Recently crowned World Rally Champion Elfyn Evans feels his title defense will mean a step into the unknown as the series comes to terms with a new regulation set for 2027.
The Welshman will be the last driver to wear the crown under current Rally1 regulations, with the top-line cars mirroring Rally2 machinery from January onwards. Evans, like his Toyota team-mates, will drive a 2027 car with major components – engine, transmission, suspension and brakes – largely matching Rally2 specification.
The main changes from Rally2 are around 12bhp more power, courtesy of a bigger restrictor (33mm instead of 32mm), improved aero and an FIA-designed tubular chassis which will ride around 20mm higher for safety reasons.
Having tested the car on gravel in Portugal last week, Evans told DirtFish he wasn’t sure what to expect next season.
“I drove the car on Tarmac in April,” he said, “then I drove it before South America and last week, and there’s definitely been progress made with the car. In terms of drivability, balance and everything, the car is, of course, improving. But, yeah, what next year is really going to look like, I don’t have a clue.
I think we could be in for a few surprises with the new cars next yearElfyn Evans
“There’s no question we’re taking a step back in terms of performance from what we’ve been used to – but the flip side to that is that we have cars for next season which are 70% cheaper than the ones we’ve been using up until now.”
Stepping back from the WRC’s top-flight to Rally2 is something Evans has experienced already in his career, when he won his British Rally Championship title with M-Sport in 2016.
“It’s always a big step back,” he said. “But this time I feel there are probably a few more unknowns with the car, about how it’s going to react in specific circumstances – and we can’t know about those until we get into the events themselves.
“But, for example, there’s the jumping element which could be a concern. There’s a lot of very high-speed sections [in the championship] and losing so much of the aero from this year’s car is going to take some getting used to. I know these Rally1 cars we’ve been using are crazy-fast, but, somehow, with the stability and everything we enjoyed [with them] at high-speed, it made them very safe cars.
“I think we could be in for a few surprises with the new cars next year, especially in the jumps. I guess that’s the same with every [technical] regulation change. We have to try to adapt.”
Evans sampled Rally2 car at Rally Scotland candidate event in summer
Evans drove a Toyota GR Yaris Rally2 on the recent Rally Scotland candidate event, but feels that’s not enough mileage to draw a significant comparison.
“The two cars are very different,” he added. “With the exception of Scotland, I don’t have a lot of experience of Rally2, so it’s very difficult to compare. It’s fair to say, from a performance point of view, it’s quite hard to know what the championship’s going to look like.
“Like I said, it’s going to be a period of adaptation and we have to prepare as well as we can. I think it’s fair to say the cars aren’t going to slide as much because of the power and everything, but that ship has sailed and there’s no point in being doom and gloom about it. We know what we’ve got and we have to be positive about it.
“Comparing next year’s cars with Rally1 this year wouldn’t be fair at all. We need to compare them with Rally2.”
