Rally is fundamentally different from circuit racing: cars do not go wheel-to-wheel. Instead, each car races one at a time against the clock.
An event is split into many special stages — closed sections of road, run on surfaces ranging from gravel and tarmac to snow and ice. Cars set off at intervals and are timed on each stage; the driver with the lowest total time across all the stages of the rally wins. Between stages, crews drive their cars on ordinary open roads (called road sections) to reach the next start.
Every car carries two people: the driver, and a co-driver who reads out pace notes — a coded description of every corner, crest and hazard ahead — so the driver can commit to blind sections at speed. Repairs happen in a central service park within strict time limits.
The premier championship is the World Rally Championship (WRC), contested across a dozen or so rallies worldwide each season, with separate titles for drivers, co-drivers and manufacturers.