Unlike its predecessor the Production Car World Rally Championship, WRC3 did not have a fixed calendar. Instead, teams and drivers competing in the series were free to contest any of thirteen rallies that formed the 2014 World Rally Championship. They had to nominate up to six events to score points in, and their best five results from these six events counted towards their final championship points score. The World Rally Championship was open to two-wheel drive cars complying with R1, R2 and R3 regulations.[6]
The 2014 calendar was announced at a meeting of the FIAWorld Motor Sport Council in Croatia on 27 September 2013.[7] The 2014 championship was contested over thirteen rounds in Europe, the Americas and Oceania.
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.[8]
The 2014 calendar saw the Rally of Poland return to the championship for the first time since 2009.[8] The event also crossed the border into Lithuania for one day of competition.[7] 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.[10] 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.[11][12]
All competitors registered in the Manufacturers', WRC2, WRC3 and Junior WRC championships were obliged to use a colour-coded windscreen sticker to distinguish its category.[25]
Drivers were no longer assigned permanent numbers, except upon request.[25]
All competitors registered for the Junior WRC were registered for scoring points in the WRC3 Championship.[26]
^ ab"News in brief: Kubica / Poland / Citroen". WRC.com. WRC Promoter GmbH. 24 October 2014. Retrieved 15 November 2014. Lefebvre and the other Junior WRC finishers were excluded from all rally results except the Junior WRC classifications, and therefore retain their points.