FIM to deliberate on adding W2RC team trophy

Should discussions be fruitful, the World Rally-Raid Championship will have a title for the best bike team in 2025. The FIM Jury delivered a notice to all team managers inviting them to discuss the proposal on Tuesday morning in the Rallye du Maroc bivouac.

The FIM currently awards W2RC trophies to the champion rider and manufacturer. Only the premier RallyGP class has the latter, while the top rider wins a title in all four categories (RallyGP, Rally2, Rally3, and Quad).

At first glance, the manufacturers’ title might make it redundant to have a team championship, at least in RallyGP. After all, the class is reserved for factory-level riders, meaning their teams are usually the marques themselves. For example, the 2024 manufacturers’ championship is a duel between Honda and Hero, whose RallyGP entries exclusively and respectively race for Monster Energy Honda Rally Team and Hero MotoSports.

However, the 2024 points battle only featuring two teams (compared to five in 2023) means the FIM is likely hoping to add a team-based title to include privateers and others. Such a decision would also be more practical for Rally2, where there are a plethora of outfits and riders are more likely to switch bikes while staying under their own banner.

A team trophy does not exist on the FIA side of the W2RC, though the FIA Baja Cups have them. The European and Middle East Baja Cups also had category-specific team championships for SSVs before being expanded to all divisions in 2024. On the other hand, there is no such award in the FIM Bajas World Cup.

The FIM Jury is overseen by president Jean-François Wulveryck alongside FIM Cross-Country Commission member Gillian Dykes.