The 2023 FIA World Rally Championship is the fifty-first season of the

World Rally Championship The World Rally Championship (abbreviated as WRC) is the highest level of global competition in the motorsport discipline of rallying, owned and governed by the FIA. There are separate championships for drivers, co-drivers, manufacturers and t ...

, an

auto racing Auto racing (also known as car racing, motor racing, or automobile racing) is a motorsport involving the racing of automobiles for competition. Auto racing has existed since the invention of the automobile. Races of various sorts were organise ...

competition recognised by the

Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile The Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA; en, International Automobile Federation) is an association established on 20 June 1904 to represent the interests of motoring organisations and motor car users. It is the governing body for ...

(FIA) as the highest class of international

rallying Rally is a wide-ranging form of motorsport with various competitive motoring elements such as speed tests (often called ''rally racing),'' navigation tests, or the ability to reach waypoints or a destination at a prescribed time or average speed. ...

. Teams and crews compete for the World Rally Championships for Drivers,

Co-driver A co-driver is the navigator of a rally car in the sport of rallying, who sits in the front passenger seat. The co-driver's job is to navigate, commonly by reading off a set of pacenotes to the driver (what lies ahead, where to turn, the severity ...

Manufacturers Manufacturing is the creation or production of goods with the help of equipment, labor, machines, tools, and chemical or biological processing or formulation. It is the essence of secondary sector of the economy. The term may refer to a range ...

and Teams. Crews are free to compete in cars complying with Groups Rally1 to Rally5 regulations; however, only manufacturers competing with

Rally1 Within the motorsport discipline of rallying, Group Rally1 is a formula of rally car specifications for use at the highest level of international rallying in the World Rally Championship (WRC) as determined by the FIA. Despite the use of the wo ...

cars

homologated Homologation (Greek ''homologeo'', ὁμολογέω, "to agree") is the granting of approval by an official authority. This may be a court of law, a government department, or an academic or professional body, any of which would normally work f ...

are eligible to score points in the manufacturers' championship. The championship began in January 2023 with the

Monte Carlo Rally The Monte Carlo Rally or Rallye Monte-Carlo (officially ''Rallye Automobile de Monte-Carlo'') is a rallying event organised each year by the Automobile Club de Monaco. The rally now takes place along the French Riviera in Monaco and southeast ...

and is set to conclude in November 2023 with the

Rally Japan Rally Japan (ラリージャパン) is a rally competition held in Hokkaidō, Japan. The event made its debut in the FIA World Rally Championship during the 2004 season. From 2004 to 2007, the event was held on the twisty and narrow gravel roads ...

. The series is supported by the

World Rally Championship-2 The FIA WRC2 (previously also known as World Rally Championship 2 and WRC 2), is a support championship of the World Rally Championship. The calendar consists of the same rallies and stages as the main class and crews usually compete immediately ...

and

World Rally Championship-3 The FIA WRC3 is a support championship of the World Rally Championship. The calendar consists of the same rallies and stages as the parent series and crews usually compete immediately after WRC2 entrants. Entry into WRC3 is limited to cars tha ...

categories at every round of the championship and by the

Junior World Rally Championship The FIA Junior WRC, also known as JWRC and previously known as Junior World Rally Championship, is an international rallying competition restricted to drivers under 29 years old. The championship currently consists of five select rallies of th ...

at selected events.

Kalle Rovanperä Kalle Rovanperä (; born 1 October 2000 in Jyväskylä) is a Finnish professional rally driver, who competes in the World Rally Championship for Toyota Gazoo Racing WRT, alongside co-driver Jonne Halttunen. He is the reigning World Champion. As t ...

and

Jonne Halttunen Jonne Halttunen (born 13 December 1985) is a Finnish rally co-driver. Currently, he is the co-driver of Kalle Rovanperä, driving the Toyota GR Yaris Rally1. Previously, they represented Škoda Motorsport to participate in the World Rally Champio ...

are the reigning drivers' and co-drivers' champions, having secured their first championship titles at the 2022 Rally New Zealand.

