World Rally Championship 2025 And Beyond

[cg7aa]

Big changes are coming

https://dirtfish.com/rally/wrc/hybri...lation-change/

[BertMk2]

If I'm reading things correctly:

2025

Rally 1
No hybrid
Smaller turbo restrictor
Reduced aero

Rally 2+
Bigger restrictor
Bigger exhaust
Optional paddle shift
More aero

This will bring the performance of both categories closer together (Rally 1 slowed and Rally 2+ wil be faster than Rally 2).

For 2026

Rally 1 cars to use a common safety shell.
Bodywork from B-Class, C-Class, Compact SUV or 'Concept Car'.
Performance across cars subject to BoP (via centre of gravity and aero).
Power capped at 330bhp.
Cars cost capped at 400K Euros.
Engine and transmission from Rally 2 cars.

Beyond 2026

Investigation into electric cars using the common Rally 1 safety cell.

Other

There will be changes to the format of events - organisers will have more flexibilty around timetables. Mandated Sunday afternoon Powerstage remains. Events will be a mix of sprint and endurance - total mileage across a season remains unchanged.

Limits on the number of team personnel, local providers to be used for structures in the service areas (so no more manufacturer palaces)

Thoughts

The 2025 changes to Rally1 make sense, the Hybrid has been problematic and adds weight, getting rid of that makes the cars simpler (and cheaper surely?). Rally 2+ I'm not sure about - the question here is how many manufacturers will develop Rally 2+ cars and how many people will run them? Is Rally 2+ going to be a class that sees uptake in national championships? How much more will a Rally 2+ car cost compared with a Rally 2 car?

The use of a common safety cell from 2026 is interesting - the manufacturers will no longer have control of the chassis, will this put them off? The range of allowable body shapes to drape over the cell makes sense - we've already seen M-Sport using the Puma and unfortunately more manufacturers are going down the SUV route with their road ranges so that makes sense. The most interesting point here is the 'Concept Car' part - what is the definition of a concept car here? Does this mean that the Rally 1 car can have absolutely no resembalance to a production vehicle? Reusing the powerplants and transmissions from Rally 2 cars makes the leap from Rally 2 to Rally 1 less expensive for manufacturers - that looks like a good decision.

Electric cars - these were always going to appear on the roadmap somewhere along the line. Again the use of the common saftey cell removes some of the cost of entry - presumably the manufacturers would have the same range of body options as Rally1 and use their own batteries/powertrains?

Changes to the service area also seem sensible - reduce the amount of stuff and people being shipped around. Less cost and reduced carbon footprint.

I don't mind events running to different timetables - that flexibility is fine. Not sure I'm keen on the idea of 'sprint' events - the events are pretty short as it is, if anything I'd be more in favour of longer events, even if that pushes up overall mileage for the season.

[cg7aa]

Originally Posted by BertMk2

If I'm reading things correctly:

2025

Rally 1
No hybrid
Smaller turbo restrictor
Reduced aero

Rally 2+
Bigger restrictor
Bigger exhaust
Optional paddle shift
More aero

This will bring the performance of both categories closer together (Rally 1 slowed and Rally 2+ wil be faster than Rally 2).

For 2026

Rally 1 cars to use a common safety shell.
Bodywork from B-Class, C-Class, Compact SUV or 'Concept Car'.
Performance across cars subject to BoP (via centre of gravity and aero).
Power capped at 330bhp.
Cars cost capped at 400K Euros.
Engine and transmission from Rally 2 cars.

Beyond 2026

Investigation into electric cars using the common Rally 1 safety cell.

Other

There will be changes to the format of events - organisers will have more flexibilty around timetables. Mandated Sunday afternoon Powerstage remains. Events will be a mix of sprint and endurance - total mileage across a season remains unchanged.

Limits on the number of team personnel, local providers to be used for structures in the service areas (so no more manufacturer palaces)

.

Excellent summary of the current proposals.

[justracing]

Originally Posted by cg7aa

Excellent summary of the current proposals.

Second that, very good summary Bert. The big question surely is whether not these changes attract more manufacturers? The ongoing pitiful top level entry cannot be maintained, I'm surprised that any major sponsors are at all interested.

[TWRv12]

Originally Posted by justracing

Second that, very good summary Bert. The big question surely is whether not these changes attract more manufacturers? The ongoing pitiful top level entry cannot be maintained, I'm surprised that any major sponsors are at all interested.

There have been rumours Lancia would return if hybrid was junked.


Next step would be for R2 and maybe R3 to be based on same chassis.


Works teams need to be limited to two cars

[BertMk2]

Originally Posted by justracing

The big question surely is whether not these changes attract more manufacturers? The ongoing pitiful top level entry cannot be maintained, I'm surprised that any major sponsors are at all interested.

Originally Posted by TWRv12

There have been rumours Lancia would return if hybrid was junked.

Next step would be for R2 and maybe R3 to be based on same chassis.

