Rally Monza to host 2020 FIA World Rally Championship finale

Italy’s ACI Rally Monza has been announced as the host of the final round of the FIA World Rally Championship 2020 season after being added to the calendar on Friday 9 October.

The event is to take place on 4 – 6 December and will be based at the famous Autodromo Nazionale de Monza race circuit near Milan.

The itinerary will adopt the FIA WRC’s short format schedule, featuring about 220km of special stages, with the majority of the first and last day action at the circuit. Saturday’s middle leg speed tests will comprise demanding closed public roads in the Lombardy region close to Monza.

WRC Promoter managing director, Jona Siebel, commented: “As the final round of the championship, there’s a strong chance both the drivers’ and manufacturers’ WRC titles could go right down to the wire on Monza’s roads. The WRC prides itself on rewarding rallying’s best all-round driver across multiple terrains and varied conditions. This type of rally is rare in our championship but will provide a thrilling finale to an unpredictable year.”

FIA Rally director, Yves Matton, has discussed his gratitude for the hard work of all involved to ensure titles for the 2020 championship after such a turbulent year.

He said: “In the current situation, we’re developing new approaches and ACI Rally Monza Italia is a great illustration of this. It’s the marriage of an iconic circuit event and more traditional rally stages in the nearby countryside.

“It has required a great deal of flexibility from ACI and its president Angelo Sticchi Damiani to bring this new event to the calendar at such a late stage and I would like to thank them for their great commitment and professionalism.”

Angelo Sticchi Damiani, president at ACI, added: “For Automobile Club d’Italia it will be another commitment during a season where we were the protagonists in all the major sports events. The event in the Autodromo Nazionale di Monza will be great for the series. It will be an incredible show and a unique experience for car and tyre manufacturers, teams, drivers and all the other protagonists of a high-quality WRC event.”