Toyota is a Japanese multinational automotive manufacturer headquartered in Toyota City, Aichi, Japan. It was founded by Kiichiro Toyoda and incorporated on . Toyota is one of the largest automobile manufacturers in the world, producing about 10 ...

are the defending manufacturers' champions. After the second round,

Ott Tänak Ott Tänak (; born 15 October 1987) is an Estonian rally driver and the 2019 World Rally Champion. He is currently teamed with Martin Järveoja and is competing for Hyundai Shell Mobis WRT. Tänak achieved his maiden drivers' world title in t ...

and

Martin Järveoja Martin Järveoja (; born 18 August 1987) is an Estonian rally co-driver. He is currently teamed with Ott Tänak and is competing for Hyundai in the World Rally Championship. Rally career He is the son of Estonian politician Toomas Järveoja, an ...

respectively lead the drivers' and co-drivers' championship by three points over

and

Thierry Neuville Thierry Jean Neuville (born 16 June 1988) is a Belgian rally driver who is competing in the World Rally Championship for Hyundai Motorsport. During his career, he has finished as runner-up in the drivers' championship five times (2013, 2016–201 ...

and

Martijn Wydaeghe Martijn Wydaeghe (born 1 September 1992) is a Belgian rallying co-driver. He is partnered with Thierry Neuville for Hyundai Motorsport in the World Rally Championship category. Rally career Wydaeghe made his WRC debut at the 2013 Rallye de Fran ...

are third, a further six points behind. In the manufacturers' championship, reigning manufacturers' champions

hold a fourteen-point lead over

Hyundai Hyundai is a South Korean industrial conglomerate ("chaebol"), which was restructured into the following groups: * Hyundai Group, parts of the former conglomerate which have not been divested ** Hyundai Mobis, Korean car parts company ** Hyundai ...

, with

M-Sport M-Sport is an auto racing team and motorsport engineering company headquartered at Dovenby Hall near Cockermouth, Cumbria, England, United Kingdom. Formed in 1979 by the World Rally Championship driver Malcolm Wilson, and originally known as ...

in third.

Calendar

The 2023 season is scheduled to be contested over thirteen rounds acrossing

Europe Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a Continent#Subcontinents, subcontinent of Eurasia ...

Africa Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent, after Asia in both cases. At about 30.3 million km2 (11.7 million square miles) including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of Earth's total surface area ...

North North is one of the four compass points or cardinal directions. It is the opposite of south and is perpendicular to east and west. ''North'' is a noun, adjective, or adverb indicating Direction (geometry), direction or geography. Etymology T ...

and

South America South America is a continent entirely in the Western Hemisphere and mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a relatively small portion in the Northern Hemisphere at the northern tip of the continent. It can also be described as the southe ...

and

Asia Asia (, ) is one of the world's most notable geographical regions, which is either considered a continent in its own right or a subcontinent of Eurasia, which shares the continental landmass of Afro-Eurasia with Africa. Asia covers an area ...

Calendar changes

The championship was expected to be expanded to fourteen rounds, with eight Europe-based rallies and six fly-away events covering the season. However, the number of the events was reduced to thirteen following a lengthy delay of the calendar. The anticipated rally based in

Jeddah Jeddah ( ), also spelled Jedda, Jiddah or Jidda ( ; ar, , Jidda, ), is a city in the Hejaz region of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA) and the country's commercial center. Established in the 6th century BC as a fishing village, Jeddah's pro ...

