( pictured) won the Manufacturers' championship. The 2018 FIA World Rally Championship was the 46th season of the, an championship recognised by the (FIA) as the highest class of international. Teams and crews were competing in thirteen events—starting with the in January and finishing with in November—for the,. Crews were free to compete in cars complying with and regulations; however, only Manufacturers competing with World Rally Cars were eligible to score points in the Manufacturers' championship. The series were once again supported by the and categories at every round and by the at selected rounds. And started the season as the defending drivers' and co-drivers' champions after securing their fifth consecutive World Championship titles at the., the team they drove for in 2017, were the defending manufacturers' champions.

At the conclusion of the championship, Ogier and Ingrassia successfully defended their championship titles for the fifth time in their career and rewrited the title figure to six. And finished the season as the runners-up, eighteen points behind the six-time world champions, while and placed third, a further twenty points behind. In the World Championship for Manufacturers, won their first World Championship title since. Finished second overall twenty-seven points behind Toyota, with defending manufacturers' champions in third. Main article: saw and start their title defence with a rally victory, recording their fifth victory in the event. And finished second on their debut, with teammates and rounding out the podium.

Number one claimed fourth with the fastest time on the, despite spinning and reversing into a ditch on the opening stage during Thursday night. Star went off the road on the same stage as Meeke, eventually finishing fifth and taking four points from the power stage. And were sixth to give their team, an early lead in the manufacturers' championship. Made a mistake on the final stage, which cost him half a minute to get back on the road and dropped him from fourth to seventh., who drove Ford's third car, finished eighth. And were ninth on the board after enduring brake problems on Friday morning. Winner snatched one point with tenth place overall. Took three points in the power stage after retiring from Friday due to an alternator problem.

Teammate retired from the rally whilst running in third place when he went off the road in snowy conditions on Saturday morning. Rally Sweden. Main article: sealed his second victory of the season, despite receiving a 10-second penalty for cutting a chicane.

With the victory, he recaptured the position of championship leader from, who finished sixth overall after faring worst in the conditions and losing more than 20 seconds due to a fuel pressure problem and a issue on his on Friday, by four points. Lost second place to Friday leader after a half roll on Sunday morning. Finished fourth and snatched two points on the, after struggling with his 's handling throughout. Returning nine-time champion was fifth overall and took an extra point at the after suffered a on Saturday whilst leading. Winner finished seventh ahead of, who fought back up the leaderboard after retiring his on Friday with problems. Drivers and completed the top ten. Finished fourteenth overall, but took victory and five points from the.

Withdrew from the rally after co-driver suffered a concussion during a crash on Friday morning, whilst teammate and retired from Friday due to hitting a barrier and crashing out respectively. Tour de Corse. Main article: and took their third win of the year in, ahead of and, who suffered multiple issues during the weekend. And finished fourth and fifth respectively, separated by just 3.5 seconds. Thrust himself into the fight for second on Saturday, but his hopes were shattered when he hit a kerb and was forced to stop and change a tyre. He eventually plummeted to seventh, but salvaged maximum bonus points by winning the final in his, as well as overhauling to climb to sixth.

Winner finished eighth ahead of, who restarted under Rally2 regulations after going off the road when co-driver read the wrong pace notes. WRC 2 runner completed the top ten. Nine-time world champion finished out of the points after going off into a ditch on SS2 and having to restart under Rally2, but he would claim four points from the. Rally Argentina. Main article: and took their first victory of the season and their first for their new employers:. And teammate finished second and third overall, which allowed their team, to move further ahead at the top of the manufacturers' championship.

2015 Fia World Rally Championship

Championship leader finished fourth, with his lead in the Drivers' championship shrinking to ten points. Was just four seconds behind in fifth, whilst finished sixth in another. Came home seventh after picking up a on Saturday whilst in contention for a podium., and winner completed the leaderboard. Was forced to retire from the rally after his ' front right and engine lubrication system sustained significant damage on Friday. Was also forced to retire on Saturday after rolling his and damaging the rollcage. Rally de Portugal.

Main article: took his first Portugal and eighth victory after a four-day battle. Because the championship leader failed to score any points, he relinquished the championship lead to Neuville. The Belgian left with a nineteen-point lead. Ogier's teammate's and both finished on the podium to help the team narrow the gap to to thirteen points. Argentina winner retired from the rally on the first gravel stage due to damaging his engine's after hitting a large rock, while crashed his during SS12 on Saturday. Took another win but received a ten-second penalty for displacing dividing bales on SS9's third roundabout, which meant he lost his fourth place to. And teammate finished in sixth and seventh overall, which brought some valuable points to.

Podium finishers, and finished in eighth, ninth and tenth respectively to complete the leaderboard. Rally Italia Sardegna. Main article: snatched victory from the defending world champion on the last stage — The Belgian won the, which gained him the maximum thirty points from the event, extending his championship lead to twenty-seven points. The difference between the two title rivals was only 0.7 second, in history, shared with the. Rounded out the podium places in a, followed by in fourth overall.

With a one-four finish, moved further ahead in the manufacturers' championship, twenty-eight points ahead of. The two drivers and finished fifth and sixth respectively, ahead of, who was running under Rally2 regulations because of an problem on Saturday.

Category leader came home in eighth followed by, who damaged his on Friday and received a forty-second penalty, while, who went of the road on Friday, completed the top ten. Also retired from Friday due to a issue, but claimed two points from the. Rally Finland. Main article: took his second rally victory of the season with a win in Finland to gain a maximum thirty points. With a master-class performance in Rally Finland, he closed the gap to the front in the championship to twenty-five points. Edged by only 2.8 seconds to finish second overall. Completed the rally in fourth place after defending rally winner went off in SS20.

Finished fifth place after gave to, who finished in seventh overall, on Friday and, who finished sixth in another, on Sunday respectively. In eighth after Friday's early and late fuel pressure issue. Championship leader, who was first on the road on Friday, ended his rally ahead of his teammate, who rolled his on Friday, in ninth place. Despite an unsatisfiying result, he still led the championship by twenty-one points over the defending world champion. ADAC Rallye Deutschland. Main article: achieved back-to-back victories for the first time in his career and claimed his second consecutive win in Germany, to rekindle both his and championship hopes.

During the first half of the rally his main challenger was, but that ended when the Frenchman clipped a boulder on the second run through Panzerplatte and was forced to stop and change a damaged wheel, plummeting to eighth in the process. Going into the final day the battle for second place was now between and, but both drivers would drop out of the rally on stage 16; Sordo when a trip through the vineyards damaged his radiator, and Latvala when his transmission failed. All of this benefitted and, who eventually finished second and third respectively, allowing the former to extend his championship lead to 23 points. Ogier claimed fourth after a final day charge up the leaderboard which culminated with a victory in the powerstage, followed by,. Eighth place went to local driver, with leading drivers and seventeen-year-old completing the points finishers. Marmaris Rally of Turkey.