The World Rally Championship is an international rallying series owned and governed by the FIA. Inaugurated in 1973, it is the second oldest of the FIA's world championships after Formula One. Each season lasts one calendar year, and separate championship titles are awarded to drivers, co-drivers and manufacturers. There are also two support championships, WRC2 and WRC3, which are contested on the same events and stages as the WRC, but with progressively lower maximum performance and running costs of the cars permitted. Junior WRC is also contested on five events of the World Rally Championship calendar.
M-Sport is a motorsport engineering company headquartered at Dovenby Hall near Cockermouth, United Kingdom. It is primarily known for entering the FIA World Rally Championship (WRC) since 1997 in partnership with Ford, manufacturing race and rally cars, and providing parts and motorsport services to customers. The company has an automotive evaluation facility at its headquarters, and a second manufacturing facility in Kraków, Poland.
Hyundai Motorsport GmbH is a division of South Korean automaker Hyundai Motor Company responsible for the brand's global motorsport activities. The company was established in December 2012 and is based in Alzenau, Germany.
The FIA WRC2 is a support championship of the World Rally Championship (WRC). The calendar consists of the same rallies and stages as the parent series and crews usually compete immediately after Rally1 class crews. WRC2 is limited to production-based cars homologated under Group Rally2 rules. There are separate specific championship titles awarded to Teams, Drivers and Co-Drivers.
The Škoda Fabia R5 is a rally car built by Škoda Motorsport. It is based upon the Škoda Fabia road car and is built to R5 regulations. It made its competition début in 2015 as a successor to the Škoda Fabia S2000. The car proved to be very successful in the World Rally Championship-2 class, winning thirty-five events between 2015 and 2018. Esapekka Lappi won the 2016 World Rally Championship-2 drivers title with four victories, Pontus Tidemand won the 2017 championship and Jan Kopecký won the 2018 championship. Škoda Motorsport won the FIA World Rally Championship-2 for Teams in 2015, 2016 and 2017. Starting in 2019, Škoda Motorsport entered the Fabia R5 in the professional class of the World Rally Championship-2. An updated version of the Fabia R5 known as the Škoda Fabia R5 Evo was introduced during the 2019 season. The car was originally launched with the R5 group nomenclature, but in early 2020, Škoda Motorsport announced the update of their car names according to the new FIA pyramid, renaming successor, the Fabia R5 evo as the Fabia Rally2 evo.
Eric Camilli is a French rally driver. He has competed in the World Rally Championship since 2014. After starting out in the lower levels, he made his debut in the top level in 2016 while driving for M-Sport in a Ford Fiesta RS WRC.
The Hyundai i20 R5 is a rally car built by Hyundai Motorsport and based upon the Hyundai i20 road car. It is built to R5 regulations. The i20 R5 made its competitive début at the 2016 Tour de Corse, where it was driven by Kevin Abbring and Sebastian Marshall. The car currently competes in the World Rally Championship-2 and the European Rally Championship where it is entered by Hyundai's factory team and various privateers. Its successor, the Hyundai i20 N Rally2, is due to be introduced in 2021.
The Citroën C3 Rally2 is a rally car built by Citroën World Rally Team. It is based upon the Citroën C3 road car and is built to R5 regulations. The car made its début at the 2018 Tour de Corse where it was driven by the French crews of Stéphane Lefebvre and Gabin Moreau, and Yoann Bonato and Benjamin Boulloud.
The 2019 FIA World Rally Championship was the forty-seventh season of the World Rally Championship, a rallying championship recognised by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA) as the highest class of international rallying. Teams and crews competed in fourteen events for the World Rally Championships for Drivers, Co-drivers and Manufacturers. Crews were free to compete in cars complying with World Rally Car and Group R regulations; however, only Manufacturers competing with World Rally Cars homologated under regulations introduced in 2017 were eligible to score points in the Manufacturers' championship. The series was once again supported by the WRC2 category at every round, which was split into 2 classifications: WRC2 Pro for manufacturer entries and WRC2 for private entries, and by Junior WRC at selected events. WRC3 was discontinued in 2018.
The 2019 FIA Junior WRC Championship was the seventh season of Junior WRC, a rallying championship governed by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile, running in support of the World Rally Championship.
