WRC mainclass from 2027

[Steve Boyd]

off topic but WTCR is probably going hybrid in '26.
https://www.touringcartimes.com/2024...ushed-to-2026/

They are following the British Touring Car Championship who have had hybrid for a couple of years. In the BTCC the amount of hybrid boost is controlled in the same way that they used to use success ballast to even out performance across the season. Everybody starts the year with the full boost but race winners lose most boost for the next race, second loses a bit less and so on. If you finish outside the highest places you get some boost back. BTCC is also moving to fully synthetic fuel over the next two seasons.

[Fast Eddie WRC]

The promotor should not be bowing to the half-half-assed attempts from a fragment of Stellantis.

All the noise is precisely what they want for building their profile.

There's no sign that the Promotor will be bowing to Lancia Stellantis.

But its significant that a brand with the biggest rally history and the most to gain cant rejoin WRC. Costs, or the lack of return on investment, is surely putting off other manufacturers too.

[becher]

There's no sign that the Promotor will be bowing to Lancia Stellantis.

But its significant that a brand with the biggest rally history and the most to gain cant rejoin WRC. Costs, or the lack of return on investment, is surely putting off other manufacturers too.

The thing with Lancia is that it is dead. It was dead for years and for certain people it died in the seventies already.

The 208 Rally4 clone is an easy way to get a bit of attention for the "new" brand while selling the usual customer cars build by Peugeot Sport.

But for a brand re launch that was threatened with shutting it down before it even started delivering cars, they'd be mad to invest in anything other than self funding customer cars.

TLDR: There was never in any way any intention or even thought that Lancia would be relaunched with a expensive motorsport program attached to it. A no cost badge engineering customer car was the only way to do anything for this experiment.

[wyler]

The thing with Lancia is that it is dead. It was dead for years and for certain people it died in the seventies already.

The 208 Rally4 clone is an easy way to get a bit of attention for the "new" brand while selling the usual customer cars build by Peugeot Sport.

But for a brand re launch that was threatened with shutting it down before it even started delivering cars, they'd be mad to invest in anything other than self funding customer cars.

TLDR: There was never in any way any intention or even thought that Lancia would be relaunched with a expensive motorsport program attached to it. A no cost badge engineering customer car was the only way to do anything for this experiment.

a small budget was devised: there will be a lancia trophy in 6 rounds of the Italian championship, the winner will have a full season with the factory team in erc ( I guess they ll enter at least 2 cars...)

[Eli]

I honestly hope someone will look themselves in the mirror and see how demoting they have been towards the WRC this past decade, how can we expect to see any manufacturer invest a large sum of money in a sport where you have this so called “promoter”? Hope they get sold to a pair of capable willing to invest hands, and then maybe in 2030 we’ll start to see a manufacturer or 2 back in the WRC, here’s hoping it won’t be too late by then.

[saco0o]

They are following the British Touring Car Championship who have had hybrid for a couple of years. In the BTCC the amount of hybrid boost is controlled in the same way that they used to use success ballast to even out performance across the season. Everybody starts the year with the full boost but race winners lose most boost for the next race, second loses a bit less and so on. If you finish outside the highest places you get some boost back. BTCC is also moving to fully synthetic fuel over the next two seasons.

i used to watch btcc a lot but shifted to off road racing. tho i watched this year's last races at brands hatch... it seems the costs of the hybrids there is also destroying the grids, eh? from +30 cars to 25 last year to 20 this year. hybrids are just helping to destroy everything they touch. indycars are next. the cost of the hybrids is super high for that sport, pay attention to how the grid will shrink in 2026. wtcr will shrink too, no doubt on that. idk, its just weird. nobody in charge seems to notice the patterns

[saco0o]

a small budget was devised: there will be a lancia trophy in 6 rounds of the Italian championship, the winner will have a full season with the factory team in erc ( I guess they ll enter at least 2 cars...)

tbh I loved this program, honestly.

[Fast Eddie WRC]

BTCC drops hybrid for 2025 but not for reasons of cost or unreliability:

"We’ve successfully completed that programme and really have no more to prove in that respect.

We’ve now ticked that box we can move further forward with the introduction of fossil-free sustainable fuel, whilst delivering the same performance parameters.”

https://www.autosport.com/btcc/news/...2025/10668622/

[saco0o]

BTCC drops hybrid for 2025 but not for reasons of cost or unreliability:

/[/url]

(...) "teams were concerned about the cost from running the system, although Gow denied that this played a part in the decision to drop it." (...)

weird sentence haha its no secret teams were suffering on the budget. each unit was allegedly £70K. thats too much in a small championship! the number of entries went from +30 in previous years to just 20 this season. costs are 100000% the reason imo.
GOOD NEWS, if you ask me! EXCELLENT news!