2018 Rally Catalunya
The 2018 Rally Catalunya (formally known as the 54. RallyRACC Catalunya-Costa Daurada) was a motor racing event for rally cars that took place between 25 and 28 October. The event was open to entries competing in World Rally Cars and cars complying with Group R regulations. It marked the fifty-fourth running of Rally Catalunya and was the twelfth round of the 2018 FIA World Rally Championship, the highest class of competition in international rallying. Seventy-six crews, including manufacturer teams and privateers, were entered to compete in the World Rally Championship, the FIA World Rally Championship-2 and FIA World Rally Championship-3 support series and the Spanish national Rally Championship and Peugeot Rally Cup Ibérica championship. The 2018 event was based in Salou in Tarragona and consisted of eighteen special stages. The rally covered a total competitive distance of a 331.58 km (206.03 miles) and an additional 1,132.79 km (703.88 miles) in transport stages.
| 2018 Rally Catalunya 54. RallyRACC Catalunya-Costa Daurada | |||
|---|---|---|---|
Round 12 of 13 in the 2018 World Rally Championship
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| Host country | Spain | ||
| Rally base | Salou, Tarragona | ||
| Dates run | 25 – 28 October 2018 | ||
| Start location | Montjuïc, Barcelona | ||
| Finish location | Salou, Tarragona | ||
| Stages | 18 (331.58 km; 206.03 miles) | ||
| Stage surface | Tarmac and gravel | ||
| Transport distance | 1,132.79 km (703.88 miles) | ||
| Overall distance | 1,464.37 km (909.92 miles) | ||
| Statistics | |||
| Crews registered | 76 | ||
| Crews | 70 at start, 53 at finish | ||
| Overall results | |||
| Overall winner | Sébastien Loeb Daniel Elena Citroën Total Abu Dhabi WRT 3:12:08.0 | ||
| Power Stage winner | Ott Tänak Martin Järveoja Toyota Gazoo Racing WRT | ||
| Support category results | |||
| WRC-2 winner | Kalle Rovanperä Jonne Halttunen Škoda Motorsport II 3:20:47.6 | ||
| WRC-3 winner | Enrico Brazzoli Luca Beltrame Enrico Brazzoli 3:58:18.3 | ||
Kris Meeke and Paul Nagle were the reigning rally winners, but did not defend their win after Meeke was fired from Citroën. The Finnish crew of Teemu Suninen and Mikko Markkula were the reigning winners of the World Rally Championship-2, but did not defend their title as they will compete in the World Rally Championship class. Nil Solans and Miquel Ibáñez Sotos were the reigning World Rally Championship-3 winners, but Marc Martí replaced Ibáñez Sotos as Solans' co-driver in the WRC-2 category.
Nine-time world champions Sébastien Loeb and Daniel Elena won the rally for the first time since 2013 Rally Argentina. The victory also marked Loeb the third oldest winner overall. The margin between second-place Sébastien Ogier was 2.9 seconds, which also made the rally become the tenth closest wins in history. The Škoda Motorsport II crew of Kalle Rovanperä and Jonne Halttunen won in the World Rally Championship-2 in a Škoda Fabia R5, while the Italian crew of Enrico Brazzoli and Luca Beltrame won in the World Rally Championship-3. The Czech crew of Jan Kopecký and Pavel Dresler finished second in WRC-2, which made them the drivers' and co-drivers' champions of 2018 World Rally Championship-2 respectively.