2023 World Rally Championship

The championship was expected to be expanded to fourteen rounds, with eight Europe-based rallies and six fly-away events covering the season.[13] However, the number of the events was reduced to thirteen following a lengthy delay of the calendar.[14] The anticipated rally based in Jeddah in Saudi Arabia was absent from the calendar.[15]

Rally Mexico returned to the calendar.

• Rally Mexico returned to championship after missing the 2021 and 2022 championships.[16] The organizers of the rally had previously held a national event in 2022 in the bid of a 2023 return.[17]
• Rally Chile would rejoin the calendar after the Chilean protests and COVID-19 pandemic respectively ruled out the event in 2020 and 2021.[18][19]
• Central Europe Rally, a tri-nation event running a day each in Germany, Austria and Czech Republic, was introduced into the championship, replacing Rally de Catalunya.[20] The rally would be based out of southeast Germany, in the city of Passau in Bavaria, and is set to run on tarmac.[21]
• Rally New Zealand, a round of the 2022 season, would not be included on the calendar, but the organizers are seeking an opportunity for a 2024 return as a part of the rotation program with Rally Australia.[22]
• Ypres Rally Belgium, which has been a part of the championship for the last two seasons, dropped off the calendar and would instead be featured for the 2023 British Rally Championship.[23]

Several rally organizers also expressed their interests to return to the championship, including events in Argentina, Australia, Northern Ireland and Germany.[24][25][26][27] Bids of Argentina and Northern Ireland were ultimately failed.[28][29] In addition to the candidate events, the WRC Promoter GmbH was also working on the calendar expansion to the Middle East and United States.[30]

• The headquarter of the Rally Italia Sardegna would be once again moved from Alghero to Olbia.[31] The 2020 event was previously based in Olbia as a result of major route revisions due to the COVID-19 pandemic.[32]
• The 2023 edition of the Safari Rally is set to be based at the Lakeside town of Naivasha.[33] The rally was previously based in the Kenyan capital Nairobi.[34]

Ott Tänak (left) and Martin Järveoja (right) left Hyundai and returned to M-Sport.

M-Sport signed a full-year deal with Ott Tänak and Martin Järveoja,[44] who terminated their contract with Hyundai despite having a multi-year deal.[45] Pierre-Louis Loubet's campaign with the team was expanded to full-time as a manufacturer-registered points scorer.[46] Nicolas Gilsoul, former navigator alongside Thierry Neuville, became Loubet's new co-driver.[47] Adrien Fourmaux was demoted to the team's WRC-2 program, joining Grégoire Munster.[48] M-Sport long-time privateer Jourdan Serderidis continued with the team to contest at selected events.[49] Gus Greensmith left the team after eight-year partnership.[50] He is due to drive for Toksport to compete under the WRC-2 championship.[51]

Craig Breen died in the pre-event test of the 2023 Croatia Rally.

Hyundai retained Thierry Neuville and Martijn Wydaeghe.[52] They would be joined by Esapekka Lappi and Janne Ferm as the team's full-time crews.[53] Craig Breen, who had previously driven for Hyundai from 2019 to 2021, rejoined the team despite having a two-year contract with M-Sport.[54][55] He shared the third car with the crew led by Dani Sordo,[56] who had previously planned to retire at the end of 2022 season.[57] However, Breen lost his life in a fatal accident during the pre-event of the 2023 Croatia Rally.[58] The FIA subsequently announced that his car number 42 would be retired for the rest of the season.[59] Oliver Solberg and Elliott Edmondson were dropped from the team.[60] They moved to Toksport to compete the WRC-2 category.[61] Former Renault Formula One manager Cyril Abiteboul became Hyundai's new team principal.[62]

Toyota retained the crew of Elfyn Evans and Scott Martin and of Kalle Rovanperä and Jonne Halttunen as their two full-time competitors.[63] As the defending champions, Rovanperä and Halttunen kept their car number 69 for the season, instead of opting for the number 1 plate.[64] Takamoto Katsuta and Aaron Johnston stepped up to the works team to share the third car with Sébastien Ogier, who was co-driven by Vincent Landais.[65] The team's fourth car is available for private users when Ogier does not compete.[66] This decipline first applied to Lorenzo Bertelli and Simone Scattolin at the 2023 Rally Sweden.[67]

The season opener belonged to Sébastien Ogier and Vincent Landais, who won the first rally of his career.[72] This was also Ogier's ninth win at the Monte Carlo Rally, surpassing Sébastien Loeb to become the driver who wins most victories in Monte-Carlo.[73] The second round, Rally Sweden, saw Ott Tänak and Martin Järveoja took an early lead, before losing to Craig Breen and James Fulton on Friday evening.[74] However, Tänak and Järveoja fought back on Saturday evening,[75] and eventually won the event.[76] After absence from Sweden, Ogier and Landais came back at the Rally Mexico, where they took another victory after capitalizing their relative late road position.[77] Despite only competing two rounds, they still led the championships.[78]

There was a tragedy before the Croatia Rally, where Hyundai driver Breen died in the pre-event test after the front-left of his i20 collided with a pole.[80] His co-driver Fulton was unharmed.[81] Elfyn Evans and Scott Martin eventually won the rally, their first since the 2021 Rally Finland.[82] They dedicated the win to Breen.[83]

The Rally de Portugal marked the start of the seven consecutive gravel event.[84] Kalle Rovanperä and Jonne Halttunen dominated the rally, taking their first victory the season as well as winning the Power Stage to add full thirty points to their championship defends.[85]

Points are awarded to the top ten classified finishers in each event. In the manufacturers' championship, teams are eligible to nominate three crews to score points, but these points are only awarded to the top two classified finishers representing a manufacturer and driving a 2022-specification Rally1 car. There are also five bonus points awarded to the winners of the Power Stage, four points for second place, three for third, two for fourth and one for fifth. Power Stage points are awarded in the drivers', co-drivers' and manufacturers' championships.[96][97]

The driver who records a top-ten finish is taken into account for the championship regardless of the categories.

