Jump to content

2025 World Rally Championship

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
(Redirected from 2025 Rally Islas Canarias)
Thierry Neuville is the defending driver's champion.
Toyota Gazoo Racing WRT (GR Yaris Rally1 pictured) are the defending manufacturers' champions.

The 2025 FIA World Rally Championship is a planned motorsport season that will be the fifty-third 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 is set to begin in January 2025 with the Monte Carlo Rally and conclude in November 2025 with the calendar newcomer Rally Saudi Arabia. The series is supported by the WRC2 and WRC3 categories at every round of the championship and by Junior WRC at selected events.

Thierry Neuville and Martijn Wydaeghe are the reigning drivers' and co-drivers' champions, having secured their first championship titles at the 2024 Rally Japan. Toyota are the defending manufacturers' champions.

Calendar

[edit]
2025 World Rally Championship is located in Earth
2025 World Rally Championship
2025 World Rally Championship
2025 World Rally Championship
2025 World Rally Championship
2025 World Rally Championship
2025 World Rally Championship
2025 World Rally Championship
2025 World Rally Championship
2025 World Rally Championship
2025 World Rally Championship
2025 World Rally Championship
2025 World Rally Championship
2025 World Rally Championship
2025 World Rally Championship
A map showing the locations of the rallies in the 2025 championship. Event headquarters are marked with black dots.

The 2025 season is scheduled to be contested over fourteen rounds crossing Europe, Africa, South America and Asia.

Round Start date Finish date Rally Rally headquarters Surface Stages Distance Ref.
1 23 January 26 January Monaco Rallye Automobile Monte Carlo Gap, Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur, France Mixed[a] 18 344.01 km [1]
2 13 February 16 February Sweden Rally Sweden Umeå, Västerbotten County, Sweden Snow 18 301.16 km [2]
3 20 March 23 March Kenya Safari Rally Kenya Nairobi, Nakuru County, Kenya Gravel TBA TBA
4 24 April 27 April Spain Rally Islas Canarias Las Palmas, Gran Canaria, Spain Tarmac 18 308.50 km [3]
5 15 May 18 May Portugal Rally de Portugal Matosinhos, Porto, Portugal Gravel TBA TBA
6 5 June 8 June Italy Rally Italia Sardegna Olbia, Sardinia, Italy Gravel TBA TBA
7 26 June 29 June Greece Acropolis Rally Greece Lamia, Central Greece, Greece Gravel TBA TBA
8 17 July 20 July Estonia Rally Estonia Tartu, Tartu County, Estonia Gravel TBA TBA
9 31 July 3 August Finland Rally Finland Jyväskylä, Central Finland, Finland Gravel TBA TBA
10 28 August 31 August Paraguay Rally del Paraguay Encarnación, Itapúa, Paraguay Gravel TBA TBA
11 11 September 14 September Chile Rally Chile Concepción, Biobío, Chile Gravel TBA TBA
12 16 October 19 October Europe Central European Rally Bad Griesbach, Bavaria, Germany Tarmac TBA TBA
13 6 November 9 November Japan Rally Japan Toyota, Aichi, Japan Tarmac TBA TBA
14 27 November 30 November Saudi Arabia Rally Saudi Arabia Jeddah, Mecca Province, Saudi Arabia Gravel TBA TBA
Sources:[4][5]

Calendar changes

[edit]

The calendar was expanded to fourteen rounds, including five flyaway events.[6] This was originally planned for the 2024 season,[7] but WRC Promoter GmbH retained the total of thirteen events in the hopes of attracting more Rally1 entries.[8]

Rally Islas Canarias is set to join the WRC calendar.

Contracted crews

[edit]

The following manufacturers are set to contest the championship under Rally1 regulations.[19]

Manufacturer Entrant Car No. Driver name Co-driver name
Ford United Kingdom M-Sport Ford WRT Ford Puma Rally1 13 Luxembourg Grégoire Munster Belgium Louis Louka
TBA Republic of Ireland Josh McErlean Republic of Ireland Eoin Treacy
Hyundai South Korea Hyundai Shell Mobis WRT Hyundai i20 N Rally1 8 Estonia Ott Tänak Estonia Martin Järveoja
11 Belgium Thierry Neuville Belgium Martijn Wydaeghe
16 France Adrien Fourmaux France Alexandre Coria
Toyota Japan Toyota Gazoo Racing WRT Toyota GR Yaris Rally1 5 Finland Sami Pajari Finland Marko Salminen
17 France Sébastien Ogier France Vincent Landais
18 Japan Takamoto Katsuta Republic of Ireland Aaron Johnston
33 United Kingdom Elfyn Evans United Kingdom Scott Martin
69 Finland Kalle Rovanperä Finland Jonne Halttunen

In detail

[edit]

Hyundai team chief Cyril Abiteboul confirmed that Ott Tänak and Martin Järveoja will continue driving for their team in 2025.[20] Thierry Neuville and Martijn Wydaeghe extended their contract for one year with the team.[21] Adrien Fourmaux and Alexandre Coria moved from M-Sport to drive a third car full season.[22]

Sami Pajari is confirmed to be promoted to the top tier by Toyota Gazoo Racing WRT to contest a full season.

