FIA rally director Yves Matton has confirmed next month is the deadline for manufacturers to sign up to the 2022 World Rally Championship.
The commitment from the series’ current manufacturers is reckoned to be one of the final pieces of a jigsaw which has represented some of the most significant and wide-ranging rule changes in a generation of the WRC.
No other manufacturers are currently known to be interested despite a new set of regulations that will incorporate hybrid systems alongside the Global Race Engine.
The date for the teams to cement their intentions has slipped from June back to August because of COVID-19.
Matton told DirtFish: “We stick to the plan and to the timeline. For sure, regarding the manufacturer commitment for 2022, we will look to August rather than June to secure this. But if we are two months later after a three-month crisis, it’s still not so far from what we expected.”
DirtFish understands Toyota and Hyundai are closing on their commitment to 2022, while M-Sport managing director Malcolm Wilson wrestles with the responsibility of the financial pledge to the next five-year homologation cycle.
Matton added that the FIA and WRC Promoter were working hard to iron out any creases in terms of the sporting, technical and commercial challenges faced by the manufacturers.
“All the manufacturers are working hard on the 2022 car and there is a weekly working group on the technical regulations to answer all the questions manufacturers have,” he said.
“We have also put in place a weekly meeting with WRC Promoter and the manufacturers in order to have a good level of communication and collaboration during this exceptional period.”
