The championship was expected to be expanded to fourteen rounds from the thirteen rounds in the previous season by WRC Promoter GmbH, with eight Europe-based rallies and six fly-away events covering the season.[16] However, when the calendar was released in late November following a lengthy delay, the number of the events was reduced to thirteen with the anticipated Saudi Arabian rally based at Jeddah, absent from the calendar.[17][18]
Rally Mexico returned to championship after missing the 2021 and 2022 championships.[19] The organizers of the rally had previously held a national event in 2022 as a prelude for the 2023 return.[20]
Rally New Zealand, a round of the 2022 season, was not included on the calendar, but the organizers tried to seek an opportunity for a 2024 return as a part of the rotation program with Rally Australia.[25]
Several rally organizers also expressed their interests to return to the championship, including Rally Argentina, Rally Australia, the German Rally, and an event in Northern Ireland.[27][28][29][30] The Argentine, Australian and Northern Irish bids failed and Germany organized the Central European Rally along with Austria and the Czech Republic.[31][32] In addition to the candidate events, the WRC Promoter GmbH was also working on the calendar expansion to the Middle East and United States, but no rallies were added for the 2023 season.[33]
The below crews were not entered to score manufacturer points and were entered in Rally1 cars as privateers or under arrangement with the manufacturers.
Rally1 entries ineligible to score manufacturer points
Rally organisers can include an optional Tyre Warming Zone (TWZ) between the Time Control (TC) and the start of a Special Stage. The evening flexi-service for Rally1 cars was limited to a maximum of two hours every rally weekend.[73] Morning service on gravel rallies was also removed.[74]
The allocation of pre-event test days for the manufacturers was also reduced from 28 days to 21.[75] This change was intended to reduce cost.[76]
Season report
Opening rounds
At the season opener at Monte Carlo, Ogier took his ninth Monte Carlo Rally win, surpassing Sébastien Loeb to become the driver with the most victories at the event.[77] His navigator Landais took his first overall victory in a World Rally Championship round.[78] The second round, Rally Sweden, saw Tänak and Järveoja take an early lead, before being surpassed by Breen and Fulton on Friday evening.[79] However, Tänak and Järveoja fought back on Saturday evening,[80] and eventually won the event.[81] After being absent from Sweden, Ogier and Landais returned at Rally Mexico, where they took another victory after capitalizing on their relative late road position and led the championships, despite only competing in two of the three rounds.[82][83]
"We promised the [Breen] family we'd enjoy the weekend, we've done that. I'm sure they were following us, but we're definitely thinking of you."
Before the Croatia Rally, Hyundai driver Breen was killed during an accident at the pre-event test after the front-left of his i20 collided with a pole.[85] His co-driver Fulton was unharmed.[86] The rally was led by Neuville and Wydaeghe at early stage, but they crashing out on Saturday morning.[87] Evans and Martin inherited the lead, and eventually won the rally, their first since the 2021 Rally Finland and dedicated the win to Breen.[88][89]
Mid-season gravel events
The Portuguese Rally marked the start of a sequence of seven consecutive gravel events.[90]Rovanperä and Halttunen dominated the rally, taking their first victory the season as well as winning the Power Stage to add a full thirty points to their championship defence.[91] The Sardinian Rally saw a rainy weekend.[92] Ogier and Landais fought for the lead until they went off the road on Saturday evening.[93] This left the Hyundais of Neuville and Wydaeghe and of Lappi and Ferm out in front before they eventually secured a 1–2 finish for the team.[94] Toyota responded with a 1–2–3–4 finish at the Safari Rally, (their third at the Safari Rally and fourth in the WRC), with Ogier and Landais claiming their third win of the season.[95] Meanwhile, Neuville and Wydaeghe were disqualified from eighth place at the event, due to a reconnaissance breach,[96] having already retired from two of Friday afternoon's stages with suspension damage.[97]
Heading into the second half of the season, Rovanperä and Halttunen did a Rally Estoniahat-trick, winning the rally as well as the Power Stage to extend their championship leads beyond fifty points.[98] However, they retired from their home rally on the first day after they rolled their Yaris out of contention when leading the event.[99]Evans and Martin capitalized on the opportunity to win the event and the Power Stage to cut the championship leads down to twenty-five points.[100] The retirement did not stop Rovanperä and Halttunen from winning the following event at Greece and the respective Power Stage to score maximum points for the third time in 2023.[101] On the other hand, the crew of Neuville and Wydaeghe retired from the rally with suspension damage,[102] whilst the Finnish crew's other main championship rivals in Evans and Martin finished second,[103] further solidifying Rovanperä and Halttunen's chances of securing a second consecutive world title.[104] The final gravel event of the season at Chile, saw Toyota outscore Hyundai by more than thirteen points after Suninen and Markkula retired from second, which meant Toyota secured a third consecutive manufacturer's title.[105] The rally was won by Tänak and Järveoja, their second of the season.[106]
Closing rounds
At the calendar newcomer, the Central European Rally, Rovanperä and Halttunen finished second after title rival and teammates Evans and Martin crashed out on Saturday, which meant Rovanperä and Halttunen successfully defended their world titles.[107] Meanwhile, Neuville and Wydaeghe won the rally, closing the gap to the second placed Evans and Martin in the championships.[108] However, the battle for the runner-up spot was over when Neuville and Wydaeghe crashed out at the Rally Japan, meaning Evans and Martin became the crew who came out in front.[109] They ended the season with a victory as a part of Toyota 1–2–3 finish.[110]
Points were awarded to the top ten classified finishers in each event. In the manufacturers' championship, teams were eligible to nominate three crews to score points, but these points were only awarded to the top two classified finishers representing a manufacturer and driving a 2022-specification Rally1 car. There were also five bonus points awarded to the winners of the Power Stage, four points for second place, three for third, two for fourth and one for fifth. Power Stage points were awarded in the drivers', co-drivers' and manufacturers' championships.[137][138]
Position
1st
2nd
3rd
4th
5th
6th
7th
8th
9th
10th
Points
25
18
15
12
10
8
6
4
2
1
FIA World Rally Championship for Drivers
The driver who recorded a top-ten finish was taken into account for the championship regardless of the categories.
Only the best two results of each manufacturer in the respective overall classification and Power Stage at each rally were taken into account for the championship.
1 2 The crew of Elfyn Evans and Scott Martin was initially nominated to score manufacturer points at the 2023 Croatia Rally, but Toyota amended their championship eligibility to not score manufacturer points to match Hyundai and M-Sport following Breen's death ahead of the event as a mark of solidarity.[40]
↑ Evans, David (25 November 2022). "2023 WRC calendar revealed". dirtfish.com. Archived from the original on 25 November 2022. Retrieved 25 November 2022.
↑ Barry, Luke (23 June 2023). "Neuville retires from Safari". dirtfish.com. DirtFish. Archived from the original on 27 October 2023. Retrieved 13 September 2023.
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