The 2021 Rally Catalunya (also known as the RallyRACC Catalunya - Costa Daurada 2021) was a motor racing event for rally cars that held over four days between 14 and 17 October 2021. It marked the fifty-sixth running of the Rally de Catalunya. The event was the tenth round of the 2021 World Rally Championship, World Rally Championship-2 and World Rally Championship-3. It also hosted as the final round of the 2021 Junior World Rally Championship. The 2021 event was based in Salou in the province of Tarragona in Catalonia and was contested over seventeen special stages totalling in competitive distance.
Thierry Neuville and Nicolas Gilsoul were the defending rally winners. Their team, Hyundai Shell Mobis WRT, were the defending manufacturers' winners. However, Gilsoul did not defend his title as Neuville changed his co-driver to Martijn Wydaeghe at the start of the season. Mads Østberg and Torstein Eriksen were the defending winners in the WRC-2 category, while Eric Camilli and Benjamin Veillas were the defending winners in the WRC-3 category.
Neuville successfully defended his title with his new co-driver Martijn Wydaeghe. Their team, Hyundai Shell Mobis WRT, successfully defended their titles. In the World Rally Championship-2 category, Eric Camilli and Maxime Vilmot won the event, while Andreas Mikkelsen confirmed to win the WRC-2 title. In the World Rally Championship-3 category, Emil Lindholm and Reeta Hämäläinen took back-to-back victory. In the junior championship, the Finnish crew of Sami Pajari and Marko Salminen won the rally and became the junior rally champions.
Background Championship standings prior to the event Reigning World Champions Sébastien Ogier and Julien Ingrassia entered the round with a twenty-four-point lead over Elfyn Evans and Scott Martin. Thierry Neuville and Martijn Wydaeghe were third, a further thirty-six points behind. In the World Rally Championship for Manufacturers, Toyota Gazoo Racing WRT held a massive sixty-one-point lead over defending manufacturers' champions Hyundai Shell Mobis WRT, followed by M-Sport Ford WRT.
In the World Rally Championship-2 standings, Andreas Mikkelsen led Mads Østberg by eight points in the drivers' championship, with Marco Bulacia Wilkinson in third. In the co-drivers' championship Torstein Eriksen held a fourteen-point lead over Marcelo Der Ohannesian, with Ola Fløene in third.
In the World Rally Championship-3 standings, Yohan Rossel led Kajetan Kajetanowicz by fifteen points in the drivers' championship, with Emil Lindholm in third. In the co-drivers' championship, Maciek Szczepaniak held a thirteen-point lead over Alexandre Coria, with Yannick Roche in third.
In the junior championship, Sami Pajari and Marko Salminen led Jon Armstrong and Phil Hall by three points. Mārtiņš Sesks and Renars Francis were third, eleven points further back. In the Nations' standings, Finland held an eight-point lead over United Kingdom and Latvia.
Entry list The following crews entered the rally. The event was open to crews competing in the World Rally Championship, its support categories, the World Rally Championship-2 and World Rally Championship-3, and privateer entries that were not registered to score points in any championship. Twelve entries for the World Rally Championship were received, as were eight in the World Rally Championship-2 and fifteen in the World Rally Championship-3. A further six crews entered the Junior World Rally Championship in Ford Fiesta Rally4s.
