In February, the FIA released its proposed changes for the future of the World Rally Championship and Rally1 cars. The planned reforms have received mixed reactions.
The most controversial aspect has been the FIA’s plan to abandon the current hybrid units and reduce the power of Rally1 cars. At the same time, there is an intention to increase the power of Rally2 cars and bring the secondary class closer to the main class through technical modifications.
The FIA hopes that by reducing the cost of cars, it will attract new manufacturers to the championship.
Stellantis Group is one of the potential newcomers. The multinational company is one of the world’s largest car manufacturers and produces, among others, Citroen cars. Citroen has been a familiar sight in the World Rally Championship. The French manufacturer was previously involved in the main class for a long time and competes in the Rally2 category this season.
According to Stellantis Group’s customer racing manager, Didier Clement, the manufacturer is closely monitoring what will happen with the regulations in the World Rally Championship and will make decisions afterwards.
“We don’t know. We take part in the discussion with the FIA regarding the regulations,” Clement told Autosport.
“We have no interest at all for the 2025 and 2026 regulations in regards to the current Rally1, but for 2027 we will work with all the manufacturers and the FIA. How do we see the future right now? You never know,” Clement continued.
Clement is more optimistic about 2027.
“The FIA has done a good job. The technical department do a really good job. In terms of promotion, we have to increase it a bit like everyone said but everybody is in the same line and want the same thing. We want to keep the WRC at a good level,” Clement emphasized.
One of Stellantis Group’s brands, Lancia, has announced plans to return to the championship, but Clement said it is too early to discuss this until the rules are definitively clear.
“Firstly, it is a dream for everybody because Lancia has history and memories but right now before we think about a Lancia return you have to discuss the regulations. We base our strategy on regulations, and it is not fixed right now so it is definitely too soon.”
For the next season, the championship will introduce a so-called WRC-kit, which will allow more power to be extracted from Rally2 cars. However, Citroen does not seem to have any interest in developing a WRC package for its C3 Rally2 car.
“We do not think that WRC2 Plus should be helpful for WRC Rally1. As soon as you consider that WRC2 Plus will be slower than the Rally1 and when you consider that WRC2 Plus will have no chance to win any rallies overall, it doesn’t help,” Clement asserted.