Saudi Arabia Saudi Arabia, officially the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA), is a country in Western Asia. It covers the bulk of the Arabian Peninsula, and has a land area of about , making it the fifth-largest country in Asia, the second-largest in the A ...

was absent from the calendar. 2008 Rally Mexico - Chris Atkinson

Rally Mexico Rally Mexico, formerly known as Rally America is a round of the FIA World Rally Championship. The rally entered the championship schedule in the 2004 season. The event's itinerary is based in the state of Guanajuato. The stages take place in t ...

is confirmed to return to championship after missing the and championships. The organizers of the rally had previously held a national event in 2022 in the bid of a 2023 return. * Rally Chile would rejoin the calendar after the Chilean protests and

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identif ...

respectively ruled out the event in and . * Central Europe Rally, a tri-nation event running a day each in

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

Austria Austria, , bar, Östareich officially the Republic of Austria, is a country in the southern part of Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine states, one of which is the capital, Vienna, the most populous ...

and

Czech Republic The Czech Republic, or simply Czechia, is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Historically known as Bohemia, it is bordered by Austria to the south, Germany to the west, Poland to the northeast, and Slovakia to the southeast. The ...

, was introduced into the championship, replacing

Rally de Catalunya The Rally Catalunya (formerly: Rallye Catalunya) is a rally competition held in Catalonia region of Spain, on the World Rally Championship schedule. Now held on the wide, smooth and sweeping asphalt roads around the town of Salou, Costa Daurada ...

. The rally would be based out of southeast Germany, in the city of

Passau Passau (; bar, label=Central Bavarian, Båssa) is a city in Lower Bavaria, Germany, also known as the Dreiflüssestadt ("City of Three Rivers") as the river Danube is joined by the Inn from the south and the Ilz from the north. Passau's popu ...

Bavaria Bavaria ( ; ), officially the Free State of Bavaria (german: Freistaat Bayern, link=no ), is a state in the south-east of Germany. With an area of , Bavaria is the largest German state by land area, comprising roughly a fifth of the total lan ...

, and is set to run on

tarmac Tarmac may refer to: Engineered surfaces * Tarmacadam, a mainly historical tar-based material for macadamising road surfaces, patented in 1902 * Asphalt concrete, a macadamising material using asphalt instead of tar which has largely superseded ta ...

. *

Rally New Zealand The Rally New Zealand is an annual rally race in New Zealand. It was first included as a round of the World Rally Championship in 1977. The race is famous for its fast flowing gravel roads which carry the competitors through forests and alongside ...

, a round of the 2022 season, would not be included on the calendar, but the organizers are seeking an opportunity for a return as a part of the rotation program with

Rally Australia Rally Australia is an automobile rally event which was held in Coffs Harbour as the final leg of the World Rally Championship (WRC) until 2018. First run in 1988, the rally was held in and around Perth, Western Australia until 2006. It was par ...

. * Ypres Rally Belgium, which has been a part of the championship for the last two seasons, dropped off the calendar and would instead be featured for the 2023 British Rally Championship. Several rally organizers also expressed their interests to return to the championship, including events in

Argentina Argentina (), officially the Argentine Republic ( es, link=no, República Argentina), is a country in the southern half of South America. Argentina covers an area of , making it the second-largest country in South America after Brazil, th ...

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

Northern Ireland Northern Ireland ( ga, Tuaisceart Éireann ; sco, label= Ulster-Scots, Norlin Airlann) is a part of the United Kingdom, situated in the north-east of the island of Ireland, that is variously described as a country, province or region. Nort ...

and

. Bids of Argentina and Northern Ireland were ultimately failed. In addition to the candidate events, the

WRC Promoter GmbH The World Rally Championship (abbreviated as WRC) is the highest level of global competition in the motorsport discipline of rallying, owned and governed by the FIA. There are separate championships for drivers, co-drivers, manufacturers and te ...

was also working on the calendar expansion to the

Middle East The Middle East ( ar, الشرق الأوسط, ISO 233: ) is a geopolitical region commonly encompassing Arabian Peninsula, Arabia (including the Arabian Peninsula and Bahrain), Anatolia, Asia Minor (Asian part of Turkey except Hatay Pro ...

and

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

Location changes

*The headquarter of the

Rally Italia Sardegna The Rally Italia Sardegna (until 2010 Rally d'Italia Sardegna) is a Rallying, rally competition in Sardinia, Italy, which has been a round of the World Rally Championship (WRC) schedule and also the Intercontinental Rally Challenge (IRC). Chara ...

would be once again moved from

Alghero Alghero (; ca, label= Alguerese, L'Alguer ; sc, S'Alighèra ; sdc, L'Aliera ) is a city of about 45,000 inhabitants in the Italian insular province of Sassari in northwestern Sardinia, next to the Mediterranean Sea. The city's name comes from ...

