The World Rally Championship (WRC) is a rallying series administered by Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA), motorsport's world governing body.[1] The series currently consists of 13 three-day events driven on surfaces that range from gravel and tarmac to snow and ice. Each rally is split into 15–25 special stages, which are run against the clock on closed roads. The WRC was formed from well-known and popular international rallies, most of which had previously been part of the European Rally Championship and/or the International Championship for Manufacturers; the series was first contested in 1973.[2] The drivers' championship was first awarded in 1977 and 1978 as an FIA Cup for Drivers title, to Sandro Munari and Markku Alén, respectively. The first official world champion in rallying was Björn Waldegård in 1979.[3]
Each season normally consists of 12 to 16 rallies driven on surfaces ranging from gravel and tarmac to snow and ice. Points from these events are calculated towards the drivers', co-drivers' and manufacturers' world championships. The driver's championship and manufacturer's championship are separate championships, but are based on the same point system. In the current points system, points are awarded at the end of each rally to the top ten WRC (overall) drivers that qualify as follows: 25, 18, 15, 12, 10, 8, 6, 4, 2, 1. In addition to those points, from 2011 each event holds 1 special stage, the Power Stage, in which drivers and co-drivers can score extra points – currently awarded to five fastest drivers (5, 4, 3, 2, 1). [4]
Sébastien Loeb holds the record for the most drivers' championships, winning nine during his career.[5] He also holds the record for the most championships won in a row; he won his nine titles consecutively from 2004 to 2012.[6] Sébastien Ogier is second with eight. Kalle Rovanperä is the youngest world champion; he was 22 years old when he won the 2022 World Rally Championship.[7] French drivers have won the most titles with 18 championships between 3 drivers. Finland are second with 16 championships between 8 different drivers. Citroën cars have won the most drivers' championships with nine titles, all of them with Loeb.
| Podiums | The number of times the champion finished in the top three in a rally | |
| Margin | The margin of points by which the champion defeated the runner-up(s) |
| scope=col | Season | scope=col | Country | scope=col | Driver | scope=col | Car | scope=col | Wins | scope=col | Podiums | scope=col | Points | scope=col | Margin |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1977 | scope=row | Lancia Stratos HF | 3 | 4 | 31 | 1 | |||||||||
| 1978 | scope=row | Fiat 131 Abarth | 4 | 8 | 52 | 21 | |||||||||
| 1979 | scope=row | Ford Escort RS1800 | 2 | 7 | 112 | 1 | |||||||||
| 1980 | scope=row | Fiat 131 Abarth | 4 | 6 | 118 | 54 | |||||||||
| 1981 | scope=row | Ford Escort RS1800 | 3 | 5 | 96 | 7 | |||||||||
| 1982 | scope=row | Opel Ascona 400 | 2 | 8 | 109 | 12 | |||||||||
| 1983 | scope=row | Audi Quattro A1/A2 | 4 | 7 | 125 | 23 | |||||||||
| 1984 | Audi Quattro A2/Sport Quattro | 5 | 6 | 125 | 21 | ||||||||||
| 1985 | scope=row | Peugeot 205 T16/E2 | 5 | 8 | 127 | 52 | |||||||||
| 1986 | scope=row | Peugeot 205 T16 E2 | 3 | 6 | 118 | 14 | |||||||||
| 1987 | scope=row | Lancia Delta HF 4WD | 2 | 5 | 100 | 6 | |||||||||
| 1988 | scope=row | Lancia Delta HF 4WD/integrale | 5 | 6 | 115 | 29 | |||||||||
| 1989 | scope=row | Lancia Delta integrale 16v | 5 | 5 | 106 | 41 | |||||||||
| 1990 | scope=row | Toyota Celica GT-Four ST165 | 4 | 9 | 140 | 45 | |||||||||
| 1991 | scope=row | Lancia Delta HF integrale 16v | 5 | 7 | 150 | 7 | |||||||||
| 1992 | scope=row | Toyota Celica Turbo 4WD | 4 | 8 | 144 | 10 | |||||||||
| 1993 | scope=row | Toyota Celica Turbo 4WD | 5 | 7 | 135 | 23 | |||||||||
| 1994 | scope=row | Toyota Celica Turbo 4WD | 3 | 6 | 116 | 17 | |||||||||