Toyota retained the crew of Kalle Rovanperä and Jonne Halttunen, who are due to return full-time after they contested a partial season in 2024.[23] They are set to join the crew of Elfyn Evans and Scott Martin and of Takamoto Katsuta and Aaron Johnston as the team's full-time competitors.[24] Newly-crowned WRC2 champion Sami Pajari, who ran selected races with the team in 2024, was signed with a full-time programme with the team.[25] However, he would be joined with new co-driver Marko Salminen, following the departure of Enni Mälkönen at the end of last season.[26][27] Sébastien Ogier and Vincent Landais would continue to run a partial season with the team.

M-Sport retained for another complete season the crew of Grégoire Munster and Louis Louka, after a convincing debut for the team, the previous year.[28] They are joined by Josh McErlean and Eoin Treacy as the team second full-time crew.[29]

Regulation changes

[edit]

Technical regulations

[edit]
Hankook (top) to replace Pirelli (bottom) as the new official tyre supplier.

South Korean tyre manufacturer Hankook will become the official tyre supplier of the championship, providing tyres to all entrants of four wheel drive cars.[30] The company replaces Pirelli, who supplied tyres to the championship between 2021 and 2024.[31] Under the terms of the agreement, Hankook will supply tyres until the end of the 2027 championship.[32]

Rally1 cars will no longer use the hybrid system introduced in 2022, and subsquently the minimum weight of the cars and the width of the air intake will be reduced to compensate for the change so that cars maintain the same power-to-weight ratio that they had with the hybrid system.[33] The decision was made when teams expressed concerns about the increasing costs of repairing them.[34]

Sporting regulations

[edit]

The points distribution system will be revised for the second consecutive season following widespread criticism of the 2024 point system.[35] Points will be awarded based on the general top ten classification at the end of the rally in a scale of 25–17–15–12–10–8–6–4–2–1, with additional points awarded to the five fastest crews on Sunday and the five fastest crews in the Power Stage.[36] Saturday points will be dropped.[37]

Results and standings

[edit]

Scoring system

[edit]

Points are awarded to the top ten classified finishers in each event.[38] 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 in an accumulated standings across all Sunday stages, four points for second place, three for third, two for fourth and one for fifth. The same points scale will be awarded to the five fastest crews of the Power Stage as well.[39]

Position 1st 2nd 3rd 4th 5th 6th 7th 8th 9th 10th
Overall 25 17 15 12 10 8 6 4 2 1
Sunday 5 4 3 2 1
Power Stage 5 4 3 2 1

Notes

[edit]
  1. ^ The Monte Carlo Rally is run on a tarmac and snow surface.

