World Rally Championship
The World Rally Championship is an international rallying series owned and governed by the FIA. Inaugurated in 1973, it is the second oldest FIA world championship. Each season lasts one calendar year, and typically 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 of closed roads.
Separate championship titles are awarded to drivers, co-drivers and manufacturers. There are also two support championships, WRC2 and WRC3, which are contested on the same events and stages as the WRC, but with progressively lower maximum performance and running costs of the cars permitted. Junior WRC is also contested by younger drivers on five events of the World Rally Championship calendar.
The championships
World Rally Championship for Manufacturers
Manufacturers must register to be eligible to score in the World Rally Championship for Manufacturers and must compete in every rally of the season with Group Rally1 specification cars.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 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.
World Rally Championships for Drivers and Co-Drivers
Any crew entering any WRC rally are eligible to score points in the overall World Rally Championship for Drivers and World Rally Championship for Co-Drivers. This is regardless of car technical class, number of rallies entered or if they are also entered into the support championships. Although co-drivers are permitted to drive the cars at any point during the rally, they must only do so under a 'force majeure'.Support championships
The World Rally Championship also features support championships called WRC2 and WRC3. These championships are contested on the same events and stages as the WRC calendar and have tighter restrictions on eligible car criteria.WRC2
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, only 5 of 6 events entered in Europe will score, with points from a 7th rally entered outside Europe also scoring points 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.In 2023, WRC2 Challenger Driver and Co-Driver Championships will run for WRC2 drivers who have not won the series before, or who have not driven for a manufacturer entry in the previous 5 years.
WRC3
WRC3 is contested using only Group Rally3 cars, with championships for drivers and co-drivers. 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 5 rallies with their best 4 scoring championship points, and scoring rounds must also be nominated beforehand. 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.Junior WRC
is an arrive-and-drive format championship run over 5 events of the WRC calendar using Ford Fiesta Rally3 cars provided by M-Sport. Drivers have to be under 29 and must register. Championship titles are awarded to drivers and co-drivers, though there is no age restriction for co-drivers.The Junior World Rally Championship was previously an open championship for younger drivers in S1600 cars from 2001. In 2011 it became a closed FIA sanctioned championship run by either M-Sport or Citroën in the current format. 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.
WRC Masters Cup
In 2023 the FIA WRC Masters Cup ran for the first time. The cup is open to drivers and co-drivers over 50 years of age and may enter in any WRC eligible car except Rally1. The cup effectively replaces WRC2 Masters Cup which ran in 2022 for WRC2 entrants of the same criteria.Discontinued support championships
- The WRC Academy was an alternative name for Junior WRC between 2011 and 2012, the first years the championship became a one-make series before reverting to the Junior WRC 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 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 WRC3 including Group R cars with two-wheel drive.
- 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 was started in 2010 using Super 2000 category cars. There were competitions for drivers and another for teams. From 2013, WRC2 replaced S-WRC and including cars with four-wheel drive.
- The WRC Trophy was run in 2017 for privateers entering with older World Rally Cars when the new WRC+ was introduced. Crews were eligible to enter up to seven rounds of the World Rally Championship, with their best six results counting towards their final points tally in the trophy. WRC Trophy entrants were still eligible to score World Rally Championship points separately to the WRC Trophy. The Trophy was discontinued after the 2017 season.
- WRC 2 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.
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, 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 19 January.Alpine-Renault won the first manufacturer's world championship with its Alpine A110, after which Lancia took the title in 1974, 1975 and 1976 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 and 1984, but with Lancia still winning the 1983 manufacturers' title with the rear-drive Lancia 037, the last rear-drive car winning a world championship. Audi's French female driver Michèle Mouton and her co-driver Fabrizia Pons came close to winning the drivers' 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 season 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 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.