Author: David Bodapati

FIA FORMULA ONE WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP

The 2014 FIA Formula One World Championship calendar is confirmed as follows:

FIA WORLD RALLY CHAMPIONSHIP

The start order for both gravel and tarmac rallies has been amended as follows, in order to increase the show for fans and reduce the use of tactics:

Day 1: Provisional Championship classification order for P1 and P2 drivers
Day 2: Reverse provisional rally classification order for P1 and P2 drivers
Day 3: Reverse provisional rally classification order for P1 and P2 drivers

Cars having retired and restarting (Rally 2) will be placed the next day after the P1 and P2 drivers group.

In order to allow greater flexibility to contract different drivers, manufacturers will no longer be required to nominate one permanent driver for the season. Instead, manufacturers will be obliged to nominate one driver for a minimum of 10 Championship events.

To bring consistency to events and thereby aid the Promoter, rallies must now follow a fixed format. There will be a ceremonial start on Thursday, with the last stage run on Sunday at approximately 12:00 hrs for European events. The final stage is defined as the Power Stage, the length of which will be set at a minimum of 10 kilometres.

All competitors registered in the Championships – WRC, WRC 2, WRC 3 and Junior WRC – will be obliged to use a colour-coded windscreen sticker to promote and identify the category in which they are competing and scoring points.

It was agreed to rename all classes of eligible cars in order to harmonise the numbering with the other FIA Championships. Therefore, the smaller number will define the most powerful cars (RC1 being World Rally Cars).

Permanent competition numbers will no longer be allocated to P3 drivers competing in the support championships. Drivers wishing to request a permanent number for marketing or promotional purposes will however be able to do so. The restriction on the number of servicing personnel has also been removed and testing during the three weeks preceding an event is now permitted for P3 drivers.

The date for the 2014 Rally d’Italia has changed to 08 June.

RALLYING

In order to increase the presence of professional teams, new titles have been created in the FIA European Rally Championship; the FIA ERC Manufacturers’ Cup, the FIA ERC Manufacturers’ Cup for 2WD Cars, and the FIA ERC Manufacturers’ Cup for Production Cars. The best two cars of each manufacturer entered in the Championship will score points in the respective classifications. The existing team titles have been deleted.

Free Practice and Qualifying will be staged on all tarmac rallies, as well as gravel events, following the same regulations concerning the definition of the rally start order for the first day.

A Junior Championship will be created within the framework of the FIA European Rally Championship to create a genuine ladder between the ERC and WRC for young talent. Designed to be an accessible and cost-effective series for drivers under 25 competing in currently named R2 cars, the Championship will run over seven events with the best four results – including one gravel or snow rally – counting towards the title.

It is confirmed that the currently named R5 cars will not be eligible for points in the FIA African Rally Championship in 2014.

A new award for Teams has been created within the framework of the FIA Asia-Pacific Rally Championship, increasing promotion and interest among teams and sponsors. To increase competitor participation, drivers must participate in a minimum of three rallies for the Asia and Pacific Cups.

The European Rally Cup has been renamed the European Rally Trophy (ERT) from 2014.

FIA WORLD CUP FOR CROSS COUNTRY RALLIES

If an opening Super Special Stage is run, a new system of determining the start order for the first leg has been introduced to give drivers the option of choosing tactical positions. The 10 fastest drivers will be able to choose from among the first 10 places, with the slowest driver selecting first and each subsequent driver choosing their position relative to those already chosen.

The scale of penalties imposed on competitors for speeding has been redefined in order to punish more heavily those competitors who consistently exceed speed limits.

The date for the 2014 Rallye OiLibya du Maroc has been moved to 09 October.

FIA WORLD ENDURANCE CHAMPIONSHIP

Following the adoption of the 2014 LMP1 technical regulations, a system of “Equivalence of Technology (EoT)” between the LMP1 technologies will be implemented. Two periods of adjustment of the technical parameters have been set in place. A first transitional period of adjustment will run until the 2014 Le Mans 24 Hours. During this period, the manufacturers will be asked to send data to the FIA (in December 2013 and February 2014) projecting what they will be capable of implementing during the 2014 Le Mans 24 Hours. During a second period, after the first three events following the 2014 Le Mans, the data will be measured again and adjusted for one year, until the 2015 Le Mans event. The EoT rules and system of penalties in case of infringement will be managed by the Endurance Committee.

The sporting regulations will be amended in order to incorporate any modifications resulting from the introduction of the new LMP1 technical regulations, such as a new scale of penalties in order to introduce penalties which are consistent and graded to the severity of the technical infringement.

A new FIA Endurance Trophy has been created and will be awarded to the best private LMP1 team driver(s), assuming at least three cars are entered for the season.

ACO and GT representatives will form a collaboration from 2014 to harmonise the categorisation of GT drivers in both the WEC and GT Series.

The 2014 FIA World Endurance Championship calendar was confirmed as follows:

FIA WORLD TOURING CAR CHAMPIONSHIP

From 1 January 2014 certain cars will be removed from Appendix J 2010 to make them eligible for the ETCC and to allow teams to sell them for use in this Cup. The cars involved will be reclassified.

All races will have a single fixed distance of 60 kilometres, with the addition of a maximum of one lap to cover the distance.