+ No. Driver Co-Driver Entrant Car Tyre 1 Sébastien Ogier Julien Ingrassia Toyota Gazoo Racing WRT Toyota Yaris WRC 2 Oliver Solberg Craig Drew Hyundai 2C Competition Hyundai i20 Coupe WRC 6 Dani Sordo Cándido Carrera Hyundai Shell Mobis WRT Hyundai i20 Coupe WRC 8 Ott Tänak Martin Järveoja Hyundai Shell Mobis WRT Hyundai i20 Coupe WRC 11 Thierry Neuville Martijn Wydaeghe Hyundai Shell Mobis WRT Hyundai i20 Coupe WRC 14 Nil Solans Marc Martí Hyundai 2C Competition Hyundai i20 Coupe WRC 16 Adrien Fourmaux Alexandre Coria M-Sport Ford WRT Ford Fiesta WRC 18 Takamoto Katsuta Aaron Johnston Toyota Gazoo Racing WRT Toyota Yaris WRC 33 Elfyn Evans Scott Martin Toyota Gazoo Racing WRT Toyota Yaris WRC 44 Gus Greensmith Chris Patterson M-Sport Ford WRT Ford Fiesta WRC 54 Armando Pereira Rémi Tutélaire Armando Pereira Ford Fiesta WRC 69 Kalle Rovanperä Jonne Halttunen Toyota Gazoo Racing WRT Toyota Yaris WRC Source:
+ No. Driver Co-Driver Entrant Car Tyre 21 Mads Østberg Torstein Eriksen TRT World Rally Team Citroën C3 Rally2 23 Jari Huttunen Mikko Lukka Hyundai Motorsport N Hyundai i20 N Rally2 24 Teemu Suninen Mikko Markkula Hyundai Motorsport N Hyundai i20 N Rally2 25 Georg Linnamäe James Morgan ALM Motorsport Volkswagen Polo GTI R5 26 Sean Johnston Alex Kihurani Saintéloc Junior Team Citroën C3 Rally2 27 Eric Camilli Maxime Vilmot Sports & You Citroën C3 Rally2 28 Erik Cais Jindřiška Žáková Movisport Ford Fiesta Rally2 Source:
+ No. Driver Co-Driver Entrant Car Tyre 29 Kajetan Kajetanowicz Maciej Szczepaniak Kajetan Kajetanowicz Škoda Fabia Rally2 evo 30 Chris Ingram Ross Whittock Chris Ingram Škoda Fabia Rally2 evo 31 Fabrizio Zaldivar Carlos del Barrio Fabrizio Zaldivar Škoda Fabia Rally2 evo 32 Pepe López Borja Rozada Pepe López Škoda Fabia Rally2 evo 34 Mikko Heikkilä Topi Luhtinen Mikko Heikkilä Škoda Fabia Rally2 evo 35 Josh McErlean James Fulton Josh McErlean Hyundai i20 R5 36 Jan Solans Rodrigo Sanjuan de Eusebio Jan Solans Citroën C3 Rally2 37 Armin Kremer Ella Kremer Armin Kremer Citroën C3 Rally2 38 Mauro Miele Luca Beltrame Mauro Miele Škoda Fabia Rally2 evo 39 Miguel Díaz-Aboitiz Diego Sanjuan de Eusebio Miguel Díaz-Aboitiz Škoda Fabia Rally2 evo 40 Reeta Hämäläinen Emil Lindholm Reeta Hämäläinen Škoda Fabia Rally2 evo 41 Neil Simpson Michael Gibson Neil Simpson Škoda Fabia Rally2 evo 42 Dominik Stříteský Jiří Hovorka Dominik Stříteský Škoda Fabia Rally2 evo 43 Sebastian Perez Gary McElhinney Sebastian Perez Ford Fiesta Rally2 Source:
