

[Jarek Z]

Finally a win for Latvala, but Lubiak still leads the championship:
https://dirtfish.com/rally/latvala-rescues-his-bid-for-maiden-fia-title/

[Andre Oliveira]

Bold new era for the FIA European Historic Rally Championship

The World Council has approved a comprehensive reorganisation of the FIA European Historic Rally Championship (EHRC) for the 2026 season, marking the start of a bold new era for historic rallying in Europe.

From 2026, the EHRC will consist of three core championships, all maintained under the FIA EHRC umbrella:

The FIA ERHC Pre-1992 Championship
The FIA EHRC Pre-2000 Championship
The FIA EHRC Gravel Championship

The restructure meets a rising demand for a dedicated gravel championship, reducing the logistical burden of converting cars between gravel and asphalt, allowing competitors to focus on their preferred surface within the FIA’s historic rally framework.

While the introduction of the Pre-2000 category responds to the growing number of competitors with Period K cars, by separating these more advanced 1993–2000 models from the pre-1992 Category 4 cars, enthusiasts from both eras can compete under fairer and more balanced conditions within the championship.

The 2026 Sporting Regulations governing the three new championships have also been approved by the World Motor Sport Council, with minor amendments introduced to improve consistency and accuracy across the regulations. New categories within the Pre-2000 Championship have been established to better reflect the classification of that period, while updates to FIA Appendix K have been adopted to enhance clarity and readability for both competitors and organisers.

[Sal yet again]

Its interesting but inevitable that Historic championships always struggle to balance the involvement of crews with "newer" machinery with the wants of those competing with cars from earlier eras. The UK was a prime example where MK2 Escorts weren't allowed to compete for a number of years and the championship was the domain of the Porsche 911 and the likes of Minis and Saab 96s.

[Jarek Z]

There's a 3-way battle also in historic ERC.

https://scontent.fktw1-1.fna.fbcdn.net/v/t39.30808-6/571467260_1230830235739893_6285053851976189171_n.j pg?_nc_cat=106&ccb=1-7&_nc_sid=127cfc&_nc_ohc=lJkdRThPJxsQ7kNvwHZRo4_&_nc_oc=AdnEs4YLDMMwC8rmwX0Oihf58xcKC9BO-VSjSOkIujM-9ArGTIxGIWz6eZNIiv7QS9k&_nc_zt=23&_nc_ht=scontent.fktw1-1.fna&_nc_gid=PHYQbQ_bFhvNL1N0XAW4eA&oh=00_Affy6L1-w3MPh03rPLsQkFkIVEZHoWn11US6UV_AO00tFg&oe=6902CBA9

[focus206]

Why can Latvala score more max points than Lubiak and Graham? Dropped scores?

[PLuto]

Another new revolution in EHRC - https://www.fia.com/news/2026-fia-european-historic-rally-championship-calendars-revealed

[focus206]

Another new revolution in EHRC - https://www.fia.com/news/2026-fia-european-historic-rally-championship-calendars-revealed

Splitting the championship in 3 just seems like needless complications...

[WRCStan]

It's to meet demand from the competitors

[PLuto]

We will see if it will work... I am not big fan of so many events and so many championships. I prefer to concentrate the events and competitors...

[focus206]

I think the "gravel championship" will get very few regular competitors. And late 90's car seem still too modern to me to be part of a historic championship...

[Steve Boyd]

And late 90's car seem still too modern to me to be part of a historic championship...You must be about as old as me as that's the way I thought until I looked back on the first historic rally I worked on!

It was the historic rally tagged on to the 1988 Manx International and the big Healey's, Sunbeam Tigers &c taking part were about as old then as a late 1990's car is now.

Doesn't time fly when you're old!

[focus206]

You must be about as old as me as that's the way I thought until I looked back on the first historic rally I worked on!

It was the historic rally tagged on to the 1988 Manx International and the big Healey's, Sunbeam Tigers &c taking part were about as old then as a late 1990's car is now.

Doesn't time fly when you're old!

I wasn't even born in 1988 :D I'm referring to the fact that up until this year, the limit for eligibility in the EHRC was around 1992/1993 and it was usually changing progressively. Now all of a sudden, a big jump up until 2000.
We have modern championship like Alpe Adria or Mitropa cups in which S1600s or Lancer Evo VIII N4 are (or were just) eligible, now they're almost historic cars.

[Steve Boyd]

I wasn't even born in 1988 :DMy apologies (you lucky b.......!)

You'd be really shocked if you followed historic racing. They have historic categories and series for cars built in this century!

[Kenneth]

Yeah in circuit racing historic basically means not current cars. You can see even cars from 2010s racing there.

Tbh I wouldn't mind seeing that in rallying too. There are many WRCs, S1600, S2000 cars out there with no place to race except some regional championships. Why not do something similar.

[Sal yet again]

Its not as if anyone is going to build a career on winning one of the EHRC titles but its bragging rights for those with deep enough pockets to be able to mount a campaign and dont just want to do exhibition events like Rally Legend. Just worry what the level of entries will be like across the year as can see Ceredigion and Ulster suffering as per the main ERC round this year. Only saving grace is that they havent gone back to coefficients.

[AndyRAC]

Don't think it's a surprise that both UK events are on Tarmac; I think the chances of an International series on Gravel in the UK is almost nil; which is sad. The various Forestry owners want far too much for their roads use, that the sums don't/ won't add up.

[Fast Eddie WRC]

Don't think it's a surprise that both UK events are on Tarmac; I think the chances of an International series on Gravel in the UK is almost nil; which is sad. The various Forestry owners want far too much for their roads use, that the sums don't/ won't add up.

There are gravel/forest events in BRC, BTRDA and BHRC. Are the charges higher to use these forests for International events ?

[Steve Boyd]

There are gravel/forest events in BRC, BTRDA and BHRC. Are the charges higher to use these forests for International events ?The rates are the same but as they are based on a "per mile" usage rate (with a slightly lower charge for a second use) you need a big entry to keep the entry fee down to a sensible level. The only way to make, say a 2½ day, International event pay would be to tag on a BHRC event for 1½ days and a BTRDA event for the other day. They already have to do this with the BRC forest events as the limited number of BRC entries can't cover the cost of the forest hire.

[Sal yet again]

Don't think it's a surprise that both UK events are on Tarmac; I think the chances of an International series on Gravel in the UK is almost nil; which is sad. The various Forestry owners want far too much for their roads use, that the sums don't/ won't add up.

Other than the Roger Albert dont think any current UK forestry events could remotely get anywhere near the required mileage and as you say nil possibility of anything new appearing on the scene woods wise. As per the main ERC round the events will struggle for mainland European entries anyway due to the post Brexit costs and red tape.

[Fast Eddie WRC]

That would be mega, to tag the EHRC onto part of the RAC Rally one year.

But then I dont suppose the organisers would want it, distracting people form the main event.