The

FIA FIA is the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (English: International Automobile Federation), the world's governing body for all forms of motor sport where four or more wheels are used. Fia or FIA may also refer to: People * Fia Backs ...

WRC3 is a support championship 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 ...

. 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 that are based on production models and

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 fr ...

under Group Rally3 rules, although prior to 2022 Group Rally2 cars were used. There are championship titles awarded to drivers and co-drivers. The current format of the series began in

2020 2020 was heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, which led to global social and economic disruption, mass cancellations and postponements of events, worldwide lockdowns and the largest economic recession since the Great Depression in t ...

History

The original incarnation of the series began in

2013 File:2013 Events Collage V2.png, From left, clockwise: Edward Snowden becomes internationally famous for leaking classified NSA wiretapping information; Typhoon Haiyan kills over 6,000 in the Philippines and Southeast Asia; The Dhaka garment fa ...

and was open to two-wheel drive cars competing under Group R1, R2 and R3 regulations. It ran until

2018 File:2018 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2018 Winter Olympics opening ceremony in PyeongChang, South Korea; Protests erupt following the Assassination of Jamal Khashoggi; March for Our Lives protests take place across the United ...

before it was cancelled when all WRC championships became four wheel drive with the exception of Junior WRC. The 2019 season saw the running of two championships in support of the World Rally Championship. These were known as WRC 2 Pro for professional crews and manufacturer teams, and WRC 2 for

privateers 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 ...

. However, this multi-class structure was found to be too confusing, with customer drivers in WRC 2 Pro whilst manufacturer teams were unofficially supporting WRC 2 entries. The categories were renamed again and the WRC3 name was revived in 2020. Professional crews would now contest WRC2 whilst privateers would contest the WRC3 where teams were not allowed to enter. Stricter rules on entry eligibility were introduced in 2021 clarifying the line between professional and privateer. In March 2021 the FIA announced that from the 2022 season WRC3 would be a Group Rally3 car based championship with Open and Junior category titles. These two categories were reduced to just one WRC3 title for Drivers and Co-Drivers in 2023. The 2022 FIA WRC3 Junior category consisted of Junior WRC, an arrive-and-drive style format competition organised by M-Sport. Crews born on or after 1 January 1993 registered for the championship and contested up to 5 rallies as set by M-Sport using Ford Fiesta Rally3 cars provided. This category was replaced by the restored FIA Junior WRC in 2023.

Rules

In 2023, WRC3 entries can be made in the name of the driver or competitor. Other than the use of Rally3 cars, there are no restrictions on entry eligibility. Crews can compete in any rally on the WRC calendar but must nominate beforehand any rally that will count towards their WRC3 championship up to a maximum of 5 rounds, with the best 4 results contributing to the championship points tally. Power Stage points also contributed during the 2021 season but were removed for the following season.

History

Rules

Results

Drivers' Championship

Co-Drivers' Championship

References

External links