| 1995 | scope=row | Subaru Impreza 555 | 2 | 5 | 90 | 5 | |||||||||
| 1996 | scope=row | Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution III | 5 | 6 | 123 | 31 | |||||||||
| 1997 | scope=row | Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution IV | 4 | 9 | 63 | 1 | |||||||||
| 1998 | scope=row | Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution IV/Evolution V | 5 | 7 | 58 | 2 | |||||||||
| 1999 | scope=row | Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution VI | 4 | 7 | 62 | 7 | |||||||||
| 2000 | scope=row | Peugeot 206 WRC | 4 | 7 | 65 | 5 | |||||||||
| 2001 | scope=row | Subaru Impreza WRC 2001 | 1 | 6 | 44 | 2 | |||||||||
| 2002 | scope=row | Peugeot 206 WRC | 5 | 9 | 77 | 40 | |||||||||
| 2003 | scope=row | Subaru Impreza WRC 2003 | 4 | 7 | 72 | 1 | |||||||||
| 2004 | scope=row | Citroën Xsara WRC | 6 | 12 | 118 | 36 | |||||||||
| 2005 | scope=row | Citroën Xsara WRC | 10 | 13 | 127 | 56 | |||||||||
| 2006 | scope=row | Citroën Xsara WRC | 8 | 12 | 112 | 1 | |||||||||
| 2007 | scope=row | Citroën C4 WRC | 8 | 13 | 116 | 4 | |||||||||
| 2008 | scope=row | Citroën C4 WRC | 11 | 13 | 122 | 19 | |||||||||
| 2009 | scope=row | Citroën C4 WRC | 7 | 9 | 93 | 1 | |||||||||
| 2010 | scope=row | Citroën C4 WRC | 8 | 13 | 276 | 105 | |||||||||
| 2011 | scope=row | Citroën DS3 WRC | 5 | 9 | 222 | 8 | |||||||||
| 2012 | scope=row | Citroën DS3 WRC | 9 | 10 | 270 | 57 | |||||||||
| 2013 | scope=row | Volkswagen Polo R WRC | 9 | 11 | 290 | 114 | |||||||||
| 2014 | scope=row | Volkswagen Polo R WRC | 8 | 10 | 267 | 49 | |||||||||
| 2015 | scope=row | Volkswagen Polo R WRC | 8 | 10 | 263 | 80 | |||||||||
| 2016 | scope=row | Volkswagen Polo R WRC | 6 | 11 | 268 | 108 | |||||||||
| 2017 | scope=row | Ford Fiesta WRC | 2 | 9 | 232 | 24 | |||||||||
| 2018 | scope=row | Ford Fiesta WRC | 4 | 6 | 219 | 18 | |||||||||
| 2019 | scope=row | Toyota Yaris WRC | 6 | 9 | 263 | 36 | |||||||||
| 2020 | scope=row | Toyota Yaris WRC | 2 | 5 | 122 | 8 | |||||||||
| 2021 | scope=row | Toyota Yaris WRC | 5 | 7 | 230 | 23 | |||||||||
| 2022 | scope=row | Toyota GR Yaris Rally1 | 6 | 7 | 237 | 64 | |||||||||
| 2023 | scope=row | Toyota GR Yaris Rally1 | 3 | 8 | 250 | 34 |
Season still in progress.
| scope=col | Driver | scope=col | Total | scope=col class="unsortable" | Seasons |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| scope=row |  | 9 | 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012 | ||
| scope=row | | 8 | 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2020, 2021 | ||
| scope=row |  | 4 | 1986, 1987, 1991, 1993 | ||
| scope=row | | 4 | 1996, 1997, 1998, 1999 | ||
| scope=row |  | 2 | 1980, 1982 | ||
| scope=row |  | 2 | 1988, 1989 | ||
| scope=row |  | 2 | 1990, 1992 | ||
| scope=row | | 2 | 2000, 2002 | ||
| scope=row | | 2 | 2022, 2023 | ||
| scope=row | | 1 | 1977 | ||
| scope=row | | 1 | 1978 | ||
| scope=row |  | 1 | 1979 | ||
| scope=row | | 1 | 1981 | ||
| scope=row | | 1 | 1983 | ||
| scope=row | | 1 | 1984 | ||
| scope=row | | 1 | 1985 | ||
| scope=row | | 1 | 1994 | ||
| scope=row | 1 | 1995 | |||
| scope=row | 1 | 2001 | |||
| scope=row |  | 1 | 2003 | ||
| scope=row |  | 1 | 2019 |
| scope=col | Country | scope=col | Drivers | scope=col | Total wins |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| scope=row | 3 | 18 | |||
| scope=row | 8 | 16 | |||
| scope=row | 2 | 3 | |||
| scope=row | 2 | 2 | |||
| scope=row | 2 | 2 | |||
| scope=row | 1 | 2 | |||
| scope=row | 1 | 2 | |||
| scope=row | 1 | 1 | |||
| scope=row | 1 | 1 |
Privateers counted as manufacturers.
| scope=col | Manufacturer | scope=col | Total |
|---|---|---|---|
| scope=row | Citroën | 9 | |
| scope=row |  Toyota | 9 | |
| scope=row | Lancia | 5 | |
| scope=row | Ford | 4 | |
| scope=row | Mitsubishi | 4 | |
| scope=row | Peugeot | 4 | |
| scope=row | Volkswagen | 4 | |
| scope=row | Subaru | 3 | |
| scope=row | Audi | 2 | |
| scope=row | Fiat | 2 | |
| scope=row | Opel | 1 |
General
Specific