2013 ERC News and Results

Eurosport intentions on making ERC a WRC lookalike series are pretty obvious in this (draft?) calendar.

3 ex-wrc events: Corsica, Cyprus and Poland; 4 wrc evocative events: Açores (reminds New Zealand); Jänner (snow on tarmac, like the Monte Carlo); Artic (Sweden replica) and Circuit of Ireland.
Iconic ERC events only represented by Ypres and Barum (Madeira and Bulgaria regrettably dropped in favor of Croatia and Romania).

Big surprise (and the exception for this ERC with WRC flair): San Marino instead of the San Remo. Really sad if confirmed.

2013 will be a transitional season for ERC, and from 2014, with the R5 manufactureurs full involvement, this ERC could turn even more in a "european wrc", with a gravel rally in Great Britain or a event in Russia (earlier considered for WRC expansion).

Arctic will not be in calendar...

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Originally Posted by Jack4688`

I am amazed that they decided to include Sibiu and nothing in Italy.

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There is Rally San Marino. Except the city stage it is in Italy. They obviously wanted to keep balance between asphalt and gravel so they chose the gravel one of the four Italian IRC/ERC events of 2012.

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Originally Posted by Jack4688`

Not that I'm bad mouthing Croatia - it's just the wide roads don't seem anything like the challenge of the (relatively) narrow mountain passes of those three Italian classics.

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No, it's not. Only some stages are on wide asphalt. Also there is extremely slippery asphalt in Croatia which especially if wet is a challenge itself. Don't underestimate it...

For example this onboard of Juho is of a very nice stage
ERC Rally Croatia SS13 onboard - YouTube

And I think that if there will be Croatia in calendar, it should move back to different area...

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Originally Posted by PLuto

Arctic will not be in calendar...

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You're right. Is this Winter Rally the one from Lithuania? Still, it'll look like a Swedish replica rally...

Yes, it looks like a Swedish replica rally, but why not?

Beside all this talks, I dont think that calendar from Motorsport News (copied on rallye-magazin pages) is the final version. As I know, they are still talking with organisers, but some of the events are almost confirmed. Only one official confirmed is Janner and very soon will be other two events ;)

Sorry for my english.

**** calendar. This should be a European championship, not an invention of Eurosport with rallies that have more money. Mille Miglia? Bulgaria? Madeira? Valais? Turkey? A little respect for the rallies that have spent years in the ERC.

I don't understand this globalization rallies and less with a championship tradition since 1953 and is the ERC.

I believe that the different type of terrain and the “good” stages are just the one part of the equation. You can find challenging stages almost everywhere in Europe, but you can’t easily find a proper organization and traditions everywhere. I agree that money is necessary, but not sufficient condition. On the other hand, "old" rallies should work hard for their "big" names.
Nevertheless, Eurosport will aim at better geographical diversification to reach higher number of spectators and to satisfy their business partners/sponsors/manufacturers. I think, they should pay more attention to logistic expenses (as Pluto mentioned) and local audience interest – it is not a real rally without a decent number of fans around the stages and with just a few (rich enough) privateers! They should think about a low cost "2WD junior challenge" if they want to grow pilots.

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Originally Posted by Eyvind

This should be a European championship, not an invention of Eurosport with rallies that have more money.

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I think this statement sums it up pretty well. And to be honest it is pretty understandable. What credibility is there when an event that is included in a calendar is not ready one month before it is done? Nobody can program anything!

Of course there are better rallies to include in the calendar, San Remo and Turkey in my opinion should have been there!
About the Bulgarian events now, of course Rally Sliven is a better rally than Rally Bulgaria, but it is not something special. In Greece there are at least 3-4 tarmac rallies with that kind of roads! If somebody come to Kentavros Rally in Greece will understand what I say.

I am pretty sad because during Sliven rally with my friends we were talking about going to 3 international rallies next year, Bulgaria, Sliven and Turkey because it is in small driving distance, 4-7 hours, and now noone of them is included but what can we do? If this is for the best of the sport then it is OK for me!