Croatia Rally

The Croatia Rally, also known for most of its existence as the Delta Rally or Croatia Delta Rally, is an international rally racing event based in Poreč in the on the coast of Istria in Croatia. The event is organised by the Croatian Car and Karting Federation and is a round of the European Rally Championship, the Serbian Rally Championship, the Slovenian Rally Championship. In most years it is a round of the Croatian Rally Championship. The event had been a round of the Yugoslavian Rally Championship. It has been a tarmac rally since at least the late 1980s. In 2011 the rallies' histories became split as the Croatia Rally and the Delta Rally became two separate events with the Delta Rally returning to the Croatia Delta Rally's former home of Zagreb.

First run in 1974 as the INA-Delta TLX Rally as a round of the regional Croatian championship, it was held in the Delnice-Rijeka area, slightly inland of its current Poreč home. The event was promoted to the Yugoslavian championship in 1977 and acquired a finish in the regional city of Zagreb. The 1986 event was an invitational only event held as a candidate event for the European Rally Championship. Under the co-efficient system the rally varied in importance within the European championship drifting through co-efficients 2, 5 and 10 in the 1990s. With the rally based in the north western part of Croatia it was able to continue during the years of the Croatian War of Independence.

In 2004 the rally was demoted to the European Rally Cup East as the co-efficient system fragmented into minor championships titled "Cups" before returning to the European championship in 2007. 2011 saw the rally return to its original Rijeka region before moving to its current location in 2013 as the event celebrated its 40th anniversary, while successfully maintaining its position on the calendar of the ERC after the merger of the ERC and the Intercontinental Rally Challenge, although the rally was moved from its traditional May date to a September date.

In 2011 as the Croatia Rally moved to Rijeka, the Delta rally broke away and re-established itself in the Zagreb area as a round of the Croatian championship before being added to the Central European Zone series in 2013.

Yugoslav drivers won the first 19 years of the event with Brane Kuzmič winning five times in a six-year period driving a Renault 5. Austrian driver Raimund Baumschlager was the first foreign winner in 1993 as the rally upgraded its international status. Enrico Bertone became the first foreign repeat winner in 1999 but locals continued to have a strong influence with Juraj Šebalj winning three times in the mid-2000s. Šebalj would also win the Delta Rally another five times post-split.

List of winners

Sourced in part from:[1][2][3]

YearWinnerCar
Delta Rally
1974 Tomislav Markt BMW 1600
1975 Aleksandar Mačešić Datsun 1200
1976 Berislav Modric Fiat 128 SC
1977 Aleš Pušnik Renault 5
1978 Aleš Pušnik Renault 5
1979 Borko Skurić Opel Kadett GT/E
1980 Leon Poberaj Zastava 101
1981 Leon Poberaj Zastava 101
1982 Borko Skurić Opel Kadett GT/E
1983 Brane Kuzmič Renault 5 GT Turbo
1984 Brane Kuzmič Renault 5 GT Turbo
1985 Brane Kuzmič Renault 5 GT Turbo
1986 Romana Zrnec Renault 11 Turbo
1987 Brane Kuzmič Renault 5 GT Turbo
1988 Brane Kuzmič Renault 5 GT Turbo
1989 Tihomir Filipović Lancia Delta HF Integrale
1990 Tihomir Filipović Lancia Delta HF Integrale
1991 Tihomir Filipović Lancia Delta HF Integrale
1992 Žarko Šepetavč Lancia Delta HF Integrale
1993 Raimund Baumschlager Ford Escort RS Cosworth
1994 Niko Pulić Lancia Delta HF Integrale
1995 Niko Pulić Lancia Delta HF Integrale
Croatia Delta Rally
1996 Kurt Göttlicher Ford Escort RS Cosworth
1997 David Pattison Ford Escort RS Cosworth
1998 Enrico Bertone Toyota Celica GT-Four
1999 Enrico Bertone Renault Mégane Maxi
2000 Bert de Jong Subaru Impreza WRC
2001 Krum Donchev Peugeot 306 Maxi
2002 Leszek Kuzaj Toyota Corolla WRC
2003 Václav Pech Jr. Ford Focus RS WRC
2004 Juraj Šebalj Subaru Impreza WRX STi
2005 Juraj Šebalj Citroën C2 S1600
2006 Václav Pech Jr. Mitsubishi Lancer Evo IX
2007 Juraj Šebalj Mitsubishi Lancer Evo IX
2008 Corrado Fontana Fiat Abarth Grande Punto S2000
Croatia Rally
2009 Krum Donchev Peugeot 207 S2000
2010 Luca Rossetti Fiat Abarth Grande Punto S2000
2011 Luca Rossetti Fiat Abarth Grande Punto S2000
2012 Juho Hänninen Škoda Fabia S2000
2013 Jan Kopecký Škoda Fabia S2000
Zagreb Delta Rally
2011 János Szilágyi Mitsubishi Lancer Evo IX
2012 Juraj Šebalj Mitsubishi Lancer Evo IX
2013 Juraj Šebalj Mitsubishi Lancer Evo IX
INA Delta Rally
2014 Juraj Šebalj Mitsubishi Lancer Evo IX
2015 Juraj Šebalj Mitsubishi Lancer Evo IX
2016 Juraj Šebalj Mitsubishi Lancer Evo IX
2017 Krisztián Hideg Mitsubishi Lancer Evo IX
2018 Ondřej Bisaha Ford Fiesta R5

References
  1. "Previous winners – 44. Croatia Rally 2017". rally-croatia.com. Retrieved 2020-07-12.
  2. "Croatia Rally". eWRC-results.com.
  3. "Delta Rally". eWRC-results.com.
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