13 round WRC calendar for 2017

Oliver Ciesla of WRC Promoters GmbH has confirmed that neither Turkey nor China will be included in the 2017 World Rally Championship calendar, which will consist of the same 13 rallies as this year.

Oliver Ciesla, WRC Promoter.The calendar will be finally finalised by the FIA’s World Motor Motor Sport Council in Vienna on November 30th.  

In an interview with Pipo Lopez which was reported on the Spanish Diario AS website, Ciesla said the ideal championship would consist of eight rallies in Europe and eight in the rest of the world, adding that there are currently 20 countries which are candidates for future inclusion.   

Ciesla said the countries that have the best following of the WRC include Spain, France, Germany, Poland and (surprisingly) the United States.  

Ciesla feels the VW withdrawal is very negative for the sport, and stated his disagreement with the current proposal to change the running order system, citing that the current system produced six different winning drivers in three different makes of car this year.  

When talking about the 2017 World Rally Car rules, he stated the new rules came about as a result of a WRC Promoter survey in 2014, in which fans asked for more exciting cars.
 
- Martin Holmes   

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