2023 Croatia Rally
The 2023 Croatia Rally (also known as the Rally Croatia 2023) was a motor racing event for rally cars that was held over four days between 20 and 23 April 2023. It marked the 47th running of the Croatia Rally, and was the fourth round of the 2023 World Rally Championship, World Rally Championship-2 and World Rally Championship-3. The event was also the second round of the 2023 Junior World Rally Championship. The 2023 event was based in Zagreb in Central Croatia and was contested over twenty special stages, covering a total competitive distance of . Kalle Rovanperä and Jonne Halttunen were the defending rally winners. Their team, Toyota Gazoo Racing WRT, were the defending manufacturer's winners. Yohan Rossel and Valentin Sarreaud were the defending rally winners in the WRC-2 category. Zoltán László and Tamás Kürti were the defending rally winners in the WRC-3 category. Lauri Joona and Mikael Korhonen were the defending rally winners in the junior category. Elfyn Evans and Scott Martin won the rally, ending their victory drought since the 2021 Rally Finland. Their team, Toyota Gazoo Racing WRT successfully defended their manufacturer's title. Yohan Rossel and Arnaud Dunand successfully defended their titles in the World Rally Championship-2 category. Eamonn Kelly and Conor Mohan won the World Rally Championship-3 category, as well as the junior championship. Following an accident in the pre-event test, Hyundai Shell Mobis WRT driver Craig Breen died at the age of 33. Background

Entry list
The following crews were set to enter into the rally. The event was open to crews competing in the World Rally Championship, its support categories, the World Rally Championship-2, World Rally Championship-3, Junior World Rally Championship and privateer entries that were not registered to score points in any championship. Nine were entered under Rally1 regulations, as were nineteen Rally2 crews in the World Rally Championship-2 and eight Rally3 crew in the World Rally Championship-3. A total of eight crews were registered to participate in the Junior World Rally Championship. Itinerary
All dates and times are CEST (UTC+2). Report

WRC Rally1

Classification

Special stages

Championship standings

WRC-2 Rally2

Classification

Special stages

Championship standings

WRC-3 Rally3

Classification

Special stages

Championship standings

J-WRC Rally3

Classification

Special stages

Championship standings

Death of Craig Breen

The event was overshadowed by the death of Hyundai works driver Craig Breen, who was killed in the pre-event test after the front-left of his Hyundai i20 N Rally1 collided with a pole on a road. This was the first competitor-involved fatal accident since Jörg Bastuck at the 2006 Rally Catalunya. His co-driver James Fulton was uninjured. Breen's funeral took place on 18 April 2023 at The Sacred Heart Church in Ferrybank. Several members from the WRC family attended the funeral, including Fulton, Breen's former co-driver, Paul Nagle and Breen's teammate at Hyundai, Dani Sordo. In tribute to Breen, Moonraker Forestry Rally, the second round of the Irish Forestry Championship, was postponed. The Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile announced his car number 42 would be retired from the rest of the season. Hyundai also decided to participate the event with a special livery on two cars, with the third car withdrawn from the event in honor of Breen. Notes

References

External links
  
 2023 Croatia Rally at eWRC-results.com
 2023 Croatia Rally at rally-maps.com 

2023 in Croatian sport
Croatia
April 2023 sports events in Croatia
Auto racing controversies
2023