+ No. Driver Co-Driver Entrant Car Tyre 48 Sami Pajari Marko Salminen Porvoon Autopalvelu Ford Fiesta Rally4 49 Jon Armstrong Phil Hall Jon Armstrong Ford Fiesta Rally4 50 Mārtiņš Sesks Renārs Francis LMT Autosporta Akademija Ford Fiesta Rally4 51 Lauri Joona Mikael Korhonen Team Flying Finn Ford Fiesta Rally4 52 William Creighton Liam Regan Motorsport Ireland Rally Academy Ford Fiesta Rally4 53 Robert Virves Aleks Lesk Autosport Team Estonia Ford Fiesta Rally4 Source:
+ No. Driver Co-Driver Entrant Car Tyre 20 Marco Bulacia Wilkinson Marcelo Der Ohannesian Toksport WRT Škoda Fabia Rally2 evo 22 Nikolay Gryazin Konstantin Aleksandrov Movisport Škoda Fabia Rally2 evo Source:
Route Itinerary All dates and times are CEST (UTC+2). Date Time No. Stage name Distance 14 October 9:01 — Coll de la Teixeta [Shakedown] 4.31 km 15 October 8:43 SS1 Vilaplana 1 20.00 km 10:21 SS2 La Granadella 1 21.80 km 11:42 SS3 Riba-roja 1 14.21 km 15:00 SS4 Vilaplana 2 20.00 km 16:38 SS5 La Granadella 2 21.80 km 17:59 SS6 Riba-roja 2 14.21 km 16 October 8:44 SS7 Savallà 1 14.08 km 9:37 SS8 Querol - Les Pobles 1 19.17 km 10:38 SS9 El Montmell 1 24.40 km 14:14 SS10 Savallà 2 14.08 km 15:07 SS11 Querol - Les Pobles 2 19.17 km 16:08 SS12 El Montmell 2 24.40 km 18:00 SS13 Salou 2.24 km 17 October 7:00 SS14 Santa Marina 1 9.10 km 8:08 SS15 Riudecanyes 1 16.35 km 10:29 SS16 Santa Marina 2 9.10 km 12:18 SS17 Riudecanyes 2 [Power Stage] 16.35 km Source:
Report World Rally Cars Classification Position Driver Entrant Car Time Points Event Class Event Stage 1 1 11 Thierry Neuville Martijn Wydaeghe Hyundai Shell Mobis WRT Hyundai i20 Coupe WRC 2:34:11.8 0.0 25 4 2 2 33 Elfyn Evans Scott Martin Toyota Gazoo Racing WRT Toyota Yaris WRC 2:34:35.9 +24.1 18 3 3 3 6 Dani Sordo Cándido Carrera Hyundai Shell Mobis WRT Hyundai i20 Coupe WRC 2:34:47.1 +35.3 15 5 4 4 1 Sébastien Ogier Julien Ingrassia Toyota Gazoo Racing WRT Toyota Yaris WRC 2:34:53.9 +42.1 12 2 5 5 69 Kalle Rovanperä Jonne Halttunen Toyota Gazoo Racing WRT Toyota Yaris WRC 2:35:43.6 +1:31.8 10 1 6 6 44 Gus Greensmith Chris Patterson M-Sport Ford WRT Ford Fiesta WRC 2:38:29.1 +4:17.3 8 0 7 7 2 Oliver Solberg Craig Drew Hyundai Motorsport N Hyundai i20 Coupe WRC 2:38:38.5 +4:26.7 6 0 8 8 14 Nil Solans Marc Martí Hyundai 2C Competition Hyundai i20 Coupe WRC 2:38:46.7 +4:34.9 4 0 16 9 16 Adrien Fourmaux Alexandre Coria M-Sport Ford WRT Ford Fiesta WRC 2:47:04.8 +12:53.0 0 0 39 10 54 Armando Pereira Rémi Tutélaire Armando Pereira Ford Fiesta WRC 3:21:30.3 +47:18.5 0 0 40 11 18 Takamoto Katsuta Daniel Barritt Toyota Gazoo Racing WRT Toyota Yaris WRC 3:27:10.1 +52:58.3 0 0 Retired SS4 8 Ott Tänak Martin Järveoja Hyundai Shell Mobis WRT Hyundai i20 Coupe WRC Off-road 0 0
