2024 World Rally Championship

Thierry Neuville is the current drivers' championship leader.

Toyota Gazoo Racing WRT (GR Yaris Rally1 pictured) is the current manufacturers' championship leader.

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 fourth round, Thierry Neuville and Martijn Wydaeghe respectively lead the drivers' and co-drivers' championship over Elfyn Evans and Scott Martin by six points. Adrien Fourmaux and Alexandre Coria are third, a further twenty-one points behind. In the manufacturers' championship, the reigning manufacturers' champions Toyota Gazoo Racing WRT hold a seven-point lead over Hyundai Shell Mobis WRT, with M-Sport Ford WRT in third.

Calendar

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A map showing the locations of the rallies in the 2024 championship. Event headquarters are marked with black dots.

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	TBA	TBA
8	18 July	21 July	Rally Latvia	Liepāja, Kurzeme Planning Region, Latvia	Gravel	TBA	TBA
9	1 August	4 August	Rally Finland	Jyväskylä, Central Finland, Finland	Gravel	20	304.81 km	[7]
10	5 September	8 September	Acropolis Rally Greece	Lamia, Central Greece, Greece	Gravel	TBA	TBA
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:[8][9]

Calendar changes

The championship was expected to be expanded to fourteen rounds,^[10] however WRC Promoter GmbH retained the existing total of thirteen events with the reasoning that it would aid participation of more Rally1 cars.^[11]

• Rally Liepāja is set to step up from the European Rally Championship to hold a World Rally Championship event under new name, Rally Latvia.^[12] The rally would be held on gravel roads that ranges from the cities of Rīga and Liepāja to the regions of Talsi, Tukums, Kuldīga and Dienvidkurzeme.^[13] It would replace Rally Estonia on the calendar.^[14]
• Rally Poland is scheduled to return to the championship.^[15] This would mark the first time the event would be held as a WRC event since 2017.^[16]
• Rally Mexico dropped off the calendar, but the organisers are seeking an opportunity for a 2025 return.^[17]
• Rally Estonia also would not be featured in 2024, but the event is set to return in 2025.^[18]

The WRC Promoter GmbH is also working on the two key calendar expansions for the future.^[19]

• Progress has been made for the candidate event in the United States, a location that was also aiming to join the championship in 2024.^[20] Chattanooga, Tennessee is planned to be the rally headquarters and the event would be held on gravel surface.^[21]
• The other key expansion is Rally China, which was last featured in 1999. The rally was also scheduled to be held in 2016, but it was ultimately cancelled due to the damage caused by the 2016 China floods.^[22]

In addition, the candidate list also include the event in Saudi Arabia,^[23] where it aims at a 2025 calendar slot.^[24] The rally is a part of WRC Promoter GmbH's plan to deliver a desert event.^[25] Rally Argentina is also bidding to return to the championship.^[26]

Other changes

• The organizers of the Monte Carlo Rally are set to relocate its headquarters back to Gap in France.^[27] The rally was previously based in Monaco.^[28]
• The Kenyan Rally, which took place in June in the previous three seasons, will move ahead to March at the weekend of Easter as the third round of the season.^[29]
• The running date of the Central European Rally was moved two weeks earlier with a headquarter change to avoid the clash with All Saints' Day.^[30]

Entries

The following manufacturers are set to contest the championship under Rally1 regulations.^[31]

Rally1 entries eligible to score manufacturer points

Manufacturer	Entrant	Car	No.	Driver name	Co-driver name	Rounds
Ford	M-Sport Ford WRT	Ford Puma Rally1	13	Grégoire Munster	Louis Louka	1–5
			16	Adrien Fourmaux	Alexandre Coria	1–5
Hyundai	Hyundai Shell Mobis WRT	Hyundai i20 N Rally1	4	Esapekka Lappi	Janne Ferm	2–3
			6	Dani Sordo	Cándido Carrera	5
			8	Ott Tänak	Martin Järveoja	1–5
			9	Andreas Mikkelsen	Torstein Eriksen	1, 4
			11	Thierry Neuville	Martijn Wydaeghe	1–5
Toyota	Toyota Gazoo Racing WRT	Toyota GR Yaris Rally1	17	Sébastien Ogier	Vincent Landais	1, 4–5
			18	Takamoto Katsuta	Aaron Johnston	1–4
			33	Elfyn Evans	Scott Martin	1–5
			69	Kalle Rovanperä	Jonne Halttunen	2–3, 5
Sources:[32][33][34][35][36]

The following crews are entered in Rally1 cars as privateers or under arrangement with the manufacturers.