The Škoda Fabia Rally2 evo is a rally car built by Škoda Motorsport. It is an upgraded generational update of the original Fabia R5, based on the facelifted Škoda Fabia production car. After four years of success in the R5 discipline with the original Fabia, Škoda announced the Fabia R5 evo at the Geneva Motor Show in March 2019. The car was showcased as an improvement over the 2015 Fabia in nearly all areas, most notably the power and response of the engine. After many kilometers of testing, The Evo passed international homologation on the 1st of April 2019, and made its competitive rallying debut in the hands of Jan Kopecký at the third round of the Czech Rally Championship, Rallye Český Krumlov. The car would make a successful first impression, winning the rally overall. Soon after it would make its World Rally Championship debut at Rally de Portugal, where it would once again emerge victorious in the hands of Kalle Rovanperä.
In international rallying, R5 refers to a class of cars competing under Group R regulations. R5 regulations were introduced by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA) in 2012 as a replacement for the Super 2000 class. In 2019 the FIA renamed the R5 specification ruleset to Group Rally2 as part of a wider plan to reorganise FIA championships and replace Group R with new Groups Rally. Existing FIA homologated R5 cars remain eligible for any FIA Rally2 level competition, and non-homologated R5 or Rally2 cars should be accepted equally at national level where approved. R5/Rally2 cars are based on production cars and feature a 1600cc turbocharged petrol engine.
The FIA WRC3 is a support championship of the World Rally Championship. The calendar consists of the same rallies and stages as the parent series and crews usually compete immediately after WRC2 entrants. Entry into WRC3 is limited to cars that are based on production models and homologated under Group Rally3 rules, although prior to 2022 Group Rally2 cars were used. There are championship titles awarded to drivers and co-drivers. The series began in 2013 and was limited to production-based cars homologated under the R1, R2 and R3 rules, until its cancellation at the end of 2018. The current format of the series began in 2020.
Adrien Fourmaux is a French rally driver. After contesting the 2024 FIA World Rally Championship (WRC) for M-Sport Ford in the WRC Rally1 category driving the Ford Puma, Fourmaux joins Hyundai Motorsport for 2025 to pilot a Hyundai i20 N Rally1.
The Hyundai i20 N Rally2 is a rally car developed and built by Hyundai Motorsport to Group Rally2 specifications. It is based upon the Hyundai i20 N road car and is the successor to Hyundai i20 R5.
The 2021 FIA WRC2 Championship was the ninth season of WRC2, a rallying championship for organised and governed by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile as the second-highest tier of international rallying. The category was open to cars entered by teams and complying with Rally2 regulations. The championship began in January 2021 with the Rallye Monte-Carlo and concluded in November 2021 with Rally Monza, and ran in support of the 2021 World Rally Championship.
Group Rally2 is a technical specification of rally car determined by the FIA. It features 1.6L turbo engines, four-wheel drive and a maximum power-to-weight ratio of 4.2kg/hp. Rally2 cars are used in the World Rally Championship and continental championships; a few national rallying competitions also allow Group Rally2 cars to compete. The group was launched in 2019 with other similarly named groups after the introduction of the Rally Pyramid initiative to reorganise the classes of car and championships in international rallying was approved in June 2018.
Movisport is a rally team and marketing agency based in Reggio Emilia, Italy. The rally team, Scuderia Campione Movisport competes in the Italian national championship, the European Rally Championship and the World Rally Championship (WRC), and in 2021, won the Teams championship title of the support series, WRC2. The marketing agency provides advertising and promotion services linking brands with racing drivers and teams. The rally team's accomplishments therefore include those of the drivers and teams the marketing agency has worked with.
The Škoda Fabia RS Rally2 is a rally car built by Škoda Motorsport that is based on the fourth generation Škoda Fabia production car. It is the second upgraded generational update of the original Fabia R5, replacing the Fabia Rally2 evo.
RedGrey Team is a rally team based in Kurna, Estonia, established in 2020 by former rally driver Markko Märtin and the 2019 World Rally Champion, Ott Tänak. The team replaced an older team established in December 2005, MM-Motorsport, following Tänak's investment in Märtin's company that formed the team. The team rarely enters motorsport competition itself, principally offering rally cars for rent and associated operational services to customers, such as Hyundai Motorsport.