The 2014 FIA World Touring Car Championship calendar is confirmed as follows:

* Subject to ASN’s confirmation
** Subject to the signing of the agreement with the promoter

FIA WORLD RALLYCROSS CHAMPIONSHIP

Following on-going discussions with the promoter, the WMSC is pleased to confirm the creation of the FIA’s sixth World Championship, the FIA World Rallycross Championship. This fast, competitive and spectacular youth-orientated Championship will be for Supercar drivers and teams and will be contested over 12 events around the world. The Sporting Regulations and calendar for 2014 were approved as follows:

Reserve competition: Greinbach (AUT)

* Competitions counting towards the FIA European Rallycross SuperCar Championship (all European competitions to count towards the FIA European Rallycross Championships for Super1600 and TouringCar)
** Subject to circuit (re-)homologation

From January 2014, a new scale of points will be adopted for the qualifying heats in the FIA European Rallycross Championship, with the top drivers receiving more points than those behind. The same scale of points – which serve to establish the intermediate classification at the end of the qualifying heats and to designate the drivers who can reach the final phase – will also be adopted in the FIA World Rallycross Championship. And, to increase the value of winning the Final, eight Championship points will be awarded instead of six.

In both the European and World Championships, the number of engine seals per driver in any one season is set at three. A penalty of 15 Championship points will be imposed on the driver for each additional engine seal.

AUTOCROSS

The name ‘FIA European Autocross Championship’ has been adopted to be more consistent with other Championship names.

FIA FORMULA E CHAMPIONSHIP

The 2014/2015 FIA Formula E Championship calendar was confirmed as follows:

HISTORIC MOTOR SPORT

In order to help build up a Championship of classic rallies, coefficients have been introduced from 2014 for events which are part of the FIA European Historic Sporting Rally Championship. The coefficient scale will range from one to three, one being a new event in the Championship and three being the highest coefficient for historically recognised events.

GT

Following the current promoter’s decision not to renew its contract which expires at the end of 2013, the WMSC agreed to the principle of creating an FIA label which may be granted to various GT International Series, after a call of interest, upon payment of a specific licence fee and subject to compliance with a number of criteria, in order to move further towards standardisation of regulations in areas such as Balance of Performance, application of the list of FIA Drivers’ categorisation and sporting and technical regulations. An FIA World Cup, following a single event concept, may also be created for the top teams and drivers of each FIA labelled International Series. Detailed proposals will be presented at the next WMSC meeting.

FIA FORMULA 3 EUROPEAN CHAMPIONSHIP

As an additional incentive to young drivers, a ‘Rookie’ title has been created from 2014. These drivers will also be able to make use of on-board camera footage until qualifying to enable them to improve their performances.

In order to compensate for the installation of the new ECU, paddle shift system and engine in the 2014 car, the minimum weight has been increased to 565 kg.

The 2014 Formula 3 European Championship calendar was confirmed as follows:

FIA EUROPEAN TRUCK RACING CHAMPIONSHIP

The number of events counting towards the Championship has been reduced from 11 to 10.

FIA EUROPEAN DRAG RACING CHAMPIONSHIP

The 2014 Sporting Regulations have been validated.

HILL CLIMB

Competitors in the FIA European Hill Climb Championship and FIA International Hill Climb Cup will now be obliged to hold both a car driving licence and an international license issued by an FIA-affiliated club, ensuring a requisite minimum age for safety and practical reasons.

The Sporting Regulations for the new FIA Hill Climb Masters – a high profile tournament for the national and FIA Hill Climb Champions commencing in 2014 – were approved by the WMSC. The first FIA Hill Climb Masters will be hosted on 11/12 October 2014 in Eschdorf with the support of the ASN of Luxembourg.

FIA ALTERNATIVE ENERGIES CUP

From 2014, Category III A vehicles will be eligible to compete in the amalgamated Category VII & VIII, subject to declaration that the vehicle has sufficient on-board energy to cover the full itinerary without any intermediate charging.

LAND SPEED RECORDS

For the first time in many years, a complete update of the Land Speed Record regulations contained in Appendix D of the International Sporting Code has been undertaken and approved by the WMSC. This has been done in a format and manner consistent with the recently released 2014 update of the International Sporting Code itself, and is designed to make the regulations significantly easier for Land Speed Record competitors and the FIA’s national sporting authorities. These regulations go into effect as of 1 January 2014 and will be available on the FIA website, along with other documents designed to simplify the work of a competitor desiring to compete for an FIA World Land Speed Record.

WOMEN IN MOTOR SPORT

In accordance with its desire to encourage more women to become engineers, volunteers and officials, the Women in Motorsport Commission is pleased to announce it has appointed two new Ambassadors, Silvia Bellot (ESP) and Leena Gade (GBR) representing officials and engineers respectively.

Joint actions will be put in place with the FIA Volunteers and Officials Commission and, through its collaboration with two educational programmes – ‘F1 in Schools’ and ‘Formula Student’ – the Commission and its Ambassadors hope to encourage greater female participation in motor sport.

The WMSC also accepted the proposal by the Women in Motorsport Commission to become signatories of the Brighton Declaration. This Declaration dates from 1994 and was signed on the occasion of the first world conference on women and sport held in Brighton, England, and organised by the British Sports Council. It has already been ratified by numerous international sports federations, as well as by the IOC and its national Olympic committees.

KARTING

From 2014, points will be awarded to the top 10 drivers after the Qualifying Heats according to a scale of 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2 and 1 point. In addition, it will be possible to enter one Championship round as a ‘Wild Card’ entrant. These entrants will not be eligible to score points.

Drivers participating in their first year in the CIK-FIA European KF-Junior Championship will also be permitted to participate in the CIK-FIA Karting Academy Trophy.

From 2015, the European Superkart Championship will comprise a maximum of three events with no more than three races of 45 kilometres each.

MOTOR SPORT DEVELOPMENT TASK FORCE

The work of the Task Force will be to grow our sport by getting more people involved, whether as competitors, officials, volunteers and marshals, or fans. Sustainability, through funding and training programmes, will strengthen the ASNs and encourage more grassroots motor sport throughout the world, and the FIA should excel in identifying and developing new talented young drivers.

CALENDARS

A number of calendars and international series covering all the disciplines were ratified by the WMSC.