Ciesla: “The WRC is traveling to 6 continents for the first time”

Between the crew upheavals and the new calendar, the 2020 season of WRC will look great and raise many expectations. After a 15-year French reign, Ott Tänak managed to win the world title with Toyota last year. But the Estonian is embarking on a new chapter with Hyundai while it is Sébastien Ogier which will now benefit from the performance of the Yaris WRC after the withdrawal of Citroën.

WRC promoters are enthusiastic about the start of this new season which will begin this week with the Rally Monte Carlo. Oliver Cesla, Managing Director of WRC Promoter, is looking forward to the launch.

“It was one of the richest years in terms of transfers, he emphasizes. One of the big surprises was obviously the departure of Ott Tänak to Hyundai and Sébastien Ogier who replaced him at Toyota. There were others with Elfyn Evans joining Toyota and Esapekka Lappi replacing him at M-Sport Ford. These transfers offer the unexpected and herald an exciting new season with these drivers arriving in new teams on new machines. »

Oliver Cesla also talks about the new calendar with the return of the historic events in Kenya, New Zealand and Japan.

“We wanted to globalize the WRC by including more events outside of Europe, He explains. This is the first time that the WRC will be contested on 6 continents: Europe, North America, South America, Asia, Africa and Oceania, all in 48 years. 'history. Japan marks the return of Asia for the first time in a decade and the Safari Rally in Kenya brings the two largest continents in size for the first time in more than two decades. »

Discover the Monte-Carlo Rally Guide in issue 2251 of AUTOhebdo, available now in digital version on all platforms, and on newsstands this Wednesday.