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 teams. The series currently consists of 13 three to four-day rally events driven on surfaces ranging from gravel and tarmac to snow and ice. Each rally is usually split into 15–25 special stages which are run against the clock on up to 350 kilometres of closed roads.

Drivers Sébastien Loeb, Sébastien Ogier, Juha Kankkunen, Tommi Mäkinen and Colin McRae all became WRC champions. Other drivers who became well known primarily through their WRC careers include Michèle Mouton, Henri Toivonen, Jari-Matti Latvala and Mikko Hirvonen. Rallies that have frequently appeared in the championship have included Monte Carlo Rally, Tour de Corse, Sanremo, Acropolis, Safari Rally, and national rallies of Great Britain, Finland, New Zealand, Australia and Argentina.

Hyundai, Toyota and M-Sport Ford are the current competing manufacturers. Amongst their leading drivers are Loeb, Ogier, Thierry Neuville, Ott Tänak, Dani Sordo, Elfyn Evans and Kalle Rovanperä.

The WRC also features two support championships, the World Rally Championship-2 and the World Rally Championship-3 which are contested on the same events and stages as the WRC, but with progressively lower performance and running costs of the cars permitted.

History

Early

The World Rally Championship was formed from well-known international rallies, nine of which were previously part of the International Championship for Manufacturers (IMC), which was contested from 1970 to 1972. The 1973 World Rally Championship was the inaugural season of the WRC and began with the Monte Carlo Rally on January 19.

Alpine-Renault won the first manufacturer's world championship with its Alpine A110, after which Lancia took the title three years in a row with the Ferrari V6-powered Lancia Stratos HF, the first car designed and manufactured specifically for rallying. The first drivers' world championship was not awarded until 1979, although 1977 and 1978 seasons included an ''FIA Cup for Drivers'', won by Italy's Sandro Munari and Finland's Markku Alén respectively. Sweden's Björn Waldegård became the first official world champion, edging out Finland's Hannu Mikkola by one point. Fiat took the manufacturers' title with the Fiat 131 Abarth in 1977, 1978 and 1980, Ford with its Escort RS1800 in 1979 and Talbot with its Sunbeam Lotus in 1981. Waldegård was followed by German Walter Röhrl and Finn Ari Vatanen as drivers' world champions.

Group B era

The 1980s saw the rear-wheel-drive Group 2 and the more popular Group 4 cars be replaced by more powerful four-wheel-drive Group B cars. FISA legalized all-wheel-drive in 1979, but most manufacturers believed it was too complex to be successful. However, after Audi started entering Mikkola and the new four-wheel-drive Quattro in rallies for testing purposes with immediate success, other manufacturers started their all-wheel-drive projects. Group B regulations were introduced in the 1982, and with only a few restrictions allowed almost unlimited power. Audi took the manufacturers' title in 1982 and 1984 and drivers' title in 1983 (Mikkola) and 1984 ( Stig Blomqvist). Audi's French female driver Michèle Mouton came close to winning the title in 1982, but had to settle for second place after Opel rival Röhrl. The 1985 title seemed set to go to Vatanen and his Peugeot 205 T16 but a bad accident at the Rally Argentina left him to watch compatriot and teammate Timo Salonen take the title instead. Italian Attilio Bettega had an even more severe crash with his Lancia 037 at the Tour de Corse and died instantly.

The 1986 started with impressive performances by Finns Henri Toivonen and Alén in Lancia's new turbo- and supercharged Delta S4, which could reportedly accelerate from 0–60 mph (96 km/h) in 2.3 seconds, on a gravel road. However, the season soon took a dramatic turn. At the Rally Portugal, three spectators were killed and over 30 injured after Joaquim Santos lost control of his Ford RS200. At the Tour de Corse, championship favourite Toivonen and his co-driver Sergio Cresto died in a fireball accident after plunging down a cliff. Only hours after the crash, Jean-Marie Balestre and the FISA decided to freeze the development of the Group B cars and ban them from competing in 1987. More controversy followed when Peugeot's Juha Kankkunen won the title after FIA annulled the results of the San Remo Rally, taking the title from fellow Finn Markku Alén.

Group A era

As the planned Group S was also cancelled, Group A regulations became the standard in the WRC until 1997. A separate Group A championship had been organized as part of the WRC already in 1986, with Sweden's Kenneth Eriksson taking the title with a Volkswagen Golf GTI 16V. Lancia was quickest in adapting to the new regulations and controlled the world rally scene with Lancia Delta HF, winning the manufacturers' title six years in a row from 1987 to 1992 and remains the most successful marque in the history of the WRC. Kankkunen and Miki Biasion both took two drivers' titles with the Lancia Delta HF.
The 1990s then saw the Japanese manufacturers, Toyota, Subaru and Mitsubishi, become title favourites. Spain's Carlos Sainz driving for Toyota Team Europe took the 1990 and 1992 titles with a Toyota Celica GT-Four. Kankkunen moved to Toyota for the 1993 season and won his record fourth title, with Toyota taking its first manufacturers' crown. Frenchman Didier Auriol brought the team further success in 1994, and soon Subaru and Mitsubishi continued the success of the Japanese manufacturer. Scotsman Colin McRae won the drivers' world championship in 1995 and Subaru took the manufacturers' title three years in a row. Finland's Tommi Mäkinen driving a Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution won the drivers' championship four times in a row, from 1996 to 1999. Mitsubishi also won the manufacturers' title in 1998. Another notable car was the Ford Escort RS Cosworth, which was specifically designed for rallying. It was the first production car to produce downforce both at front and rear.

