2023 Croatia Rally


The 2023 Croatia Rally was a motor racing event for rally cars that was held over four days between 20 and 23 April 2023. It marked the 47th running of the Croatia Rally, and was the fourth round of the 2023 World Rally Championship, World Rally Championship-2 and World Rally Championship-3. The event was also the second round of the 2023 Junior World Rally Championship. The 2023 event was based in Zagreb in Central Croatia and was contested over twenty special stages, covering a total competitive distance of.
Kalle Rovanperä and Jonne Halttunen were the defending rally winners. Their team, Toyota Gazoo Racing WRT, were the defending manufacturer's winners. Yohan Rossel and Valentin Sarreaud were the defending rally winners in the WRC-2 category. Zoltán László and Tamás Kürti were the defending rally winners in the WRC-3 category. Lauri Joona and Mikael Korhonen were the defending rally winners in the junior category.
Elfyn Evans and Scott Martin won the rally, ending their victory drought since the 2021 Rally Finland. Their team, Toyota Gazoo Racing WRT successfully defended their manufacturer's title. Yohan Rossel and Arnaud Dunand successfully defended their titles in the World Rally Championship-2 category. Eamonn Kelly and Conor Mohan won the World Rally Championship-3 category, as well as the junior championship.
Following an accident in the pre-event test, Hyundai Shell Mobis WRT driver Craig Breen died at the age of 33.

Background

Entry list

The following crews were set to enter into the rally. The event was open to crews competing in the World Rally Championship, its support categories, the World Rally Championship-2, World Rally Championship-3, Junior World Rally Championship and privateer entries that were not registered to score points in any championship. Nine were entered under Rally1 regulations, as were nineteen Rally2 crews in the World Rally Championship-2 and eight Rally3 crew in the World Rally Championship-3. A total of eight crews were registered to participate in the Junior World Rally Championship.
No.DriverCo-DriverEntrantCarChampionship eligibilityTyre
4

Itinerary

All dates and times are CEST.

Report

WRC-2 Rally2

Special stages

StageWinnersCarTimeClass leaders
SDCais / TěšínskýŠkoda Fabia RS Rally21:59.7
SS1Rossel / DunandCitroën C3 Rally212:39.2Rossel / Dunand
SS2Rossel / DunandCitroën C3 Rally215:53.5Rossel / Dunand
SS3Gryazin / AleksandrovŠkoda Fabia RS Rally25:47.2Rossel / Dunand
SS4Lindholm / HämäläinenŠkoda Fabia RS Rally25:01.0Rossel / Dunand
SS5Greensmith / AnderssonŠkoda Fabia RS Rally212:36.6Rossel / Dunand
SS6Rossel / DunandCitroën C3 Rally216:11.4Rossel / Dunand
SS7Ciamin / RocheVolkswagen Polo GTI R55:44.1Rossel / Dunand
SS8Gryazin / AleksandrovŠkoda Fabia RS Rally25:07.2Rossel / Dunand
SS9Fourmaux / CoriaFord Fiesta Rally213:28.7Rossel / Dunand
SS10Gryazin / AleksandrovŠkoda Fabia RS Rally24:46.5Rossel / Dunand
SS11Ciamin / RocheVolkswagen Polo GTI R56:13.7Rossel / Dunand
SS12Ciamin / RocheVolkswagen Polo GTI R58:48.6Rossel / Dunand
SS13Gryazin / AleksandrovŠkoda Fabia RS Rally213:30.6Rossel / Dunand
SS14Greensmith / Andersson
Pajari / Mälkönen		Škoda Fabia RS Rally2
Škoda Fabia RS Rally2		4:47.7Rossel / Dunand
SS15Gryazin / AleksandrovŠkoda Fabia RS Rally26:15.4Rossel / Dunand
SS16Gryazin / AleksandrovŠkoda Fabia RS Rally29:00.3Rossel / Dunand
SS17Rossel / DunandCitroën C3 Rally27:26.6Rossel / Dunand
SS18Greensmith / AnderssonŠkoda Fabia RS Rally28:31.6Rossel / Dunand
SS19Rossel / DunandCitroën C3 Rally27:26.3Rossel / Dunand
SS20Greensmith / AnderssonŠkoda Fabia RS Rally28:24.0Rossel / Dunand

StageWinnersCarTimeClass leaders
SDCais / TěšínskýŠkoda Fabia RS Rally21:59.7
SS1Gryazin / AleksandrovŠkoda Fabia RS Rally212:56.9Gryazin / Aleksandrov
SS2Ciamin / RocheVolkswagen Polo GTI R515:56.2Ciamin / Roche
SS3Gryazin / AleksandrovŠkoda Fabia RS Rally25:47.2Ciamin / Roche
SS4Gryazin / AleksandrovŠkoda Fabia RS Rally25:02.1Gryazin / Aleksandrov
SS5Gryazin / AleksandrovŠkoda Fabia RS Rally212:38.4Gryazin / Aleksandrov
SS6Cachón / López FernándezCitroën C3 Rally216:15.2Gryazin / Aleksandrov
SS7Ciamin / RocheVolkswagen Polo GTI R55:44.1Gryazin / Aleksandrov
SS8Gryazin / AleksandrovŠkoda Fabia RS Rally25:07.2Gryazin / Aleksandrov
SS9Ciamin / RocheVolkswagen Polo GTI R513:32.1Ciamin / Roche
SS10Gryazin / AleksandrovŠkoda Fabia RS Rally24:46.5Gryazin / Aleksandrov
SS11Ciamin / RocheVolkswagen Polo GTI R56:13.7Gryazin / Aleksandrov
SS12Ciamin / RocheVolkswagen Polo GTI R58:48.6Ciamin / Roche
SS13Gryazin / AleksandrovŠkoda Fabia RS Rally213:30.6Gryazin / Aleksandrov
SS14Pajari / MälkönenŠkoda Fabia RS Rally24:47.7Gryazin / Aleksandrov
SS15Gryazin / AleksandrovŠkoda Fabia RS Rally26:15.4Gryazin / Aleksandrov
SS16Gryazin / AleksandrovŠkoda Fabia RS Rally29:00.3Gryazin / Aleksandrov
SS17Pajari / MälkönenŠkoda Fabia RS Rally27:28.7Gryazin / Aleksandrov
SS18Pajari / MälkönenŠkoda Fabia RS Rally28:36.5Gryazin / Aleksandrov
SS19Gryazin / AleksandrovŠkoda Fabia RS Rally27:26.7Gryazin / Aleksandrov
SS20Pajari / MälkönenŠkoda Fabia RS Rally28:31.6Gryazin / Aleksandrov

Death of Craig Breen

The event was overshadowed by the death of Hyundai works driver Craig Breen, who was killed in the pre-event test after the front-left of his Hyundai i20 N Rally1 collided with a pole on a road. This was the first competitor-involved fatal accident since Jörg Bastuck at the 2006 Rally Catalunya. His co-driver James Fulton was uninjured. Breen's funeral took place on 18 April 2023 at The Sacred Heart Church in Ferrybank. Several members from the WRC family attended the funeral, including Fulton, Breen's former co-driver, Paul Nagle and Breen's teammate at Hyundai, Dani Sordo.
In tribute to Breen, Moonraker Forestry Rally, the second round of the Irish Forestry Championship, was postponed. The Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile announced his car number 42 would be retired from the rest of the season. Hyundai also decided to participate the event with a special livery on two cars, with the third car withdrawn from the event in honor of Breen.