AUTO SPORT
JULY 31, 2021
the wRC history
The WRC history started with the Monte Carlo Rally on January 19, 1973. The series currently consists of 12, with two to three-day events driven on various surfaces ranging from gravel and tarmac to snow and ice.
World Rally Championship (WRC) is the highest level of global competition in the motorsport discipline of rallying, governed and organised by the governing body of international motor sport, FIA (Fédération Internationale de l’Automobile) or International Automobile Federation.
The WRC features three support championships : the Junior World Rally Championship (JWRC, formerly the WRC Academy), the World Rally Championship-2 and the World Rally Championship-3 which are contested on the same events and stages as the WRC but with different regulations.
The World Rally Championship was formed from well-known international rallies, nine of which were previously part of the International Championship for Manufacturers (IMC), which was contested from 1970 to 1972.
Each WRC season consists of a number of rounds within the same calendar year and should ordinarily include rallies on a minimum of 3 continents. Most recently there have been about 13 rallies though there have been as few as 8 such as in 1995.
Typically the race day begins on Friday and ends on Sunday, although some rallies events—most notably the Monte Carlo Rally—could be run over four or five days period.
Between the days, after a 45 minute end of day service, cars are locked away in parc fermé, a quarantine environment where teams are not permitted to access or work on their cars.
FIA governs and approves the rules surrounding which cars are used in WRC. Cars have always followed a basic categorisation of being production, touring car or special grand touring cars with a minimum production requirement to achieve homologation by the FIA.
Over time, the rules have changed to suit many kind of situations such as : economic conditions, safety reasons, to advance technology, to attract more manufacturer entrants or to better promote the series.
According to the official WRC website, Renault was crowned inaugural World Rally Champions after its Alpine A110 dominated at the hands of drivers including Jean-Claude Andruet, Jean-Pierre Nicolas and Jean-Luc Thérier.
The WRC history including legendary drivers such as Hannu Mikkola, Björn Waldegård Ari Vatanen and Roger Clark all helped to take the World Rally Championship to a new level with their popular ‘sideways’ driving style.
Some of the greatest rally cars ever made are : 1985 Audio Sport Quattro S1, 1986 Ford RS200 Evolution, 1997 Subaru Impreza S3 WRC, 1997 Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution IV and 1975 Ford Escort RS1800.
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