Road

FIA Rally Commission

Chaired by Imad Lahoud, in 2024 the FIA Rally Commission continued to improve a now well-established regulatory base through the definition of Virtual Chicanes and Slow Zones, a new procedure for the acceptance of national cars in the FIA Regional Rally Championships, a roadmap for event organisers to receive ratings from the FIA Environmental Accreditation Programme and the creation of Master titles, similar to what exists in the FIA World Rally Championship for drivers over 50 years old.

A highlight of the 2024 season was Hayden Paddon’s impressive double victory in the FIA European Rally Championship and the FIA Asia-Pacific Rally Championship. Winner of an ERC round at Rali Ceredigion, the Kiwi showed unfailing consistency to win a second consecutive European title.

Watch the 2024 FIA European Rally Championship Season review:

FIA Rally Star

Launched in 2021, FIA Rally Star, the first global Rally talent detection programme, aims to detect, train and develop drivers to become the future stars of the FIA World Rally Championship.

In 2024, following selection at the end of the training season, four FIA Rally Star crews competed in the FIA Junior WRC. At the end of the campaign, Romet Jürgenson and Siim Oja (Estonia) won the FIA Junior WRC title in their first season. Surpassing the early achievements of Sébastien Ogier, Romet won the title despite only having a career total of 30 rallies under his belt. Meanwhile, Taylor Gill and Daniel Brkic (Australia) won their first rally in Finland and Max Smart (South Africa) and Cameron Fair (Great Britain) showed potential with a podium finish in Sardinia.

Watch our “Be the Next One” Youtube Series to find out more about the 2024’s edition:

Cross-Country Rally Commission

Chaired by Zaid Balqez, the FIA Cross-Country Rally Commission worked intensively throughout the 2024 season, in close collaboration with the FIA World Rally-Raid Championship Commission. The Commission introduced simpler nomenclature, assigning new names to the Baja Cups and vehicle categories, which now consist of Ultimate, Challenger, SSV, Stock, and Truck.​ New Technical Regulations for the SSV (formerly T4) and Stock (formerly T2) categories were also finalised, while on the sporting side, the rules governing the behaviour of crews on the track and the assistance they may provide were rewritten. 

The format of the World Cup and Regional Bajas Cups was also reframed, with a new mandatory registration system, a new points system and the development of a lighter calendar in order to reduce season costs. 

João Ferreira and co-driver Filipe Palmeiro achieved notable success by winning both the FIA World Baja Cup and the FIA European Baja Cup in 2024.

Watch the video for more:

Off Road Commission

Autocross

The level of competition continued to improve in 2024, with more drivers earning points across the 10 rounds than in the previous year. A total of 135 drivers competed across the categories: 52 in Super Buggy, 61 in Buggy 1600, and 22 in Junior Buggy.​

The Super Buggy category was won by Czech driver Zdeněk Antony, who denied Petr Nikodém a third consecutive title. The Buggy 1600 category went down to the final event where Markus Wibbeler claimed the title ahead of Czech driver Arnošt Florián. In the Junior Buggy category, the Netherlands’ Nathan Ottink emerged victorious ahead of French driver Malone Feuillade. 

The Nations Cup was fiercely contested once again. In 2023, the title was claimed by the Czech Republic who beat France, with the Netherlands taking third place.

Cross Car

The 2024 FIA European Cross Car Championship witnessed a significant rise in popularity, with 58 drivers scoring points throughout the season. This surge in participation led some events to request waivers for the maximum number of entries due to high demand.​

In the Cross Car class, David Méat maintained his dominance by securing the title once again. Spanish drivers Iván Piña Chinchilla and Miguel Gayoso Vázquez completed the podium in second and third places, respectively.​

The Cross Car Junior class, formerly known as the Academy Trophy, was opened to all chassis manufacturers, a move that increased competition levels as well as participation. Over five rounds, 24 drivers competed, which is twice as much as in 2023. Spain’s Daniel Gayoso Vázquez took the Championship title, fellow Spaniard Diego Martínez González finished second, while Belgium’s Lucas Cartelle secured third place.

