Welcome to the 53rd season of the World Rally Championship.This year finds the championship in a transitionary period as the series prepares for new technical regulations debuting in 2027. Hybrids are being removed from the Rally1 class and new tire supplier Hankook has joined, replacing Pirelli. On the competitive side, Thierry Neuville looks to defend his first title while two-time champion Kalle Rovanperä returns to the series full-time, chasing another title to solidify his place among rally legends. The 2025 season will be longest since 2008, lasting 14 rounds as we venture to new roads in Saudi Arabia and take on classic rally stages on the Canary Islands.
What is the WRC?
Founded in 1973, the World Rally Championship is the premier stage rallying series sanctioned by the FIA. Crews consisting of a driver and co-driver compete for the quickest time on multiple stages over a weekend. These times are added cumulatively and the crew with the fastest total time at the end of the weekend is crowned the winner. A rally event usually lasts from Wednesday to Sunday with the competitive action happening from Friday onwards (some rallies have a few stages on Thursday as well).
The WRC is made up of multiple classes: Rally1, Rally2 and Rally3. The highest class, Rally1, features custom built prototype cars using a space frame chassis on a standardized safety shell. They have a 5-speed gearbox, four wheel drive and can reach speeds up to 200 km/h (125 mph). Rally2 and Rally3 are production cars modified for rallying.
As of 2025, three teams make up the top class of Rally1: Toyota, Hyundai and M-Sport Ford. WRC teams can have as many crews/cars as they want, but they can only nominate a maximum of three crews each rally to score points. The two highest finishing crews of those nominated will have their points count towards the Manufactures’ Championship. This doesn’t affect the Driver’s Championship, where every driver participating in the rally is able to score points. A separate standings for co-drivers is also kept, using the same points system used for the Driver’s Championship.
WRC 2025: What’s New?
2025 brings some major changes to the series with the removal of hybrid power from Rally1, a new tire supplier and a new points system:
Removal of Hybrid: As a cost saving measure, the 2025 WRC season will see hybrid power units removed from Rally1 cars. This isn’t expected to have a major effect on performance and will make it easier for rookies to adjust to Rally1.
New Tire Supplier: Hankook replaces Pirelli from the 2025 season onwards after singing a three year contract as the championship’s official tire supplier. The new tire has been extensively tested in the last few months and has already seen competitive action at the Rallye National Hivernal du Dévoluy where Adrien Fourmaux won using a Hyundai Rally1 on Hankook tires.
Revised Points System: The 2024 season saw the debut of a new points system attempting to put more emphasis on Sunday, splitting the points payout into Friday/Saturday and Sunday points. For 2025 the Friday/Saturday points have been dropped and all points will once again be rewarded on Sunday. Alongside the rally-long points payout a separate Sunday standing will award points to the five fasted drivers on Sunday. The Wolf Power Stage points remain unchanged from last season.
2025 Calendar
The 2025 WRC season features 14 events, the most since 2008. Rally Islas Canarias joins the WRC for the first time after being a mainstay on the ERC calendar. Rally Estonia returns to the WRC and two fully new rallies join, Rally del Paraguay and Rally Saudi Arabia which will cap off the season with the debut of new surfaces, sand and volcanic rock.
| R1: Rallye Monte-Carlo | Jan 22 – Jan 26 |
| R2: Rally Sweden | Feb 13 – Feb 16 |
| R3: Safari Rally Kenya | Mar 20 – Mar 23 |
| R4: Rally Islas Canarias | Apr 24 – April 27 |
| R5: Vodafone Rally de Portugal | May 14 – May 18 |
| R6: Rally Italia Sardegna | Jun 5 – Jun 8 |
| R7: EKO Acropolis Rally Greece | Jun 26 – Jun 29 |
| R8: Delfi Rally Estonia | Jul 17 – Jul 20 |
| R9: Secto Rally Finland | Jul 31 – Aug 3 |
| R10: Rally del Paraguay | Aug 28 – Aug 31 |
| R11: Rally Chile Bio Bío | Sep 11 – Sep 14 |
| R12: Central European Rally | Oct 16 – Oct 19 |
| R13: FORUM8 Rally Japan | Nov 5 – Nov 9 |
| R14: Rally Saudi Arabia | Nov 27 – Nov 30 |
Teams
Toyota
Founded: 2017 Championships: 5
The reigning Manufacturers’ Champions return with a bolstered lineup for their 2025 title defense. Most notably, Kalle Rovanperä is returning full time after switching to a part time schedule last season to pursue different racing series. Without a doubt the team to beat this season, Toyota is running four full-time cars. Joining Rovanperä full-time is Elfyn Evans and Takamoto Katsuta while eight-time world champion Sébastien Ogier and Rally1 rookie Sami Pajari join as part-time entries for the fourth car.
Hyundai
Founded: 2000 Championships: 2
The Korean outfit lost the Manufacturers’ Championship in dramatic fashion last season, the battle went all the way to the final stage of the last rally. That didn’t stop them from taking the Driver’s Championship which was won by Thierry Henry for the first time in the Belgian’s long WRC career. This season the team is going all-in on the Manufacturers’ Championship by running three full time cars with Neuville, Ott Tänak and last year’s breakout driver Adrien Fourmaux who joins from M-Sport.
M-Sport Ford
Founded: 2006 Championships: 1
The loss of Adrien Fourmaux to Hyundai was a blow to Ford’s competitive potential. The British outfit has struggled to match the winning prowess of their rivals as M-Sport is the only team in the WRC not to have full factory backing of its manufacturer Ford. Grégoire Munster is returning for a second season and is joined by Irishman Josh McErlean who will be making his Rally1 debut this season. There will be no full-time third car from M-Sport this season but a few part-time drivers like last year’s breakout star Mārtiņš Sesks will be joining the team at select rallies this year.
How to Watch the WRC
WRC YouTube (Free): The simplest way to follow the WRC season for free is with WRC’s official YouTube channel. Here you will be able to find quick highlight videos, preview shows for upcoming rallies and even the occasional full stage replay.
RedBull TV (Free): The perfect option for those looking to dip their toes into the WRC without committing money to a Rally TV subscription. Red Bull TV produces 30-minute highlight shows for each day of rally action during an event. You can download the Red Bull TV app and click the “Events” tab to find upcoming WRC events.
Rally TV (Paid): For those interested in following the entirety of the rally, stage by stage, then Rally TV is the option for you. A Rally TV subscription gives you live coverage and replays of every event and every stage. This the best way to follow every second of a WRC event with the most in-depth coverage.
Important Terms
Below is a collection of important terms you will encounter as you follow the WRC:
Crew: The driver and co-driver pairing running a car.
Pace notes: The notes read by a co-driver to their driver during the stage. This includes difficulty of turns, features of the road such as crests or jumps and any notable warnings such as rocks or cliffs that the driver should be wary of.
Recce: Short for reconnaissance. This is when crews drive a stage in road cars and create their pace notes for the rally.
Road Order: The order in which drivers start a stage. For Thursday and Friday, this order is set by the championship standings. On Saturday and Sunday it is the reverse order of the rally standings (last goes first).
Shakedown: A short testing stage before the rally begins where crews have a chance to test their cars before the competitive action begins.
Dirt 2 Asphalt 