The 2024 FIA World Rally Championship-2 will be the twelfth season of the World Rally Championship-2, an auto racing championship for rally cars that is recognised by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile as the second-highest tier of international rallying. The category is open to cars entered by teams and complying with Group Rally2.[1] The championship is set to begin in January 2024 with the Monte Carlo Rally and will conclude in November 2024 with the Rally Japan, and will run in support of the 2024 World Rally Championship.

Andreas Mikkelsen and Torstein Eriksen are the defending drivers' and co-drivers' champions.[2]

Calendar

2024 World Rally Championship-2 is located in Earth
2024 World Rally Championship-2
2024 World Rally Championship-2
2024 World Rally Championship-2
2024 World Rally Championship-2
2024 World Rally Championship-2
2024 World Rally Championship-2
2024 World Rally Championship-2
2024 World Rally Championship-2
2024 World Rally Championship-2
2024 World Rally Championship-2
2024 World Rally Championship-2
2024 World Rally Championship-2
2024 World Rally Championship-2
A map showing the locations of the rallies in the 2024 championship. Event headquarters are marked with black dots.

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

Round Start date Finish date Rally Rally headquarters Surface Stages Distance Ref.
1 25 January 28 January Monaco Rallye Automobile Monte Carlo Gap, Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur, France Mixed[lower-alpha 1] 17 324.44 km [3]
2 15 February 18 February Sweden Rally Sweden Umeå, Västerbotten County, Sweden Snow 18 300.10 km [4]
3 28 March 31 March Kenya Safari Rally Kenya Nairobi, Kenya Gravel 19 355.92 km [5]
4 18 April 21 April Croatia Croatia Rally Zagreb, Croatia Tarmac TBA TBA
5 9 May 12 May Portugal Rally de Portugal Matosinhos, Porto, Portugal Gravel TBA TBA
6 30 May 2 June Italy Rally Italia Sardegna Olbia, Sardinia, Italy Gravel TBA TBA
7 27 June 30 June Poland Rally Poland Mikołajki, Warmian–Masurian, Poland Gravel TBA TBA
8 18 July 21 July Latvia Rally Latvia Liepāja, Kurzeme Planning Region, Latvia Gravel TBA TBA
9 1 August 4 August Finland Rally Finland Jyväskylä, Central Finland, Finland Gravel TBA TBA
10 5 September 8 September Greece Acropolis Rally Greece Lamia, Central Greece, Greece Gravel TBA TBA
11 26 September 29 September Chile Rally Chile Concepción, Biobío, Chile Gravel TBA TBA
12 31 October 3 November Europe Central European Rally Passau, Bavaria, Germany Tarmac TBA TBA
13 21 November 24 November Japan Rally Japan Toyota, Aichi, Japan Tarmac TBA TBA
Sources:[6][7]

Calendar changes

The championship was expected to be expanded to fourteen rounds,[8] however WRC Promoter GmbH retained the existing total of thirteen events with the reasoning that it would aid participation of more Rally1 cars.[9]

The headquarter of the Rally Liepāja at night in 2015.
  • Rally Mexico dropped off the calendar, but the organisers are seeking an opportunity for a 2025 return.[15]

The WRC Promoter GmbH is also working on the two key calendar expansions for the future.[16]

  • While progress has been made for the candidate event in the United States, which was also aiming to join the championship in 2024,[17] the rally would join the rally of Saudi Arabia to seek for 2025 calendar spots.[18] Chattanooga, Tennessee is planned to be the rally headquarters and the event would be held on gravel surface.[19]
  • The other key expansion is Rally China, which was last featured in 1999. The rally was also scheduled to be held in 2016, but it was ultimately cancelled due to the damage caused by the 2016 China floods.[20]

In addition, Saudi Arabia is also on the candidate list.[21] This is the rally that is a part of WRC Promoter GmbH's plan to deliver a desert event.[22] Rally Argentina is also bidding to return to the championship.[23]

Other changes

  • 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.[26]

Entries

The following teams and crews are under contract to contest the 2024 World Rally Championship-2. Teams entering two crews are eligible for Teams' Championship points.

