The 2023 Croatia Rally (also known as the Rally Croatia 2023) was a

motor racing Motorsport, motorsports or motor sport is a global term used to encompass the group of competitive sporting events which primarily involve the use of motorized vehicles. The terminology can also be used to describe forms of competition of tw ...

event for

rally cars Rally or rallye may refer to: Gatherings * Demonstration (political), a political rally, a political demonstration of support or protest, march, or parade * Pep rally, an event held at a United States school or college sporting event Sports ...

that was held over four days between 20 and 23 April 2023. It marked the 47th running of the

Croatia Rally The Croatia Rally is an international rally racing event based in Zagreb, Croatia and is planned to be the third round of 2021 World Rally Championship The 2021 FIA World Rally Championship was the forty-ninth season of the World Rally Cham ...

, and was the fourth round of the

2023 World Rally Championship The 2023 FIA World Rally Championship is the fifty-first season of the World Rally Championship, an auto racing competition recognised by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA) as the highest class of international rallying. Te ...

World Rally Championship-2 The FIA WRC2 (previously also known as World Rally Championship 2 and WRC 2), is a support championship of the World Rally Championship. The calendar consists of the same rallies and stages as the main class and crews usually compete immediately ...

and

World Rally Championship-3 The FIA WRC3 is a support championship of the World Rally Championship. The calendar consists of the same rallies and stages as the parent series and crews usually compete immediately after WRC2 entrants. Entry into WRC3 is limited to cars t ...

. The event was also the second round of the

2023 Junior World Rally Championship The 2023 FIA Junior World Rally Championship is the twenty-first season of the Junior World Rally Championship, an auto racing championship recognised by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile, running in support of the World Rally Champio ...

. The 2023 event was based in

Zagreb Zagreb ( , , , ) is the capital and largest city of Croatia. It is in the northwest of the country, along the Sava river, at the southern slopes of the Medvednica mountain. Zagreb stands near the international border between Croatia and Sl ...

Central Croatia Croatia proper ( hr, Hrvatska) is one of the four historical regions of the Republic of Croatia, together with Dalmatia, Istria, and Slavonia. It is located between Slavonia in the east, the Adriatic Sea in the west, and Dalmatia to the south ...

and was contested over twenty special stages, covering a total competitive distance of .

Kalle Rovanperä Kalle Rovanperä (; born 1 October 2000 in Jyväskylä) is a Finnish professional rally driver, who competes in the World Rally Championship for Toyota Gazoo Racing WRT, alongside co-driver Jonne Halttunen. He is the reigning World Champion. As ...

and

Jonne Halttunen Jonne Halttunen (born 13 December 1985) is a Finnish rally co-driver. Currently, he is the co-driver of Kalle Rovanperä, driving the Toyota GR Yaris Rally1. Previously, they represented Škoda Motorsport to participate in the World Rally ...

were the defending rally winners. Their team,

Toyota Gazoo Racing WRT Toyota Gazoo Racing WRT is a World Rally Championship (WRC) team based in Finland that serves as Toyota's official factory team. Its team principal is former WRC driver Jari-Matti Latvala. The team made its début during the 2017 season, where ...

, were the defending manufacturer's winners.

Yohan Rossel Yohan Rossel (born 13 February 1995) is a French rally Rally or rallye may refer to: Gatherings * Demonstration (political), a political rally, a political demonstration of support or protest, march, or parade * Pep rally, an event hel ...

and

Valentin Sarreaud Valentin is a male given name meaning "strong, healthy, power, rule, terco". It comes from the Latin name ''Valentinus'', as in Saint Valentin. Commonly found in Spain, Romania, Bulgaria, France, Italy, Russia, Ukraine, Scandinavia, Latin America ...

were the defending rally winners in the WRC-2 category. Zoltán László and

Tamás Kürti Tamás () is a Hungarian, masculine given name. It is a Hungarian equivalent of the name Thomas. The given name may refer to: * Tamás Bognár (born 1978), Hungarian footballer * Tamás Gábor (1932–2007), Hungarian Olympic champion épée fenc ...

were the defending rally winners in the WRC-3 category. Lauri Joona and Mikael Korhonen were the defending rally winners in the junior category.