Pos. Driver MON SWE MEX CRO POR ITA KEN EST FIN GRE CHL EUR JPN Points 1 Kalle Rovanperä 21 43 44 42 11 98 2 Ott Tänak 52 14 92 2 42 81 3 Sébastien Ogier 15 11 53 69 4 Elfyn Evans 43 52 3 1 Ret 69 5 Thierry Neuville 34 3 23 331 5 68 6 Esapekka Lappi 8 71 Ret 35 33 49 7 Dani Sordo 7 55 25 36 8 Takamoto Katsuta 6 Ret 23 64 334 20 9 Craig Breen 25 WD 19 10 Gus Greensmith 6 14 6 16 11 Oliver Solberg 14 8 8 10 7 15 12 Pierre-Louis Loubet Ret 6 27 7 32 14 13 Yohan Rossel 9 8 9 8 14 Emil Lindholm 16 7 11 6 15 Andreas Mikkelsen 8 4 16 Nikolay Gryazin[lower-alpha 4] 10 11 Ret 9 30 3 17 Ole Christian Veiby 9 2 18 Sami Pajari DNS 10 13 22 1 19 Teemu Suninen 15 10 1 20 Kajetan Kajetanowicz 10 1 Pos. Driver MON SWE MEX CRO POR ITA KEN EST FIN GRE CHL EUR JPN Points Sources:[100][101]

Key Colour Result Gold Winner Silver 2nd place Bronze 3rd place Green Points finish Blue Non-points finish Non-classified finish (NC) Purple Did not finish (Ret) Black Excluded (EX) Disqualified (DSQ) White Did not start (DNS) Cancelled (C) Blank Withdrew entry from the event (WD) Notes: 1 2 3 4 5 – Power Stage position

The co-driver who records a top-ten finish is taken into account for the championship regardless of the categories.

Pos. Co-driver MON SWE MEX CRO POR ITA KEN EST FIN GRE CHL EUR JPN Points 1 Jonne Halttunen 21 43 44 42 11 98 2 Martin Järveoja 52 14 92 2 42 81 3 Vincent Landais 15 11 53 69 4 Scott Martin 43 52 3 1 Ret 69 5 Martijn Wydaeghe 34 3 23 331 5 68 6 Janne Ferm 8 71 Ret 35 33 49 7 Cándido Carrera 7 55 25 36 8 Aaron Johnston 6 Ret 23 64 334 20 9 James Fulton 25 WD Ret 19 10 Jonas Andersson 6 14 6 16 11 Elliott Edmondson 14 8 8 10 7 15 12 Nicolas Gilsoul Ret 6 27 7 32 14 13 Arnaud Dunand 9 8 9 8 14 Reeta Hämäläinen 16 7 11 6 15 Torstein Eriksen 9 8 6 16 Konstantin Aleksandrov[lower-alpha 5] 10 11 Ret 9 30 3 17 Enni Mälkönen DNS 10 13 22 1 18 Mikko Markkula 15 10 1 19 Maciej Szczepaniak 10 1 Pos. Co-driver MON SWE MEX CRO POR ITA KEN EST FIN GRE CHL EUR JPN Points Sources:[100][101]

Key Colour Result Gold Winner Silver 2nd place Bronze 3rd place Green Points finish Blue Non-points finish Non-classified finish (NC) Purple Did not finish (Ret) Black Excluded (EX) Disqualified (DSQ) White Did not start (DNS) Cancelled (C) Blank Withdrew entry from the event (WD) Notes: 1 2 3 4 5 – Power Stage position

Only the best two results of each manufacturer in the respective overall classification and Power Stage at each rally are taken into account for the championship.

Pos. Manufacturer MON SWE MEX CRO POR ITA KEN EST FIN GRE CHL EUR JPN Points 1 Toyota Gazoo Racing WRT 1 42 11 32 11 201 21 53 3 43 64 NC3 Ret NC4 WD Ret 2 Hyundai Shell Mobis WRT 34 25 23 25 25 169 5 3 45 61 33 NC NC1 Ret WD NC 3 M-Sport Ford WRT 42 14 52 1 42 134 Ret 6 6 5 5 Pos. Manufacturer MON SWE MEX CRO POR ITA KEN EST FIN GRE CHL EUR JPN Points Sources:[100][101]

Key Colour Result Gold Winner Silver 2nd place Bronze 3rd place Green Points finish Blue Non-points finish Non-classified finish (NC) Purple Did not finish (Ret) Black Excluded (EX) Disqualified (DSQ) White Did not start (DNS) Cancelled (C) Blank Withdrew entry from the event (WD) Notes: 1 2 3 4 5 – Power Stage position