The scenarios for the course of the world car championship World Rally Championship (WRC), but also the involvement of the teams in it give and take lately.
And any results after each match, but also the correlations of forces that are formed in the institution in each round of the championship increase the question marks and also the anxiety regarding the entire course of the championship, the teams, drivers and so on.
Mainly the news that the Promoter of the championship from Germany (WRC Promoter GmbH) is considering the possibility of selling the championship as a product, due to poor results as a whole (manufacturers involved, number of races, visibility, financial indicators etc.) has brought up and down to those involved and not.
In particular, Hyundai has gambled with all its preparation so far and its involvement with the current World Rally Championship regulations that remain in place for the next two years – focusing its future development on the existing i20 N Rally1 Hybrid.
A final decision on the technical regulations for 2025 and 2026 will be made at the upcoming meeting of the World Motor Sport Council next month. In February this year, the FIA had confirmed a revised Rally1 specification with the removal of the hybrid system, a smaller limiter and less aerodynamics on the vehicles.
The manufacturers were united in rejecting such a scenario and have reportedly written to the sport’s governing body with a request to keep the current specification as it is.
While rivals Toyota have shown readiness for any decision that may come from the WMSC (World Motor Sport Council) meeting on June 11, Hyundai team principal Cyril Abiteboul had indicated at the time that he had already made his decision speaking on May 10 on the authoritative Motorsports channel “Dirt Fish”:
What we have chosen to go for is to focus on our own scenario, a technical scenario, which we believe is the best for the sport, also the best for us.
I will only know on June 11 whether this scenario is one that will be retained by the World Motor Sport Council.
Asked if he had taken a risk/bet, the Frenchman added:
Yes, and I wasn’t bluffing. I had to make, for the team, the decision that the FIA did not make. So again they didn’t make a decision regarding the technical regulation. We have to go for a regulation and focus on it.
The scenario described by Abiteboul is the continuation of Rally1 in its current form.
And he added:
We’ve focused on what we’ve said since day one, which is technical stability. It might be small things here and there (that the FIA will change) but we don’t understand the value, the reasoning behind the big changes proposed by the WRC Working Group. We understand that rallying needs big changes, but sometimes you have to accept that things are the way they are for a while.
Also Hyundai Motorsport president Cyril Abiteboul had mentioned that the Korean manufacturer could run its World Rally Championship program through a privateer team in 2026 as a more likely scenario.
Despite leading both the drivers’ and manufacturers’ championships, Hyundai’s future in the championship remained under scrutiny ahead of our very own Acropolis, with some sources at the time having indicated in the recent past that the manufacturer could pull out entirely from the WRC at the end of next season.
Now, following the team’s successes in our race, Hyundai is expected to confirm a World Endurance Championship effort in the coming weeks and, while Abiteboul has already indicated that a two-pronged approach to the WRC and WEC (World Endurance Championship) will is possible in 2025, the prospect of a private team in the WRC with the i20 N Rally1 in 2026 is rather likely.
Asked directly if such a move was on the horizon, the Frenchman said:
If it fits our strategy. The first thing we need to do is define our strategy. If it fits our strategy, then to execute the action plan & operating model, we will be open minded.
Now on the field with the next race “warming up” on September 26-29 in Chile with the “WRC Rally Chile Bio Bio” and leading Hyundai in the manufacturers and Thierry Neuville in its drivers and Toyota in second place with 35 points difference to manufacturers, all scenarios are open.
If something goes wrong with anyone involved (either team or driver) everything can be overturned since all the possibilities in every race, every stage are fluid.
With three matches left (along with the one in Chile) and then on October 17-19 in Germany and on November 21-24 in Japan, the scenarios for everyone and everything are give and take and of course they are open.
One thing is certain that the institution needs renewal on many levels in order to move forward in a healthy & promising environment.
With the fierce competition from other forms of motor racing worldwide putting pressure on everyone and everything in the WRC in various ways, all scenarios are open to the institution.
Source: www.autoblog.gr
