The 2011 Intercontinental Rally Challenge was the sixth season of the Intercontinental Rally Challenge. The season consisted of twelve rounds and started on 19 January with the Monte Carlo Rally. The season ended on 5 November, at the Cyprus Rally.
The series introduced a new points system for the 2011 season, applying the FIA points system – 25–18–15–12–10–8–6–4–2–1 – which had been introduced to other championships within the last twelve months. Within the new system, the final two events in Scotland and Cyprus offered more points via a scoring coefficient. Scotland offered crews points on a 1.5 coefficient, meaning that the winner earned 37.5 points, second place 27 points, third place 22.5 points and so on. In Cyprus, double points were offered, meaning the winner received 50 points, second place 36, third place 30 and so forth. The rule was intended to increase the number of entries for the final two rounds, although Bouffier (who was still in mathematical contention for the title) did not participate in Cyprus.
Argentina was cancelled, meaning the calendar had a large proportion of tarmac events. Extra points for the final two gravel rallies meant that tarmac specialists would not necessarily dominate, however. The Proton Satria Neos were not as competitive as the Škoda Fabias or Peugeot 207s. The Monte Carlo Rally had several notable appearances, including François Delecour and 2003 World Rally Champion Petter Solberg. The final two rallies were won by Andreas Mikkelsen, who also took two other podiums and the most stage wins during the season en-route to the championship.
Calendar Rd.Start dateFinish dateRallyRally headquartersSurfaceStagesDistance119 January21 January 79th Rallye Automobile Monte-CarloValence, DrômeMixed13337.06 kmC4 March6 March Rally de los AlercesLos Alerces National Park, ChubutGravel????214 April16 April 35th Rally Islas Canarias - El Corte InglésLas Palmas, Gran CanariaAsphalt12190.59 km312 May14 May 54th Tour de Corse - E.LeclercAjaccio, CorsicaAsphalt14320.84 km42 June4 June 13th Prime Yalta RallyYalta, CrimeaAsphalt14261.87 km523 June25 June 47th Geko Ypres RallyYpres, West FlandersAsphalt18287.89 km614 July16 July 46th SATA Rallye AçoresPonta Delgada, AzoresGravel17205.09 kmC4 August6 August 52nd Rali Vinho da MadeiraFunchal, MadeiraAsphalt19268.50 km726 August28 August 41st Barum Rally ZlínZlín, Zlín RegionAsphalt15248.48 km89 September11 September 45th Canon Mecsek RallyePécs, BaranyaAsphalt14251.86 km922 September24 September 53rd Rallye SanremoSanremo, LiguriaAsphalt13225.77 km107 October9 October 3rd RACMSA Rally of ScotlandPerth, ScotlandGravel15200.09 km113 November5 November 40th Cyprus RallyPaphosMixed11187.58 kmSources: The calendar had consisted of twelve events run on two continents. The schedule will include two new countries, France (Tour de Corse, former WRC event) and Hungary (Asphalt/Gravel Mecsek Rallye), plus a return to Argentina for the new gravel-based Rally de los Alerces. The final calendar was released on 10 December 2010, with the Prime Yalta Rally in Ukraine added, and the Rally Islas Canarias listed without a confirmed date. Rally Islas Canarias was reinstated to the calendar on 19 January 2011 at the expense of Rally de los Alerces, which was cancelled. Rali Vinho da Madeira was later dropped in June 2011 due to a breach in contract related to debts the event organizers had not paid. Selected entries Peugeot UK had already confirmed their entry for the 2011 season with Guy Wilks who previously raced for Škoda UK instead of 2009 champion Kris Meeke who made the switch to World Rally Championship (WRC) driving for MINI. 2003 World Rally champion Petter Solberg made a one-off appearance at the Monte Carlo Rally for Peugeot. Škoda UK, had also announced their plan to compete in IRC in 2011. The team's single car was occupied by Andreas Mikkelsen, who competed in the Skoda Italia-run car, alongside the works cars of the top two drivers in 2010, Juho Hänninen and Jan Kopecký.
