2017 African Rally Championship

The 2017 African Rally Championship was the 37th season of the African Rally Championship (ARC), the FIA regional zone rally championship for the African continent. The season began on February 10 in the Côte d'Ivoire, and ended on October 22 in Zambia, after seven events.

2017 African Rally season
Previous: 2016 Next: 2018

The championship was won for the first time by Skoda Fabia driver Manvir Singh Baryan. Baryan won four of the seven rallies in the championship, winning in Uganda, Rwanda, Tanzania and Zambia after the first three rallies of the season were won by drivers not contesting the championship. Baryan won the title by 35 points over Mitsubishi Lancer driver Leeroy Gomes. Gomes' best performance was a second place points finish at the York Rally in South Africa which was dominated by non-point scoring local drivers. Baryan's victory was the first time a Skoda driver has won the ARC and the first new manufacturer to claim the drivers title since Subaru driver Satwant Singh won in 1996.

Event calendar and results

The 2017 African Rally Championship was as follows:

Round Rally name Podium finishers Statistics
Rank Driver Car Time Stages Length Starters Finishers
1 Rallye Bandama - Côte d'Ivoire
(10–12 February)[1]		 1 Moriféré Soumaoro Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution X 2:32:01.6 12 248.22 km 30 8
2 Maxime Abondio Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution IX 2:40:49.1
3 Loïc Malherbe Subaru Impreza STi 2:48:10.8
2 Safari Rally
(17–18 March)[2]		 1 Tapio Laukkanen Subaru Impreza WRX STi R4 1:54:12 9 201.54 km 45 30
2 Ian Duncan Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution X 1:54:34
3 Carl Tundo Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution X 1:56:18
3 York Rally
(21–22 April)[3]		 1 Japie Van Niekerk Ford Fiesta S2000 2:24:50.3 14 205.27 km 25 15
2 Guy Botterill Toyota Etios R2 2:31:32.2
3 AC Potgieter Volkswagen Polo R2 2:35:38.4
4 V-Power Pearl of Africa Uganda Rally
(30 June–2 July)[4]		 1 Manvir Singh Baryan Škoda Fabia R5 2:09:13 11 231.75 km 51 20
2 Christakis Fitidis Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution X 2:19:04
3 Giancarlo Davite Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution X 2:19:51
5 Oryx Energies Rally of Tanzania
(4–6 August)[5]		 1 Manvir Singh Baryan Škoda Fabia R5 2:21:35 8 280.34 km 26 13
2 Ahmed Huwel Ford Fiesta Proto 2:27:52
3 Harinder Singh Deere Subaru Impreza STi N12 2:32:49
6 Rwanda Mountain Gorilla Rally
(8–9 September)[6]		 1 Manvir Singh Baryan Škoda Fabia R5 1:55:10 14 203.95 km 16 9
2 Giancarlo Davite Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution X 2:00:07
3 Valery Bukera Subaru Impreza STi N12 2:00:21
7 Gomes Pembe Zambia International Rally
(21–22 October)[7]		 1 Manvir Singh Baryan Škoda Fabia R5 2:08:12 10 183.80 km 12
2 Muna Singh, Jr. Subaru Impreza STi R4 2:11:27
3 Muna Singh Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution IX 2:15:21

Championship standings

The 2017 African Rally Championship points are as follows:

Pos. Driver Vehicle
BAN
SAF
YOR
PoA
TAN
RMG
ZAM		 Total
1 Manvir Singh Baryan Škoda Fabia R5 3 1 1 1 1 115
2 Leeroy Gomes Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution X Ret 6 2 4 3 4 3 80
3 Christakis Fitidis Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution X 12 2 2 4 48
4 Kleevan Gomes Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution IX 8 4 5 4 Ret Ret 38
Key
Colour Result
Gold Winner
Silver 2nd place
Bronze 3rd place
Green Points finish
Blue Non-points finish
Non-classified finish (NC)
Purple Did not finish (Ret)
Black Excluded (EX)
Disqualified (DSQ)
White Did not start (DNS)
Cancelled (C)
Blank Withdrew entry from
the event (WD)

References
  1. "43. Rallye Bandama - Côte d'Ivoire 2017". EWRC-Results.com. EWRC-Results. 14 February 2017. Retrieved 4 June 2018.
  2. "65. Safari Rally 2017". EWRC-Results.com. EWRC-Results. 22 March 2017. Retrieved 4 June 2018.
  3. "26. York Rally 2017". EWRC-Results.com. EWRC-Results. 24 April 2016. Retrieved 4 June 2018.
  4. "21. Shell V-Power Pearl of Africa Uganda Rally 2017". EWRC-Results.com. EWRC-Results. 2 July 2017. Retrieved 4 June 2018.
  5. "16. Oryx Energies Rally of Tanzania 2017". EWRC-Results.com. EWRC-Results. 7 August 2017. Retrieved 4 June 2018.
  6. "Rwanda Mountain Gorilla Rally 2016". EWRC-Results.com. EWRC-Results. 13 September 2017. Retrieved 4 June 2018.
  7. "Gomes Pembe Zambia International Rally 2017". EWRC-Results.com. EWRC-Results. 23 November 2017. Retrieved 4 June 2018.
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