Olbia Olbia (, ; sc, Terranoa; sdn, Tarranoa) is a city and commune of 60,346 inhabitants (May 2018) in the Italian insular province of Sassari in northeastern Sardinia, Italy, in the historical region of Gallura. Called ''Olbia'' in the Roman age, ...

. The 2020 event was previously based in Olbia as a result of major route revisions due to the

. *The 2023 edition of the

Safari Rally The Safari Rally is a rally held in Kenya. It was first held in 1953 as a celebration of the coronation of Queen Elizabeth II. The event was part of the World Rally Championship from 1973 until 2002, before returning in 2021. It is historically r ...

is set to be based at the

Lakeside Lakeside or Lake Side may refer to: Places Australia * Lakeside College, Pakenham, Victoria * Lakeside Joondalup Shopping City, Joondalup, Western Australia * Lakeside, near Reservoir, Victoria * Lakeside International Raceway, Pine Rivers, Quee ...

town of

Naivasha Naivasha is a large town in Nakuru County, Kenya, lying by road north west of Nairobi. Overview The town has a total population of 198,444 (2019 census). The main industry is agriculture, especially floriculture. Naivasha is also a popular t ...

. The rally was previously based in the Kenyan capital

Nairobi Nairobi ( ) is the capital and largest city of Kenya. The name is derived from the Maasai phrase ''Enkare Nairobi'', which translates to "place of cool waters", a reference to the Nairobi River which flows through the city. The city proper ha ...

Contracted crews

The following teams, drivers and co-drivers are under contracts to contest the championship under

regulations. The below crews were not entered to score manufacturer points and were entered in Rally1 cars as privateers or under arrangement with the manufacturers.

In detail

Rallye Deutschland 2017 (Tänak-Järveoja-0777)

signed a full-year deal with

and

, who terminated their contract with

despite having a multi-year deal.

Pierre-Louis Loubet Pierre-Louis Loubet (born 18 February 1997) is a French rally driver. He is the 2019 World Rally Championship 2 Champion. He is the son of the 1989 European Rally Champion Yves Loubet. Career Early career Loubet started karting at 7 yea ...

's campaign with the team was expanded to full-time as a manufacturer-registered points scorer.

Nicolas Gilsoul Nicolas Gilsoul (born 5 February 1982) is a Belgian rally co-driver. He is the former co-driver for Thierry Neuville.

, former navigator alongside

, became Loubet's new

co-driver A co-driver is the navigator of a rally car in the sport of rallying, who sits in the front passenger seat. The co-driver's job is to navigate, commonly by reading off a set of pacenotes to the driver (what lies ahead, where to turn, the severity ...

Adrien Fourmaux Adrien Fourmaux (born 3 May 1995) is a French rally driver. Currently, He drives for M-Sport Ford in the WRC-RC1 category. Rally career After winning the Junior category of the 2018 French Rally Championship, Adrien Fourmaux made his WRC deb ...

was demoted to the team's WRC-2 program, joining

Grégoire Munster Grégoire Munster (born 24 December 1998) is a Belgians, Belgian rallying, rally driver driving with a licence from Luxemburg. His father has the Belgian and his mother the Luxembourgish nationality but he drives with a licence from Luxemburg beca ...

. M-Sport long-time

privateer A privateer is a private person or ship that engages in maritime warfare under a commission of war. Since robbery under arms was a common aspect of seaborne trade, until the early 19th century all merchant ships carried arms. A sovereign or deleg ...

Jourdan Serderidis continued with the team to contest at selected events.