Crews entered by or via teams
Entrant Car Driver Co-Driver Rounds
Driver Name Category Co-Driver Name Category
Belgium AEC - DG Sport Competition Citroën C3 Rally2 Bulgaria Nikolay Gryazin Challenger Authorised Neutral Athletes Konstantin Aleksandrov[lower-alpha 2] Challenger 1
France Yohan Rossel France Arnaud Dunand 1
Finland Printsport Škoda Fabia RS Rally2 Saudi Arabia Rakan Al-Rashed Challenger Portugal Hugo Magalhães Challenger 2
Toyota GR Yaris Rally2 Finland Sami Pajari Challenger Finland Enni Mälkönen Challenger 2
Škoda Fabia RS Rally2 Poland Michał Sołowow Challenger Poland Maciej Baran Challenger 2
Portugal Sports & You Citroën C3 Rally2 Bolivia Marco Bulacia Challenger TBA TBA
Germany Toksport WRT Škoda Fabia RS Rally2 United Kingdom Gus Greensmith Sweden Jonas Andersson TBA
France Pierre-Louis Loubet TBA TBA
Sweden Oliver Solberg United Kingdom Elliott Edmondson 2
Japan Toyota Gazoo Racing WRT NG Toyota GR Yaris Rally2 Japan Hikaru Kogure Challenger Finland Topi Luhtinen Challenger 2
Japan Yuki Yamamoto Challenger Finland Marko Salminen Challenger 2
Sources:[29][30]
Private entries
Car Driver Co-driver Rounds
Driver name Category Co-driver name Category
Citroën C3 Rally2 United Kingdom James Leckey Challenger United Kingdom Stephen McAuley Challenger 2
Ford Fiesta Rally2 Republic of Ireland Eamonn Boland Challenger Republic of Ireland Michael Joseph Morrissey Challenger 1
Republic of Ireland William Creighton Challenger Republic of Ireland Liam Regan Challenger 2
Belgium John Wartique Challenger Belgium Maxime Andernack Challenger 1
Hyundai i20 N Rally2 France Nicolas Ciamin Challenger France Yannick Roche Challenger 1
Finland Emil Lindholm Finland Reeta Hämäläinen 2
Netherlands Henk Vossen Challenger Netherlands Willem Vissenberg Challenger 1
Škoda Fabia Rally2 evo Switzerland Olivier Burri Challenger France Anderson Levratti Challenger 1
Italy Maurizio Chiarani Challenger Italy Flavio Zanella Challenger 1
Italy Roberto Daprà Challenger Italy Luca Guglielmetti Challenger 1
Italy Federico Laurencich Challenger Italy Alberto Mlakar Challenger 1
Italy Massimiliano Locatelli Challenger Italy Stefano Tiraboschi Challenger 1
Italy Filippo Marchino Challenger Italy Pietro Elia Ometto Challenger 1
Mexico Alejandro Mauro Challenger Spain Adrián Pérez Challenger 1–2
Italy Maurizio Morato Challenger Italy Massimiliano Bosi Challenger 1
Škoda Fabia RS Rally2 United Kingdom Chris Ingram Challenger Republic of Ireland Hannah McKillop Challenger 1
Finland Lauri Joona Challenger Finland Janni Hussi Challenger 2
Estonia Gregor Jeets Challenger Estonia Timo Taniel Challenger 2
Spain Pepe López Challenger Spain David Vázquez Challenger 1
Italy Mauro Miele Challenger Italy Luca Beltrame Challenger 1
Sweden Isak Reiersen Challenger Sweden Lucas Karlsson Challenger 2
Finland Marko Viitanen Challenger Finland Tapio Suominen Challenger 2
Paraguay Fabrizio Zaldivar Challenger Italy Marcelo Der Ohannesian Challenger 2
Toyota GR Yaris Rally2 France Bryan Bouffier Challenger France Frédéric Vauclare Challenger 1
Finland Mikko Heikkilä Challenger Finland Kristian Temonen Challenger 2
Finland Roope Korhonen Challenger Finland Anssi Viinikka Challenger 2
France Stéphane Lefebvre France Andy Malfoy 1
Estonia Georg Linnamäe Challenger United Kingdom James Morgan Challenger 2
Spain Jan Solans Challenger Spain Rodrigo Sanjuan Challenger 1–2
Volkswagen Polo GTI R5 Italy Jacopo Bergamin Challenger Italy Alice Tasselli Challenger 1
Greece Jourdan Serderidis Challenger Belgium Frédéric Miclotte Challenger 1
Sources:[29][30]

