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WRC 2025 Points Revolution: A Closer Look at the New System That Could Shake Up Rally Dynamics

Harry Bright by Harry Bright
December 13, 2024
in Motorsports
Reading Time: 4 mins read
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WRC 2025 Points Revolution: A Closer Look at the New System That Could Shake Up Rally Dynamics

Ott Tänak (EST) and Martin Järveoja (EST) of team HYUNDAI SHELL MOBIS WORLD RALLY TEAM seen during the World Rally Championship in Toyota city, Japan on November 23, 2024. // Jaanus Ree / Red Bull Content Pool // SI202411230306 // Usage for editorial use only //

The FIA World Motor Sport Council has approved a significant shift in how points are distributed in the World Rally Championship (WRC), starting with the 2025 season. In a partial return to traditional scoring, Saturday points will be scrapped, while Sunday points are trimmed, leaving rally finish positions to weigh more heavily. But will this move reward winners more effectively and simplify the narrative, as intended? A deep dive into the 2024 season reveals intriguing insights—and potential pitfalls.


The New Points System: What’s Changing?

Under the new system, rally finishers will score points on a tweaked 25-1 scale, with second place earning 17 points instead of 18. Sunday points will now reward only the top five drivers, down from the top seven, and the maximum Sunday haul drops to 5 points from 7.

This change was driven by two primary goals:

  1. Reward Rally Winners: Ensure that finishing first is consistently more valuable than finishing lower but performing better across stages.
  2. Simplify Storytelling: Reduce the complexity of explaining mid-rally standings and emphasize the final classification.

While mathematically not foolproof, the revisions make it harder—but not impossible—for a rally winner to be outscored by someone finishing lower in the final standings.


2024 Season Analysis: What Could Have Been

In the just-concluded season, rally winners were outscored four times under the current points system. Under the 2025 rules, this would have occurred only once—Esapekka Lappi in Sweden, who backed off on Sunday but was outperformed in stage points by Elfyn Evans.

This narrower margin highlights a key success of the 2025 system: rally winners are more likely to come out on top in points. For instance, in the Safari Rally Kenya, Kalle Rovanperä’s winning gap over fifth-placed Thierry Neuville would have widened from 1 point to 8 under the new rules.


Championship Drama: Neuville vs. Tänak in 2024

The new system would have added significant drama to this year’s title battle. Neuville’s comfortable 25-point lead going into the season finale would have shrunk to just 16 points, leaving Ott Tänak effectively 3 points ahead heading into the final day. While Tänak’s error might have sealed the same outcome, Neuville’s margin for error—and his “comfort blanket”—would have been far smaller.


Winners and Losers of the New System

  • Biggest Winner: Kalle Rovanperä, whose points tally for 2024 would have risen by 18 points, a 14.6% increase. His consistent performances across rallies make him the biggest beneficiary of the new rules.
  • Biggest Losers: Adrien Fourmaux and Takamoto Katsuta, who thrived on smaller Sunday point hauls. Katsuta’s Sunday total would drop from 40 to just 17 points, while Fourmaux’s would fall from 41 to 18—both significant hits to their season totals.

Notably, Sébastien Ogier would have seen a modest increase of 2 points overall but would lose the 13 points scored for his heroic finish in Greece after rolling his car. Andreas Mikkelsen’s final-day damage in Poland would similarly cost him 7 points under the new rules.


Strategic Implications for 2025

  1. Final Day Dynamics: The absence of Saturday checkpoint points means Sunday’s stage is now even more critical. Drivers cannot afford to cruise or rely on partial scores; every point is up for grabs.
  2. Rally Management: Teams will likely adopt more aggressive strategies to secure top finishes, knowing Sunday points alone won’t save a poor rally result.

A Glimpse of What’s to Come

The 2025 points overhaul is a bold move to address long-standing criticisms of the WRC scoring system. It aims to amplify the importance of winning and heighten the championship’s competitive tension. Yet, as the 2024 season illustrates, even the new system is not immune to anomalies.

While drivers like Rovanperä stand to gain, those relying on incremental points from consistent but unspectacular performances, like Fourmaux and Katsuta, will find themselves facing a steeper climb. And for fans, the stakes just got higher, with fewer safety nets and more at risk in every rally’s final showdown. Let the 2025 season begin!

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