WRC mainclass from 2027

[Kenneth]

If, if... The EU won't require all new cars to be EVs. It's quite clear that it's not happening and sustainable fuel or ICE hydrogen will be option too.

[Fast Eddie WRC]

Exactly! And there is the issue; it's just not road relevant, and hasn't been for 40 odd years. Other series are/ have been........

In fact WRC / rallying in general have been runn ing BEHIND the latest tech for years. Hybrid is a perfect example... Toyota had this 25 years ago !!

Clutchless / equential gear changing is about the last thing I can think of that was rally-pioneered before appearing on road cars.

And the other issue is people mainly prefer tech for inside the car like infotainment, not for driving pleasure.

[mknight]

Yes since 2000 rally has always been behind the "trend".

First it was running 2L turbo when no mainstream petrol cars had turbo.
Then it added 2L atmo (S2000) just as downsizing trend with 1.6l turbos started.

When WRC catched up to downsizing mainstream started turning to hybrids. (see VW and Citroen comments in 2018-2020)

Now that hybrids came the trend was to EVs already.

Hard to say if there is a new "trend" yet, but if there is rallying will be late again.

Imo the main reason is that the manus that are already in the championship are always favored over potential new entries. The existing teams always want to keep as much as possible from before to keep their advantage over new arrivals.

[WRCStan]

Exactly! And there is the issue; it's just not road relevant, and hasn't been for 40 odd years. Other series are/ have been........

Which such series?

Motorsport has moved on from being consumer production tech relevant, just so long as the branding is right.

[steve.mandzij]

Technologically, the WRC has a really big problem. The obsessive focus on reducing costs has hit a dead end; there's nothing left to trim. At the same time, just because Rally1 are quick, we're meant to believe that these 5-speed, hybrid converted aero cars with barely any testing and development time during the year are the pinnacle of rallying.

The jump to 2017 regulations was a big success in the short term because suddenly the tech opened up again, the cars became more sophisticated and that created value. Promoter should focus on that: creating value for the series, not bring costs down to a level matching the series' current status.

[macebig]

Cars are 3x more expensive than the WRC 2.0L and probably 6x or 7x more than the Group A era. What part of that is "reducing costs"?

[Mirek]

Cars are 3x more expensive than the WRC 2.0L and probably 6x or 7x more than the Group A era. What part of that is "reducing costs"?

Except they are not.

[deephouse]

So, the F1 car costs 15mio, the Hypercar 2mio, and the MotoGP bike the same, and the whole world is bothered that those WRC cars are too expensive (1mio) while they're practically the cheapest on the world level. And still getting the most beating out of all.

[Fast Eddie WRC]

So, the F1 car costs 15mio, the Hypercar 2mio, and the MotoGP bike the same, and the whole world is bothered that those WRC cars are too expensive (1mio) while they're practically the cheapest on the world level. And still getting the most beating out of all.

But WRC has the fewest entries and only 2.5 Manufacturer Teams.

If costs were allowed to go even higher new Manufacturers would be put off and M-Sport would be out and the Series would be further diminished.

[Franky]

If there's no value in the championship, even 1 Euro is too much in business sense.