The 2016 FIA European Rally Championship season is at the midway point after a thrilling start to the year over five closely-fought events.
A unique and demanding challenge was posed by each of the five rallies – all classic European events – and five different winners prevailed. The battles for victory were all close, going down to a dramatic final-day showdown every single time. Wins have been claimed with three of the four models of car currently homologated to compete in the top R5 category.
And it’s all to play for in the title fight, with the defending champion Kajetan Kajetanowicz holding just a 15-point advantage over his rival Alexey Lukyanuk at the halfway stage. The pair have demonstrated their abilities against tough opposition, including four current World Rally Championship stars: Mads Østberg, Craig Breen, Stéphane Lefebvre and Elfyn Evans.
Also part of the serious competition have been young stars such as Ralfs Sirmacis – who won the SEAJETS Acropolis Rally aged just 21 and driving a ŠKODA Fabia R5 for the first time after stepping up from the ERC Junior Championship – and local heroes, with Ricardo Moura claiming a historic first win on the Azores Airlines Rallye and Freddy Loix recording his 11th Kenotek Ypres Rally victory.
The popularity of the ERC has been clear to see in 2016. More than120 competitors have now registered for the ERC season, 73 of these in the top ERC1 category. A number of events have featuredhuge numbers of R5 cars, with 31 in action on the Circuit of Ireland, 25 in the Azores and 27 in Ypres. The importance of the ERC to the burgeoning R5 category was underlined when Ypres was chosen for the public debut for the new Hyundai i20 R5 as a course car, with another WRC driver, Kevin Abbring, behind the wheel.
The ERC brings a significant international flavour to each rally, with at least 22 foreign crews present on each round so far this season. The registrations for the 2016 ERC represent 26 different nationalities, including Argentina and Paraguay.
FIA ERC