Entrant/Team Manufacturer Car Driver Co-driver Tyres Rounds Škoda Motorsport Škoda Škoda Fabia S2000 Juho Hänninen Mikko Markkula 1–2, 4, 6–7, 10–11 Jan Kopecký Petr Starý All Nicolas Vouilloz Benjamin Veillas 1 Freddy Loix Frédéric Miclotte 1 BFO-Škoda Rally Team 2–3, 5, 7–11 Škoda UK Andreas Mikkelsen Ola Fløene All Škoda Auto Deutschland Mark Wallenwein Stefan Kopczyk 1, 7–8, 11 Matthias Kahle Peter Göbel 7–8, 10–11 TGS Worldwide OÜ Toni Gardemeister Tapio Suominen 2–5, 7–10 Škoda Sweden Patrik Sandell Staffan Parmander 3–4 6–7, 10–11 ME3 Rally Team Karl Kruuda Martin Järveoja 4–5, 7–11 Autostal Duindistel Bernd Casier Francis Caesemaeker 5 Wevers Sport Hans Weijs Bjorn Degandt 5 Mark van Eldik Robin Buysmans 5 Edwin Schilt Lisette Bakker 5 Simpsons Škoda Jonathan Greer Dai Roberts 5, 10 Škoda Ireland Robert Barrable Damien Connolly 5 7, 10 Adell Mogul Racing Team Roman Kresta Petr Gross 7 Škoda Rally Team Hungaria Norbert Herczig Kálmán Benics 8 Red Bull Škoda Hermann Gassner Timo Gottschalk 8 René Georges Motorsport Burcu Çetinkaya Çiçek Güney 10–11 Peugeot France Peugeot Peugeot 207 S2000 Petter Solberg Chris Patterson 1 Bryan Bouffier Xavier Panseri 1–10 Stéphane Sarrazin Jacques-Julien Renucci 1 Robert Bútor Igor Bacigál 8 Enjolras Sport François Delecour Dominique Savignoni 1, 3 Peugeot UK Guy Wilks Phil Pugh 1–10 Astra Racing Toni Gardemeister Tomi Tuominen 1 Peugeot Sport Portugal Bruno Magalhães Paulo Grave 1–3, 5–6, 8–9 Friulmotor Giandomenico Basso Mitia Dotta 1 Peugeot Team Belux Thierry Neuville Nicolas Klinger 1 Nicolas Gilsoul 2–5, 7–11 Pieter Tsjoen Lara Vanneste 5 Kimera Motorsport Luca Betti Alessandro Mattioda 1 Maurizio Barone 5, 7 Munaretto Sport Max Settembrini Corrado Bonato 1–3 David Boselli 9 Marco Tempestini Dorin Pulpea 1, 4, 8 Pierre Campana Sabrina De Castelli 3, 5, 9 Doros Loucaides Costas Laos 11 AMP Classic Team Jonathan Pérez Enrique Velasco 2 Yazeed Al Rajhi Team Yazeed Al Rajhi Mathieu Baumel 3 Peugeot Delimax Czech National Team Pavel Valoušek Zdeněk Hrůza 7 Peugeot Total Hungária Rallye Team János Tóth Róbert Tagai 8 National Proklama Alessandro Perico Fabrizio Carrara 9 Petter Solberg World Rally Team M-Sport Ford Fiesta S2000 Henning Solberg Ilka Minor 1 Team Emap Yacco Julien Maurin Olivier Ural 1, 3, 5–6 AT Rally Team Oleksiy Tamrazov Ivan German 3–4, 7 Cersanit Rally Team Michał Sołowow Maciek Baran 5, 7 Keltech Motorsport Craig Breen Gareth Roberts 7, 10 Synergon Turán Motorsport Frigyes Turán Gábor Zsiros 8 Car Racing Umberto Scandola Guido D'Amore 