Rally1 entries ineligible to score manufacturer points

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:[33][34][36]

In detail

M-Sport would feature a new line-up, with the crew led by Adrien Fourmaux and Grégoire Munster be the two full-time competitors.^[37] Pierre-Louis Loubet, who drove for the team over the last two seasons, was announced to compete in the WRC-2 category with Toksport.^[38] 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.^[39]

Hyundai would retain the crew of Thierry Neuville and Martijn Wydaeghe.^[40] Ott Tänak and Martin Järveoja would rejoin the team after spending one year with M-Sport.^[41] Esapekka Lappi and Janne Ferm also remained with the team, but they would run with a reduced program.^[42] 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.^[43]

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.^[44] Reigning world champion Kalle Rovanperä signed a multi-year contract with the team, but he only plans to contest a partial program in 2024.^[45] Eight-time world champion Sébastien Ogier would continue his approach to the season, competing at selected events.^[46] They would not share a third car.^[47]

Regulation changes

Points system is confirmed to have a major revision to prevent saving tyres for the Power Stage.^[48] 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.^[49] 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.^[50]

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.^[51]

Season report

Opening rounds

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.^[52] 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.^[53] This led to controversy as Evans and Martin lost time due to the conditions being first on road.^[54] 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.^[55] 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.^[56]

Toyota responded with a 1–2 finish to Hyundai's back-to-back victories at Safari, extending their championship lead to four points.^[57] 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.^[58] Toyota's championship lead was further extended to seven points with the victory in Croatia by Ogier and Landais,^[59] who snatched the lead after the mistakes by rally leaders.^[60]

Results and standings

Season summary

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	[61][62]
2	Rally Sweden	Esapekka Lappi	Janne Ferm	Hyundai Shell Mobis WRT	2:33:04.9	Report	[63][64]
3	Safari Rally Kenya	Kalle Rovanperä	Jonne Halttunen	Toyota Gazoo Racing WRT	3:36:04.0	Report	[65][66]
4	Croatia Rally	Sébastien Ogier	Vincent Landais	Toyota Gazoo Racing WRT	2:40:23.6	Report	[67][68]
5	Rally de Portugal					Report
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

Scoring system

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.^[69] 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.^[70]

FIA World Rally Championship for Drivers

The driver who records a points-scoring classification would be taken into account for the championship regardless of the categories.

Pos. Driver MON SWE KEN CRO POR ITA POL LAT FIN GRE CHL EUR JPN Points 1 Thierry Neuville 118+7+5 410+5+3 58+6+5 318+1+0 86 2 Elfyn Evans 313+6+2 213+7+4 410+5+1 215+3+1 80 3 Adrien Fourmaux 58+3+0 315+3+0 313+4+0 178+0+5 59 4 Ott Tänak 410+4+1 410+4+2 81+7+4 410+6+4 53 5 Sébastien Ogier 215+5+4 113+5+3 45 6 Takamoto Katsuta 74+2+3 460+2+1 215+3+0 56+7+2 45 7 Kalle Rovanperä 390+6+5 118+0+2 31 8 Esapekka Lappi 118+1+0 120+1+3 23 9 Andreas Mikkelsen 66+0+0 64+4+0 14 10 Oliver Solberg 400+0+0 58+0+0 74+0+0 12 11 Grégoire Munster 200+1+0 230+0+0 150+2+0 73+2+0 8 12 Sami Pajari 120+0+0 66+0+0 100+0+0 6 13 Gus Greensmith 66+0+0 110+0+0 6 14 Nikolay Gryazin 103+0+0 190+0+0 82+0+0 5 15 Georg Linnamäe 74+0+0 Ret0+0+0 4 16 Roope Korhonen 83+0+0 3 17 Kajetan Kajetanowicz 103+0+0 3 18 Yohan Rossel 81+0+0 91+0+0 2 19 Pepe López 92+0+0 120+0+0 2 20 Jourdan Serderidis 250+0+0 92+0+0 2 21 Mikko Heikkilä 92+0+0 2 22 Lauri Joona 111+0+0 150+0+0 1 — Dani Sordo — Pos. Driver MON SWE KEN CRO POR ITA POL LAT FIN GRE CHL EUR JPN Points Sources:[71][72]

Key Colour Result Gold Winner Silver 2nd place Bronze 3rd place Green Top 10 finish Blue Non-top 10 finish Non-classified finish (NC) Purple Did not finish (Ret) Black Excluded (EX) Disqualified (DSQ) White Did not start (DNS) Cancelled (C) Blank Withdrew entry from the event (WD) Notes: Main script – Final position Text below – Points scored from Saturday, Sunday and the Power Stage

FIA World Rally Championship for Co-Drivers

The co-driver who records a points-scoring classification would be taken into account for the championship regardless of the categories.

