The World Rally Championship’s powerstage system will be expanded to include bonus points for the WRC manufacturers’ championship from next season, with its WRC2 and WRC3 support categories also included in the change.
At present drivers in the championship’s top category can score up to five bonus points for setting the fastest time on the final stage of a WRC event, running down to a single extra point for the fifth-fastest driver.
In a decision issued by the FIA World Motor Sport Council late on Wednesday evening, drivers for manufacturer squads will now be able to score bonus points on behalf of their team, with the two fastest drivers from a single manufacturer eligible to score said bonuses.
Rally2-based support classes WRC2 and WRC3 will also get their own powerstage classification for drivers only, mirroring the system the main category has used since 2017 with a 5-4-3-2-1 points structure.
Adjustments have also been made to the scoring systems in support categories, after confusion reigned over the phrasing of the rules that applied to WRC2 points which left Citroën and its class rivals at odds.
Teams may now enter a maximum of seven rallies with two cars, one round of which must take place outside of Europe. Of those, the best six scores will count towards the final championship classification.
Drivers and teams from the WRC2 class will also be able to enter additional rallies as non-points-scoring crews, but must declare when registering for a rally whether they intend to score points or not.
Junior WRC, which like its parent categories was hit by cancellations shrinking its calendar, will return to having five rounds in 2021.