9 M-Sport Alastair Fisher Daniel Barritt 10 Barwa World Rally Team Nasser Al-Attiyah Giovanni Bernacchini 11 Proton Motorsport Proton Proton Satria Neo S2000 Per-Gunnar Andersson Emil Axelsson 1–2, 4–5, 7–8, 10 Chris Atkinson Stéphane Prévot 1, 9 Giandomenico Basso Mitia Dotta 2, 4–5, 7–9 Oleksandr Saliuk Evgen Chervonenko 4 Alister McRae Bill Hayes 10 Dytko Sport Ralliart Mitsubishi Lancer Evo X Andreas Aigner Daniela Ertl 1 Amarante Rally Team Vítor Pascoal Luis Ramalho 6 Team Além Mar Mitsubishi Lancer Evo IX Ricardo Moura Sancho Eiró 6 David Bogie Rallying David Bogie Kevin Rae 10 Sonax Racing Jarkko Nikara Petri Nikara 10 Nicos Thomas Racing Nicos Thomas Angelos Loizides 11 Heuvel Motorsport Mitsubishi Lancer Evo X R4 Jasper van den Heuvel Martine Kolman 5 EuroOil Čepro Czech National Team Mitsubishi Lancer Evo IX R4 Václav Pech Petr Uhel 7 Martevo Kft. György Aschenbrenner Zsuzsa Pikó 8 Team Arai Subaru Subaru Impreza R4 Toshihiro Arai Dale Moscatt 3, 6, 8, 10–11 Advan Team Nutahara Fumio Nutahara Hakaru Ichino 6–7, 10 Eurosol Racing Team Hungary Volkswagen Volkswagen Polo S2000 László Vizin Gábor Zsiros 4, 7 National Proklama Abarth Abarth Grande Punto S2000 Luca Rossetti Matteo Chiarcossi 5
Results Round Rally name Podium finishers Rank Driver Car Time 1 / Monte Carlo Rally(19–22 January) — Results and report1 Bryan Bouffier Peugeot 207 S2000 3:32:55.62 Freddy Loix Škoda Fabia S2000 3:33:28.13 Guy Wilks Peugeot 207 S2000 3:34:15.3 2 Rally Islas Canarias(14–16 April) — Results and report1 Juho Hänninen Škoda Fabia S2000 1:40:38.12 Jan Kopecký Škoda Fabia S2000 1:40:39.63 Thierry Neuville Peugeot 207 S2000 1:40:46.3 3 Tour de Corse(12–14 May) — Results and report1 Thierry Neuville Peugeot 207 S2000 3:20:51.02 Jan Kopecký Škoda Fabia S2000 3:21:06.53 Freddy Loix Škoda Fabia S2000 3:21:53.6 4 Prime Yalta Rally(2–4 June) — Results and report1 Juho Hänninen Škoda Fabia S2000 2:54:14.02 Bryan Bouffier Peugeot 207 S2000 2:54:25.73 Jan Kopecký Škoda Fabia S2000 2:54:52.7 5 Ypres Rally(23–25 June) — Results and report1 Freddy Loix Škoda Fabia S2000 2:40:03.92 Hans Weijs Škoda Fabia S2000 2:44:00.83 Michał Sołowow Ford Fiesta S2000 2:46:10.7 6 Rallye Açores(14–16 July) — Results and report1 Juho Hänninen Škoda Fabia S2000 2:19:03.82 Andreas Mikkelsen Škoda Fabia S2000 2:19:46.13 Jan Kopecký Škoda Fabia S2000 2:20:49.8 7 Barum Rally Zlín(26–28 August) — Results and report1 Jan Kopecký Škoda Fabia S2000 2:15:51.72 Freddy Loix Škoda Fabia S2000 2:15:52.93 Juho Hänninen Škoda Fabia S2000 2:16:29.1 