Gus Greensmith Fergus "Gus" Greensmith (born 26 December 1996) is a British rally driver. Rally career Greensmith's family owns fuel and lubricants distributor Crown Oil. A former youth goalkeeper for Manchester City F.C. and karter before moving into the ...

left the team after eight-year partnership. He is due to drive for

Toksport Toksport World Rally Team is a motorsport preparation and race team based at the Nürburgring in Quiddelbach, Germany. The team has prepared cars for, and entered events in 26 motorsports championship around the globe and has won notable FIA ch ...

to compete under the WRC-2 championship.

retained

and

. They would be joined by

Esapekka Lappi Esapekka Lappi (born 17 January 1991) is a Finnish rally driver. He is the 2012 Finnish Rally Champion, 2014 European Rally Champion and the 2016 WRC-2 Champion. Career 2012 Lappi won the 2012 Finnish Rally Championship with Ford Fiesta S2000 ...

and

Janne Ferm Janne Ferm (born 29 August 1980) is a Finnish rally co-driver. He is currently teamed with Esapekka Lappi and is competing for Toyota Gazoo Racing WRT in the World Rally Championship. Rally career Janne Ferm began his rally career in 2007, ...

as the team's full-time crews.

Craig Breen Craig Breen (born 2 February 1990) is an Irish rally driver, who competes part time in the Hyundai team in the WRC (World Rally Championship). He was the 2012 WRC Super 2000 world rally champion, scoring class wins in the Monte Carlo Rally, ...

, who had previously driven for Hyundai from to , rejoined the team despite having a two-year contract with

. He shared the third car with the crew led by

Dani Sordo Daniel "Dani" Sordo Castillo (born 2 May 1983) is a Spanish rally driver. He competes in the World Rally Championship for Hyundai Motorsport. He achieved his first WRC victory at the 2013 Rallye Deutschland. Career Sordo began in motocross whe ...

, who had previously planned to retire at the end of 2022 season.

Oliver Solberg Oliver Solberg (born 23 September 2001) is a Sweden, Swedish-Norway, Norwegian rally (sports), rally driver. He is the son of the 2003 World Rally Championship, 2003 List of World Rally Championship Drivers' champions, World Rally Champion, Pett ...

and

Elliott Edmondson Elliott Edmondson (born 29 August 1994) is a British rally co-driver. Currently, he is the co-driver of Oliver Solberg for Hyundai Motorsport in the World Rally Championship The World Rally Championship (abbreviated as WRC) is the highest l ...

were dropped from the team. They moved to

to compete the WRC-2 category. Former

Renault Groupe Renault ( , , , also known as the Renault Group in English; legally Renault S.A.) is a French multinational automobile manufacturer established in 1899. The company produces a range of cars and vans, and in the past has manufactured ...

Formula One Formula One (also known as Formula 1 or F1) is the highest class of international racing for open-wheel single-seater formula racing cars sanctioned by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA). The World Drivers' Championship, ...

manager

Cyril Abiteboul Cyril François Roger Abiteboul (born 14 October 1977) is a French motor racing engineer and manager. From 2013 to 2014 he was the team principal of Caterham Formula One team, and was the managing director of the Renault F1 Team from 2014 to 2020 ...

became Hyundai's new team principal.

retained the crew of

Elfyn Evans Elfyn Rhys Evans (born 28 December 1988) is a Wales, Welsh rally driver. He is currently teamed with Scott Martin (co-driver), Scott Martin and is competing for Toyota Gazoo Racing WRT, Toyota Gazoo Racing in the World Rally Championship. Care ...

and Scott Martin and of

and

as their two full-time competitors. As the defending champions, Rovanperä and Halttunen kept their car number 69 for the season, instead of opting for the number 1 plate.

