Sébastien Ogier (Toyota Yaris) met the predictions and won the RallyRACC Catalunya, the penultimate round of the WRC World Rally Championship, which was, most likely, his last appearance in the championship. The Catalan event, on the World Cup calendar since 1991 (with the only absence of 2020), will not be included in 2023, as decided by the World Cup Promoter.
Ogier, who has only participated in five races this season, won the Catalunya from start to finish. It is his 55th victory in the World Cup, which he has won eight times.
The Frenchman closed the Catalan rally with a 16-second advantage over Thierry Neuville (Hyundai) and 34 over the reigning champion, Kalle Rovanperä (Toyota), who was unable to recover second place from the Belgian. Fifth was Dani Sordo (Hyundai), who on Wednesday announced that it could be his last RallyRACC Catalunya.
"It is a pity that the Rally Catalunya is not in 2023, it is a classic; they will have their reasons (to leave it out). I hope it will be back. It is hard to think about it, but this is my last Catalunya; it is sad, but it is the truth ", commented the Cantabrian pilot.
As La Vanguardia has learned, the continuity of the RallyRACC Catalunya, organized by the RACC, is in serious danger, since the Promoter of the World Championship has not included it in the 2023 calendar among the 14 races. It has been replaced by the new Central Europe Rally, which would be organized on the same dates in October in three countries, Germany, the Czech Republic and Austria. This was stated in the proposal that had to be approved on Wednesday at the FIA World Council in London, but was stopped -among others, by the Spanish Federation and the RACE- due to irregularities in the contracting of some of the new tests, among them, the last from Saudi Arabia.
The RallyRACC Catalunya, scoring in the World Championship since 1991, ended this year its contract with the Promoter and has not renewed it. "We are negotiating," indicate RACC sources. They do it in two ways: to still be able to enter the 2023 calendar (something complicated, because the organizer, after the impact of the pandemic in the 2020 edition, intends to give entry to new places, such as Chile, Mexico and the aforementioned Central Europe and Arabia ), or, if it is not next year, ensure its presence in 2024.
The increase in fees imposed by the Promoter (they have risen to around 3.5 million euros) would not be the defining reason for the probable absence of Catalunya. "It's more for a strategic reason of the organization," say RACC sources, convinced that the Catalan rally will continue to be in the world championship.
