What's new for WRC in 2024?

FIA announced a month ago some major changes to the strocture of World Rally Championship this season which are related to a new WRC point system, the number of hybrid units, a change to the engine regulations and the Powerstage points in WRC2 class.

More specifically, instead of awarding points to the top 10 overall finishers at the completion of a WRC event on the basis of 25-18-15-12-10-8-6-4-2-1, points are allocated at the end of Saturday’s leg as follows: 18-15-13-10-8-6-4-3-2-1. However, points won’t be issued if a crew fails to complete the entire route, including Sunday’s stages. Instead, the crew finishing behind will collect their points. A separate classification for all Sunday stages awards points to the top seven as follows: 7-6-5-4-3-2-1. The changes have been made to discourage the practice of drivers opting for a slower pace through Sunday morning’s stages ahead of a push on the Power Stage, which has adversely affected the spectacle for fans watching the final day of a WRC event unfold. In terms of the calendar, WRC will visit Latvia for the first time while Poland will make its return since 2017. The slot of Safari Rally Kenya is back to the Easter dates as it was held in June the recent years. Moreover, a maximum of three new hybrid units can be used per eligible Rally1 car in 2024 – compared to the previous nine – under rules to reduce the cost of competing while the drivers will not receive any time penalty if their mechanics has to replace a failed engine with a fresh one between pre-rally scrutineering and TC0, but each manufacturer must not use more than two engines per car per season with each engine assigned to a specific car name. To increase the competition, FIA decided that non-hybrid Rally1 cars can be running with the hybrid ones, they must carry the equivalent weight of the full EV system in ballast and won’t be eligible for Manufacturers’ championship points. Finally, points are no longer awarded to the fastest three FIA WRC2 competitors on the Power Stage to make the distribution of points fair for all crews due to the unavoidable gaps in event running orders.

Photo Credits: Toyota