In detail

Citroën Racing announced three factory-supported entries in the category, retaining Yohan Rossel and signing Nikolay Gryazin and Marco Bulacia. Rossel and Gryazin's entries will be run in collaboration with Belgian outfit DG Sport Compétition, while Portuguese team Sports & You will run Bulacia's entry.[31][32]

Toksport WRT will run three entries supported by Škoda Motorsport. The German team retains Oliver Solberg and Gus Greensmith from 2023, while Pierre-Louis Loubet returns to the category, moving over from the Rally1 category and M-Sport Ford.[33][34][35]

Sami Pajari left Toksport WRT after the 2023 season. Instead, he will drive the new Toyota GR Yaris Rally2, his entry being run by Finnish team Printsport.[36]

Regluation changes

Power Stage points are no longer available due to the disparity in the running order.[37]

Notes

  1. ↑ The Monte Carlo Rally is run on a tarmac and snow surface.
  2. ↑ Konstantin Aleksandrov is a Russian national, but competes as an Authorised Neutral Athlete in accordance with recommendations made by the International Olympic Committee, following a decision by the FIA to ban all connections with Russia following the Russian invasion of Ukraine.[27][28]

References

  1. ↑ "2022 FIA World Rally Championship – Sporting regulations" (PDF). Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile. Retrieved 24 January 2022.
  2. ↑ "Mikkelsen claims WRC2 title in last-gasp Central European Rally push". wrc.com. WRC Promotor GmbH. 29 October 2023. Retrieved 29 October 2023.
  3. ↑ "Itinerary Rallye Automobile de Monte-Carlo 2024". eWRC-results.com. Retrieved 20 October 2023.
  4. ↑ "Itinerary Rally Sweden 2024". eWRC-results.com. Retrieved 13 November 2023.
  5. ↑ "Itinerary Safari Rally Kenya 2024". eWRC-results.com. Retrieved 9 January 2024.
  6. ↑ "Revealed: 2024 WRC Calendar". wrc.com. WRC Promoter GmbH. 19 October 2023. Retrieved 20 October 2023.
  7. ↑ "FIA WRC 2024 set for lift-off following calendar reveal". Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile. 19 October 2023. Retrieved 20 October 2023.
  8. ↑ Howard, Tom (19 May 2023). "WRC closing in on 14-round 2024 calendar". Motorsport.com. Motorsport Network. Retrieved 27 May 2023.
  9. ↑ Barry, Luke (15 August 2023). "WRC to unveil 13-round 2024 calendar before Greece". dirtfish.com. DirtFish. Retrieved 20 August 2023.
  10. ↑ "FIA World Rally Championship adds Latvia to 2024 calendar". wrc.com. WRC Promoter GmbH. 17 February 2023. Retrieved 19 February 2023.
  11. ↑ Howard, Tom (17 February 2023). "Latvia joins WRC calendar from 2024". Motorsport.com. Motorsport Network. Retrieved 19 February 2023.
  12. ↑ Barry, Luke (24 July 2023). "WRC would be "stupid" to lose Rally Estonia – Tänak". dirtfish.com. DirtFish. Retrieved 22 October 2023.
  13. ↑ Howard, Tom (9 October 2023). "Poland to rejoin WRC calendar in 2024". Autosport. Motorsport Network. Retrieved 9 October 2023.
  14. ↑ Barry, Luke (9 October 2023). "Rally Poland returns to WRC for 2024". dirtfish.com. DirtFish. Retrieved 9 October 2023.
  15. ↑ Evans, David (27 September 2023). "Rally of nations returns as Mexico prepares WRC 2025 bid". dirtfish.com. DirtFish. Retrieved 22 October 2023.