World Rally Car era

For the 1997 World Rally Championship, the World Rally Car regulations were introduced as an intended replacement for Group A (only successive works Mitsubishis still conforming to the latter formula; until they, too, homologated a Lancer Evolution WRC from the 2001 San Remo Rally). After the success of Mäkinen and the Japanese manufacturers, France's Peugeot made a very successful return to the World Rally Championship. Finn Marcus Grönholm took the drivers' title in his first full year in the series and Peugeot won the manufacturers' crown. England's Richard Burns won the 2001 title with a Subaru Impreza WRC, but Grönholm and Peugeot took back both titles in the 2002. 2003 saw Norway's Petter Solberg become drivers' champion for Subaru and Citroën continue the success of the French manufacturers. Citroën's Sébastien Loeb went on to control the following seasons with his Citroën Xsara WRC. Citroën took the manufacturers' title three times in a row and Loeb surpassed Mäkinen's record of four consecutive drivers' titles, earning his ninth consecutive championship in 2012. Suzuki and Subaru pulled out of the WRC at the end of the 2008 championship, both citing the economic downturn then affecting the automotive industry for their withdrawal. Mini and Ford both pulled out of the WRC at the end of the 2012 championship, due to a similar economic downturn affecting the European market, although Ford continued to give technical support to M-Sport. Volkswagen Motorsport entered the championship in 2013 and Sebastien Ogier dominated the series with six consecutive titles. Hyundai also returned to the series in 2014. New World Rally Car rules were introduced for 2017 which generated faster and more aggressive cars.

In 2018, Toyota Gazoo Racing WRT won the World Rally Championship earning Toyota their first manufacturers' title since 1999. With Tommi Mäkinen heading the team, he became the first person in the history of rally driving to win a Championship both as a driver and as a team principal. At the end of the following year, Citroën withdrew from the championship after Ogier left the team. Ott Tänak took the driver's title breaking the French Sebastien's (Loeb and Ogier) domination of the sport since 2004. Hyundai meanwhile, took the manufacturers championship title and repeated the success in 2020. Ogier returned to championship winning ways for 2020 and 2021 in a Toyota Yaris, though vowed that the new era of Rally1 would not be fully contested by himself. WRC said goodbye to the World Rally Car in 2021 after 25 years.

The championships

Any crew entering any WRC rally qualify for eligibility to score points in the overall World Rally Championships for Drivers and Co-Drivers. This is regardless of car technical class, number of rallies entered or if they are also entered into the support championships.

Manufacturers must register to be eligible to score in the World Rally Championship for Manufacturers and must compete in Group Rally1 specification cars ( World Rally Car between 1997 and 2021). As the manufacturers use the highest performance car and usually employ the best drivers it is usually the case that these crews and cars take the majority of drivers/co-drivers championship points. Thus, combined with the money invested by the manufacturer teams, promotion of the WRC only tends to include the manufacturer crews and privateers in the Rally1 car or World Rally Car. These crews are given Priority 1 (P1) status on rallies and contest the stages before other crews. However it is not unusual for competitors in lower performance cars to take points in the drivers or co-driver's championships.

The World Rally Championship for Teams is for non-manufacturing entities. They can only enter in Rally1 or World Rally Cars if the corresponding manufacturer team is also running in the manufacturers' championship.

Support championships

The World Rally Championship also features support championships called the World Rally Championship-2 and World Rally Championship-3. These championships are contested on the same events and stages as the WRC calendar and have tighter restrictions on eligible car criteria.

WRC-2

WRC2 is contested using only Rally2 cars with championships for drivers, co-drivers and teams. Drivers and co-drivers can enter a maximum of 7 events and their best 6 results will count towards their championship tally. Teams ''must'' enter two cars into a maximum of 7 events, 1 of which must be outside of Europe and the best 6 results will count towards the championship tally. Power stage points are also awarded. Drivers, co-drivers and teams must all nominate if they wish to be eligible for championship points before a rally and can do so independently. For that reason the same crew pair in the same team may compete in all events in a season yet nominate and score points in different events. Crews competing in WRC2 are given Priority 2 status and run the stages immediately after P1 crews. WRC2 replaced SWRC when Group R was introduced in 2013 and the eligibility rules relaxed.

From 2022, WRC2 Junior Driver and Co-Driver Championships will be run for WRC2 drivers under 30 years old. Masters Cup titles for drivers and co-drivers over 50 in WRC2 will also be awarded.

