The 2024 FIA World Rally Championship is a motorsport championship that is the fifty-second occurrence of the World Rally Championship, an international rallying series organised by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA) and WRC Promoter GmbH. Teams and crews compete for the World Rally Championships for Drivers, Co-drivers and Manufacturers. Crews are free to compete in cars complying with Groups Rally1 to Rally5 regulations; however, only manufacturers competing with Rally1 cars are eligible to score points in the manufacturers' championship. The championship began in January 2024 with the Monte Carlo Rally and would conclude in November 2024 with the Rally Japan. The series is supported by the World Rally Championship-2 and World Rally Championship-3 categories at every round of the championship and by the Junior World Rally Championship at selected events.
Kalle Rovanperä and Jonne Halttunen are the reigning drivers' and co-drivers' champions, having secured their second championship titles at the 2023 Central European Rally. However, they would only contest at selected events. Toyota are the defending manufacturers' champions.
After the fifth round, Thierry Neuville and Martijn Wydaeghe respectively lead the drivers' and co-drivers' championship over Elfyn Evans and Scott Martin by twenty-four points. Ott Tänak and Martin Järveoja are third, a further seven points behind. In the manufacturers' championship, Hyundai Shell Mobis WRT hold a four-point lead over the reigning manufacturers' champions Toyota Gazoo Racing WRT, with M-Sport Ford WRT in third.
The 2024 season is scheduled to be contested over thirteen rounds crossing Europe, Africa, South America and Asia.
Round | Start date | Finish date | Rally | Rally headquarters | Surface | Stages | Distance | Ref. |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | 25 January | 28 January | Rallye Automobile Monte Carlo | Gap, Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur, France | Mixed[a] | 17 | 324.44 km | [1] |
2 | 15 February | 18 February | Rally Sweden | Umeå, Västerbotten County, Sweden | Snow | 18 | 300.10 km | [2] |
3 | 28 March | 31 March | Safari Rally Kenya | Nairobi, Nakuru County, Kenya | Gravel | 19 | 355.92 km | [3] |
4 | 18 April | 21 April | Croatia Rally | Zagreb, Croatia | Tarmac | 20 | 283.28 km | [4] |
5 | 9 May | 12 May | Rally de Portugal | Matosinhos, Porto, Portugal | Gravel | 22 | 337.04 km | [5] |
6 | 30 May | 2 June | Rally Italia Sardegna | Olbia, Sardinia, Italy | Gravel | 16 | 266.12 km | [6] |
7 | 27 June | 30 June | Rally Poland | Mikołajki, Warmian–Masurian, Poland | Gravel | 19 | 304.10 km | [7] |
8 | 18 July | 21 July | Rally Latvia | Liepāja, Kurzeme Planning Region, Latvia | Gravel | 20 | 300.08 km | |
9 | 1 August | 4 August | Rally Finland | Jyväskylä, Central Finland, Finland | Gravel | 20 | 304.81 km | [8] |
10 | 5 September | 8 September | Acropolis Rally Greece | Lamia, Central Greece, Greece | Gravel | 15 | 303.17 km | [9] |
11 | 26 September | 29 September | Rally Chile | Concepción, Biobío, Chile | Gravel | TBA | TBA | |
12 | 17 October | 20 October | Central European Rally | Bad Griesbach, Bavaria, Germany | Tarmac | TBA | TBA | |
13 | 21 November | 24 November | Rally Japan | Toyota, Aichi, Japan | Tarmac | TBA | TBA | |
Sources:[10][11] |
The championship was expected to be expanded to fourteen rounds,[12] however WRC Promoter GmbH retained the existing total of thirteen events with the reasoning that it would aid participation of more Rally1 cars.[13]
The WRC Promoter GmbH is also working on the two key calendar expansions for the future.[21]
In addition, the candidate list also include the event in Saudi Arabia,[25] where it aims at a 2025 calendar slot.[26] The rally is a part of WRC Promoter GmbH's plan to deliver a desert event.[27] Rally Argentina is also bidding to return to the championship.[28]
The following manufacturers are set to contest the championship under Rally1 regulations.[33]
Manufacturer | Entrant | Car | No. | Driver name | Co-driver name | Rounds |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Ford | M-Sport Ford WRT | Ford Puma Rally1 | 13 | Grégoire Munster | Louis Louka | 1–6 |
16 | Adrien Fourmaux | Alexandre Coria | 1–6 | |||
Hyundai | Hyundai Shell Mobis WRT | Hyundai i20 N Rally1 | 4 | Esapekka Lappi | Janne Ferm | 2–3 |
6 | Dani Sordo | Cándido Carrera | 5–6 | |||
8 | Ott Tänak | Martin Järveoja | 1–6 | |||
9 | Andreas Mikkelsen | Torstein Eriksen | 1, 4 | |||
11 | Thierry Neuville | Martijn Wydaeghe | 1–6 | |||
Toyota | Toyota Gazoo Racing WRT | Toyota GR Yaris Rally1 | 17 | Sébastien Ogier | Vincent Landais | 1, 4–6 |
18 | Takamoto Katsuta | Aaron Johnston | 1–4, 6 | |||
33 | Elfyn Evans | Scott Martin | 1–6 | |||
69 | Kalle Rovanperä | Jonne Halttunen | 2–3, 5 | |||
Sources:[34][35][36][37][38][39] |
The following crews are entered in Rally1 cars as privateers or under arrangement with the manufacturers.
