WRC2 began in 2013, replacing the Super 2000 World Rally Championship as the WRC's performance-car support series. The change coincided with a broader restructuring of WRC support categories in which the existing Production car World Rally Championship and WRC Academy also made way for WRC3 and Junior WRC respectively.
The overhaul followed a turbulent period for the WRC itself. In early 2012, the FIA annulled the contract with promoter North One Sports after it collapsed into administration. By September 2012, a new promoter — a collaboration between Sportsman Media and Red Bull — had been approved by the FIA World Motor Sport Council. At the same meeting, the creation of WRC2 and WRC3 was announced, framed as reflecting "the interests and demands of competitors." Crucially, the new categories were not world championships in their own right and competitors are not considered world champions, avoiding FIA rules that govern use of the word "world" in championship titles.
WRC2 proved immediately more popular than the SWRC it replaced: thirteen drivers scored points in SWRC in 2012, compared to 36 in WRC2's first year.
From its earliest seasons, WRC2 allowed round-by-round nomination, giving crews the flexibility to choose which events on the WRC calendar to contest without a minimum commitment. This low barrier to entry underpinned its growth as the leading amateur and semi-professional rallying platform in the world.
Eligibility evolved substantially over the years. Between 2013 and 2018, the class was open to R5, Super 2000, R4, Group N 4WD, and Regional Rally Cars. From 2019 the class was simplified to Rally2 (formerly R5) cars only. Under the current structure, teams must enter and start two cars to score Teams Championship points, and nominate a maximum of seven rounds with the best six results counting. Drivers and co-drivers follow the same nomination principle. Power Stage points are awarded to the three fastest WRC2 finishers on each stage designated as the Power Stage.
A brief experiment in 2019 split the class into WRC 2 Pro for manufacturer-supported entries and a privateer-only WRC 2. The Pro category was scrapped after just one season because the arrangement was deemed too confusing, and from 2020 WRC2 was reunified as a single class, with a separate WRC3 created for privateer Rally2 entries.
The core eligible machinery under current regulations includes the Hyundai i20 N Rally2, Skoda Fabia Rally2 Evo and Fabia RS Rally2, Toyota GR Yaris Rally2, Ford Fiesta Rally2, Citroën C3 Rally2, and the Lancia Ypsilon Rally2 HF Integrale, the last of which marked Lancia's return to WRC competition in 2026. Older R5-spec models from Volkswagen, Peugeot, Hyundai, Ford, and Skoda also remain eligible, alongside approved legacy Super 2000, RRC, R4, and Group N cars for historical participation records.
WRC2 occupies a distinctive role in the global rally ecosystem: it is the highest-level series in which a privateer can realistically compete against factory-backed crews in identical machinery categories. Several drivers have used the category as a springboard toward the WRC Rally1 class. The category also hosts Challenger-specific titles for drivers without prior WRC2 or WRC3 wins, ensuring a competitive sub-ladder within the broader championship.