ERC: Provisional calendar published

Provisional 10-event calendar for the 2015 FIA European Rally Championship released
ERC: Provisional calendar published

The provisional 10-event calendar for the 2015 FIA European Rally Championship has been published today by Eurosport Events, the ERC promoter. It follows a meeting of the FIA Rally Commission on Wednesday.

The 2015 ERC season kicks off on the ice-coated roads of the J?nnerrallye from 4-6 January. Uniquely, the event will start on Sunday and finish on Tuesday to take in the Austrian Bank Holiday weekend.

From Upper Austria, the ERC heads north to Latvia for Rally Liepja (6-8 February), a high-speed snow spectacular through the Baltic forests.

It's back to asphalt for the Circuit of Ireland Rally, one of the oldest events on the international calendar, from 2-4 April prior to a short break as the ERC crews recharge their batteries following an all-action start to the season.

The competition resumes with one of the most spectacular gravel events of all, SATA Rallye A?ores (4-6 June), before a return to asphalt for Belgium's Geko Ypres Rally from 25-27 June.

auto24Rally Estonia, a hit new addition to the ERC schedule for 2014, retains its mid-summer slot with crews set to fly over the gravel jumps and crests from 17-19 July.

The all-asphalt Barum Czech Rally Zl?n is next up from 28-30 August with the Cyprus Rally scheduled for 25-27 September, one week later than 2014 to allow teams more travel time. Discussions are taking place to offset the cost of travel to Cyprus and A?ores.

The ERC remains on gravel for Rally of Greece, previously the Acropolis Rally, from 9-11 October having run in March this season, but it's back to asphalt for the season-closer, the iconic Giru di Corsica-Tour de Corse from 5-7 November.

"Once again we have put together an exciting schedule of emerging and established events in all four corners of Europe," said Jean-Baptiste Ley, the ERC General Co-ordinator. "With rallies on ice, snow, asphalt and gravel, crews can experience serious competition on a variety of surfaces."

Events will be run over a competitive distance of between 200-230 kilometres as part of ongoing cost-cutting measures, which also include restrictions on testing and tyre use.

The provisional FIA European Rally Championship calendar for 2015 will now be submitted to the FIA World Motor Sport Council for final ratification at its meeting in Doha, Qatar on 3 December.
2015 European Rally Championship calendar - provisional

4-6 January J?nnerrallye (Austria, asphalt/ice/snow)
6-8 February Rally Liepja (Latvia, gravel/ice/snow) (J)
2-4 April Circuit of Ireland Rally (Northern Ireland, asphalt) (J)
4-6 June SATA Rallye A?ores (Portugal, gravel) (J)
25-27 June Geko Ypres Rally (Belgium, asphalt) (J)
17-19 July auto24 Rally Estonia (gravel) (J)*
28-30 August Barum Czech Rally Zl?n (Czech Republic, asphalt) (J)
25-27 September Cyprus Rally (gravel)
9-11 October Rally of Greece (gravel)*
5-7 November Giru di Corsica-Tour de Corse (France, asphalt)

(J) denotes FIA ERC Junior Championship round
*Subject to signing of ERC Promoter agreement

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