HOW THE BIG RALLY BEGAN

Back in 1973, racing officials selected 8 rallies (2020) from around the world and organized them into a series featuring contestants competing for the World Championship. That was the starting point for today’s World Rally Championship (WRC). For more than 40 years, the WRC has been the pinnacle of sprint rally racing. In Europe and Latin America, where many of the rallies are held, the WRC rivals F1 racing in popularity.

RULES OF THE RALLY

Perhaps what’s most exciting about the WRC is it’s unusual format as a special stage (SS) event, featuring ordinary cars racing for the fastest time on sections of closed roads. Unlike mass-start circuit races, SS events stagger cars at set intervals of one to three minutes. Multiple SS races are held over a period of three or four days. In the final, on the last day of the competition (a Sunday), places are determined by the teams compiled SS times.
SS races cover a dynamic range of road surfaces and conditions, everything from tarmac to gravel—and even snow—giving each rally a distinct personality. SS road sections are linked by “liaison” sections of public roadways where drivers must obey normal traffic rules. The SS rally is also distinguished by teamwork in the car, as success depends on the driver and his co-pilot working together

RALLY WEEK

Ordinarily, each team’s on-location preparations begin with setup at the service park the Monday before the rally. The contestants begin course reconnaissance on Tuesday, which runs until the competition is launched with a ceremony on Thursday evening.
In many competitions, the initial SS takes place as Day 1, which starts immediately after the Thursday ceremonial launch. A series of 15-25 Special Stages are scheduled from Day 1 through Day 4, after which time the rally concludes with an awards ceremony.
Note: This represents a typical schedule. Actual timelines depend on the event.

WHY TOYOTA COMPETES IN THE WRC

Hairpin turns, icy patches, potholes—variety is the spice of the WRC. And because the real world is full of vastly different roads, from rough, uneven, unpaved roads, to smoothly paved mountain roads, to roads with icy patches hidden under new-fallen snow, learning about them is essential to developing top quality cars. To achieve our goal of manufacturing ever-better cars, we need an intimate understanding of how ordinary people deal with these roads in everyday life.
The rally is a motor sport that comes down to how far cars can go on a wide range of road conditions. That makes it the ultimate training ground for us at Toyota. The WRC is considered the greatest event of motor sports, which makes it the ideal arena for us to learn about the world's roads. By going for the top WRC category with the Yaris World Rally Car, which was developed based on the production Yaris, we accomplished three goals: We were able to train people in extreme conditions. We developed technologies at a high level. And we used the knowledge and experience gained as feedback in the development of new production vehicles. These are the reasons Toyota decided to take on the WRC in the first place.

TOYOTA AND THE WRC:
THE LONG ROAD TO VICTORY

Toyota got its start in motor sports in 1957 when we entered the Mobilgas Round Australia Rally. Our first WRC victory was in 1975 at the 1,000 Lakes Rally with our factory-backed team. We went on break numerous records and claimed many more victories, including three consecutive Safari Rally wins.
In 1990, Toyota had its first WRC champion driver. In 1993 we were the first Japanese brand to win the WRC manufacturer’s title. At the time, Mitsubishi and Subaru were strong rivals who brought a great deal of excitement to the events, paving the way for the golden age of Japanese rally participation, and Tommi Antero Mäkinen raced for both of these teams.
Up until the end our factory-backed team initiatives in 1999, Toyota made WRC history with three manufacturer team titles and four driver titles.
Then, in 2017, Toyota returned to WRC as the TOYOTA GAZOO Racing World Rally Team (WRT). We recorded five rally victories over the course of the 2018 season and secured the manufacturer’s championship for a fourth time. In 2019, Ott Tänak and Martin Järveoja won their first-ever driver’s and co-driver’s championships.

WRC CATEGORIES

WRC

FIA World Rally Championship (WRC), which brings together rally events held in countries all over the world into a series, was born in 1973. The WRC is divided into the Drivers’ and Co-drivers’ Championship and the Manufacturers’ Championship. Various types of cars are allowed to compete in WRC, with World Rally Cars—including the Toyota Yaris WRC—being the topmost category. World Rally Cars were introduced to WRC in 1997, and this category has continued to evolve with vehicle regulations being changed every few years. In 2017, the new World Rally Car regulations—which continue to apply today—were introduced to further improve engine and aerodynamic performance. Manufacturers can nominate up to three cars for each rally, and the top two cars contribute points to the manufacturers’ rankings.

WRC2 / WRC3

WRC has support categories for drivers, co-drivers, and manufacturers who are not competing with World Rally Cars. Up until 2019, there were two championships: WRC 2 Pro for drivers and teams competing with R5 cars, and WRC 2 for private drivers also competing with R5 cars. However, from the season of 2020, the existing WRC 2 Pro will be renamed WRC 2, while the existing WRC 2 will be renamed WRC 3. The new WRC 2 targets manufacturers as well as drivers and co-drivers registered by those manufacturers. Manufacturers can register a maximum of two cars per rally, and must participate in at least eight rallies (of which at least one must be outside Europe) with one car. In addition, drivers and co-drivers can earn championship points from the best eight rallies they compete in registered as WRC 2 competitors. The new WRC 3 is a championship that targets only drivers and co-drivers, who can earn points from the best six rallies of the first seven that they compete in registered as WRC 3 competitors. While the existing R5 cars had been renamed as Rally2 (R2) cars from 2020, the basic vehicle regulations remain unchanged. Rally2 cars are second in performance to World Rally Cars, and are dedicated rally cars for young competitors looking to move up to World Rally Cars as well as highly-experienced veteran competitors. Currently, Citroën, Volkswagen, ŠKODA, and Hyundai manufacture and offer such cars to competitors.

Junior WRC

Junior WRC is a championship for young drivers born on or after January 1, 1991 (as of 2020). There is no age restriction for co-drivers. Previously, there was a period of time when the series was known as WRC Academy. Rallies are held under equal conditions, with currently only one car model—the Ford Fiesta R2T (RC4)—and tires provided by Pirelli. For the season of 2020, the series will be fought through a total of five rallies taking place in Sweden, , Italy (Sardinia), Finland, and Germany. The series winner will receive a Ford Fiesta R5 (Rally2) and a support package for competing in rallies during the season of 2021.

DESTINATIONS 2020:
ALL 7 EVENTS, IN EUROPE AND BEYOND.