The World Rally Championship (WRC) has always been one of the most demanding and challenging motor sport competitions on the planet. Rallies take place on diverse terrain, including gravel, tarmac, snow and dirt. The governing body, the F?d?ration Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA), manages routes, stages and final locations of the 16 rallies held annually around the world.

At each rally, teams are allowed three days for reconnaissance (or recce), one day for technical checks (or scrutineering) and three days for competition. The rally is divided into three legs and typically has between 15 and 25 stages.

The manufacturer-backed factory teams, such as Ford and Skoda, will arrive on location weeks before the start of competition for on-site preparation. The competing World Rally Cars start the event according to their ranking, with the leader of the driver?s championship running first. Often there are up to 90 cars taking part in a rally. Filling out the field are Junior World Rally Championship drivers in smaller, lower-powered cars, Production Car World Rally Championship teams and privateers.

The Recce (pronounced: rekee)

In order to compete at such incredible speeds, drivers and co-drivers familiarize themselves with every turn of every stage before the start of a rally. The recce, or reconnaissance drive allows each team to drive each leg in a standard road-car (fitted with extra safety equipment) in the three days preceding a rally. It is here that the co-driver jots down detailed pace notes for use on the stage itself.

The Stages

The stages are the competitive sections of the rally, where the drivers and co-drivers drive as fast as possible to achieve the quickest time. Stages take place on private roads or public roads, which are closed to the general public while the rally is in progress. A typical rally will have about 25 stages over three days. The stages are linked by public roads on which competitors must obey all local traffic laws. Each day contains about 250 miles of driving, a third of which are driven competitively. Stages vary in length from five to 37 miles, with the cars? times being recorded after each stage to the tenth of a second.

 

 

 

 

The Clock

WRC cars don?t race directly against each other. They compete for the shortest overall time. Cars start at one or two minute intervals, racing against the clock, their times monitored and entered into the FIA computer. Unless they run into trouble, rivals rarely see each other during a stage. At the end of an event, the driver who?s taken the least amount of time to complete all the stages is the winner.

The Points

Results achieved during each of the 16 rallies count towards the two FIA world championships ? one for the drivers and one for the manufacturers. Drivers get 10 points for coming first, eight points for second place, six points for third, five points for fourth, four for fifth, three for sixth, two for seventh and one for eighth. Total driver and team points at the end of the season determine the respective championships.

The Time Controls

A rally itinerary is governed by a strict timetable. Drivers get time penalties for being late to clock in at the start of each stage and at the entry and exit of service parks. Late arrival at these controls is typically penalized with 10 seconds for every minute over schedule, with the penalized time added to the overall time of the driver. Drivers can be excluded from a rally if they are 15 minutes late for a time control, 30 minutes late for a leg or 60 minutes late for an entire rally.

Service Parks

After each group of stages is completed, the cars can visit a designated service park where repairs may be carried out by the teams under strict FIA supervision during a 20-minute time period. At the end of each day the crews are allowed a 45-minute period to work on the cars before they are locked away until the following morning?s restart. Crews are punished with time penalties for exceeding these allotted times.

 

Rallies

The World Rally Championship holds events in 16 countries and on four continents. From January to November, the World Rally Championship takes a tour of the planet, starting in the mountains of Monaco and racing through Mexico and Argentina to conclude in the outback of Australia. Other countries hosting WRC rally events include Sweden, Cyprus, Greece, Turkey, Finland, Deutschland, Japan, Great Britain, Italy, France and Spain.

The World Rally Cars

World Rally Cars are far from ordinary. They appear familiar because FIA stipulates that every World Rally Car must originate from a four-seater road-car and be available to the general public (at least 25,000 of the road-car version must have been built). Underneath the familiar exterior lies high-tension steel, carbon fiber and world-class technology. World Rally cars have 2.0-liter turbocharged engines that produce over 300 horsepower, six-speed gearboxes and four-wheel drive. Extensive safety measures include a roll cage to protect driver and navigator in case of an accident.

The chassis of a WRC car is two to three times more rigid than a normal road car and comes complete with an ultra-stiff roll-cage and a tremendous amount of safety tubing (130 feet if laid out fully). Teams are allowed to add limited aerodynamic modifications to a car in order to improve performance.

Typically, it takes six mechanics working flat-out for three weeks to create a World Rally car.

Article Source: www.wrc.com