The World Rally-Raid Championship (officially abbreviated as W2RC) is a

rally raid Rally raid is a type of off-road motorsport event competed with different types of vehicles. Along with shorter Baja (cross-country rally), baja rallies, rally raid constitutes cross-country rallying. Both the Fédération Internationale de l'Aut ...

series co-sanctioned by the FIA and

FIM FIM may refer to: Organizations and companies * Fédération Internationale de Motocyclisme, the International Motorcycling Federation * Flint Institute of Music, in Michigan, United States * Fox Interactive Media, now News Corp. Digital Media * ...

and promoted by the

Amaury Sport Organisation The Amaury Sport Organisation (ASO and also A.S.O.) is a private company, founded in 1992, that is part of the privately-owned French media group Éditions Philippe Amaury (EPA). ASO organises the Tour de France and other cycling races, as well a ...

(ASO). The championship's seasons culminate with world championship titles in both automobile and motorcycle categories. Beginning in 2022, the series replaced both the

FIA World Cup for Cross-Country Rallies The FIA World Cup for Cross-Country Rallies was a rally raid series organised by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile, FIA, culminating with a champion driver, co-driver, and team; with additional trophies awarded to T2 and T3 drivers & ...

and

FIM Cross-Country Rallies World Championship The FIM Cross-Country Rallies World Championship was the premier championship of Rally raid racing, organized by the Fédération Internationale de Motocyclisme The International Motorcycling Federation (Fédération Internationale de Motocycli ...

as the top echelon of the sport of rally raid. ASO will serve as series promoter for a period of five years.

History

The combined World Championship series was conceived as a result of efforts by the ASO, FIA and

to harmonize regulations. After a vote by the World Motorsport Council to officially make

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, promoter of the

Dakar Rally The Dakar Rally () or simply "The Dakar" (), formerly known as the Paris–Dakar Rally (), is an annual rally raid organised by the Amaury Sport Organisation (ASO). It is an off-road endurance event traversing terrain much tougher than convent ...

, was chosen by both world-governing bodies as the sole promoter of the series for a period of five years. The inaugural World Championship officially kicked off with the

2022 Dakar Rally The 2022 Dakar Rally was a rally raid event held in Saudi Arabia and the 44th edition of the Dakar Rally organized by Amaury Sport Organisation (ASO). The event took place between 1–14 January 2022. This was the third time Saudi Arabia had hos ...

and ended in

Morocco Morocco, officially the Kingdom of Morocco, is a country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It has coastlines on the Mediterranean Sea to the north and the Atlantic Ocean to the west, and has land borders with Algeria to Algeria–Morocc ...

following revisions to the schedule due to the

Russian Invasion of Ukraine On 24 February 2022, , starting the largest and deadliest war in Europe since World War II, in a major escalation of the Russo-Ukrainian War, conflict between the two countries which began in 2014. The fighting has caused hundreds of thou ...

, forcing the cancellation of that year's

Rally Kazakhstan The Rally Kazakhstan is a rally-raid which is held in the country of Kazakhstan since 2017. Motorcycles first took part in 2021; with the original debut cancelled in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The event was part of the FIA World Cup for C ...

, and environmental concerns that forced the

Andalucia Rally Andalusia ( , ; , ) is the southernmost autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community in Peninsular Spain, located in the south of the Iberian Peninsula, in southwestern Europe. It is the most populous and the second-largest autonomou ...

to be rescheduled. The inaugural winners of the FIA World Rally-Raid Championship were

Nasser Al-Attiyah Nasser Salih Nasser Abdullah Al-Attiyah ( : nāṣir ṣāliḥ nāṣir ʿabd allāh al-ʿaṭiyyah; born 21 December 1970 in Doha) is a Qatari rally driver and sport shooter. He was the 2006 Production World Rally Champion, 2014 and 2015 WR ...

and

Mathieu Baumel Mathieu Baumel (born 17 January 1976) is a French rally raid co-driver competing in the World Rally-Raid Championship. Alongside Nasser Al-Attiyah, he won the Dakar Rally five times, the FIA World Cup for Cross-Country Rallies four times, and the ...

with

Toyota Gazoo Racing Toyota Gazoo Racing (TGR) is a motorsport division of the Japanese car manufacturer Toyota. Alongside competition activities, the division develops technologies for the Gazoo Racing (GR) sub-brand of Toyota's sports and performance-oriented pro ...

as the winning manufacturer; while

Sam Sunderland Sam Sunderland (born 15 April 1989 in Poole) is a Dubai-based British rally raid motorcycle rider, best known for his participation in the Dakar Rally, which he won in 2017 and 2022. Career Sunderland made his Dakar debut in 2012, riding a Hon ...

did likewise in the FIM World Rally-Raid Championship with

Monster Energy Monster Energy is a brand of energy drink, energy drinks that was created by Hansen Natural Company (now Monster Beverage Corporation) in April 2002. In 2022, Monster Energy had a 30.1% Market share, share of the American energy drink market, th ...

Honda commonly known as just Honda, is a Japanese multinational corporation, multinational Conglomerate (company), conglomerate automotive manufacturer headquartered in Minato, Tokyo, Japan. Founded in October 1946 by Soichiro Honda, Honda has bee ...

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 The FIA World Baja Cup, formerly known as the FIA World Cup for Cross-Country Bajas, is a Baja (cross-country rally), baja rally series organized by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile, FIA, culminating with a champion driver, co-drive ...

and

FIM Bajas World Cup The FIM Bajas World Cup is the premier championship of baja-style rally raid racing, organized by the Fédération Internationale de Motocyclisme The International Motorcycling Federation (Fédération Internationale de Motocyclisme) or (FIM) ...

competitions, separate from the world championship.

Categories and awards

The series covers various categories under both the FIA and

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

FIM Rally-Raid World Champions

FIA Rally-Raid Champions

FIM Rally-Raid World Cup

FIM Rally-Raid Trophies

References

External links

* * - FIA Rally-Raid * - FIM Rally-Raid {{Main world championships

Rally raid Rally raid is a type of off-road motorsport event competed with different types of vehicles. Along with shorter Baja (cross-country rally), baja rallies, rally raid constitutes cross-country rallying. Both the Fédération Internationale de l'Aut ...

Rally raid series FIA world championships