Takamoto Katsuta Takamoto Katsuta (勝田貴元, ''Katsuta Takamoto'', born 17 March 1993) is a Japanese rally driver. He currently rallies for the Toyota Gazoo Racing WRT NG in the World Rally Championship. He rose to prominence after taking a surprise victor ...

and

Aaron Johnston Aaron Johnston is an American author, comics writer, and film producer. Johnston was an associate producer on the movie ''Ender's Game'', including a cameo appearance as an International Fleet officer. He co-authored with Orson Scott Card the Fi ...

stepped up to the

works team A works team (sometimes factory team, company team) is a sports team that is financed and run by a manufacturer or other business. Sometimes, works teams contain or are entirely made up of employees of the supporting company. Association footb ...

to share the third car with

Sébastien Ogier Sébastien Ogier (born 17 December 1983) is a French rally driver, competing for the Toyota Gazoo Racing Team in the World Rally Championship (WRC), who is teamed with the co-driver Julien Ingrassia. He has won the World Rally Drivers' Champions ...

, who was co-driven by

Vincent Landais Vincent Landais (born 17 October 1991) is a French rally co-driver. He is the co-driver of the French rally driver Sébastien Ogier, racing for Toyota Gazoo Racing WRT in the World Rally Championship. Rally career Landais and Loubet started in 2 ...

. The team's fourth car is available for private users when Ogier does not compete. This decipline first applied to

Lorenzo Bertelli Lorenzo Bertelli (born 10 May 1988) is an Italian businessman in the fashion industry and a rally driver. He is the son of Prada majority owners; fashion designer Miuccia Prada and her husband, the businessman Patrizio Bertelli. Bertelli has b ...

and

Simone Scattolin Simone Scattolin (born 1 October 1976) is an Italian rally co-driver. In addition to be the regular co-driver of Lorenzo Bertelli, he also competes in the European Rally Championship The European Rally Championship (officially FIA European Rall ...

at the 2023 Rally Sweden.

Regulation changes

Rally organisers can include an optional Tyre warming zone (TWZ) between the Time Control (TC) and the start of a Special Stage, as well as evening flexi-service for Rally1 cars was limited to a maximum of two hours every rally weekend. Morning service on gravel rallies would also be removed. The allocation of pre-event test days for the manufacturers was also reduced from 28 days to 21. This change was intended to reduce cost.

Season report

Opening rounds

The season opener belonged to

and

, who won the first rally of his career. This was also Ogier's ninth win at the

, surpassing

Sébastien Loeb Sébastien Loeb (; born 26 February 1974) is a French professional rally, racing and rallycross driver. He is the most successful driver in the World Rally Championship (WRC), having won the world championship a record nine times in a row. He h ...

to become the driver who wins most victories in Monte-Carlo. The second round,

Rally Sweden The Rally Sweden ( sv, Svenska rallyt), formerly the International Swedish Rally, and later the Uddeholm Swedish Rally, is an automobile rally competition held in February in Värmland, Sweden and relocated to Umeå in 2022. First held in 1950, ...

, saw

and

took an early lead, before losing to

and James Fulton on Friday evening. However, Tänak and Järveoja fought back on Saturday evening, and eventually won the event.

Results and standings

Season summary

Scoring system

Points are awarded to the top ten classified finishers in each event. In the manufacturers' championship, teams are eligible to nominate three crews to score points, but these points are only awarded to the top two classified finishers representing a manufacturer and driving a 2022-specification Rally1 car. There are also five bonus points awarded to the winners of the

Power Stage The Power Stage (abbreviated as PS) is a special stage that usually runs as the final stage of a rally in the World Rally Championship (WRC). Additional championship points are available to the fastest five crews through the stage regardless of ...

, four points for second place, three for third, two for fourth and one for fifth. Power Stage points are awarded in the drivers', co-drivers' and manufacturers' championships.

FIA World Rally Championship for Drivers

The driver who records a top-ten finish is taken into account for the championship regardless of the categories.

FIA World Rally Championship for Co-Drivers

The co-driver who records a top-ten finish is taken into account for the championship regardless of the categories.

FIA World Rally Championship for Manufacturers

Only the best two results of each manufacturer in the respective overall classification and

at each rally are taken into account for the championship.

Notes

References

External links

*
FIA World Rally Championship 2023
at eWRC-results.com {{World championships in 2023 World Rally Championship seasons