A 10 event schedule has been announced for the 2015 FIA European Rally Championship that will include a mixture of ice, snow, asphalt and gravel surfaces for the drivers to master from January through to November.
Promotor Eurosport Events announced the provisional calendar following a meeting of the FIA Rally Commission on Wedensday, it was also announced that the FIA ERC Junior Championship will take in six rounds.
The season will start in Austria on 4 January featuring the ice-coated roads of the Jännerrallye, the event starts on a Sunday and finishes on Tuesday, taking advantage of the Austrian Bank Holiday weekend.
ERC heads to the snow of Latvia in February as the drivers are put through their paces in the Baltic forests.
The third rally will see the competitors head to one of the oldest events on the international calendar at the Circuit of Ireland Rally in April.
A short break means that the next rally on the schedule will take place in June at the SATA Rallye Açores before a return to asphalt for Belgium’s Geko Ypres Rally at the end of June.
Estonia joins the line up once again after the popular event this year, retaining its mid-summer slot. August and September sees the crews head to the all-asphalt Barum Czech Rally Zlín followed by Cyprus Rally.
The newly named Rally of Greece (previously the Acropolis Rally) will move to October (rather than March this year) before ERC heads to the iconic season-closer Giru di Corsica-Tour de Corse in November.
“Once again we have put together an exciting schedule of emerging and established events in all four corners of Europe,” said Jean-Baptiste Ley, the ERC General Co-ordinator. “With rallies on ice, snow, asphalt and gravel, crews can experience serious competition on a variety of surfaces.”
Restrictions on tyre use and testing are being brought in as part of ongoing cost-cutting measures which will also see the rallies run over 200-230 kilometres.
The provisional FIA European Rally Championship calendar for 2015 will now be submitted to the FIA World Motor Sport Council for final ratification at its meeting in Doha, Qatar on 3 December.
The provisional FIA European Rally Championship calendar for 2015 is as follows:
Round 1: Jännerrallye (Austria, asphalt/ice/snow): 4-6 January 2015
Round 2: Rally Liepāja (Latvia, gravel/ice/snow): 6-8 February 2015 (J)
Round 3: Circuit of Ireland Rally (Northern Ireland, asphalt): 2-4 April 2015 (J)
Round 4: SATA Rallye Açores (Portugal, gravel): 4-6 June 2015 (J)
Round 5: Geko Ypres Rally (Belgium, asphalt): 25-27 June 2015 (J)
Round 6: auto24 Rally Estonia (gravel): 17-19 July 2015 (J)*
Round 7: Barum Czech Rally Zlín (Czech Republic, asphalt): 28-30 August 2015 (J)
Round 8: Cyprus Rally (gravel): 25-27 September 2015
Round 9: Rally of Greece (gravel): 9-11 October 2015*
Round 10: Giru di Corsica-Tour de Corse (France, asphalt): 5-7 November 2015
(J) Indicates FIA ERC Junior Championship round
*Subject to signing of ERC Promoter agreement
