The World Rally Championship (abbreviated as WRC) is an international rallying series owned and governed by the FIA. Inaugurated in 1973, it is the second oldest of the FIA’s world championships after Formula One. Each season lasts one calendar year, and separate championship titles are awarded to drivers, co-drivers and manufacturers. There are also two support championships, WRC2 and WRC3, which are contested on the same events and stages as the WRC, but with progressively lower maximum performance and running costs of the cars permitted. Junior WRC is also contested on five events of the World Rally Championship calendar.
WRC season typically consists of 13 three- to four-day rally events driven on surfaces ranging from gravel and tarmac to snow and ice. Each rally is usually split into 15–25 special stages which are run against the clock on up to 350 kilometres (220 mi) of closed roads.
Rallies that have frequently appeared in the championship have included Monte Carlo Rally, Tour de Corse, Sanremo, Acropolis, Safari Rally, and national rallies of Great Britain, Finland, New Zealand, Portugal, Australia and Argentina. Hyundai, Toyota and M-Sport Ford are the current competing manufacturers. Amongst their drivers are Sébastien Ogier, Thierry Neuville, Adrien Fourmaux, Ott Tänak, Dani Sordo, Elfyn Evans, Takamoto Katsuta, Grégoire Munster, Esapekka Lappi, and Kalle Rovanperä.