The WRC introduced the Power Stage bonus-point system in 2011. The format made the rally’s final competitive stage especially important by awarding extra championship points to the fastest crews, even if they had finished lower in the overall rally classification.
The original WRC scoring awarded three points to the fastest driver, two to second place and one to third. From 2017, the system expanded to the top five, with points from five down to one. The Power Stage is normally the final stage, although organisers have occasionally designated another stage when circumstances required it.
A common mix-up is that bonus stages first appeared in WRC in 2011. Similar “TV stages” had already been used experimentally at the 1999 Tour de Corse and Rally Finland, but the modern Power Stage system was reintroduced as a regular championship feature in 2011. The points can reward drivers for attacking the closing stage, regardless of their overall rally position.