Elfyn Evans Elfyn Rhys Evans (born 28 December 1988) is a Welsh rally driver. He is currently teamed with Scott Martin and is competing for Toyota Gazoo Racing in the World Rally Championship. Career The son of 1996 British Rally Championship Champion an ...

and

Scott Martin Scott Martin may refer to: * Scott Martin (media) (born 1989), Northern Irish media influencer and former rugby player * Scott Martin (thrower) (born 1982), Australian athlete in shot put and discus * Scott Martin (co-driver) (born 1981), British r ...

won the rally, ending their victory drought since the

2021 Rally Finland The 2021 Rally Finland (also known as the Secto Rally Finland 2021) was a motor racing event for rally cars that was held over three days between 1 and 3 October 2021. It marked the seventieth running of the Rally Finland. The event was the tenth ...

. Their team,

successfully defended their manufacturer's title.

and

Arnaud Dunand Arnaud may refer to: People * Arnaud (given name) or Arnauld (formerly Arnoul), the French form of the German given name Arnold * Arnaud (surname) or Arnauld (formerly Arnoul), the French form of the name Arnold * Arnauld family, a noble French f ...

successfully defended their titles in the World Rally Championship-2 category. Eamonn Kelly and

Conor Mohan Conor is a male given name of Irish origin. The meaning of the name is "Lover of Wolves" or "Lover of Hounds". '' Conchobhar/Conchubhar'' or from the name ''Conaire'', found in Irish legend as the name of the high king Conaire Mór and other hero ...

won the World Rally Championship-3 category, as well as the junior championship. Following an accident in the pre-event test, Hyundai Shell Mobis WRT driver

Craig Breen Craig Breen (born 2 February 1990) is an Irish rally driver, who competes part time in the Hyundai team in the WRC (World Rally Championship). He was the 2012 WRC Super 2000 world rally champion, scoring class wins in the Monte Carlo Rally, ...

died Death is the irreversible cessation of all biological functions that sustain an organism. For organisms with a brain, death can also be defined as the irreversible cessation of functioning of the whole brain, including brainstem, and brain ...

at the age of 33.

Background

Entry list

The following crews were set to enter into the rally. The event was open to crews competing in the World Rally Championship, its support categories, the World Rally Championship-2, World Rally Championship-3, Junior World Rally Championship and

privateer A privateer is a private person or ship that engages in maritime warfare under a commission of war. Since robbery under arms was a common aspect of seaborne trade, until the early 19th century all merchant ships carried arms. A sovereign or deleg ...

entries that were not registered to score points in any championship. Nine were entered under

Rally1 Within the motorsport discipline of rallying, Group Rally1 is a formula of rally car specifications for use at the highest level of international rallying in the World Rally Championship (WRC) as determined by the FIA. Despite the use of the wo ...

regulations, as were nineteen

Rally2 In the motorsport discipline of rallying, Group Rally2 is a formula of rally car specification determined by the FIA for use in its international competitions: the World Rally Championship (WRC) and regional championships. National rallying compet ...

crews in the World Rally Championship-2 and eight

Rally3 In the motorsport discipline of rallying, Group Rally3 is a formula of rally car specification determined by the FIA for use in its international competitions: the World Rally Championship (WRC) and regional championships. National rallying compet ...

crew in the World Rally Championship-3. A total of eight crews were registered to participate in the Junior World Rally Championship.

Itinerary

All dates and times are

CEST CEST or cest may refer to: * Central European Summer Time (UTC+2), daylight saving time observed in the central European time zone * Cognitive-Experiential Self-Theory * Chemical Exchange Saturation Transfer, a subset of Magnetization transfer in M ...

(

UTC+2 UTC+02:00 is an identifier for a time offset from UTC of +02:00. In ISO 8601, the associated time would be written as 2020-11-08T23:41:45+02:00. This time is used in: As standard time (year-round) ''Principal cities: Cairo, Pretoria, Cape ...