8 Mecsek Rallye(9–11 September) — Results and report1 Jan Kopecký Škoda Fabia S2000 2:00:06.72 Thierry Neuville Peugeot 207 S2000 2:00:07.53 Freddy Loix Škoda Fabia S2000 2:01:06.7 9 Rallye Sanremo(22–24 September) — Results and report1 Thierry Neuville Peugeot 207 S2000 2:19:57.82 Andreas Mikkelsen Škoda Fabia S2000 2:19:59.33 Bryan Bouffier Peugeot 207 S2000 2:20:13.8 10 Rally Scotland(7–9 October) — Results and report1 Andreas Mikkelsen Škoda Fabia S2000 1:55:17.22 Juho Hänninen Škoda Fabia S2000 1:55:43.63 Bryan Bouffier Peugeot 207 S2000 1:56:52.5 11 Cyprus Rally(3–5 November) — Results and report1 Andreas Mikkelsen Škoda Fabia S2000 2:25:18.52 Jan Kopecký Škoda Fabia S2000 2:26:59.03 Patrik Sandell Škoda Fabia S2000 2:28:13.3
Standings
Drivers Only the best seven scores from each driver count towards the championship. Pos Driver MON CAN COR YAL YPR AZO ZLI MEC SAN SCO CYP Total Drop Pts 1 Andreas Mikkelsen Ret 6 6 4 Ret 2 5 Ret 2 1 1 161.5 8 153.5 2 Jan Kopecký 8 2 2 3 DNS 3 1 1 4 5 2 183 31 152 3 Juho Hänninen 6 1 1 1 3 2 16 125 125 4 Freddy Loix 2 4 3 1 2 3 Ret 5 123 123 5 Thierry Neuville Ret 3 1 6 Ret 4 2 1 6 Ret 115 115 6 Bryan Bouffier 1 8 Ret 2 DSQ 4 Ret 4 3 3 110.5 110.5 7 Guy Wilks 3 5 Ret 5 5 Ret Ret Ret Ret Ret 47 47 8 Patrik Sandell 9 9 5 12 Ret 3 44 44 9 Toni Gardemeister 10 12 8 7 7 6 7 9 7 45 2 43 10 Karl Kruuda 8 5 10 11 Ret 13 4 39 39 11 Bruno Magalhães Ret 9 5 Ret Ret 9 5 26 26 12 Craig Breen 7 4 24 24 13 Hans Weijs 2 18 18 14 Matthias Kahle 19 19 10 6 17.5 17.5 15 Pierre Campana 14 4 8 16 16 16 Michał Sołowow 3 11 15 15 17 Toshi Arai 13 Ret 18 9 7 15 15 18 Stéphane Sarrazin 4 12 12 19 François Delecour 5 10 10 Hermann Gassner 5 10 10 21 Ricardo Moura 6 8 8 György Aschenbrenner 6 8 8 Alessandro Perico 6 8 8 24 Mark Wallenwein 21 18 14 8 8 8 25 Julien Maurin 12 7 11 Ret 7 7 26 Nicolas Vouilloz 7 6 6 Vítor Lopes 7 6 6 Umberto Scandola 7 6 6 29 Luca Rossetti 8 6 6 Alastair Fisher 8 6 6 31 Giandomenico Basso 9 11 Ret Ret 13 Ret 10 5 5 32 Vítor Pascoal 8 4 4 Roman Kresta 8 4 4 Róbert Bútor 8 4 4 35 Bernhard ten Brinke 9 4 4 36 Doros Loucaides 10 4 4 37 Per-Gunnar Andersson Ret 24 Ret 19 9 Ret Ret 2 2 38 Sérgio Silva 9 2 2 39 Robert Barrable 10 DSQ 16 2 2 40 Charalambos Timotheou 11 2 2 41 Jean-Mathieu Leandri 10 1 1 Beppo Harrach 10 1 1 43 Fumio Nutahara 11 Ret 15 1 1 44 János Puskádi 23 12 Ret 28 20 24 1 1 Pos Driver MON CAN COR YAL YPR AZO ZLI MEC SAN SCO CYP Total Drop Pts
Manufacturers Only the best seven scores from each manufacturer count towards the championship.