The entire FIA ‘rally pyramid’ will be redesigned in-time for 2027 and the next set of World Rally Championship technical regulations.
Today, there are five main classes of FIA homologated rally cars, ranging from the flagship Rally1 cars to the basic, front-wheel-drive Rally5 machines.
Rally2 (the top category in most championships across the globe) and Rally3 sit within that pyramid as other four-wheel-drive categories, with the front-wheel-drive Rally4 forming the basis of plenty of ‘junior’ series including Junior ERC – although Junior WRC uses Rally3.
Provisionally being referred to as ‘WRC27’, the new top-class cars will be more in-line with current Rally2 cars in terms of cost and performance.
The FIA is yet to decide precisely how the ‘rally pyramid’ will look from 2027, but is clear that it’s going to change.
FIA technical director, Xavier Mestelan Pinon, said: “We will build a new rally pyramid. Rally1 will disappear, so we need to redesign all the pyramids.
“We need to work on it to know exactly, behind the new [WRC27] regulation, what will be the category just before the top class? Is it the current Rally3? Do we have to fine-tune the current Rally3?
“We need to be very agile, to be honest, it’s not easy. But it’s a part of the discussion, of course.”
Alternative powertrains unlikely lower down
For the first year of the regulation cycle at least, the top-line 2027 regulations will be based on internal-combustion engined vehicles before a potential pivot towards alternative powertrains.
Asked if alternative powertrains could feature in the low categories, Mestelan Pinon said he wasn’t personally in favor of it.
“We already have the possibility to homologate a Rally5 kit based on EV technologies. But those technologies are still a little bit, I would say, expensive, more than ICE,” he explained.
Electrification is not favored by the FIA's technical director for rally cars
“We need also to take in consideration that it has to be accepted by the fans, because rally is also to make a show in fact. Personally I’m not convinced that EV tech is the best one for the rally today, in terms of show.
“I’m very supportive of EV tech, but for pure EV cars in rally, I’m not sure it is the best thing we have to do today if you want to promote a rally. A lot of people are waiting for a sound, it’s a compromise.”
FIA road sport director, Emilia Abel, added: “Plus there is always a safety aspect. Rally from its nature, when it’s going far away, you know, it’s easy to manage something that is on the circuit, but it’s much more difficult to manage something that is going hundreds of kilometers away from the service park and actually it’s constantly moving.”
Mestelan Pinon concluded: “Maybe in 10 years it will be straightforward to use an EV car in a rally with a new generation, but today it seems to be not.”
