The drivers' world championship was won by Petter Solberg in a Subaru Impreza WRC, ahead of Sébastien Loeb and Carlos Sainz.
The 2003 championship was contested over fourteen rounds in Europe, Asia, South America and Oceania.
After the 2002 Kenyan general election, the new government pushed for the Rally to return to the calendar and was looking at replacing Rally Australia after the event was called into question by FIA President Max Mosley due to organisational and safety issues.
Non-championship entries may have finished ahead of WRC competitors in individual rounds.
[7] This allowed Manufacturers to have three or four cars registered on a single event, but only their best two result would count to the championship.