2014 World Rally Championship

• Rally Australia and Rally New Zealand abandoned the event-sharing arrangement established in 2008 that saw each event host a round of the championship every other year. After hosting an event in 2013, Rally Australia remains on the calendar throughout 2014 and 2015 before the arrangement is due to be renegotiated.[2]
• The Rallye Monte Carlo relocated its base from Valence in the French province of Rhône-Alpes to the town of Gap in the neighbouring province of Hautes-Alpes.[5]
• The 2014 calendar saw the Rally of Poland return to the championship for the first time since 2009.[2] The event also crossed the border into Lithuania for one day of competition.[4] Its inclusion came at the expense of the Acropolis Rally, which was removed after struggling with its financial obligations to the championship. The Acropolis Rally later moved to the European Rally Championship for the 2014 season.[6] The rallies of Brazil and China had also been considered for inclusion on the WRC calendar before the FIA approved of the Rally of Poland.[7][8]

• Citroën will scale back its involvement in the championship, limiting its programme to two full-time works-supported cars, with a third car entered in selected events. As a result, its customer car programme will be brought to an end.[41] The decision to reduce its commitment to the WRC stemmed from Citroën's expansion into the World Touring Car Championship and the logistical challenges of establishing itself in a new series.[42][43]
• Martin Prokop's M-Sport-supported Czech National Team will expand to enter a second Ford Fiesta RS WRC at selected events throughout the season.[18] The second car will compete under the name "Slovakia World Rally Team".[11]
• Korean car manufacturer Hyundai will return to the championship as a manufacturer team, competing with the i20 WRC.[1] The Hyundai World Rally Team had originally planned to compete with two full-time entries, but later expanded to include two part-time entries as well.[26][44] Hyundai had previously competed in the WRC with the Hyundai Accent WRC from 2000 to 2003.[45]
• The Qatar World Rally Team and Lotos Team WRC will not start the season.[11]

• Nasser Al-Attiyah will not start the season after the Qatar World Rally Team did not submit an entry and the Qatari government ended its sponsorship of M-Sport.[11]
• Chris Atkinson will join Hyundai on a part-time basis, competing in selected events including Rally Australia. Atkinson will share the team's second entry with Dani Sordo and Juho Hänninen.[46]
• 2012 Super 2000 World Rally Champion Craig Breen will make his debut in a World Rally Car-specification car at the Rally of Sweden[36]
• Elfyn Evans, who won the Junior World Rally Championship in 2012 and placed seventh overall in the 2013 World Rally Championship-2 season will join M-Sport.[16]
• Juho Hänninen, who contested three events in 2013 with Qatar World Rally Team, will compete at selected events in 2014 with Hyundai.[23] Hänninen will share the car with Dani Sordo and Chris Atkinson. Hänninen will make his first appearance for the team at the Rally of Sweden.[46]
• Mikko Hirvonen lost his seat at Citroën after two seasons with the team.[14] He will return to M-Sport, the team he competed with from 2006 to 2011, when it was known as the Ford World Rally Team.[16]
• Former Formula One driver and reigning World Rally Championship-2 champion Robert Kubica will join the sport's top tier of competition in 2014, driving an M-Sport-prepared Ford Fiesta RS WRC as a satellite team of M-Sport.[17]
• After taking part in selected events during the 2013 season, nine-time World Drivers' Champion Sébastien Loeb will leave the World Rally Championship, moving to the World Touring Car Championship with Citroën Racing.[42]
• Kris Meeke will return to full-time competition, joining Citroën after making guest appearances in the team's third car in 2013.[14]
• Slovakian driver Jaroslav Melichárek will make his WRC debut, driving a Ford Fiesta RS WRC run by the Jipocar Czech National Team under the name "Slovakia World Rally Team".[18] Melichárek had previously campaigned a Citroën C4 WRC in the Czech and Slovakian national championships before joining the team.
• Thierry Neuville will leave the Qatar World Rally Team to join Hyundai's works team.[21]
• Evgeny Novikov lost his seat with M-Sport.[16] He ruled out contesting the full 2014 season as he focused on securing funds for a drive in 2015, but expressed a willingness to make guest appearances at selected events.[47]
• Mads Østberg will leave M-Sport after two seasons competing for Ford-backed teams M-Sport and Adapta. He will be driving for Citroën alongside Kris Meeke.[14]
• 2011 Production Car World Rally Champion Hayden Paddon will compete part-time throughout the 2014 season, driving an i20 WRC.[44]
• Dani Sordo will leave Citroën for Hyundai, sharing the team's second entry with Chris Atkinson and Juho Hänninen.[22] Sordo will be the first of the three to drive the i20 WRC, starting the Rallye Monte Carlo.[46]
• Ott Tänak will return to the World Rally Championship, contesting selected events in a privately entered Ford Fiesta RS WRC whilst campaigning in the WRC-2 series with a Fiesta R5.[33]

