Kazakhstan World Rally-Raid event canceled due to war

The event was set to be third of the all-new championship in 2022

Mattias Ekstrom

The third round of the World Rally Raid Championship in Kazakhstan, which was due to take place next month, has been canceled due to the “current international situation”.

Kazakhstan is a bordering country of Russia which began a military invasion of Ukraine on February 24 – a conflict that is still ongoing.

In a joint statement provided by Rally Kazakhstan organizer, the Automotosport Federation of the Republic of Kazakhstan and the W2RC promoter, the ASO, confirmed the five-day event will no longer feature on the 2022 calendar, with a replacement round to take place at the end of the year.

“The current international situation has forced the organizer of the Rally Kazakhstan, round three of the FIA & FIM World Rally-Raid Championship (W2RC), to cancel its 2022 edition, which was due to take place from April 25-30,” said an official statement from the ASO.

Nasser Al-Attiyah & Mathieu Baumel

“As a result, the next W2RC round will take place from June 7-12 at the Andalucía Rally in Spain and will be followed by Morocco’s Rallye du Maroc from October 7-12, 2022.

“In view of this situation, all stakeholders of the discipline – the FIA, FIM, the teams and W2RC promoter ASO – are now jointly considering a number of possible replacements to host a fifth and final round, to be held at the end of the season. The Rally Kazakhstan will be fully restored to the 2023 calendar [subject to approval by the World Motor Sport Council and FIM Board of Directors].”

Bahrain Raid Xtreme’s Sébastien Loeb currently leads the W2RC points standings after two rounds, having finished second on the season-opening Dakar Rally and ahead of chief rival, Toyota Gazoo Racing’s Nasser Al-Attiyah, in the Abu Dhabi Desert Challenge.

Comments