2018 World Rally Championship
The 2018 FIA World Rally Championship was the 46th season of the World Rally Championship, a rallying championship recognised by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile as the highest class of international rallying. Teams and crews were competing in thirteen events—starting with the Monte Carlo Rally in January and finishing with Rally Australia in November—for the World Rally Championships for Drivers, Co-drivers and Manufacturers. Crews were free to compete in cars complying with World Rally Car and Group R regulations; however, only Manufacturers competing with 2017-specification World Rally Cars were eligible to score points in the Manufacturers' championship. The series were once again supported by the WRC2 and WRC3 categories at every round and by the Junior WRC at selected rounds.
Sébastien Ogier and Julien Ingrassia started the season as the defending drivers' and co-drivers' champions after securing their fifth consecutive World Championship titles at the 2017 Wales Rally GB. M-Sport, the team they drove for in 2017, were the defending manufacturers' champions.
At the conclusion of the championship, Ogier and Ingrassia successfully defended their championship titles for the fifth time in their career and rewrote the title figure to six. Thierry Neuville and Nicolas Gilsoul finished the season as the runners-up, eighteen points behind the six-time world champions, while Ott Tänak and Martin Järveoja placed third, a further twenty points behind. In the World Championship for Manufacturers, Toyota Gazoo Racing WRT won their first World Championship title since 1999. Hyundai World Rally Team finished second overall twenty-seven points behind Toyota, with defending manufacturers' champions M-Sport World Rally Team in third.
Calendar
The championship was contested over thirteen rounds in Europe, the Middle East, the Americas and Oceania.Calendar changes
The Rally of Poland was removed from the calendar after the FIA repeatedly raised concerns about the event's safety. The FIA had previously ordered a review of the event's safety standards ahead of the 2017 event, threatening to rescind the rally's World Championship status if conditions were not improved.The Rally of Poland was replaced by the Rally of Turkey, which returned to the calendar for the first time since 2010. The event, which was previously based in Istanbul, return to south-western Turkey. It was based in the coastal resort town of Marmaris in Muğla Province, with the route running along the Mediterranean coastline.
The rallies of Great Britain and Catalunya swapped places on the schedule, with Rally Catalunya becoming the penultimate round of the championship. Rallye Deutschland relocated to a new headquarters with the service park located at the Bostalsee reservoir in Saarland state.
Route changes
featured a heavily revised route from the 2017 event, with half the route being brand new. After starting in Mexico City in 2017, Rally Mexico returned to its traditional start in Guanajuato. The route featured minor changes and included a new Power Stage.The route for the Tour de Corse was heavily revised, with only two of the seven stages being run as they were in 2017. The headquarters of the event was relocated to Bastia, which hosted the event for the first time since 1978.
Organisers of the Wales Rally GB announced plans for a heavily revised route. The changes were made possible by the passage of legislation by the British government allowing public roads to be used for motorsport.
Entries
The following teams and crews were entered in the 2018 FIA World Rally Championship.Team changes
reduced its commitment to two full-time entries, with a third car entered at selected events. At the same time, the C3 WRC made available to privateer entrants. The cars are leased to drivers but their operation is run by Citroën Racing's sister team PH Sport, allowing Citroën to retain control over the cars.Ford increased its factory support for M-Sport's programme, with the team officially known as "M-Sport Ford World Rally Team". Their support includes engine, chassis and aerodynamic development. Ford is recognised as the manufacturer entry, marking the company's return to the sport for the first time since 2012. Ford's support extends to M-Sport's WRC2 programme.
Tyre supplier DMACK scaled back its involvement in the championship from full-time competition to supporting WRC2 entries. The company had previously supported its own eponymous team before becoming a supplier to and sponsor of M-Sport's third entry in 2017.
Crew changes
Nine-time World Champions Sébastien Loeb and Daniel Elena returned to the World Rally Championship with Citroën. They plan to contest selected rounds of the championship, allowing Loeb to compete in the Dakar Rally and the World Rallycross Championship. Loeb had previously been enlisted by the team to assist with development of the C3 WRC, particularly on loose surfaces, after Citroën endured a difficult championship campaign in 2017. With Citroën scaling back its commitment to two full-time entries, Stéphane Lefebvre left the championship to contest the WRC2 in an R5 variant of the C3 WRC. Mads Østberg left Jipocar World Rally Team and moved to Citroën, contesting selected events in the team's third entry. He retained ownership of the Ford Fiesta WRC that he competed with in 2017 through the Adapta World Rally Team, entering it separately to his own entry with Citroën. Kris Meeke and Paul Nagle were dismissed by Citroën after six rounds, with the team citing their disproportionately high number of crashes and a lack of self-control as the reason behind the sacking. Mads Østberg and Torstein Eriksen were recruited to replace Meeke and Nagle from the Rally Finland.Andreas Mikkelsen and Anders Jæger returned to full-time competition with Hyundai World Rally Team. Mikkelsen and Jæger, who were left without a seat at the end of 2016 following Volkswagen Motorsport's withdrawal from the sport, contested selected rounds of the 2017 championship for Citroën and Hyundai before joining the team for 2018. Hyundai chose to split their third car between Hayden Paddon and Dani Sordo. The team entered four i20 Coupe WRCs in the Rally de Portugal to ensure that both Paddon and Sordo contest seven rounds of the championship each. Sordo also changed co-drivers, ending his four-year partnership with Marc Martí. He instead reunited with Carlos del Barrio, who previously drove with Sordo in 2013.
Ott Tänak and Martin Järveoja left M-Sport to join Toyota, where they replaced Juho Hänninen and Kaj Lindström. Hänninen and Lindström remained with the team, with Hänninen taking on a test driver role and Lindström joining the team's management. Following the departure of Tänak and Järveoja, M-Sport promoted Teemu Suninen and Mikko Markkula from their WRC2 team. Suninen and Markkula are sharing the car with Bryan Bouffier, who contested the Rallye Monte Carlo and the Tour de Corse. Bouffier was hired for his specialist knowledge of the events.
Rule changes
The FIA took responsibility for the placement of artificial chicanes in stages, with regulations dictating their placement, width and frequency of use. The changes were introduced following the 2017 Rally Finland where event organisers placed chicanes that were criticised by drivers for being too narrow, poorly-positioned and potentially dangerous.Privateers entering 2017-specification World Rally Cars are permitted to enter their cars under their own team names. In 2017, privateers competing in current-specification cars had to have their entries submitted by a manufacturer.
The WRC Trophy were no longer be open to privateers entering World Rally Cars older than 2017-specification models.
In the week before the Tour de Corse, the FIA approved a rule change that any crew checking in late to the Power Stage forfeits the possibility of scoring points in the stage. The changes were introduced in response to controversies that arose in the Rallies of Sweden and Mexico where crews deliberately checked in late to the Power Stage, incurring time penalties but earning more favourable conditions on the stage for the purposes of setting a faster time to secure more points.