Round	Rally name	Podium finishers					Statistics
		Pos.	No.	Driver	Team	Time	Stages	Length	Starters	Finishers
1	Monte Carlo Rally (15–20 January) — Results and report	1	1	Sébastien Ogier Julien Ingrassia	Volkswagen Motorsport (Volkswagen Polo R WRC)	3:55:14.4	(15)1a 14	(383.88 km)1b 360.48 km	62	40
		2	11	Bryan Bouffier Xavier Panseri	M-Sport WRT (Ford Fiesta RS WRC)	3:56:33.3
		3	3	Kris Meeke Paul Nagle	Citroën Total Abu Dhabi WRT (Citroën DS3 WRC)	3:57:08.7

The first round of the season was run in difficult conditions, with heavy rain making for a slippery surface and low visibility. Former Formula One driver Robert Kubica took an early lead, but fell behind on the first leg when he made the wrong tyre choice. French privateer Bryan Bouffier – who won the event in 2011, when it was a round of the Intercontinental Rally Challenge – took control and led the field at the end of the first day. Bouffier came under pressure from reigning World Champion Sébastien Ogier on the second day, and ultimately lost the lead when he spun during the afternoon stages, whilst Kubica crashed out. Ogier's rally was not without incident, with the Volkswagen driver surviving several close encounters with walls as he tried to recover from a poor start. Ogier went on to win the rally by over a minute, with Bouffier second and Kris Meeke finishing third. Hyundai's return to the World Rally Championship started and ended poorly as Thierry Neuville crashed heavily on the first stage and teammate Dani Sordo was forced to retire with a suspected electrical fault.

Round	Rally name	Podium finishers					Statistics
		Pos.	No.	Driver	Team	Time	Stages	Length	Starters	Finishers
4	Rally Portugal (3–6 April) — Results and report	1	1	Sébastien Ogier Julien Ingrassia	Volkswagen Motorsport (Volkswagen Polo R WRC)	3:33:20.4	16	339.46 km	84	60
		2	5	Mikko Hirvonen Jarmo Lehtinen	M-Sport WRT (Ford Fiesta RS WRC)	3:34:03.6
		3	4	Mads Østberg Jonas Andersson	Citroën Total Abu Dhabi WRT (Citroën DS3 WRC)	3:34:32.8

WRC leader Sébastien Ogier was the first on the road in the first leg, but his disadvantage was decreased since in the days before the rally it rained, and the Algarve roads were a combination of dry and a little moist tracks, which led to difficulties for drivers to choose the right tire compound. Sébastien Ogier led the rally since Lisbon SSS until the last stage of the first leg (SS7), finishing behind Mikko Hirvonen (1st) and Ott Tänak. In the middle Dani Sordo was in the lead after winning SS2 and SS3 with his Hyundai i20 WRC. In the 2nd leg Sébastien Ogier imposed a demonic pace retaking the lead and quickly pulled out of Mikko Hirvonen. Mads Østberg finished in the podium last place. Dani Sordo after a promising start, retired at the beginning of the last day (due to mechanical when he was heading do start SS14) when he was in overall fourth place. This rally was marked by the high number of crashes between the top drivers: Jari-Matti Latvala, Kris Meeke, Elfyn Evans and Robert Kubica (who would crash again in 2nd leg).

