While all the details of the new rules are not yet confirmed, one thing is already certain: costs will be significantly reduced.
That has been priority number one for the FIA. In recent years, competing at the top level of the WRC has become far too expensive, making it difficult to attract new manufacturers.
As a result, the WRC has featured only two full works teams — Toyota and Hyundai — while M-Sport has received limited factory support from Ford.
With the cost of building top-tier cars expected to drop considerably, the hope is that new manufacturers and teams will join the championship.
Toyota’s deputy team principal Juha Kankkunen welcomes the changes — but with caveats. He hopes the appearance and performance gap between Rally1 cars and lower categories won’t disappear.
“The new cars will be built on a WRC2 base, but there’s still some debate about the size of the restrictor. If you give an engineer two millimetres more in the air restrictor, they’ll immediately find 50 more horsepower,” Kankkunen told RallyJournal.com.
“Another thing is whether we keep the current rear wings. The new cars will still be fast, and from a safety standpoint — and visually — it would be good to keep them. And since the overall package will cost half as much, the wings aren’t really a major expense anymore, no matter which manufacturer is building the car,” he added.
The new regulations have sparked mixed reactions. On the one hand, the lower costs have been welcomed for potentially tightening the competition. On the other hand, there’s concern that the top-class cars could end up looking and sounding too similar to WRC2 cars. Kankkunen also believes the gap between the top and second tiers should remain visibly and audibly clear.
“That would be good for spectators — and everyone else too. The top-class cars should look exciting and make some noise. That’s what gets fans going,” Kankkunen said.
One of the positives of the cost reduction could be more privateer entries in Rally1.
“That would absolutely be possible. This is just my opinion and speculation, but if you think of Citroën or Škoda, their cars could be modified quite cheaply for top-level competition. Just add a bigger wing and a larger restrictor, and there you go,” Kankkunen said with a smile.
“I see it as a positive. It’s also great that we now have the rules in place. There’s stability and longevity. Constant change is not good for manufacturers. These cars can’t be built in six months. Now that we know the rules, we can start building the new cars,” he concluded.
