This time next year, World Rally Championship teams will be eyeing homologation dates and finalizing the specification of their all-new 2027 specification machinery. But what will they look like?
And how fast will they go?
Right now, they’re known as WRC27 cars; let’s stick with that and take a look at what we know about the WRC’s next homologation cycle.
Chassis
The chassis is new from the ground-up. There’s been some suggestion that WRC27 will be a bastardized Rally1 set-up. Not the case. Yes, of course, it leans into the design philosophy and safety demands from the current car – but then FIA chief safety and technical officer Xavier-Mestelan Pinon and his team have made it better.
“We finalized the detail for the body shell regulation, we refined some details,”Mestelan told DirtFish. “Regarding the safety structure, we will perform the dynamic side-impact crash test before the end of the month. But we can already say that all calculations carried out already show that this new safety structure will meet the highest standards in rallying, while keeping in mind that the chassis must also comply with the cost cap imposed by the regulations.
“In a nutshell, that means close to Rally1. When I say close, it will be a little bit better in terms of stiffness.”
The cost, which is €345,000 for the Tarmac specification car, is for us is a very important target because this car has to be suitable for regional market.Xavier Mestelan Pinon, FIA Chief Technical and Safety Officer
“This is the point [of the rule change]. Everything we can do to improve safety, it’s for us a need.”
The intention is to see WRC27 cars running in both World Rally Championship, FIA Regional and domestic series – another big driver in the efforts to make the safest cars even safer. The popularity of R5 and Rally2 cars around the world has been one of rallying’s success stories – if WRC27 is to be viewed as the next generation of that car, safety is vital.
“For us,” continued Mestelan, “this is a massive improvement [in safety] compared to Rally2 cars. As you know, this regulation is set up for the regional championships – so the financial framework must be accessible and suit the business model for manufacturers and tuners.”
As was the case for Rally1, the tubular chassis is based on an FIA design, meaning the same for all cars across all the teams and manufacturers.
What’s put on top of those tubes is entirely up to the teams – within the confines of the FIA’s bodywork and aero regulations. There’s no requirement to conform with an existing model silhouette – so if a private team wants to build a car in its own style, WRC27 is the place to do it.
Mestelan: “If you compare the current Rally 1 with the new WRC27, they will, in fact, be very similar [in shape and size] The main difference will be the height of the car. The new one will be 20 millimeters higher for the obvious safety advantage. But in terms of width and so on, it will be very similar. For the weight, both [WRC27 and Rally2] cars will be very similar.
“Regarding the [WRC27] design, it will be very close to what we have today in the Rally1, with a little bit of simplification to avoid crazy designs that costing more. For example we will have steel arches. Beyond the simplification aimed at reducing costs, the bodywork regulations have also been guided by a reduction in aerodynamic performance – in particular downforce – in order to make the cars more playful and accessible for young drivers.
“The cost, which is €345,000 for the Tarmac specification car, is for us is a very important target because this car has to be suitable for regional market. It has to be a good business model for our manufacturers.”
Tuners
What’s this talk of a tuner and how will a private team be able to buy its way into the WRC’s top level? A tuner will have to align with a single manufacturer running a currently homologated car – and don’t forget the manufacturers are obligated to sell their parts.
It’s not possible to cherry-pick components from various manufacturers, so the potential for running a Toyota engine mated to transmission from a Škoda, with suspension from M-Sport Ford is not possible. You buy all your bits from one place, bolt them into your FIA-sourced chassis and then do what you want with the panels.
The regulations are designed to allow smaller entities to enter top-level teams with their own bodywork applied
Tuners will have to build 10 cars and be prepared to sell some of those cars if they want to score points in the WRC.
Engine
The engine will run at Rally2 specification, generating 300bhp. There is some discussion of another engine alternative, with Mestelan saying: “For the Rally2 engine, it’s already decided, this is already validated by the World [Motor Sport] Council, this is one option. There is also discussion to introduce a production-based engine based on production cars. It has to be refined with our manufacturers to know if we will validate this concept or not in addition to the current one. The aim here is to achieve power at a lower cost.
The engine, like all other key components, will have a cost cap bringing it to within the overall €345,000 ceiling for the car.
Competition
From the start of the 2027 season, current Rally1 cars will be outlawed in favour of WRC27. The WRC27 cars and current Rally2 machinery will run in the same class, with both cars chasing overall rally wins and the overall world championship title.
