2020 World Rally Championship
Ott Tänak and Martin Järveoja were the defending Drivers' and Co-drivers' Champions, having secured their maiden titles at the 2019 Rally Catalunya.
[2] Hyundai Shell Mobis WRT, the team Tänak and Järveoja compete for, were the defending Manufacturers' Champions.
[5] At the conclusion of the championship, Sébastien Ogier and Julien Ingrassia won their seventh world titles after winning the 2020 Rally Monza.
[8] Rally Chile was included on the original calendar, but was later removed in the face of ongoing political unrest in the country.
[21] The FIA sought a replacement event to ensure that the calendar retained its planned fourteen rounds,[43] but were unable to do so.
[24] Events in Argentina,[44] Portugal,[26] Kenya,[28] Finland,[30] New Zealand,[31] Germany,[32] Great Britain[33] and Japan were cancelled.
[46] The running date of Rally Turkey was moved forward by a week, which facilitated the opportunity for additional rounds.
[50] Belgium was set to be the thirty-fourth country to hold a WRC event,[51] but were unable to do so as the rally was eventually called off due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
[52] The rally was based in the famous Autodromo Nazionale di Monza circuit near Milan, where the Italian Grand Prix is held every year.
[11] The route of Rally Mexico was shortened to allow teams time to pack up and return to their headquarters before several European nations imposed travel bans in a bid to manage the pandemic.
[54] Reigning World Champions Ott Tänak and Martin Järveoja left Toyota and moved to Hyundai.
[65] Loeb and Elena contested the championship on a part-time basis, sharing their car with the crew of Dani Sordo and Carlos del Barrio.
[70] Mikkelsen returned to action at the Rally Sardegna, co-driving with 2003 World Drivers' Champion Petter Solberg.
[71] The Citroën World Rally Team had committed to entering two full-time entries instead of three, continuing the policy they introduced in 2019.
Reigning WRC2 Pro champions Kalle Rovanperä and Jonne Halttunen made their competitive début in Toyota's third car.
Teemu Suninen and Jarmo Lehtinen were retained,[81] while Esapekka Lappi and Janne Ferm replaced Evans and Martin in the team's second car.
[82] Reigning WRC2 champions Pierre-Louis Loubet and Vincent Landais made their debut in a World Rally Car in Estonia.
[84] Ole Christian Veiby made his World Rally Car debut in Monza, taking over Loubet's i20.
The sport saw a series of crew changes in the off-season, which included reigning world champions Ott Tänak and Martin Järveoja moving to Hyundai.
[4] Tänak and Järveoja's title defence started poorly when they suffered a high-speed crash on the fourth stage of the rally, which saw their Hyundai i20 flying off a 40 m (131.2 ft) high cliff at 180 km/h (111.8 mph), rolling end-over-end through a series of trees and landing on the road below; both Tänak and Järveoja walked away uninjured.
[98] Hyundai's third entry of Dani Sordo and Carlos del Barrio suffered a radiator pipe issue on the morning loop of Friday which lost them five minutes,[99] and they ultimately retired with a terminal engine fault.
[103][104] Winning the warm-up event, local favourites Tänak and Järveoja were determined to prevail their home soil for the third straight year.
[106] Moving to Rally Turkey, where crews had to face the challenge of rock storms,[112] Sébastien Loeb and Daniel Elena took an early lead on Friday.
[114] Ogier and Ingrassia led the rally on Saturday morning until a puncture and hydraulics issue dropped them over half a minute, which gave the lead to Neuville and Gilsoul.
[118] The thin layer of slippery gravel of Sardegna meant a late road position would be helpful for a good result.
[120] Sordo and del Barrio made full use of this advantage to build a commanding lead of over thirty seconds going onto Sunday.
[121] The Spanish crew eventually won the rally for the second straight year although their i20's rear subframe was inspected and deemed to be underweight post-race.
[128] A suspension issue saw reigning world champions Tänak and Järveoja only manage to complete the rally in sixth position, but they won the Power Stage to score five bonus points.
[128] Pierre-Louis Loubet and Vincent Landais enjoyed a trouble-free weekend, scoring their first points in a World Rally Car by finishing seventh overall.
[131] Greensmith and Edmondson were caught out during the first test of Saturday's afternoon loop, while Ole Christian Veiby and Jonas Andersson also retired from the rally at the same spot after a violent crash.
