World Rally-Raid Championship

The World Rally-Raid Championship (officially abbreviated as W2RC) is a rally raid series organised by the Amaury Sport Organization and co-sanctioned by the FIA and FIM.[1][2] The championship's seasons culminate with world championship titles in both automobile and motorcycle categories.

World Rally-Raid Championship
CategoryRally raid
CountryInternational
Inaugural season2022
Classes
  • MOTO:
  • RallyGP, Rally2, Rally3, Quad
Drivers' championQatar Nasser Al-Attiyah (O/A)
Chile Francisco López (T3)
Lithuania Rokas Baciuška (T4)
Netherlands Kees Koolen (T5)
Co-Drivers' championFrance Mathieu Baumel (O/A)
France François Cazalet (T3)
Poland Lukasz Laskawiec (T4)
Netherlands Wouter De Graaff (T5)
Riders' championUnited Kingdom Sam Sunderland (RallyGP)
United States Mason Klein (Rally2)
Morocco Amine Echiguer (Rally3)
France Alexandre Giroud (Quad)
Makes' championToyota Gazoo Racing (FIA)
Monster Energy Honda (FIM)
Official websiteWorldRallyRaidChampionship.com
Current season

Beginning in 2022, the series replaced both the FIA World Cup for Cross-Country Rallies and FIM Cross-Country Rallies World Championship as the top echelon of the sport of rally raid.[3] The ASO will serve as series promotor for a period of five years.[1]

History

The combined World Championship series was conceived as a result of efforts by the ASO, FIA and FIM to harmonize regulations.[4] After a vote by the World Motorsport Council to officially make rally raid the seventh world championship under the FIA in 2021, they joined with the FIM to combine their respective international cross-country rallying series into a single World Rally-Raid Championship. The ASO, promotor of the Dakar Rally, was chosen by both world-governing bodies as the sole promotor of the series for a period of five years.[1]

The inaugural World Championship officially kicked off with the 2022 Dakar Rally[3] and ended in Morocco following revisions to the schedule due to the Russian Invasion of Ukraine, forcing the cancellation of that year's Rally Kazakhstan,[5] and environmental concerns that forced the Andalucia Rally to be rescheduled.[6] The inaugural winners of the FIA World Rally-Raid Championship were Nasser Al-Attiyah and Mathieu Baumel with Toyota Gazoo Racing as the winning manufacturer;[7] while Sam Sunderland did likewise in the FIM World Rally-Raid Championship with Monster Energy Honda.[8][9]

Format

The championship consists primarily of two forms of cross-country rallying:

Cross-Country Rally: Between four and six timed stages; total distance of 1200km.
Cross-Country Marathon: More than six timed stages; total distance of 2500km.

The cross-country baja format continues to be contested in the international FIA World Cup for Cross-Country Bajas and FIM Bajas World Cup competitions, separate from the world championship.

Categories and awards

The series covers various categories under both the FIA and FIM.[10][11]

FIA categories
  • T1: Prototype Cross-Country Cars
  • T2: Series Production Cross-Country Cars
  • T3: Lightweight Prototype Cross-Country Vehicles
    • FIA Rally-Raid Championship for T3 drivers and co-drivers.
  • T4: Modified Production Cross-Country Side-by-Side Vehicles
    • FIA Rally-Raid Championship for T4 drivers and co-drivers.
  • T5: Prototype and Production Cross-Country Trucks
    • FIA Rally-Raid Championship for T5 drivers and co-drivers.

Groups T1, T2, T3 and T4 are eligible for the overall FIA Rally-Raid World Championship titles for drivers, co-drivers, and manufacturers. Additional Group-specific championships are awarded in Groups T3, T4 and T5.

FIM categories
  • RallyGP
    • FIM Rally-Raid World Championship for riders and manufacturers
  • Rally2
    • FIM Rally-Raid World Cup for Rally2 Riders
    • FIM Rally-Raid Trophy for Juniors
    • FIM Rally-Raid Trophy for Women
    • FIM Rally-Raid Trophy for Seniors
  • Rally3
    • FIM Rally-Raid World Cup for Rally3 Riders
    • FIM Rally-Raid Trophy for Juniors
  • Quad
    • FIM Rally-Raid World Cup for Quad Riders

Only riders competing in the RallyGP category are eligible for the FIM Rally-Raid World Championship. World Cup titles are available for champions of the Rally2, Rally3, and Quad categories.

Champions

FIA Rally-Raid World Champions
Season
Driver Co-Driver Manufacturer
2022 Qatar Nasser Al-AttiyahFrance Mathieu BaumelJapan Toyota Gazoo Racing

FIM Rally-Raid World Champions
Season
Rider Manufacturer
2022 United Kingdom Sam SunderlandJapan Monster Energy Honda

FIA Rally-Raid Champions
Season
T3 Driver T3 Co-Driver T4 Driver T4 Co-Driver T5 Driver T5 Co-Driver
2022 Chile Francisco LópezFrance François CazaletLithuania Rokas BaciuškaPoland Lukasz LaskawiecNetherlands Kees KoolenNetherlands Wouter De Graaff

FIM Rally-Raid World Cup
Season
Rally2 Rider Rally3 Rider Quad Rider
2022 United States Mason KleinMorocco Amine EchiguerFrance Alexandre Giroud

FIM Rally-Raid Trophies
Season
Women Junior (R2) Senior Junior (R3)
2022 Netherlands Mirjam PolUnited States Mason KleinPortugal Mario Patrao No Participants

See also

References
  1. "FIA WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP STATUS FOR CROSS-COUNTRY RALLYING, WITH DAKAR RALLY AS ITS CORNERSTONE; A.S.O. APPOINTED GLOBAL PROMOTER". World Rally-Raid Championship.
  2. "A.S.O. ANNOUNCED AS THE FIRST EVER FIM WORLD RALLY-RAID CHAMPIONSHIP PROMOTER". World Rally-Raid Championship.
  3. "🇬🇧 The new FIA & FIM World Rally Raid Championships - #Dakar2022". Retrieved 2021-12-17 – via YouTube.
  4. "FIA, ASO launch new Cross-Country World Championship around Dakar". Motorsport.com.
  5. Brunsdon, Stephen (17 March 2022). "Kazakhstan World Rally-Raid event canceled due to war". DirtFish. Retrieved 16 November 2022.
  6. "W2RC - Revised dates for Rallye du Maroc and Andalucía Rally*". Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile. 7 June 2022. Retrieved 16 November 2022.
  7. "W2RC - LOEB WINS IN ANDALUCIA BUT AL-ATTIYAH SECURES INAUGURAL W2RC DRIVERS' TITLE". Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile. 23 October 2022. Retrieved 16 November 2022.
  8. "A DREAM SEASON FOR AL-ATTIYAH AND SUNDERLAND". World Rally-Raid Championship. 23 October 2022. Retrieved 16 November 2022.
  9. "W2RC: A DREAM SEASON FOR SUNDERLAND". Fédération Internationale de Motocyclisme. 24 October 2022. Retrieved 16 November 2022.
  10. "FIA CROSS COUNTRY RALLIES". fia.com. Retrieved 4 January 2022.
  11. "FIM Documents". fim-moto.com. Retrieved 4 January 2022.
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