Looking ahead, the Cross Car category continues to evolve, offering a new level of competition in Autocross. Due to its popularity and relatively low costs, it is expected to grow and possibly expand, offering opportunities for competition across the globe.​

Rallycross

The 2024 season of the FIA European Rallycross Championship (Euro RX) featured fierce competition with a combination of established teams and talented newcomers pushing for top spots across multiple races. In the end, Britain’s Patrick O’Donovan took the title ahead of Swiss driver Yury Belevskiy and Hungary’s Máté Benyó, 

The 2024 FIA European RX2e Championship continued to showcase the future of electric motor sport. Nils Andersson dominated to take the title ahead of fellow Swede Isak Sjökvist and Estonia’s Marko Muru.

In RX3, a total of 22 drivers claimed points, with Germany’s Nils Volland taking the crown ahead of Portugal’s João Ribeiro and Austria’s Dominik Segacnik. 

Hill Climb Commission

FIA European Hill Climb Championship

FIA International Hill Climb Cup

FIA Historic Hill Climb Championship

Following a successful 2023, the Hill Climb discipline continued its upward trajectory in 2024, with strong spectator and competitor participation across all Championships (EHC, IHCC, and HHC).

All organisers introduced a new way to broadcast strategy through live streaming, significantly enhancing the visibility and appeal of the competitions.

The FIA European Hill Climb Championship featured 10 events and a record of more than 130 classified competitors from 18 different countries. French driver Geoffrey Schatz claimed the title in Category 2, while Croatia’s Matija Jurišič took the title in Category 1.

The FIA International Hill Climb Cup was comprised of five events with 70 competitors from 14 different countries taking part. In the final edition of the Cup competition, Czech driver Dan Michl won in Category 1, while French driver Sébastien Petit claimed the victory in Category 2.

The FIA Historic Hill Climb Championship was made up of seven rounds with 95 competitors from nine different countries involved. In Category 1, Slovakia’s Marcel Benik was victorious, while Category 2 was won by Italy’s Brando Motti. Category 3 went to Austria’s Gerald Glinzner, Category 4 to Italian driver Mario Massaglia, and Category 5 to French driver Jean-Marc Debeaune. The FIA Historic Hill Climb Nations Cup went to Team Austria.

The FIA Hill Climb Commission, in collaboration with Technical Working Groups, prepared the implementation of the Performance Factor for Category 2, along with a new set of Sporting Regulations, aiming to further enhance competition and fairness. The FIA Hill Climb Commission also developed a Safety Roadmap for Category 2.

For 2025, it was decided to discontinue the FIA International Hill Climb Cup (IHCC) to focus on expanding the FIA European Hill Climb Championship (EHC) and reintroducing the Masters event to the FIA calendar.

Bridgestone FIA ecoRally Cup

Devoted to road production electric vehicles running in regularity events, the Bridgestone FIA Eco Rally Cup enjoyed one of its most successful years in 2024. 

The calendar expanded to 12 rounds, up from 10 in 2023, with a total of 254 entrants taking part across the season and with 23 different EV brand represented during the year. 

The Cup also staged its first-ever candidate event in Asia. Taking place in China, the rally welcomed 40 cars supplied in partnership with leading Chinese brands including NIO and BYD. The success of this event paves the way for inclusion in the 2025 calendar. Candidate events are now set to be held in Scotland and Madeira. Reflecting the growing popularity of the Cup and increased interest from ASNs and organisers. Positive discussions have also been held with Indonesia, Japan, and Brazil.

Land Speed Records Commission

Expectations Deferred – Bolivia

Scheduled to return to Bolivia’s Salar de Uyuni on 18 to 23 October 2024, the joint FIA-FIM World Land Speed Records (WLSR) event, Speed Trials Bolivia 2024, unfortunately faced some critical challenges.

Not only did Reg Cook and Jim Knapp withdraw from the event for budgetary reasons – leaving Jamie Williams as the sole FIA competitor – but the event was finally cancelled due to too tight a deadline to import fuel. Despite these setbacks, the event aims to return in 2025.

Appendix D Regulations: Safety Updates and Electrified Vehicle Land Speed Record Classes

At the 2024 October meeting of the World Motor Sport Council, the FIA Land Speed Records Commission had its Regulations on Driver and Cockpit Safety Equipment updated with the removal of obsolete FIA helmet standards 8858-2002 and 8860-2004. 

In addition to its work on a dedicated class structure for electrified vehicles based on Performance Factor (Pf), the Commission pursued its investigations on possible ways to increase the number of potential World Land Speed Competitors. Notably, by cooperating with the Guinness Book organisation and by easing access to FIA WLSR attempts to competitors of the Southern California Timing Association (SCTA).