How Well Do You Know the World Rally Championship?

World Rally Championship (WRC) - A Summary

• The WRC is the highest level of global competition in the motorsport discipline of rallying, owned and governed by the FIA.

• Separate championships are held for drivers, co-drivers, manufacturers and teams.

• The series 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 350 kilometres of closed roads.

• The WRC features two support championships, WRC2 and WRC3, which are contested on the same events and stages as the WRC, but with progressively lower performance and running costs of the cars permitted.

• The history of the WRC dates back to 1973, with Alpine-Renault winning the first manufacturer's world championship with its Alpine A110.

• The Group B era was from the 1980s, with FISA legalizing all-wheel-drive in 1979 and Group B regulations introduced in 1982, allowing almost unlimited power. It was banned from competing in 1987.

• Group A regulations became the standard in the WRC until 1997. Lancia was the most successful marque in the history of the WRC.

• The World Rally Car era began in 1997 as an intended replacement for Group A.

• The WRC also features support championships called WRC2 and WRC3, which have tighter restrictions on eligible car criteria.

• 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.

• In 2023, the FIA WRC Masters Cup will run 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.Overview of the World Rally Championship

• The World Rally Championship (WRC) consists of a number of rounds within the same calendar year, usually including rallies on a minimum of 3 continents.

• Rallies are typically driven on surfaces ranging from gravel and tarmac to snow and ice, and consist of competitive special stages driven on closed roads linked by non-competitive road sections known as liaisons.

• Each rally usually consists of between fifteen and thirty special stages of distances ranging from under 2 km to over 50 km, not totalling more than 350 km.

• Since 2021, rallies must consist of only one surface type except where short super special stages are permitted that do not require a change in the car's setup.

• Points are awarded at the end of each rally to the top ten overall finishers, with manufacturers nominating up to three crews to be eligible for manufacturer championship points before an event.

• Additional World Championship points are available through the Power Stage, which is the final stage of the rally and is typically televised live.

• Crews are permitted to restart the following day if they are forced to retire, with a ten-minute penalty plus the winning stage time in the same priority group added to the overall time for each stage not completed.

• Cars used in WRC are governed and approved by the FIA, with the current regulations including World Rally Car 1.6L, Groups Rally, and R3 or R-GT of Group R.

• WRC Promoter GmbH owns the commercial rights to the WRC championships, responsible for all media coverage and sponsorship operations.

• Video coverage is provided in various forms at WRC.com, mobile or smart TV apps, with a paid-for subscription required to watch premium content via WRC+.

• WRC TV produces previews, daily highlights, and event reviews for each rally, as well as other magazine shows such as season reviews for broadcast television.World Rally Championship: Broadcasting, Podcasts, Records and Statistics

Broadcasting and Streaming

• The World Rally Championship (WRC) is broadcast in 150 markets, with over 12,000 hours screened globally in 2016, and under 10,000 hours in 2019.
• WRC+ All Live is the official streaming service of the WRC, launched in 2018, providing live coverage of every stage.
• Live radio/audio coverage of the rallies was provided in English by a free service called World Rally Radio, broadcast via the Internet by Crown House Media, which ceased in 2018.

Podcasts

• Backstories is the official WRC podcast, launched in 2020, featuring interviews with drivers and co-drivers.

Records and Statistics: Manufacturers

• 21 different manufacturers have won a WRC event, with Lancia winning the most Manufacturers' Championships (10).
• 11 manufacturers have finished on the podium but not won an event, including Seat, Mini, and Vauxhall.

Records and Statistics: Champions

• Sébastien Loeb holds the record for the most Driver's Championships (9), followed by Tommi Mäkinen and Sébastien Ogier (4 each).
• France has produced the most Driver's Championship-winning drivers (15), followed by Finland (14) and Great Britain (4).
• Citroën and Volkswagen have won the most consecutive Manufacturers' Championships (8 each).