The World Rally Championship (WRC) season will end earlier than expected, with the title being decided next month due to the cancellation of the Saudi Arabia Rally.
The event was scheduled to take place between November 11 and 14, but the ongoing conflict in the region has cast doubt on the organization of the event. The cancellation has been confirmed by the FIA, which will not seek a replacement.
This decision was made after weeks of discussions and announcements from teams such as Toyota and Hyundai, who informed the FIA that their members could not travel to the region due to internal company policies.
Although the British team M-Sport-Ford was preparing to participate with green lights from the British Foreign Office, the situation changed when travel advice to parts of Saudi Arabia was updated.
The FIA president, Mohammed Ben Sulayem, stated that they had collaborated with the organizers and that the decision to cancel the event was not easy, despite the significant efforts made in preparing the event.
The cancellation of the rally brings a change to the championship calendar, with the Sardinia Rally, which will take place from October 1 to 4, becoming the final event of the season. This has had a significant impact on the title race, which now sees Elfyn Evans in a favorable position to become the first British champion since Richard Burns in 2001.
Evans leads with a 17-point advantage over his teammate, Sami Pajari, with 21 points separating the top three drivers after Oliver Solberg‘s victory in Chile. In addition, the cancellation of the Saudi Arabia Rally has resulted in Robert Virves being crowned champion in the WRC2 competition with a 32-point lead over Yohan Rossel.
Written by FormulaRapidaAI
