WRC 27 is the next set of rally rules for the top-level World Rally Championship cars, starting in 2027. The hosts say Rally2 cars are being updated to look and behave more like those new WRC cars.
Rally2 is a class of rally race cars that’s meant to be cheaper and easier to run than the very top WRC cars. This episode is about new rules that will update Rally2 cars so they can race more evenly against the next WRC generation.
This “amalgamated kit of parts” is basically a pre-approved package of upgrades that teams can add to their rally cars. It’s meant to help Rally2 cars meet the new 2027 direction without reinventing everything from scratch.
Aerodynamic mods are changes to the car’s shape—like wings or body panels—to control how air flows over it. The goal is usually better grip and stability at speed.
“Homogated” is the FIA’s approval process (homologation). It means the parts are officially allowed for competition, so teams can install the kit and still race legally.
Homologate means the rally organizers officially approve a specific car setup or parts kit. After it’s approved, teams are allowed to use it in that competition class.
A privateer is a smaller rally team that isn’t directly run by the car manufacturer. They may still be allowed to race, but the rules can limit what they’re required to commit to.
In FIA rally context, a constructor is the manufacturer entity (or registered organization) responsible for entering cars under the category’s rules. The constructor’s commitments—like season participation—are often used to define who is “officially” backing the program.
Here, “wing” means the rear spoiler/aero surface on the car. In rally rules, certain aero parts can be regulated, so homologated cars may need the approved wing setup.
Term
RC1
RC1 is a rally car category designation used in the FIA’s structure for rally competition, with higher-level cars generally having more freedom and/or performance potential than lower classes. In this discussion, Toyota’s “RC1 car” is contrasted against its “RC2 car,” implying a hierarchy of specs and eligibility.
The Acropolis refers to a famous rally event in Greece. It’s the kind of competition where rally teams go to race on challenging stages. The host is saying there’s extra content tied to that rally week.
Rally2 is a rally car category used in the FIA rally ecosystem (often as a step below the top WRC category). In this segment, the host argues that Rally2 can’t be the long-term future because of safety and production realities, but could be used short-term. They also claim Rally2 cars will run at similar speeds to WRC 27 cars while being less safe under the current chassis rules.
A space frame is the car’s main safety structure, built like a strong metal skeleton made of tubes. In rally cars, this matters because it helps protect the driver in crashes and keeps the car strong under hard driving. The episode is saying the FIA is changing the rules for these frames for the WRC 27 cars.
FIA is the international organization that makes and enforces the rules for major auto racing. They decide things like safety and technical requirements for the cars. In this segment, they’re the ones introducing new chassis rules for the WRC 27 rally cars.
M-Sport is a rally racing team that helps manufacturers run their rally cars. They’re the kind of organization that builds and prepares the cars for competition.
Ford is a car brand that competes in rally racing. In this segment, it’s mentioned as an option for a driver looking at manufacturer-backed rally cars.
Place
Monty, Sweden
Sweden is one of the famous rally events/locations. It’s known for tricky winter grip, so small differences in setup and driving can matter a lot.
They mention a rough budget—about 7,500 euros—for adding some extra parts. It’s used to illustrate that Rally2 is designed to keep costs down compared with top-tier rally cars.
Term
front
In rally setup language, “front” typically refers to front-end components and their tuning (like front suspension/geometry and front-end grip). The host’s “chuck a couple of bits on the front” implies small, targeted changes can still make the car more competitive on certain events.
Two-wheel drive means the car only powers one set of wheels. On slippery rally roads, that can be a disadvantage—but the hosts are saying this 2WD car is still very competitive.
Peugeot made special rally versions of the 307 and 306 called “Maxi.” These are built to handle the bumps and grip changes of rally stages, not just normal road driving.
WRC means World Rally Championship, the biggest rally series in the world. They’re basically saying that if you watch the top-level WRC rally, you’ll notice the difference versus the lower rally classes.
“Rally1” is the top level of rally cars in the WRC system. It’s the most advanced class, so if you’re used to watching Rally1, Rally2 can feel different—sometimes less dramatic.
Term
RX supercar
“RX” is probably a reference to a rotary-powered sports car. The rotary engine tends to sound and accelerate in a very distinctive way, which can make the launch feel even more intense to watch.
A tubular chassis is the car’s main safety frame made from metal tubes. It’s built to protect the driver in crashes by absorbing and managing impact energy.
Company
FAA
The host credits an organization (called FAA) for safety work that helped push safer car design. The exact meaning of the acronym isn’t spelled out here, but it’s about safety rules and standards.
Mohammed Ben Salim is mentioned as someone who helped drive safety improvements. The host is thanking him for work that continues to make rally cars safer.
Person
Thierry
The host mentions Thierry in relation to a well-known rally crash. The point is that modern safety features help protect drivers even when cars flip over.