References

[edit]
  1. ^ "Itinerary Rallye Automobile de Monte-Carlo 2025". eWRC-results.com. Retrieved 31 July 2024.
  2. ^ "Itinerary Rally Sweden 2025". eWRC-results.com. Retrieved 22 October 2024.
  3. ^ "Itinerary Rally Islas Canarias 2025". eWRC-results.com. Retrieved 18 November 2024.
  4. ^ "WRC reveals spectacular expanded 2025 calendar". wrc.com. WRC Promoter GmbH. 31 July 2024. Retrieved 3 August 2024.
  5. ^ "WRC reveals spectacular expanded 2025 calendar". Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile. 31 July 2024. Retrieved 3 August 2024.
  6. ^ Howard, Tom (4 July 2024). "WRC set to expand to 14 rounds for 2025 campaign". Motorsport.com. Motorsport Network. Retrieved 7 July 2024.
  7. ^ Howard, Tom (19 May 2023). "WRC closing in on 14-round 2024 calendar". Motorsport.com. Motorsport Network. Archived from the original on 27 May 2023. Retrieved 27 May 2023.
  8. ^ Barry, Luke (15 August 2023). "WRC to unveil 13-round 2024 calendar before Greece". dirtfish.com. DirtFish. Archived from the original on 15 August 2023. Retrieved 20 August 2023.
  9. ^ Cole, Michael (23 November 2023). "European Rally Championship set for Estonia in 2024 as WRC returns in 2025". balticnews.com. Retrieved 2 June 2024.
  10. ^ Howard, Tom (23 June 2024). "WRC adds Paraguay to 2025 calendar in multi-year deal". Autosport. Motorsport Network. Retrieved 23 June 2024.
  11. ^ Brittle, Cian (12 March 2024). "Rally Islas Canarias agrees two-year deal to join WRC calendar". blackbookmotorsport.com. Retrieved 2 June 2024.
  12. ^ Evans, David (11 March 2024). "Canary islands WRC slot for 2025". dirtfish.com. DirtFish. Retrieved 2 June 2024.
  13. ^ Howard, Tom (2 June 2024). "WRC signs 10-year deal to host Saudi Arabia round". Motorsport.com. Motorsport Network. Retrieved 2 June 2024.
  14. ^ Evans, David (1 June 2024). "Saudi Arabia confirmed as WRC round for 2025". dirtfish.com. DirtFish. Retrieved 2 June 2024.
  15. ^ Lindsay, Alasdair (23 June 2024). "Paraguay joins WRC calendar from 2025". dirtfish.com. DirtFish. Retrieved 23 June 2024.
  16. ^ Howard, Tom (20 July 2024). "Croatia Rally confirms absence from 2025 WRC schedule". Autosport. Motorsport Network. Retrieved 22 July 2024.
  17. ^ Howard, Tom (15 November 2024). "Croatia strikes new deal to rejoin WRC in 2026". Autosport. Motorsport Network. Retrieved 16 November 2024.
  18. ^ Howard, Tom (27 April 2024). "WRC working on Croatia renewal, Poland a one-off". Autosport. Motorsport Network. Retrieved 23 June 2024.
  19. ^ "WRC manufacturers confirm three-year hybrid agreement". wrc.com. WRC Promoter GmbH. 12 April 2021. Retrieved 4 October 2023.
  20. ^ Malk, Regina (28 July 2024). "Ott Tänak jätkab Hyundai tiimis 2025. aastal". saartehaal.postimees.ee (in Estonian). Postimees. Retrieved 28 July 2024.
  21. ^ "Neuville signs extended WRC deal with Hyundai". wrc.com. WRC Promoter GmbH. 5 September 2024. Retrieved 5 September 2024.
  22. ^ "Hyundai signs Adrien Fourmaux for 2025 WRC". wrc.com. WRC Promoter GmbH. 5 December 2024. Retrieved 5 December 2024.
  23. ^ "Partial programme will help me 'recharge' for full-time return, says Kalle Rovanperä". wrc.com. WRC Promoter GmbH. 20 November 2023. Retrieved 20 November 2023.
  24. ^ "Pajari promoted as Toyota reveals 2025 WRC roster". wrc.com. WRC Promoter GmbH. 25 November 2024. Retrieved 25 November 2024.
  25. ^ Evans, David (25 November 2024). "Toyota signs Pajari for fourth full-time 2025 seat". dirtfish.com. Retrieved 25 November 2024.
  26. ^ Barry, Luke (24 November 2024). "Pajari and co-driver Mälkönen end their partnership". dirtfish.com. Retrieved 25 November 2024.
  27. ^ Barry, Luke (3 December 2024). "Pajari confirms his new co-driver". dirtfish.com. Retrieved 3 December 2024.
  28. ^ "Munster secures full-season M-Sport drive for 2025 WRC". WRC.com. 18 December 2024.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  29. ^ "Done deal: Irishman Josh McErlean joins M-Sport Ford in WRC". WRC.com. 19 December 2024.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  30. ^ "Hankook wins WRC tyre tender". wrc.com. WRC Promoter GmbH. 6 December 2023. Retrieved 2 June 2024.
  31. ^ "Pirelli won't bid for WRC tire supply contract". wrc.com. WRC Promoter GmbH. 19 September 2023. Retrieved 2 June 2024.
  32. ^ Bowen, James (6 December 2023). "Hankook to become WRC tire supplier from 2025". dirtfish.com. DirtFish. Retrieved 2 June 2024.
  33. ^ Thukral, Rachit (15 November 2024). "WRC drops hybrid power as part of 2025 Rally1 refresh". Autosport. Motorsport Network. Retrieved 16 November 2024.
  34. ^ Evans, David (16 November 2024). "Hybrid removed from Rally1 cars for 2025". dirtfish.com. DirtFish. Retrieved 16 November 2024.
  35. ^ Howard, Tom (9 September 2024). "New WRC points proposals under review for 2025". Motorsport.com. Motorsport Network. Retrieved 27 October 2024.
  36. ^ "Sharper focus on rally wins with 2025 WRC points update". wrc.com. WRC Promoter GmbH. 11 December 2024. Retrieved 12 December 2024.
  37. ^ Evans, David (23 October 2024). "Saturday points set to be dropped by WRC for 2025". dirtfish.com. DirtFish. Retrieved 27 October 2024.
  38. ^ Howard, Tom (12 December 2024). "FIA reveals 2027 WRC regulations, new points system for 2025". Motorsport.com. Motorsport Network. Retrieved 12 December 2024.
  39. ^ Evans, David (12 December 2024). "WRC points system revamped for 2025". dirtfish.com. DirtFish. Retrieved 12 December 2024.
[edit]