  16. ↑ Howard, Tom (28 September 2023). "WRC lists China and USA as key expansion targets". Autosport. Motorsport Network. Retrieved 20 October 2023.
  17. ↑ Howard, Tom (26 January 2023). "Rally USA a potential contender to join WRC in 2024". Motorsport.com. Motorsport Network. Retrieved 19 February 2023.
  18. ↑ Howard, Tom (8 August 2023). "WRC set for 13-round 2024 calendar, Saudi Arabia to miss out". Motorsport.com. Motorsport Network. Retrieved 20 August 2023.
  19. ↑ Gilboy, James (17 March 2023). "Tennessee Could Host a WRC Race in 2024". thedrive.com. Retrieved 5 April 2023.
  20. ↑ Evans, David (16 August 2016). "Rally China cancelled due to storm damage after organisers' request". Autosport. Motorsport Network. Retrieved 20 October 2023.
  21. ↑ Lindroos, Pontus (22 October 2022). "2023 WRC calendar to be presented later than expected". thecheckeredflag.co.uk. Retrieved 25 October 2022.
  22. ↑ Howard, Tom (26 November 2022). "WRC pushes Middle East event plans to 2024 following calendar reveal". autosport.com. Motorsport Network. Retrieved 19 February 2023.
  23. ↑ Howard, Tom (29 July 2023). "UK "unlikely" to secure 2024 WRC round, Argentina vying for Americas spot". Motorsport.com. Motorsport Network. Retrieved 20 August 2023.
  24. ↑ Barry, Luke (6 June 2022). "Monte Carlo Rally returns to Gap for 2024". dirtfish.com. DirtFish. Retrieved 7 June 2022.
  25. ↑ "Monaco base for new-look Rallye Monte-Carlo". wrc.com. WRC Promoter GmbH. 24 July 2021. Retrieved 24 July 2021.
  26. ↑ "WRC Safari Rally 2024 Moved To March". 98.4 Capital FM. 20 October 2023. Retrieved 20 October 2023.
  27. ↑ "FIA announces World Motor Sport Council decisions in relation to the situation in Ukraine". Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile. 1 March 2022. Retrieved 1 March 2022.
  28. ↑ "Emergency measures due to Russian invasion of Ukraine" (PDF). Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile. 4 March 2022. Retrieved 23 July 2022.
  29. 1 2 "Entry List Rallye Automobile de Monte-Carlo 2024". eWRC-results.com. Retrieved 12 January 2024.
  30. 1 2 "Entry list Rally Sweden 2024". eWRC-results.com. Retrieved 2024-01-19.
  31. ↑ "Rossel, Gryazin to lead Citroën's WRC2 charge in 2024". wrc.com. WRC Promoter GmbH. 4 December 2023. Retrieved 31 December 2023.
  32. ↑ "Bulacia switches to Citroën for WRC2 victory bid". wrc.com. WRC Promoter GmbH. 22 December 2023. Retrieved 23 December 2023.
  33. ↑ "Solberg goes for WRC2 glory in 2024". wrc.com. WRC Promoter GmbH. 21 December 2023. Retrieved 23 December 2023.
  34. ↑ "Greensmith commits to Škoda for WRC2 title bid". wrc.com. WRC Promoter GmbH. 5 January 2024. Retrieved 12 January 2024.
  35. ↑ "Hotshot Loubet confirms WRC2 return". wrc.com. WRC Promoter GmbH. 11 January 2024. Retrieved 12 January 2024.
  36. ↑ "Pajari confirms WRC2 tilt in Toyota". wrc.com. WRC Promoter GmbH. 5 January 2024. Retrieved 12 January 2024.
  37. ↑ Barry, Luke (14 November 2023). "WRC2 Powerstage axed for 2024". dirtfish.com. DirtFish. Retrieved 14 November 2023.
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