A World Rally Car is a racing automobile built to the specific regulations set by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA) and designed for competition in the World Rally Championship (WRC). The cars were introduced in 1997 as a replacement for Group A regulations used in the manufacturers' championship, and were replaced by Group Rally1 in 2022.
Andreas Mikkelsen is a Norwegian rally driver. He is currently competing in the World Rally Championship for Hyundai Shell Mobis WRT. He previously drove for the factory teams of Volkswagen and Citroën, finishing third in the drivers' standings in 2014, 2015 and 2016. His current co-driver is Torstein Eriksen.
ŠKODA Motorsport is the sports factory team of the car manufacturer Škoda Auto, currently focusing on the development and construction of racing cars. The latest model from Škoda Motorsport's workshops is the Škoda Fabia RS Rally2, which was introduced on June 14, 2022, and is set to follow in the footsteps of its successful predecessor, the ŠKODA FABIA Rally2 evo, unveiled in 2019. During the factory team's existence, they have managed to secure five championship titles in the FIA World Rally Championship category WRC 2 in the manufacturers' standings.
The FIA WRC2 Championship 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.
In relation to motorsport governed by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile, Group R refers to a set of regulations providing production-derived vehicles for rally competition. The Group R regulations were gradually introduced from 2008 as a replacement for Group A and Group N rally cars.
Esapekka Lappi is a Finnish rally driver. He is the 2012 Finnish Rally Champion, 2014 European Rally Champion and the 2016 WRC-2 Champion. He now drives for Hyundai Motorsport. In 2024, he won his second ever event in Rally Sweden, which broke the record for the longest gap between wins in terms of time and number of rallies, with his debut win coming from his home event in 2017 Rally Finland.
The Ford Fiesta R5 is a rally car built by M-Sport and based upon the Ford Fiesta ST road car. It was the first car homologated under the R5 regulations that were introduced in 2013. The Fiesta R5 made its competitive début in 2013 and has competed in the World Rally Championship-2, European Rally Championship and various national competitions since then. An updated model known as the Fiesta R5 Mk. II was unveiled in 2019. Starting in 2019, M-Sport Ford WRT will enter factory-supported Fiesta R5s and Fiesta R5 Mk. IIs in the World Rally Championship-2.
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.
Jari Huttunen is a Finnish rally driver from Kiuruvesi. He currently competes in the World Rally Championship-2, the premier support category of the World Rally Championship, for M-Sport Ford World Rally Team. He gained notoriety in the championship after winning his very first rally in the WRC-2 category, at the 2017 Rally Finland.
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 2018 Paris Motor Show took place from 4 October to 14 October. For the first time, it consists in three shows dedicated to automobiles, motorcycles and new mobility.
The Volkswagen Polo GTI R5 is a rally car built by Volkswagen Motorsport and based upon the Volkswagen Polo road car. It is built to R5 regulations and is a successor to the Volkswagen Polo R WRC. The Polo GTI R5 made its competitive début at the 2018 Rally Catalunya, where it was driven by 2003 World Drivers' Champion Petter Solberg and Eric Camilli. The car currently competes in the World Rally Championship-2 where it is entered by various privateers.
The 2019 Rally de Portugal was a motor racing event for rally cars that was held over four days between 30 May and 2 June 2019. It marked the fifty-third running of Rally de Portugal, and was the seventh round of the 2019 World Rally Championship, World Rally Championship-2 and the newly-created WRC-2 Pro class. The rally was also part of the Portuguese national championship and Peugeot Rally Cup Ibérica. The 2019 event was based in Matosinhos in Porto and consisted of twenty special stages totalling 311.47 km (193.54 mi) competitive kilometres.
The 2019 European Rally Championship was the 67th season of the FIA European Rally Championship, the European continental championship series in rallying. The season was also the seventh following the merge between the European Rally Championship and the Intercontinental Rally Challenge. Alexey Lukyanuk was the reigning champion and he returned to defend the title switching from a Ford Fiesta R5 to the Citroën C3 R5. On the final round at Rally Hungary, Chris Ingram became the first British driver in 52 years to win the title in a Skoda Fabia R5.
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 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 World Rally Championship-2 is the ninth 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 Rally2 regulations. The championship began in January 2021 with the Rallye Monte-Carlo and is due to conclude in November 2021 with Rally Monza, and will run in support of the 2021 World Rally Championship.
Group Rally1 is a technical specification of rally car for use at the highest level of international rallying in the World Rally Championship (WRC) as determined by the FIA. Despite the use of the word 'Group' in the name, there are not multiple classes or subclasses of car and so 'Rally1' may be used alone with the same definition. Rally1 cars were used for the first time in the 2022 WRC season and replaced the outgoing World Rally Car used in the manufacturer's championship. Though they may run on any individual rally as permitted by the organiser, they are not be used in any other championship.
