The fourth round of the 2024 WRC season, the Croatia Rally is upon us. Find out all you need to know about the event below.
Drivers’ Championship Rundown
Toksport’s Oliver Solberg holds an 18-point lead over Citroen’s Yohan Rossel and fellow Toksport driver Gus Greensmith. Solberg has used two of his seven-point scoring rounds whilst Rossel and Greensmith have only used one. Rossel will use his second this weekend while Greensmith will not score points this weekend, and Solberg is not contesting the event. Niclas Ciamin sits fourth in the championship a single point behind Rossel and Greensmith. Ciamin has also used two of his point-scoring rounds, this weekend will be his third. Sami Pajari and Pepe López sit tied for fifth in the championship, as both drivers are 6 points behind Ciamin. Both Pajari and López have used one point scoring round and López will use his second this weekend.
Event Rundown
Conditions
Conditions at the Croatia Rally are expected to vary throughout the weekend. As Friday is expected to be clear and dry for the most part. On Saturday it is expected to rain which would make the stages wet during the day, and they will likely be wet again on Sunday. It is worth noting this could entirely change, as conditions during recce were similar to Monte-Carlo’s. Anything is possible, drivers and teams will have to adapt on the fly as they do every weekend.
Day One
The first day of the Croatia Rally will see drivers contest 119.74 km across eight stages. The longest of the day’s stages is the 23.63 km Krašić-Sošice stage which is the final stage of each loop. While the shortest is the 9.48 km Jaškovo-Mali Morduš Potok stage which is the third stage of each loop. Day one will feature a single tire fitting zone between the two loops and no service.
Day Two
The second of three days will see drivers contest 108.76 km across another eight stages. The longest stage on the day is the 20.77 km Stojdraga-Gornja Vas stage which is the second stage of each loop. While the shortest stage of the day is the 8.78 km Vinski-Duga Resa stage which is the third stage of each loop. Unlike the first day the second day will feature one midday service for the drivers, the length of this service is 40 minutes.
Day Three
The third and final day of the Croatia Rally will see drivers contest 54.78 km across four stages. The longest stage of the day is the 14.24 km Zagorska Sela-Kumrovec stage which is the second stage of each loop and will serve as the Powerstage. While the shortest stage of the day is the 13.15 km Trakošćan-Vrbno stage which is the first stage of each loop.