The FIA has approved tweaks to the WRC sporting regulations for next season
Photography by Toyota & M-Sport
Words by Luke Barry
The FIA World Motor Sport Council has approved modifications to the 2026 World Rally Championship sporting regulations, including new mandatory rest hours.
The extremity of itineraries became a hot topic in 2025, particularly at Rally Portugal where long 15-hour days and a lack of midday service pushed competing crews to the limit.
In response, new articles will be implemented into WRC regulations next season that define competition and rest hours across each round of the championship.
Total rest hours across the rally are now required to be at least equal to total competition hours, with the exception of the opening day. A minimum of 10 hours per day must be dedicated to rest, with one leg featuring at least 12 hours.
This is to “ensure greater consistency across events and provide increased rest time for crews, teams, officials and volunteers,” per the FIA’s announcement of the changes.
Mechanics (as well as crew, officials and media) will benefit from more rest on events in 2026
Other regulatory changes for 2026 include a modification to engine replacement; competing cars – manufacturer points-scoring Rally1 cars aside – may now change engine at any point during a rally, but will incur a 60-minute time penalty for doing so and lose the ability to score points for any FIA championships or cup.
For Rally1 cars competing for manufacturer points, engines can still be changed penalty-free from within their existing pool of two sealed units for the season – as was the case for Ott Tänak in Chile earlier this year.
The FIA says this “amendment is intended to allow competitors to continue participating in the rally in the event of a major mechanical issue while remaining outside of the competitive classification due to the associated penalty and ineligibility for points”.
There is now a new framework for candidate rallies, which must now be held the year prior to WRC calendar inclusion – and no later than nine months before its WRC debut. Midday service duration has been reduced from 40 to 30 minutes, in line with pre-2022 rules prior to the introduction of the now-retired hybrid units.
Chicanes were a hot topic of conversation at last month's CER
New articles will be introduced to define the use of chicanes and the procedures for their implementation: a five-second penalty will be issued when a “chicane element is completely displaced from its marked position” by a rally’s clerk of the course, with other infringements referred to stewards for adjudication.
Championship leader Elfyn Evans received a controversial five-second penalty for nudging a chicane at October’s Central European Rally.
All non-Rally1 entries will also now be limited to a maximum of two passes of shakedown from 2026.
Words:Luke Barry
Tags: FIA, regulations, rest hours, WRC, WRC 2026
Publish Date November 25, 2025 DirtFish 
https://dirtfish-editorial.s3-accelerate.amazonaws.com/2025/11/Katsuta10PAR25cm602-780x1170.jpg November 25, 2025
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