Pos. Co-driver MON SWE KEN CRO POR ITA POL LAT FIN GRE CHL EUR JPN Points 1 Martijn Wydaeghe 118+7+5 410+5+3 58+6+5 318+1+0 86 2 Scott Martin 313+6+2 213+7+4 410+5+1 215+3+1 80 3 Alexandre Coria 58+3+0 315+3+0 313+4+0 178+0+5 59 4 Martin Järveoja 410+4+1 410+4+2 81+7+4 410+6+4 53 5 Vincent Landais 215+5+4 113+5+3 45 6 Aaron Johnston 74+2+3 460+2+1 215+3+0 56+7+2 45 7 Jonne Halttunen 390+6+5 118+0+2 31 8 Janne Ferm 118+1+0 120+1+3 23 9 Torstein Eriksen 66+0+0 64+4+0 14 10 Elliott Edmondson 400+0+0 58+0+0 74+0+0 12 11 Louis Louka 200+1+0 230+0+0 150+2+0 73+2+0 8 12 Enni Mälkönen 120+0+0 66+0+0 100+0+0 6 13 Jonas Andersson 66+0+0 110+0+0 6 14 Konstantin Aleksandrov[b] 103+0+0 190+0+0 82+0+0 5 15 James Morgan 74+0+0 Ret0+0+0 4 16 Anssi Viinikka 83+0+0 3 17 Maciej Szczepaniak 103+0+0 3 18 Arnaud Dunand 81+0+0 91+0+0 2 19 David Vázquez Liste 92+0+0 120+0+0 2 20 Frédéric Miclotte 250+0+0 92+0+0 2 21 Kristian Temonen 92+0+0 2 22 Janni Hussi 111+0+0 150+0+0 1 — Cándido Carrera — Pos. Co-driver MON SWE KEN CRO POR ITA POL LAT FIN GRE CHL EUR JPN Points Sources:[71][75]

Key Colour Result Gold Winner Silver 2nd place Bronze 3rd place Green Top 10 finish Blue Non-top 10 finish Non-classified finish (NC) Purple Did not finish (Ret) Black Excluded (EX) Disqualified (DSQ) White Did not start (DNS) Cancelled (C) Blank Withdrew entry from the event (WD) Notes: Main script – Final position Text below – Points scored from Saturday, Sunday and the Power Stage

FIA World Rally Championship for Manufacturers

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.

Pos. Manufacturer MON SWE KEN CRO POR ITA POL LAT FIN GRE CHL EUR JPN Points 1 Toyota Gazoo Racing WRT 215+5+4 213+7+4 118+0+2 113+5+3 176 313+6+0 66+6+5 215+3+0 215+0+0 NC0+0+3 NC0+0+0 NC0+5+1 NC0+7+2 2 Hyundai Shell Mobis WRT 118+7+5 118+0+0 410+6+5 318+0+0 169 410+4+1 410+5+3 58+7+4 410+6+4 NC0+0+0 NC0+4+2 NC0+0+0 NC0+4+0 3 M-Sport Ford WRT 58+3+0 315+3+0 313+4+0 58+2+5 96 66+2+0 58+2+0 66+2+0 66+3+0 Pos. Manufacturer MON SWE KEN CRO POR ITA POL LAT FIN GRE CHL EUR JPN Points Sources:[71][76]

Key Colour Result Gold Winner Silver 2nd place Bronze 3rd place Green Top 10 finish Blue Non-top 10 finish Non-classified finish (NC) Purple Did not finish (Ret) Black Excluded (EX) Disqualified (DSQ) White Did not start (DNS) Cancelled (C) Blank Withdrew entry from the event (WD) Notes: Main script – Final position Text below – Points scored from Saturday, Sunday and the Power Stage

Notes

References

External links

• Official website (in English, French, and Spanish)
• FIA World Rally Championship 2024 at eWRC-results.com