The European Rally Championship (continental championship) is an annual rally series consisting of a set of racing stages taking place on European tracks and held annually to this day. The FIA ERC was the first rally championship in which racers from different countries took part. Since 2013, the French channel Eurosport has become the media partner of the competition.
HISTORY OF THE FIA ERC
First held in 1953, the FIA ERC rapidly gained popularity, but already in 1973 the World Rally Championship appeared and interest in the European Series declined significantly. In an attempt to regain public interest, the FIA made the unsuccessful decision to award each stage (depending on the decision of the organizers) a coefficient from 1 to 4, to subsequently multiply the points received by the riders under the general rules. This made it difficult to watch the stages and reduced the attention of the spectators. Later, a system for awarding coefficients to the stages according to the 2-5-10-20 scheme was introduced, however, this did not increase the interest of the public.
Competitions are held at the convenience of the organizers. Nobody cares about teams, drivers and motorsport fans
FIA ERC TODAY
It was possible to raise the prestige with to the reorganization of the Rally ERC system in 2004. In the calendar, the organizers left up to 12 rally races with a difficulty factor of 20, the rest of the tracks were distributed among the national championships. This has increased the number of teams and the number of cars so much that since 2007, those wishing to become participants in the European Championship have to apply as for the world championship.
MOST POPULAR STAGES
RALLY CYPRUS
The "Rally Cyprus" stage is characterized by the highest difficulty and is invariably included in the season of the series. Here, special stages with gravel and asphalt cover alternate, which leads to difficulties with the selection of tires. Winding roads add intrigue for teams and fans. On various special stages, the average speed of a car can vary from 100 to 70 km/h, it is almost impossible to predict the result of the Rally Cyprus stage. Suffice it to say that in 2017, the first three numbers of the general classification took off at one turn.
RALLY ACROPOLIS
The popular stage of the world and European championships "Acropolis Rally" is notable for the high intensity of the struggle. To avoid heat strokes and overheating of vehicles, the rally is held in March and the organizers traditionally distribute water to cool the drivers. The headquarters of the race is located in the city of Loutraki. Qualification is held on the asphalt special stage on Friday. In the next two days, you need to go through several asphalt and gravel special stages. A feature is the presence of a section of increased complexity - Super Special Stage.
FIA ERC LADIE'S
In the championship, competitions are held in the Ladie's category, with female pilots. The popularity of this classification is growing and the number of teams from automakers is expected to increase soon.
The best results of the Ladie's series are similar to the times shown by the teams in the men's part of the competition.