Manufacturer | Entrant | Car | No. | Driver name | Co-driver name | Rounds |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Ford | M-Sport Ford WRT | Ford Puma Rally1 | 19 | Jourdan Serderidis | Frédéric Miclotte | 3 |
Toyota | Toyota Gazoo Racing WRT | Toyota GR Yaris Rally1 | 18 | Takamoto Katsuta | Aaron Johnston | 5 |
37 | Lorenzo Bertelli | Simone Scattolin | 2 | |||
Sources:[35][36][38] |
M-Sport would feature a new line-up, with the crew led by Adrien Fourmaux and Grégoire Munster be the two full-time competitors.[40] Pierre-Louis Loubet, who drove for the team over the last two seasons, was announced to compete in the WRC-2 category with Toksport.[41] Latvian driver Mārtiņš Sesks is set to make his top tier debut with the team as a part of the collaboration program with WRC Promoter GmbH.[42]
Hyundai would retain the crew of Thierry Neuville and Martijn Wydaeghe.[43] Ott Tänak and Martin Järveoja would rejoin the team after spending one year with M-Sport.[44] Esapekka Lappi and Janne Ferm also remained with the team, but they would run with a reduced program.[45] Andreas Mikkelsen would return to Hyundai for his second stint the team, sharing a third car with the crew led by Dani Sordo and Lappi.[46]
Toyota would maintain the lineup from 2023, with the crews led by Elfyn Evans and by Takamoto Katsuta would be the two full-time competitors for the team.[47] Reigning world champion Kalle Rovanperä signed a multi-year contract with the team, but he only plans to contest a partial program in 2024.[48] Eight-time world champion Sébastien Ogier would continue his approach to the season, competing at selected events.[49] They would not share a third car.[50]
Points system is confirmed to have a major revision to prevent saving tyres for the Power Stage.[51] The top ten competitors in the overall classification by the end of Saturday are subject to score 18–15–13–10–8–6–4–3–2–1 points respectively as long as they complete a classified rally finish, otherwise these points would be pass to the next eligible competitor.[52] Top seven runners who record least time in an accumulated leader board of Sunday to receive 7–6–5–4–3–2–1 points respectively.[53]
A shorter itinerary of 48 hours would be featured at the Rally Italia Sardegna, which would be a trial run of the compact weekend format that was proposed by the FIA.[54]
Neuville and Wydaeghe won the season opener, where the implementation of the new points system saw them grabbing a maximum thirty points after leading by the end of Saturday, recording the shortest time on Sunday and winning the Power Stage.[55] As championship leaders, Neuville and Wydaeghe were supposed to be first on road at the first leg of the next round, but their i20 was unable to fire up because of a fuel pressure issue before the first stage of the afternoon, leaving title rivals Evans and Martin to sweep the road.[56] This led to controversy as Evans and Martin lost time due to the conditions being first on road.[57] Nevertheless, Evans and Martin still outscored Neuville and Wydaeghe at the conclusion of the event, closing the gap to only three points in the championships.[58] Lappi and Ferm took the victory, ending their winning drought stretching six-and-a-half years, with Fourmaux and Coria achieved their first podium finish.[59]
Toyota responded with a 1–2 finish to Hyundai's back-to-back victories at Safari, extending their championship lead to four points.[60] Neuville and Wydaeghe had a troublesome weekend, but a successful run on Sunday saw the Belgain crew rebuilt their championship leads back to six points.[61] Toyota's championship lead was further extended to seven points with the victory in Croatia by Ogier and Landais,[62] who snatched the lead after the mistakes by rally leaders.[63]
Heading into the first gravel rally of the season, Ogier and Landais continued their success run, taking a back-to-back victory.[64]
Round | Event | Winning driver | Winning co-driver | Winning entrant | Winning time | Report | Ref. |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Rallye Automobile Monte Carlo | Thierry Neuville | Martijn Wydaeghe | Hyundai Shell Mobis WRT | 3:09:30.9 | Report | [65][66] |
2 | Rally Sweden | Esapekka Lappi | Janne Ferm | Hyundai Shell Mobis WRT | 2:33:04.9 | Report | [67][68] |
3 | Safari Rally Kenya | Kalle Rovanperä | Jonne Halttunen | Toyota Gazoo Racing WRT | 3:36:04.0 | Report | [69][70] |
4 | Croatia Rally | Sébastien Ogier | Vincent Landais | Toyota Gazoo Racing WRT | 2:40:23.6 | Report | [71][72] |
5 | Rally de Portugal | Sébastien Ogier | Vincent Landais | Toyota Gazoo Racing WRT | 3:41:32.3 | Report | [73][74] |
6 | Rally Italia Sardegna | Report | |||||
7 | Rally Poland | Report | |||||
8 | Rally Latvia | Report | |||||
9 | Rally Finland | Report | |||||
10 | Acropolis Rally Greece | Report | |||||
11 | Rally Chile | Report | |||||
12 | Central European Rally | Report | |||||
13 | Rally Japan | Report |
Points are awarded to the top ten crews in the overall classification by the end of Saturday, and top seven crews in an accumulated overall classification of Sunday in each event.[75] 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, 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.[76]
Position | 1st | 2nd | 3rd | 4th | 5th | 6th | 7th | 8th | 9th | 10th |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Overall position by Saturday | 18 | 15 | 13 | 10 | 8 | 6 | 4 | 3 | 2 | 1 |
Accumulated position of Sunday | 7 | 6 | 5 | 4 | 3 | 2 | 1 | — | ||
Power Stage | 5 | 4 | 3 | 2 | 1 | — |
The driver who records a points-scoring classification would be taken into account for the championship regardless of the categories.
|
Notes: |
The co-driver who records a points-scoring classification would be taken into account for the championship regardless of the categories.
|
Notes: |
Only the best two results of each manufacturer in the respective overall classification by the end of Saturday, accumulated position of Sunday and Power Stage at each rally would be taken into account for the championship.
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Notes: |