I think making the Rally1 cars use engines and transmissions from the Rally 2 cars is a good move - that removes cost a from the development. Add in the cost cap and BoP and in theory it makes the jump from Rally 2 to Rally 1 much less significant in terms of cost for a manufacturer. So those manufacturers with Rally 2 cars could be tempted to step up. Lancia is interesting - obviously they have huge rally history but currently they barely register, how many models do they even make?

Originally Posted by TWRv12

Works teams need to be limited to two cars

I don't think that's an option until they've got more manufacturers. Or at least until there are independent teams running Rally 1 cars - at the moment we need all the Rally 1 entries we can get.

[flatlandsman]

Mistake

[cg7aa]

Originally Posted by flatlandsman

Mistake

Time will tell but something drastic needed doing if the WRC is to be sustainable in the long term. Neither Hyundai or Toyota will be around in the WRC forever; while they are to be commended for their commitment to date, manufacturers come and go and had any one of them decided to do something else, the championship will have died a years ago. Yes, we'll miss the current crop of cars and some will kick and scream in the short term and say it's the end of the world but they'll adapt in time. I wasn't old enough to know how fans felt when Group B got dropped but I daresay the reaction might have been the same: 'they've killed it, it will never be the same, I won't watch rally ever again etc etc'.

What's the alternative? I was more radical in my thinking a year or so back when I thought 'ok, make WRC2 the lead class, it won't go down well but it may it a viable in the longer run'

[flatlandsman]

Sorry guys I typed a reply but it was rallycros, not WRC hence the word.

To be honest I do not have much time for WRC anymore, I agree with some bits of the changes but not much

[ArnageWRC]

As ever with rallying, too many people concentrate on the cars.......

It doesn't matter what cars are used if the events & promotion don't change/evolve......Over 95% of live coverage behind a paywall needs changing....

Thankfully, it seems as though there may be some changes in that direction (at long last). But I wish they'd drop their insistence on a Sunday Power Stage finish. Some events may be better suited by a Saturday eve/night finish.....

[FIRE]

Originally Posted by ArnageWRC

As ever with rallying, too many people concentrate on the cars.......

It doesn't matter what cars are used if the events & promotion don't change/evolve......Over 95% of live coverage behind a paywall needs changing....

Thankfully, it seems as though there may be some changes in that direction (at long last). But I wish they'd drop their insistence on a Sunday Power Stage finish. Some events may be better suited by a Saturday eve/night finish.....

Totally agree.

[cg7aa]

Apparently, the proposed changes are being kicked into the long grass for a couple more years. I suppose the few manufacturers left want to get more mileage out of their investment. Oh well...

[flatlandsman]

That makes some sense, if you have committed to a series, and spent tens of millions developing a car you want to get as much out of it for as long as you can. I do not think the series is in a bad way, it is back to what it was before the blip of having mcRae and Burns there.

[tbtstt]

I thought I'd give it a few events, but I am still not convinced about the format change for this year with the split scoring. Even the committed fans seem to be struggling with it so, although I agree with the overall sentiment behind it, there is surely a better way to execute it.

Also - and this is perhaps a moot point - but I am rather taken by the current cars. Yes, they are a long, long, way from a production model, but they are ridiculously rapid... that said, I don't think cars of this nature are in best long term interest of the sport at this level.

[52Paddy]

Originally Posted by tbtstt

I thought I'd give it a few events, but I am still not convinced about the format change for this year with the split scoring. Even the committed fans seem to be struggling with it so, although I agree with the overall sentiment behind it, there is surely a better way to execute it.

Also - and this is perhaps a moot point - but I am rather taken by the current cars. Yes, they are a long, long, way from a production model, but they are ridiculously rapid... that said, I don't think cars of this nature are in best long term interest of the sport at this level.

I can get comfortable with the fact that an overall rally winner can come away with less points that someone who has mediocre weekend but blitzes Sunday and wins the power stage. Maybe I'm just a traditionalist or something. I do get the whole "keep them competitive across the weekend" argument but still...I wonder is the intention to keep this format for the foreseeable or might we see a revert to some more traditional system from 2025.

History seems to tell us that racing models far-removed from production models aren't always a long-term success. It happened with Group B (granted, for safety reasons) and it happened with SuperTouring in touring car racing. I'm a fan of these latest cars myself and I think motorsport fans who love that raw speed and sound will always appreciate seeing these kind of vehicles on the stages. Unfortunately, that doesn't always align with other aspects and parties that need consideration, whether that's cost, safety, emissions, relevance or something else.

[tbtstt]

Originally Posted by 52Paddy

I do get the whole "keep them competitive across the weekend" argument but still...I wonder is the intention to keep this format for the foreseeable or might we see a revert to some more traditional system from 2025.

Yeah, I understand (and actually agree with) that argument, I just wonder if there is a better way to implement it. The suggestion of points per stage (as well as for the overall win) maybe seems the best way to do it, that way there is scoring throughout the weekend which is tallied up on Sunday.

Originally Posted by 52Paddy

History seems to tell us that racing models far-removed from production models aren't always a long-term success. It happened with Group B (granted, for safety reasons) and it happened with SuperTouring in touring car racing.

Fully agree with this - and your follow on points as well - racing models produced by such regulation sets are frequently popular with the fans, but just aren't viable for the long-term.