FIA rally director Yves Matton is confident – and relieved – he will be able to crown 2020 World Rally Champions following Thursday’s announcement of an eight-round calendar.
Rally Estonia will mark the return of WRC action in September and will be followed by rounds in Turkey, Germany, Italy and Japan.
With Ypres Rally and a possible event in Croatia still being discussed for potential inclusion, Matton said he was satisfied with the revised calendar.
“I am pleased to announce the 2020 WRC restart calendar following a few months of discussions that have required a great deal of flexibility from all stakeholders in unprecedented times,” said Matton.
“In light of this revised schedule, I am confident we will secure a minimum of eight events this year and this is thanks to the great commitment and work from organizers.
Photo: Jaanus Ree / Red Bull Content Pool
“As one of the newly proposed rounds, Rally Estonia will be reopening the season in September and I know the Estonian Autosport Union and organising team are putting all their efforts to deliver an event to world championship standards from an already solid foundation.
“Also, extensive work was made with [Italy’s national body] ACI and organizers of Rally Italy to reschedule the event and I am happy that they could find a workable slot at the end of October for this much-awaited encounter.
“Preparations for these rounds are now in full swing while paying the greatest attention to key planning recommendations for mass gatherings in the current COVID-19 context.”
Speaking about the formal cancellation of Rally Argentina, which was confirmed with Thursday’s calendar announcement, Matton said: “We are naturally truly disappointed we couldn’t find a logistically viable solution to reschedule Rally Argentina, particularly given all the hard work undertaken by Automóvil Club Argentino and every member of the organization.”
