A partial reversion to the ‘old way’ of scoring points is locked in for 2025.
Changes to the points system confirmed at Wednesday’s World Motor Sport Council meeting mean Saturday points are gone, replaced by a slightly-tweaked 25-1 points system for the overall classification at the rally finish – albeit with 17 points for second instead of 18. Meanwhile, Sunday points have shrunk from 7-1 for the top seven to 5-1 for the top-five.
One key driver behind the change was to ensure rally winners were rewarded. Another was simplifying storytelling behind the points. But the big question remains: will it achieve this? The season just completed can give us some clues.
The winner can still be outscored – but it’s less likely
Mathematically the new ruleset is not airtight. A rally winner can still find themselves with fewer points than someone who finished behind them – but it takes a more specific set of circumstances to make it happen.
Tänak was one of four drivers to win a rally but be outscored in 2024
The rally winner was outscored four times in 2024: Esapekka Lappi was bested by Elfyn Evans in Sweden, Ott Tänak was a point up on Sébastien Ogier in Portugal, who in turn was a point better off than Kalle Rovanperä in Latvia. Elfyn Evans then went two points better than Ott Tänak in Central Europe and was tied for most points with Ogier at the season finale in Japan.
Per the 2025 system this would have happened only once, with Lappi in Sweden. Evans finishing right behind Lappi (who backed off on Sunday) in the overall classification, while being fastest on Sunday and second-quickest on the powerstage, would give him 26 points to Lappi’s 25 under the upcoming 2025 points distribution.
Though there is no guarantee a rally winner will always outscore those behind, it’s now a much more likely prospect on any given rally than the past.
It also successfully widens the gap in other cases, Safari Rally Kenya being a prime example: rally winner Rovanperä would go from outscoring fifth-placed Neuville by one point to eight – though this year’s world champion would remain the second-highest scoring driver anyway courtesy of his barnstorming final day around Naivasha.
The title decider would have been closer
Neuville's title would've been far less secure had the 2025 points system been in play
When his engine stared playing up on the season finale, Thierry Neuville kept reeling off the same soundbite: the 25-point advantage he’d built up over the course of the season was proving essential. He’d put the hard work in leading up to Japan, so he could live with this disruption.
He would have been facing a much different prospect with the new points system. That 25 point lead would only have been 16. Tänak would have gone into the final day effectively three points ahead in the title race.
It may well have gone the same way in the end. Tänak would still have made his mistake, but the comfort blanket of 25 points that Neuville could wrap himself in as his Hyundai i20 N Rally1 limped through Friday with a faulty turbo would be gone. He’d have gone into the penultimate day of the season knowing if he failed to put the hammer down, he was in a world of trouble.
Poor Sundays are exacerbated
Three Rally1 drivers would have been worse off in 2024 with next year’s points system: Adrien Fourmaux, Andreas Mikkelsen and Takamoto Katsuta. Despite rally wins being worth far more under the new system, Ogier also gains only two points. There’s two key reasons for this.
The removal of the Saturday ‘checkpoint’, where scores from the main batch of points dished out with a day to go subject to finishing the rally, will change final day dynamics. The consequences of final day issues which don’t knock drivers out on the spot but allow them to march on will now be worse – and not only because two fewer points are on offer on the last day.
Ogier's efforts to make the finish in Greece would've been fruitless with next year's points system
Ogier’s heroics after rolling on the final stage of the Acropolis, where he – assisted by spectators – got his smashed Yaris back on the road and crawled to the finish scored him and Toyota 13 points. It would be for nought with next year’s system. Similarly, Mikkelsen’s off and subsequent damage on Poland’s final day when trying to battle Rovanperä for top spot means he’d score only eight points instead of 15.
For Fourmaux and Katsuta, their setback is all the smaller points finishes they hoovered up on Sundays that will now disappear under the new system.
Katsuta scored Sunday points on 12 out of 13 rallies for a total of 40 but would manage only six Sunday points finishes in the new system for a total of 17 – a big difference considering more than a third of his season total was scored from Sunday finishes alone. It was a similar story for Fourmaux: he also scored Sunday points 12 out of 13 times in 2024 with a total of 41; that becomes nine out of 13 for only 18 points under the 2025 system.
Winners rewarded
Rovanperä's points total would be boosted the most by applying the 2025 system to this season
This one’s a bit obvious but quantifying it demonstrates how much of a difference it makes.
Esapekka Lappi would climb ahead of Hyundai team-mate Mikkelsen in the standings courtesy of his Sweden win and, as mentioned previously, Ogier still beats his 2024 points total despite losing the 13 points he scored in Greece. But no driver would have benefitted more than Rovanperä.
The outgoing world champion’s season total increases by 18 points despite fewer Sunday points being on offer – for context, that’s a lift of 14.6%.