WRC-3

WRC3 is contested using only Group Rally3 cars (Group Rally2 in 2020 and 2021), with championships for drivers, co-drivers and teams. Designed for privateer drivers, WRC3 has lower entry costs than WRC2 and there are restrictions on who can enter, testing and professional support received. Drivers and co-drivers can enter up to 7 rallies with their best 5 scoring championship points, and scoring rounds must also be nominated beforehand. Power stage points are also awarded. Between 2013 and 2018, the championship was contested using two wheel drive cars from R1, R2 and R3 classes of Group R. No championship ran in 2019 but was reinstated in its current format in . Crews competing in WRC3 are given Priority 3 status to run after the WRC2 crews.

From 2022 WRC3 Junior Driver and Co-Driver championships will be contested. Unlike the open format in WRC2 Junior, this will consist of an arrive-and-drive format over 5 events using Ford Fiesta Rally3 cars provided by M-Sport. Drivers have to be under 29 and must register.

Discontinued support championships

*The Junior World Rally Championship was an open championship for younger drivers in S1600 cars from 2001. In 2011 it became an FIA sanctioned championship run by M-Sport or Citroën for drivers under 29. Ford Fiesta R2/Rally4 or Citroën DS3 R3 cars were provided, maintained and serviced for each entrant. Championships were awarded to drivers, co-drivers and nations. Only 5 rounds of the WRC calendar were competed with the best 4 results counting towards championship points, although the final round was worth double points. The highest scoring driver from each country registered points for the nations championship. Uniquely for this series, points were also awarded for stage wins.

*The World Rally Championship Academy (WRC Academy) was an alternative name for J-WRC between 2011 and 2012, the first years the championship became a one-make series before reverting to the JWRC name.

*The World Rally Championship Ladies Cup ran from 1990 to 1995 and could be won by any class of car. Louise Aitken-Walker was the first winner.

*The Production car World Rally Championship (P-WRC) began in 1987 as the FIA Group N Cup before being renamed in 2002. Cars in the championship were production-based and homologated under Group N rules. From 2013, the Production WRC was renamed WRC-3 including Group R cars with two-wheel drive (R3, R2 and R1).

*The 2-Litre World Rally Cup ran from 1993 to 1999 using front wheel drive cars with engine capacities up to 2000cc. With relaxed rules the cars could often outpace the Group A and World Rally Cars of the main category. The series was abandoned due to high costs and the Super 2000 and Super 1600 specification cars that the series inspired later became the origins for SWRC and JWRC.

*The Super 2000 World Rally Championship (S-WRC) was started in 2010 using Super 2000 category cars. There were competitions for drivers (known as the S-WRC) and another for teams (the World Rally Championship Cup). From 2013, WRC-2 replaced S-WRC and including cars with four-wheel drive (R5, R4 and S2000).

*The WRC Trophy was run in 2017 for privateers entering with older World Rally Cars when the new WRC+ was introduced.

* World Rally Championship-2 Pro (WRC2-Pro) ran only in 2019 and was open to manufacturer-supported teams entering cars complying with Group R5 regulations. It was replaced in 2020 with the Rally2 based WRC3.

One-make series tournaments have also run on select rounds of the WRC calendar. They were privately administered rally tournaments but permitted to run on the rallies alongside the WRC. Examples include the Ford Fiesta Sporting Trophy (2006, 2007 and 2009) and DMACK Fiesta Trophy (2014–2016), both ran by M-Sport, and Citroën Top Driver (2013) ran by Citroën. Neither team held these tournaments in the years they had the rights to manage the JWRC on the FIA's behalf.

Format and structure

Calendar

Each WRC season consists of a number of rounds within the same calendar year and should ordinarily include rallies on a minimum of 3 continents. In the past the championship has visited every continent except Antarctica. Most recently there have been about 13 rallies though there have been as few as 7 such as in 2020 due to COVID-19 pandemic. The rallies are typically driven on surfaces ranging from gravel and tarmac to snow and ice.

Rallies

The competitive special stages are driven on closed roads which are linked by non-competitive road sections known as liaisons. These roads are open to the public and all road laws of that country must be adhered to. The liaison routes are detailed in a ''road book'' given to each crew and must also be adhered to within a specified time limit to arrive at the next stage or ''time control'' point or else they face penalties. To help organise this, crews carry a ''timecard'' which is filled in at each time control or special stage by an official. An average day consists of a total of of driving.

In the current era each rally usually consists of between fifteen and thirty special stages of distances ranging from under to over , not totalling more than . Any stage which deviates from the character of the rally or ordinary running of a special stage is known as a super special stage. These are often short and for spectators or promotional purposes and may be on a different surface such as asphalt on a gravel character rally, or they may be a head-to-head running where two cars start at the same time at different points in a loop format.

Since 2021 rallies must consist of only one surface type except where short super special stages are permitted that do not require a change in the car's setup. In the past some rallies such as Sanremo or Rally Spain have had one day of gravel followed by another day of asphalt stages, requiring substantial changes in the setup of the car. Asphalt setups have 18" wheels compared to 13" on gravel or snow, combined with changes needed to the differentials, suspension travel and geometry. Historically, multiple brands have provided tyres to competitors, though in recent years Pirelli have become a control t