New terminology of FIA cross-country rallying disciplines to be used from 2024

Some radical changes to the regulations in respect of the terminology used in the Cross-Country Rally Sporting Regulations have been approved by the WMSC on Thursday 19 October.

A major overhaul to the naming of events, cars and championships should make the various classes and type of vehicle easier to understand in layman’s terms and to simplify the terminology used in one of the fastest growing disciplines running under the FIA umbrella. 

Revised terminology for disciplines, championships and events

Terminology, such as Cross-Country Baja and Cross-Country Rally, will be shortened and simplified to Baja and Rally-Raid respectively, or Marathon Rally-Raid in the case of a Cross-Country Marathon Rally. 

The proposal, discussed in conjunction with the FIA World Rally-Raid Championship promoter, A.S.O., and the members of the Cross-Country Rally Commission, suggests that the three FIA support championships should be known as the World Baja Cup, European Baja Cup and Middle East Baja Cup from the start of the 2024 season.

New names also for vehicle groups

The five-group nomenclature (formerly T1, T2, T3, T4 and T5) that split the various machines eligible to compete in cross-country-type events was also renamed with a view to bring more clarity and substance for the community. Group T1 will now be known as ‘Ultimate’, with ‘Stock’ replacing T2, a category for series-production cross-country machines, which today only has a small number of entries. 

Group T3 for modified prototype cross-country vehicles is one of the fastest growing of all the motor sporting classes and this will be known as ‘Challenger, while ‘SSV’ replaces the Group

The new terminology will then be used across the board to describe the various sub-championships. 

As examples, the FIA World Rally-Raid Championship for T3 drivers will be known as the FIA World Rally-Raid Championship for Challenger Drivers, the Regional Baja Cup for Stock Drivers replaces the Regional Cup for T2 Drivers and the World Cup for Cross-Country Bajas for T4 Drivers simply becomes the World Baja Cup for SSV Drivers.