Private teams have always been able to run cars in the World Rally Championship. Some have even won the championship, in the case of David Sutton (1981) and Kronos (2006).
But a non-manufacturer team being able to build a car that can win the World Rally Championship, that’s never been done before. It’s never even been allowed before.
That all changes in 2027.
“In terms of regulation, allowing homologations to come outside of manufacturers is a massive change,” explained Toyota technical director Tom Fowler. “It’s only been manufacturers who are allowed to homologate rally cars for many, many years.”
Fowler speaks from a position of importance, as Toyota is the only manufacturer known to be building a brand-new Rally1 car that meets the 2027 technical regulations.
That means instead of its Rally1 rivals being other automotive manufacturers, it’s competing against private projects like Yves Matton’s Project Rally One.
“As a manufacturer, certainly in the beginning and even still today, we have some reservation behind this because of course it’s something that we have had the rights to do for many years and other people are coming in,” Fowler added.
“Where it starts to make sense is that unfortunately the total number of manufacturers involved in Rally1 is not so many. If you collectively add Rally1 and Rally2 together it starts to look a lot better, but still having more vehicles developed by more companies certainly adds opportunities for more drivers to come to the championship.
“So I think we have to look at it from the big picture point of view and that if all the manufacturers wanted to be involved in the future, then this wouldn’t be necessary. But at this point, it seems to be necessary.”
A necessary evil then, you could surmise. But what this move also does is shift the WRC further in-line with other motorsport disciplines.
It’s a confusing example in so far as McLaren is an OEM of road cars, but in Formula 1 terms it is purely a constructor. It borrows its engine from Mercedes – just as constructors can now purchase parts from car manufacturers for their Rally1 cars – and competes directly against it, even beating it in the last couple of seasons.
Red Bull – an energy drinks giant – has also won eight drivers’ championships since 2010.
Manufacturers like Mercedes (left) have been fighting constructors like Red Bull (right) for decades in F1
WRC is set for the same direction, even if it will be very difficult for a constructor to beat the might of a manufacturer.
“Where we’re at now, it looks very difficult to come in and be on the performance level of a manufacturer, but the regulations are put together in a way that it is possible,” said Fowler. “In the same way as it’s possible in other forms of motorsport.
“Rally is one of the last forms of motorsport where the manufacturers have the advantage over everybody else and I think as we see in Formula 1 – some teams in Formula 1 are a manufacturer, there’s other teams who are not. And we still see strong performances coming from non-manufacturer teams.
“So I think it’s a matter of time that rally will go in this direction.”
Watch a full 40-minute interview with Tom Fowler now on Club DirtFish.