Special stages Day Stage Stage name Length Winners Car Time Class leaders 14 October — Coll de la Teixeta [Shakedown] 4.31 km Ogier / Ingrassia Toyota Yaris WRC 2:33.6 15 October SS1 Vilaplana 1 20.00 km Evans / Martin Toyota Yaris WRC 10:16.9 Evans / Martin SS2 La Granadella 1 21.80 km Neuville / WydaegheEvans / Martin Hyundai i20 Coupe WRCToyota Yaris WRC 11:46.0 SS3 Riba-roja 1 14.21 km Evans / Martin Toyota Yaris WRC 8:30.8 SS4 Vilaplana 2 20.00 km Neuville / Wydaeghe Hyundai i20 Coupe WRC 10:17.6 SS5 La Granadella 2 21.80 km Neuville / Wydaeghe Hyundai i20 Coupe WRC 11:49.2 Neuville / Wydaeghe SS6 Riba-roja 2 14.21 km Neuville / Wydaeghe Hyundai i20 Coupe WRC 8:38.2 16 October SS7 Savallà 1 14.08 km Neuville / Wydaeghe Hyundai i20 Coupe WRC 7:22.5 SS8 Querol - Les Pobles 1 19.17 km Neuville / Wydaeghe Hyundai i20 Coupe WRC 10:29.6 SS9 El Montmell 1 24.40 km Neuville / Wydaeghe Hyundai i20 Coupe WRC 12:03.5 SS10 Savallà 2 14.08 km Neuville / Wydaeghe Hyundai i20 Coupe WRC 7:24.5 SS11 Querol - Les Pobles 2 19.17 km Neuville / WydaegheOgier / Ingrassia Hyundai i20 Coupe WRCToyota Yaris WRC 10:30.5 SS12 El Montmell 2 24.40 km Ogier / Ingrassia Toyota Yaris WRC 12:03.7 SS13 Salou 2.24 km Neuville / Wydaeghe Hyundai i20 Coupe WRC 2:23.6 17 October SS14 Santa Marina 1 9.10 km Sordo / Carrera Hyundai i20 Coupe WRC 5:05.5 SS15 Riudecanyes 1 16.35 km Sordo / Carrera Hyundai i20 Coupe WRC 10:04.3 SS16 Santa Marina 2 9.10 km Sordo / Carrera Hyundai i20 Coupe WRC 5:02.4 SS17 Riudecanyes 2 [Power Stage] 16.35 km Sordo / Carrera Hyundai i20 Coupe WRC 10:09.3
Championship standings Drivers' championships Co-drivers' championships Manufacturers' championshipsMoveDriverPointsMoveCo-driverPointsMoveManufacturerPoints 1 Sébastien Ogier 204 Julien Ingrassia 204 Toyota Gazoo Racing WRT 476 2 Elfyn Evans 187 Scott Martin 187 Hyundai Shell Mobis WRT 429 3 Thierry Neuville 159 Martijn Wydaeghe 159 M-Sport Ford WRT 190 4 Kalle Rovanperä 140 Jonne Halttunen 140 Hyundai 2C Competition 58 5 Ott Tänak 128 Martin Järveoja 128
World Rally Championship-2 Classification Position Driver Co-driver Entrant Car Time Points Event Class Class Stage Event 9 1 27 Eric Camilli Maxime Vilmot Sports & You Citroën C3 Rally2 2:44:01.2 0.0 25 2 2 11 2 23 Teemu Suninen Mikko Markkula Hyundai Motorsport N Hyundai i20 N Rally2 2:44:21.4 +20.2 18 4 0 13 3 28 Erik Cais Jindřiška Žáková Movisport Ford Fiesta Rally2 2:44:57.3 +56.1 15 3 0 15 4 21 Mads Østberg Torstein Eriksen TRT World Rally Team Citroën C3 Rally2 2:45:53.0 +1:51.8 12 5 0 19 5 26 Sean Johnston Alex Kihurani Saintéloc Junior Team Citroën C3 Rally2 2:49:32.0 +5:30.8 10 0 0 21 6 25 Georg Linnamäe James Morgan ALM Motorsport Volkswagen Polo GTI R5 2:50:40.3 +6:39.1 8 1 0 Retired SS10 23 Jari Huttunen Mikko Lukka Hyundai Motorsport N Hyundai i20 N Rally2 Oil Leak 0 0 0
Special stages