It will begin in Monte Carlo on 21-23 January and end in Australia on 11-13 November, with the Wales Rally GB taking place from 16-18 September.

Under a new rule, retired cars can rejoin an event, with a five-minute penalty for each stage missed.

The length of events has been reduced from 400km to between 340 and 360km in a bid to make rallies more intense.

2005 World Rally Championship calendar:

Jan 21-23: Monte Carlo
Result: 1. Sebastien Loeb (Citroen); 2. Toni Gardemeister (Ford); 3. Gilles Panizzi (Mitsubishi)

Feb 11-13: Sweden
Result: 1. Petter Solberg (Subaru); 2. Markko Martin (Peugeot); 3. Toni Gardemeister (Ford)

March 11-13: Mexico
Result: 1. Petter Solberg (Subaru); 2. Marcus Gronholm (Peugeot); 3. Markko Martin (Peugeot)

April 8-10: New Zealand
Result: 1. Sebastien Loeb (Citroen); 2. Marcus Gronholm (Peugeot) 3. Petter Solberg (Subaru)

April 29-May 1: Italy-Sardinia
Result: 1. Sebastien Loeb (Citroen); 2. Petter Solberg (Subaru); 3. Marcus Gronholm (Peugeot)

May 13-15: Cyprus
Result: 1. Sebastien Loeb (Citroen); 2. Manfred Stohl (Citroen); 3. Markko Martin (Peugeot)

June 3-5: Turkey
Result: 1. Sebastien Loeb (Citroen); 2. Petter Solberg (Subaru); 3. Marcus Gronholm (Peugeot)

June 24-26: Greece
Result: 1. Sebastien Loeb (Citroen); 2. Toni Gardemeister (Ford); 3. Carlos Sainz (Citroen)

July 15-17: Argentina
Result: 1 Sebastien Loeb (Citroen); 2 Marcus Gronholm (Peugeot); 3 Petter Solberg (Subaru)

Aug 5-7: Finland
Result: 1 Marcus Gronholm (Peugeot); 2 Sebastien Loeb (Citroen); 3 Markko Martin (Peugeot)

Aug 26-28: Germany
Result: 1 Sebastien Loeb (Citroen); 2 Francois Duval (Citroen); 3 Marcus Gronholm (Peugeot)

Sept 16-18: Great Britain
Result: 1 Petter Solberg (Subaru); 2 Francois Duval (Citroen); 3 Sebastien Loeb (Citroen)

Sept 30-Oct 2: Japan
Result: 1 Marcus Gronholm (Peugeot); Sebastien Loeb (Citroen); Chris Atkinson (Subaru)

Oct 21-23: France-Corsica
Result: 1 Sebastien Loeb (Citroen); 2 Toni Gardemeister (Ford); 3 Petter Solberg (Subaru)

Oct 28-30: Catalunya
Result: 1 Sebastien Loeb (Citroen); 2 Francois Duval (Citroen); 3 Mikko Hirvonen (Ford)

Nov 11-13: Australia
Result: 1 Francois Duval (Citroen); 2 Harri Rovanpera (Mitsubishi); 3 Manfred Stohl (Citroen)