Rallying, also known as rally racing, is a form of auto racing that takes place on public or private roads with modified production or specially built road-legal cars. This motorsport is distinguished by running not on a circuit, but instead in a point-to-point format in which participants and their co-drivers drive between set control points (special stages), leaving at regular intervals from one or more start points. Rallies may be won by pure speed within the stages or alternatively by driving to a predetermined ideal journey time within the stages.

The term "rally", as a branch of motorsport, probably dates from the first Monte Carlo Rally of January 1911. Until the late 1920s, few if any other events used the term. Rallying itself can be traced back to the 1894 Paris–Rouen Horseless Carriage Competition (Concours des Voitures sans Chevaux), sponsored by a Paris newspaper, Le Petit Journal, which attracted considerable public interest and entries from leading manufacturers. Prizes were awarded to the vehicles by a jury based on the reports of the observers who rode in each car; the joint winners were Panhard et Levassor and Peugeot.

Ari Pieti Uolevi Vatanen ( pronunciation (help·info)) (born 27 April 1952 in Tuupovaara) is a Finnish rally driver turned politician and Member of the European Parliament 1999–2009. Vatanen won the World Rally Championship drivers' title in 1981 and the Paris Dakar Rally four times.

Vatanen was born and grew up in rural Tuupovaara in Eastern Finland. His debut year in professional rallying was 1970, and he debuted in the World Rally Championship at the 1974 1000 Lakes Rally. His first international rally was the 1975 Rothmans 747 Rally in Jamaica driving a Datsun 120Y. He placed 12th with co-driver Gerry Phillips. He won the British Rally Championship in 1976 and 1980 with Peter Bryant and David Richards. In 1977, Vatanen became a regular privateer contestant in the WRC with a Ford Escort RS1800. For the 1979 season, he was signed by Rothmans Rally Team. Continuing with an RS1800, he took his debut win at the 1980 Acropolis Rally and became the World Rally Champion in 1981. From 1979 until the end of 1981, Vatanen was co-driven by David Richards, who went on to become chairman of Prodrive, the Banbury based motorsport team and one of the most influential figures in British (and worldwide) motorsport. In the 1982 season, Vatanen did not defend his title and competed in only three world rallies.

Colin Steele McRae, MBE (5 August 1968 – 15 September 2007) was a Scottish rally driver born in Lanark.

The son of five-time British Rally Champion Jimmy McRae and brother of rally driver Alister McRae, Colin McRae was the 1991 and 1992 British Rally Champion and, in 1995, became the first British person and the youngest to win the World Rally Championship Drivers' title. He still holds that record.

McRae's outstanding performance on the Subaru World Rally Team enabled the team to win the World Rally Championship Constructors' title three times in succession in 1995, 1996 and 1997. After a four-year spell with the Ford Motor Co. team, which saw McRae win nine events, he moved to Citroën World Rally Team in 2003 where, despite not winning an event, he helped them win the first of their three consecutive manufacturers' titles. He was appointed a Member of the Order of the British Empire for services to motorsport in 1996.

McRae died in 2007 when the helicopter he was piloting crashed near his home. The accident also claimed the lives of his son and two family friends. In November 2008 he was posthumously inducted into the Scottish Sports Hall of Fame.

Sébastien Loeb (born 26 February 1974 in Haguenau, Alsace) is a French rally driver currently driving for the Citroën World Rally Team in the World Rally Championship (WRC). He has won the world championship a record eight times in a row, and also holds several other WRC records, including most points, wins and podium finishes.

Originally a gymnast, Loeb switched to rallying in 1995 and won the Junior World Rally Championship in 2001. Signed by the Citroën factory team for the 2002 season, he and co-driver Daniel Elena took their debut WRC win that same year at the Rallye Deutschland. After finishing runner-up to Petter Solberg by one point in 2003, Loeb took his first drivers' title in 2004. Continuing with Citroën, he went on to take a record eighth consecutive world title in 2011. Loeb is a tarmac expert, having won all but three WRC rallies on that surface since 2005.

Besides his success in rallying, Loeb is a three-time winner at the Race of Champions, after taking home the Henri Toivonen Memorial Trophy and the title "Champion of Champions" in 2003, 2005 and 2008. In 2004, he won the Nations' Cup for France with Jean Alesi. In 2006, he finished second in the 24 Hours of Le Mans. In 2009, Loeb was made knight of the Légion d'honneur.

Ken Block (born November 21, 1967, in Long Beach, California) is a professional rally driver with the Monster World Rally Team. Block is also one of the co-founders and recently appointed Chief Brand Officer of DC Shoes. Block has also competed in many action sports events including skateboarding, snowboarding, and motocross.

In 2005, Ken Block began his national rallying career with the Vermont SportsCar team. Vermont SportsCar prepared a 2005 Subaru WRX STi for Block to compete. His first event of the rallying season was Sno*Drift, where he ended up finishing seventh overall and fifth in the Group N class. During the 2005 season, Block had five top five finishes and placed third overall in the Group N class and fourth overall in the Rally America National Championship. At the end of his first rallying year, Ken Block had won the Rally America Rookie of the Year award.

In 2006, Ken Block along with his DC rally teammate Travis Pastrana signed a new sponsorship deal with Subaru. Through this deal with Subaru, the teammates became known as "Subaru Rally Team USA." With the new rally season, Block also got a brand new Vermont SportsCar prepped 2006 Subaru WRX STi. He competed in the first ever X Games rally event at X Games XII. In the competition, Block ended up finishing third to take the bronze. He went on to compete in the 2006 Rally America National Championship, where he finished second overall.