The organization of each rally stage is strictly regulated. The organizers of it decide in the International Automobile Federation (IAF) the route, circuit and the place of the stage realization.
There are 16 stages in the international rally championship. Every phase consists of the following obligatory moments: the driver should have 3 days for the route examination, 1 day for the technical testing and 3 days for the very contest. The rally is divided into the 15-25 circuits lasting 3 days. There are about 90 competitive cars in the rally. These are the producers' teams, private teams and the pilots of world junior rally championship. Every car has its own serial number and, according to this one, the cars start its route. This number is given on the pilots' qualification basis, i.e. the best one starts the first.

Examining the area
In 3 days before the rally beginning, the pilot and the navigator drive all the circuits in a usual car, while the navigator makes some detailed notices. In this way, he composes a so said "legend" that will be used later on the competition.

Circuits
A special circuit is a part of the road that a pilot should drive in a definite time. It could be every road, from a general use road to a country road. During the rally realization, on this circuit the traffic is closed. The time of the circuit passing is fixed with the second's decimal digits. From one special circuit to another, the pilots drive on a usual road, where the traffic is not closed. On these parts, the drivers should respect the local traffic regulations. In the average, a rally car passes about 400 km per day, and just the third of it represents the special circuit in a definite time. The cars start in the range from 1 or 2 minutes. The time is registered in the computer data of the federation and is permanently controlled. At the end of the rally, the pilot, who has passed all the circuits in the least time, is considered the winner.

Points
The result, obtained in each stage of the international rally championship is considered directly in two categories: the pilots' championship and the producers' championship. For the first place 10 points are awarded, for the second - 8 points, for the third - 6 points, for the forth - 5 points, for the fifth - 4 points, for the sixth - 3 points, for the seventh - 2 points and for the eighth just 1 point.

Order
Every rally is organized according to a strict schedule. The pilots receive a penalty as the additional time for in case they came to the start later or earlier (!) than the fixed time. It also concerns the entry and the exit from the service zone.

Service zone
After the racers pass the definite number of circuits, the cars may come back to the service zone for 20 minutes in order to pass the control and the repair. In the end of the day, cars have 45 minutes for the repair. After this, the cars are closed on the secured parking until the morning of the next day. The team may be fined for not respecting the fixed time for the repair.