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.
The FIA Junior WRC Championship, is an international rallying series restricted to drivers under 29 years old, running within the framework of the World Rally Championship. The series is governed by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA) and promoted by M-Sport Ltd.
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.
The European Rally Championship is an automobile rally competition held annually on the European continent and organized by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA). The championship has been organized since 1953 and has competed in different European countries, alternating between rallies on asphalt and gravel. It was the first supranational rally championship that was organized in the world and therefore the oldest one. In 2012 it had 60 editions and in 2013 it was renewed with the merger with the Intercontinental Rally Challenge.
The 2013 FIA Junior WRC Championship was the first season of the Junior WRC Championship, a rallying championship organised and governed by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile in association with M-Sport, running in support of the World Rally Championship. It replaced WRC Academy as the Junior category championship at world level.
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 2021 European Rally Championship was the 69th season of the FIA European Rally Championship, the European continental championship series in rallying. The season was also the ninth following the merge between the European Rally Championship and the Intercontinental Rally Challenge. Alexey Lukyanuk was the reigning champion. Andreas Mikkelsen won the championship after 2021 Rally Hungary, using a Toksport WRT prepared Škoda Fabia R5 Evo. Mikkelsen therefore became the only driver to win the ERC and WRC-2 championship in one year and the first Norwegian to win ERC.
The 2020 European Rally Championship was the 68th season of the FIA European Rally Championship, the European continental championship series in rallying. The season was also the eighth following the merge between the European Rally Championship and the Intercontinental Rally Challenge. Chris Ingram was the reigning champion, but did not return to defend the title. Alexey Lukyanuk won the championship in Citroën C3 R5.
The Ford Fiesta Rally3 is a rally car developed and built by M-Sport to FIA Group Rally3 regulations for use at tier 3 of the FIA Rally Pyramid. It is based upon the Ford Fiesta road car and debuted in 2021.
The Renault Clio Rally4 is a rally car developed and built by Renault Sport for the Rally Pyramid regulation of the Rally4 category. It is based upon the Renault Clio road car and used by the crews competing the European Rally Championship-3.
The Peugeot 208 Rally4 is a rally car developed and built by Peugeot Sport for the Rally Pyramid regulation of the Rally4 category. It is based upon the Peugeot 208 road car and was launched in 2020 and is a successor to Peugeot 208 R2.
The Ford Fiesta Rally2 is a rally car developed and built by M-Sport to comply with Group Rally2 regulations. It is based upon the Ford Fiesta road car and made its debut in 2020.
Group Rally4 is a technical specification of rally car determined by the FIA for use in its international competitions: World Rally Championship (WRC) and regional championships. National rallying competitions also allow Group Rally4 cars to compete. There are two technical subclasses of Group Rally4 however these do not affect competitive eligibility. 'Rally4' may be used alone with the same definition. The group was launched in 2019 after the introduction of the Rally Pyramid initiative to reorganise the classes of car and championships in international rallying was approved in June 2018.
Group Rally5 is a technical specification of rally car determined by the FIA for use in its international rallying competitions: World Rally Championship (WRC) and regional championships. National rallying competitions also allow Group Rally5 cars to compete. There are no subclasses of the group therefore all Group Rally5 cars can compete in the same category. 'Rally5' may be used alone with the same definition. The group was launched in 2019 after the introduction of the Rally Pyramid initiative to reorganise the classes of car and championships in international rallying was approved in June 2018.
Efrén Llarena is a Spanish rally driver born 26 May 1995 in Espinosa de los Monteros, Burgos, Castilla y León. In 2021 he finished runner up in the European Rally Championship behind Andreas Mikkelsen whilst driving his long term co-driver Sara Fernández to the co-driver's championship title. The following year in 2022, Llarena won the European Rally Championship, securing the title with two rounds remaining in the championship.
The 2022 European Rally Championship is the 70th season of the FIA European Rally Championship, the European continental championship series in rallying. The season is also the ninth following the merge between the European Rally Championship and the Intercontinental Rally Challenge. Andreas Mikkelsen was the reigning champion. Javier Pardo Siota is the reigning champion of ERC 2, now renamed as ERC Open, while Jean-Baptiste Franceschi is the reigning champion of ERC 3 - now renamed as ERC 4.
The Renault Clio Rally3 is a rally car developed and built by Alpine Racing to FIA's Group Rally3 regulations. It is based upon the Renault Clio road car and debuted in 2023.
The 2023 European Rally Championship was the 71st season of the FIA European Rally Championship, the European continental championship series in rallying. The season was also the tenth following the merge between the European Rally Championship and the Intercontinental Rally Challenge. Hayden Paddon became the drivers champion.
The 2024 European Rally Championship is the 72nd season of the FIA European Rally Championship, the European continental championship series in rallying. The season is also the eleventh following the merge between the European Rally Championship and the Intercontinental Rally Challenge. Hayden Paddon is the defending drivers champion.
The 2024 Rali Ceredigion was a motor racing event for rally cars held over three days from 30 August to 1 September 2024. It marked the fourth running of Rali Ceredigion. The event was the seventh round of the 2024 European Rally Championship and the fifth round of the 2024 British Rally Championship. It was also the first ERC event held in United Kingdom since the 2016 Circuit of Ireland. The event was held in Aberystwyth of Ceredigion county in Wales and was contested over fourteen special stages covering a total of 184,16 km.
