The WRC regulation changes aim to significantly reduce costs and bring more carmakers into the championship
by Brad Anderson
March 1, 2024 at 09:02
The World Rally Championship will abandon hybrid powertrains for the flagship Rally1 class from next year in a bid to reduce costs.
The sport introduced hybrid powertrains to the Rally1 series in 2022 but from next year, the championship will do a 180 and switch back to nothing but combustion power. All vehicles will run on sustainable fuels and ditch the 100-hp electric motor, making the rally cars lighter.
“The current Rally1 car will continue as the WRC’s flagship vehicle in both 2025 and 2026 but with modifications to reduce cost and performance,” the FIA confirmed in a statement. “These include the removal of the plug-in hybrid unit, with the performance compensated by a reduction in overall weight, and a reduction in the air restrictor and aerodynamics.”
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The new regulations for the 2026 season will require all vehicles to use a common safety cell to reduce costs and complexity, and teams will be able to develop bodywork based on any of their road-going B-class, C-Class, compact SUV, or concept vehicles. Vehicles will be capped at approximately 330 hp and the cost of each car will be capped at €400,000 ($430,000), significantly less than the current machines that cost around €1 million ($1.08 million).
While Rally1 will move away from electrification, the FIA has revealed that it is working to establish a dedicated “electric category” to be introduced into the World Rally Championship “at the earliest opportunity.” These cars could use the same safety cell as the Rally1 vehicles and will achieve performance parity with their combustion-powered counterparts.
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Toyota, Hyundai, and M-Sport Ford are the only teams currently competing in Rally1. Speaking with Autocar, Toyota WRC team boss Jari-Matti Latvala said he was hopeful the move away from electrification would allow more teams to enter the sport.
“The costs are too high and the cars are too expensive,” he said. “With the Rally1 cars, we’ve lost the privateers we had with World Rally Cars, because the costs are too high. I think taking the hybrid out and focusing on e-fuels or hydrogen is the way to go to reduce costs.”
