The 2024 WRC season begins with the Monte Carlo Rally on 25-28 January where reigning champion Kalle Rovanpera is unlikely to defend his title.
The double world champion, who has won the past two titles, will only contest the 2024 season as a part-time driver to “recharge his batteries” ahead of a return to full-time competition in 2025.
His championship hunt will begin with 210 miles of tarmac and snow in the spectacular mountains around Monaco, which will also see the WRC debut changes to the event format, so here is everything explained.
WRC points structure for 2024
A new WRC points structure will be introduced for 2024 as an attempt to improve entertainment on the final day of a rally weekend. Previously, drivers would often contest stages at a reduced pace to preserve tyres for the weekend closing Power Stage, which offers bonus points to the five fastest times.
Under the new system, championship points will be split into two with rewards on offer at the end of Saturday and Sunday, although a total of 30 remains the prize for a perfect rally. So, a sliding scale of 18-15-13-10-8-6-4-3-2-1 will be awarded at the end of Saturday, with 7-6-5-4-3- 2-1 then given the following day while the Power Stage is unchanged where the top five pairings score 5-4-3-2-1.
|
Position |
Points for overall position by Saturday |
Points for final position by Sunday |
Power Stage |
|
1 |
18 |
7 |
5 |
|
2 |
15 |
6 |
4 |
|
3 |
13 |
5 |
3 |
|
4 |
10 |
4 |
2 |
|
5 |
8 |
3 |
1 |
|
6 |
6 |
2 |
N/A |
|
7 |
4 |
1 |
N/A |
|
8 |
3 |
N/A |
N/A |
|
9 |
2 |
N/A |
N/A |
|
10 |
1 |
N/A |
N/A |
A crew will only score points on Saturday if it finishes on the Sunday though so in cases where a car does not, Saturday points will be awarded to the next best-placed pairing. WRC’s 2019 champion Ott Tanak believes “the meaning of victory is quite a lot less” under the new points system because a driver could win the rally but other competitors score more points than them. The winner of the rally will still be determined by overall time from the start of the event.
So, the FIA will closely monitor how the new WRC points system impacts things across 2024 and adjust where necessary. Meanwhile, teams are still eligible to nominate three crews for points, but they will only be awarded to its top two classified finishers.
WRC car changes for 2024
The FIA has allowed non-hybrid powered Rally1 cars to compete in the 2024 WRC season in order to make the top tier more accessible. It is a way of reducing costs to run a Rally1 car, which also gives the opportunity for the machines to compete in regional rallies.
Rally1 cars not using the plug-in hybrid system will instead carry the equivalent weight of the full EV system in ballast, which reduces horsepower by around 100. However, those who enter a rally without the hybrid system are not eligible for championship points, but it is still supported by the manufacturers and should close the gap between Rally1 and Rally2.
There have also been changes made to the number of hybrid units available in 2024, as teams can no longer use more than three new units as opposed to nine in previous years as another way of reducing costs.
Elsewhere, five-minute penalties will no longer be given to drivers for changing their engine between pre-rally scrutineering and first-time control, which happened to Tanak at the 2023 Rally Estonia - an incident that launched investigations into the particular rule. So, under new regulations teams can replace a damaged hybrid unit between the two stages as long as it does not exceed the permitted number of used engines.
WRC calendar for 2024
|
Round |
Event |
Rally Headquarters |
Date |
|
1 |
Monte Carlo Rally |
Gap, Provence-Alpes-Cote d’Azur, France |
25-28 January |
|
2 |
Rally Sweden |
Umea, Vasterbotten County, Sweden |
15-18 February |
|
3 |
Safari Rally |
Nairobi, Kenya |
28-31 March |
|
4 |
Croatia Rally |
Zagreb, Croatia |
18-21 April |
|
5 |
Rally de Portugal |
Matosinhos, Porto, Portugal |
9-12 May |
|
6 |
Rally Italia Sardegna |
Olbia, Sardinia, Italy |
30 May - 2 June |
|
7 |
Rally Poland |
Mikolajki, Warmian-Masurian, Poland |
27-30 June |
|
8 |
Rally Latvia |
Liepaja, Kurzeme Planning Region, Latvia |
18-21 July |
|
9 |
Rally Finland |
Jyvaskyla, Central Finland, Finland |
1-4 August |
|
10 |
Acropolis Rally |
Lamia, Central Greece, Greece |
5-8 September |
|
11 |
Rally Chile |
Concepcion, Biobio, Chile |
26-29 September |
|
12 |
Central European Rally |
Passau, Bavaria, Germany (the rally also visits Austria and Czech Republic) |
31 October - 3 November |
|
13 |
Rally Japan |
Toyota, Aichi, Japan |
21-24 November |
WRC Rally1 line-ups for 2024
*Will only contest selected rounds in 2024
|
Team |
Driver |
Co-driver |
|
Louis Louka |
||
|
Alexandre Coria |
||
|
Hyundai |
||
|
*Candido Carrera |
||
|
Ott Tanak |
||
|
Toyota |
*Sebastien Ogier |
|
|
Elfyn Evans |
||
|
*Kalle Rovanpera |
*Jonna Halttunen |
