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ERC 2018: the year ahead

The FIA European Rally Championship will continue to feature eight events in 2018 with ERC season 66 beginning with the Azores Airlines Rallye on the Portuguese mid-Atlantic Ocean archipelago from 22-24 March and concluding on Latvia's Baltic coast from 12-14 October for Rally Liepāja, where five coveted FIA titles were decided in 2017.

Two ERC mainstays, Rally Islas Canarias and Barum Czech Rally Zlín, occupy their now traditional early May and late August slots respectively, while the Cyprus Rally keeps its mid-June date, two weeks after the legendary Acropolis Rally in Greece*.

Rally Poland returns to the ERC roster for the first time since triple European champion Kajetan Kajetanowicz won his home event in 2013, while there's a July date for Rally di Roma Capitale, which brought Italy back to the ERC fold last September.

The gravel-based Rally Poland takes over from the all-asphalt Rally Rzeszow as the Polish ASN's European championship counter when it celebrates its 75th edition.

Structured once again in response to calls from drivers and teams who were keen to cap their number of competitive outings at between six and eight events, the ERC calendar includes three rallies on asphalt and five on gravel (three on each surface for ERC Junior Under 27 and ERC Junior Under 28). There are no clashes between the ERC and world championship schedules.

Drivers in ERC1 and ERC3 count their best six scores from eight, while it's four from six in ERC Junior Under 28 and ERC Junior Under 27. For the first time, ERC2 and the ERC Ladies' Trophy competitors will count their best four scores from eight. The FIA European Rally Championship for Teams, which was restructured to great effect in 2017, will count the best six scores from eight by registered entrants.

FIA European Rally Championship calendar 2018
22-24 March: Azores Airlines Rallye (Portugal, gravel) ERC Junior
3-5 May: Rally Islas Canarias (Spain, asphalt) ERC Junior
1-3 June: Acropolis Rally (Greece, gravel)*
15-17 June: Cyprus Rally (Cyprus, gravel)
20-22 July: Rally di Roma Capitale (Italy, asphalt) ERC Junior
24-26 August: Barum Czech Rally Zlín (Czech Republic, asphalt) ERC Junior
21-23 September: Rally Poland (Poland, gravel) ERC Junior
12-14 October: Rally Liepāja (Latvia, gravel) ERC Junior

*Subject to signing of event promoter agreement

Zdroj: fiaerc.com