2024 World Rally Championship

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 WRC2 and WRC3 categories at every round of the championship and by Junior WRC 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 eighth round, Thierry Neuville and Martijn Wydaeghe respectively lead the drivers' and co-drivers' championship over Ott Tänak and Martin Järveoja by eight points. Elfyn Evans and Scott Martin are third, a further five points behind. In the manufacturers' championship, Hyundai Shell Mobis WRT hold a one-point lead over the reigning manufacturers' champions Toyota Gazoo Racing WRT, with M-Sport Ford WRT in third.

Calendar
The 2024 season is scheduled to be contested over thirteen rounds crossing Europe, Africa, South America and Asia.

Calendar changes
The championship was expected to be expanded to fourteen rounds, however WRC Promoter GmbH retained the existing total of thirteen events with the reasoning that it would aid participation of more Rally1 cars.
 * Rally Liepāja is set to step up from the European Rally Championship to hold a World Rally Championship event under new name, Rally Latvia. 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. It would replace Rally Estonia on the calendar.
 * Rally Poland is scheduled to return to the championship. This would mark the first time the event would be held as a WRC event since.
 * Rally Mexico dropped off the calendar, but the organisers are seeking an opportunity for a return.
 * Rally Estonia also would not be featured in 2024, but the event is set to return in.

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


 * Progress has been made for the candidate event in the United States, a location that was also aiming to join the championship in 2024.
 * The other key expansion is Rally China, which was last featured in . The rally was also scheduled to be held in, but it was ultimately cancelled due to the damage caused by the 2016 China floods.

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

Other changes

 * The organizers of the Monte Carlo Rally are set to relocate its headquarters back to Gap in France. The rally was previously based in Monaco.
 * 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.
 * 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.

Entries
The following manufacturers are set to contest the championship under Rally1 regulations.

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

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. Pierre-Louis Loubet, who drove for the team over the last two seasons, was announced to compete in the WRC2 category with Toksport. 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.

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

Toyota would maintain the lineup from, with the crews led by Elfyn Evans and by Takamoto Katsuta would be the two full-time competitors for the team. Reigning world champion Kalle Rovanperä signed a multi-year contract with the team, but he only plans to contest a partial program in 2024. Eight-time world champion Sébastien Ogier would continue his approach to the season, competing at selected events. They would not share a third car. Sami Pajari and Enni Mälkönen is set to make their top class debut at the 2024 Rally Latvia.

Regulation changes
Points system is confirmed to have a major revision to prevent saving tyres for the Power Stage. 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. 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.

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.

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. 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. This led to controversy as Evans and Martin lost time due to the conditions being first on road. 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. 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.

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

Mid-season gravel events
Heading into the first gravel rally of the season, Ogier and Landais continued their success run, taking back-to-back victories. They could've further made it to a hat-trick at Sardegna, but a puncture at the Power Stage meant Tänak and Järveoja stole the win. The winning margin was only 0.2 second, marking the event joining the 2011 Jordan Rally as the closest win in the WRC history. Ogier and Landais were nominated by Toyota at the Polish Rally, but they were forced to withdraw from the rally after involving in a road accident in recce. Rovanperä and Halttunen stood in as replacements. They somehow managed to win the rally despite having made very limited preparation. They also won the following round, leading the rally from start to finish.

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. 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.

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.

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.

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.