Report

WRC Rally1

Classification

Special stages

Championship standings

WRC-2 Rally2

Classification

Special stages

Championship standings

WRC-3 Rally3

Classification

Special stages

Championship standings

J-WRC Rally3

Classification

Special stages

Championship standings

Death of Craig Breen

The event was overshadowed by the death of

Hyundai Hyundai is a South Korean industrial conglomerate ("chaebol"), which was restructured into the following groups: * Hyundai Group, parts of the former conglomerate which have not been divested ** Hyundai Mobis, Korean car parts company ** Hyundai As ...

works driver In motorsports, a factory-backed racing team or driver is one sponsored by a vehicle manufacturer in official competitions. As motorsport competition is an expensive endeavor, some degree of factory support is desired and often necessary for su ...

, who was killed in the pre-event test after the front-left of his

Hyundai i20 N Rally1 The Hyundai i20 N Rally1 is a Rally1 car built by the Hyundai Motorsport that is driven in the World Rally Championship starting in . The prototype car is based on the Hyundai i20 N production car and was first revealed to public during testi ...

collided with a pole on a road. This was the first competitor-involved

fatal accident An accident is an unintended, normally unwanted event that was not directly caused by humans. The term ''accident'' implies that nobody should be blamed, but the event may have been caused by unrecognized or unaddressed risks. Most researche ...

since

Jörg Bastuck Jörg Bastuck (4 September 1969 in Dillingen, Saarland, Germany – 24 March 2006 in Salou, Spain) was a German co-driver in the Junior World Rally Championship. When he got out of his Citroën C2 GT, driven by compatriot Aaron Burkart to chang ...

at the

2006 Rally Catalunya The 42º Rally RACC Catalunya - Costa Daurada, the fourth round of the 2006 World Rally Championship season, took place from March 24 to 26, 2006. Report The rally was the first all-tarmac event of the season. The event was marred by an acciden ...

. His co-driver James Fulton was uninjured. Breen's funeral took place on 18 April 2023 at The Sacred Heart Church in Ferrybank. Several members from the WRC family attended the funeral, including Fulton, Breen's former co-driver,

Paul Nagle Paul Nagle (born 29 August 1978) is an Irish rally co-driver. Drivers with whom he has teamed include Kris Meeke Kris Meeke (born 2 July 1979) is a Northern Irish professional rally driver, best known for competing in the FIA World Rally ...

and Breen's teammate at Hyundai,

Dani Sordo Daniel "Dani" Sordo Castillo (born 2 May 1983) is a Spanish rally driver. He competes in the World Rally Championship for Hyundai Motorsport. He achieved his first WRC victory at the 2013 Rallye Deutschland. Career Sordo began in motocross when ...

. In tribute to Breen, Moonraker Forestry Rally, the second round of the Irish Forestry Championship, was postponed. The

Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile The Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA; en, International Automobile Federation) is an association established on 20 June 1904 to represent the interests of motoring organisations and motor car users. It is the governing body for ...

announced his car number 42 would be retired from the rest of the season.

also decided to participate the event with a special livery on two cars, with the third car withdrawn from the event in honor of Breen.

Notes

References

External links

*
2023 Croatia Rally
at

eWRC-results.com eWRC-results.com is a Czech online database website founded in 2006. The website features data and statistics in the motorsport of rallying that ranges from World Rally Championship to national rally events dating back to 1911. Shutdown In ea ...

2023 Croatia Rally
at rally-maps.com {{DEFAULTSORT:Croatia Rally, 2023 2023 in Croatian sport

Croatia , image_flag = Flag of Croatia.svg , image_coat = Coat of arms of Croatia.svg , anthem = "Lijepa naša domovino"("Our Beautiful Homeland") , image_map = , map_caption = , capit ...

April 2023 sports events in Croatia

2023 Events Predicted and scheduled events * January 1 ** In the United States, books, films, and other works published in 1927 will enter the public domain, assuming there are no changes made to copyright law. ** Croatia will adopt the eu ...