Round	Rally name	Podium finishers					Statistics
		Pos.	No.	Driver	Team	Time	Stages	Length	Starters	Finishers
13	Wales Rally GB (14–16 November) — Results and report	1	1	Sébastien Ogier Julien Ingrassia	Volkswagen Motorsport (Volkswagen Polo R WRC)	3:03:08.2	17	305,64 km	63	53
		2	5	Mikko Hirvonen Jarmo Lehtinen	M-Sport WRT (Ford Fiesta RS WRC)	3:03:45.8
		3	4	Mads Østberg Jonas Andersson	Citroën Total Abu Dhabi WRT (Citroën DS3 WRC)	3:04:11.8

Notes:

• ^1 – The Monte Carlo Rally was shortened when a competitor stopped on Stage 14, blocking traffic and forcing organisers to abandon the stage.
• ^2 – The Rally Sweden was shortened when a computer error disabled the timing system, preventing one of the stages from being run.

Points are awarded to the top ten classified finishers. There are also three bonus points awarded to the winner of the Power Stage, two points for second place and one for third.

Pos. Driver MON SWE MEX POR ARG ITA POL FIN GER AUS FRA ESP GBR Points 1 Sébastien Ogier 12 6 11 11 21 13 11 21 Ret 12 131 1 1 267 2 Jari-Matti Latvala 51 12 22 142 13 32 53 12 Ret 21 13 21 81 218 3 Andreas Mikkelsen 7 2 19 4 4 41 22 4 3 3 2 73 Ret 150 4 Mikko Hirvonen Ret 43 83 2 92 Ret 4 5 53 5 5 3 2 126 5 Mads Østberg 4 31 9 33 Ret 2 Ret Ret 6 16 7 4 33 108 6 Thierry Neuville Ret 28 3 7 5 16 3 Ret 12 7 8 6 42 105 7 Kris Meeke 33 10 Ret Ret 3 18 7 33 Ret 43 3 192 6 92 8 Elfyn Evans 6 Ret 4 22 7 5 35 7 41 8 62 14 5 81 9 Martin Prokop Ret Ret 5 6 8 6 10 Ret 7 10 8 9 44 10 Dani Sordo Ret Ret Ret 2 4 5 40 11 Henning Solberg 7 5 7 9 9 Ret 26 12 Bryan Bouffier 2 14 Ret 9 20 13 Juho Hänninen 19 8 Ret 6 6 30 20 14 Hayden Paddon 12 8 8 6 9 10 19 15 Ott Tänak 5 15 Ret 17 21 11 12 10 Ret 7 17 16 Robert Kubica Ret 24 Ret Ret 6 8 20 34 Ret 9 Ret 17 11 14 17 Benito Guerra 6 18 EX 8 18 Chris Atkinson 7 10 7 19 Pontus Tidemand 8 11 9 28 6 20 Dennis Kuipers 8 11 4 21 Jaroslav Melichárek 8 19 14 4 22 Nasser Al-Attiyah 9 10 Ret 17 11 10 17 4 23 Lorenzo Bertelli 12 18 13 30 13 9 Ret 50 14 Ret 13 2 24 Matteo Gamba 9 Ret 2 25 Craig Breen 9 Ret DNS 2 26 Yuriy Protasov 10 15 10 31 Ret 13 43 11 13 16 11 20 2 27 Jari Ketomaa 12 10 21 12 11 12 12 1 28 Karl Kruuda 11 12 15 Ret 10 24 16 1 29 Khalid Al Qassimi 16 13 10 15 1 Pos. Driver MON SWE MEX POR ARG ITA POL FIN GER AUS FRA ESP GBR Points

Key Colour Result Gold Winner Silver 2nd place Bronze 3rd place Green Points finish Blue Non-points finish Non-classified finish (NC) Purple Did not finish (Ret) Black Excluded (EX) Disqualified (DSQ) White Did not start (DNS) Cancelled (C) Blank Withdrew entry from the event (WD) Notes: 1 2 3 – Indicate position on Power Stage