Group B was a past rally car class that became famous for being very powerful but also very dangerous. The host is using it as a comparison point for how today’s cars are safer.
Term
rally three
Rally3 is a lower-level rally category under FIA rules than Rally2. They mention it as a joke option, not as the serious choice for competing in the top WRC context.
Car
Toyota WRC 27
They’re talking about a Toyota rally car called the WRC 27. The idea is that Toyota is putting a lot of work into it now, so it should keep improving as the rules season gets closer.
They mention an MR2-based “Elica” concept as the foundation for the new rally car. The point is that the same basic car structure could be used for different types of engines later.
Hydrogen power means the car uses hydrogen for energy instead of normal fuel. They’re saying the same car “shell” could potentially be used with different kinds of power sources.
The “Golf” is referenced as the first rally car the speaker remembers seeing, specifically a Volkswagen Golf in a distinctive “Tapioca and Blue” livery. It’s used as a personal historical anchor for how they first became aware of rally cars.
LIVE
Thank you for listening to Spin, the rally pod, brought to you by Dirtfish Rally School.
For your chance to experience life behind the wheel of a rally car, head to drive.dirtfish.com
to find the course that's right for you. What are you waiting for? We're right here waiting
for you. Welcome to what we call an emergency episode of Spin, the rally pod, where news
has broken through the World Rally Championship Service Park. We don't have time machines,
maybe we have. It feels like it might be 2024 with what we've had today to read into, but if you
haven't seen the FIA, it has revealed how rally two cars will compete on a par with rally one in
next year's WRC. Here to discuss that with me, Luke Barry, is, of course, David Evans
and Alastair Linty. Dave is already pointing his finger. He's got something to see, which is good.
No, I've got my finger. hand up. Is that genuinely a thing now? Are we calling this
an emergency spin? I thought that was a word. It's always been called it internally. Maybe we
didn't use it in the world. That's what it is. There used to be a thing called emergency service,
which was proper fever. They were the chase cars at the end of stages, I think.
There might have been an emergency service area at the end of stages,
but that was when you were coming out on three wheels, limping, and all of those heroic repairs
would take place in about four minutes flat or something. Sorry. I'm not sure we're doing that,
are we? I mean, I don't know. It's surprising. Chuck us some comments about what should we
call the emergency spin. Yeah, well, I guess officially to the world, it is still spinning
the rally pod. So I've made something confusing out of nothing there, which arguably Alistair,
is that a metaphor for what we're about to talk about today? Is that harsh?
That's absolutely. For a minute there, I thought you were just going to say it's like working
with you every day. We're much more organized than whatever this is that we're looking at.
It's just a hodgepodge of like making puzzles. It's like you have two puzzles and you look at
them and they're like, well, they look kind of the same. So we'll just find a way to put all
the pieces together. Then you actually try to foresheat like, hmm, it looked like it was going
to fit. Not so sure anymore, but we're in too deep now. And we've muddled all the pieces together
so we can't separate them again. So, Ali. It's important though, isn't it? On a genuinely serious
note, this is the kind of the answer we're looking for for a long time. You speak to anybody about
the 2027 championship season. And to a degree, we still don't know how to also work in practice,
but this is a step into actually confirming how the rally two cars will be. I'm going to refer
to our story here on dirt.com just to fill you in in case you've either forgotten or haven't actually
seen the news that we're talking about. Essentially, obviously, the FIA World Motorsport Council has
met in Macau and there they confirmed there'll be an amalgated kit of parts. This is quite
interesting. Costing no more than seven and a half thousand euros, which seems ambitiously low,
actually. You say that, but it's plus 50% from the original quotation they did two years ago. The
original threshold was 5,000. They've already... Be very careful, Alistair. Be very, very careful.
That was a totally, totally different concept. Crikey. If anybody from the FIA is listening,
apologies. Alistair wasn't thinking when he said that. That was something quite different.
That was the DR and Robert Reed working group thing, which I was thinking of raising. I think
we should do something about it, but this is totally separate from that. It was essentially to get us
through to the new WRC 27 car, but if you talk to people internally at the FIA, it's almost like,
what was that? Did that really happen? That's not really a thing, but that said,
it is something that I wanted to write about, the fact that it feels... I'm not going to say,
I am going to write about that. Let's move on from that, but I agree with the principle that it is
still very cheap for essentially a front bumper and a bit of a wing.
But this is it, isn't it? Just if I can come in quickly and explain, I'm doing the explaining
before we analyze too much of what it is. As you said, it's essentially some aerodynamic
mods, isn't it, to make these cars more in line with what will be WRC 27 next year. These kits can
be homogated on cars before December 1st, 2026. Basically, cars built this year can have these
added to them for 2027 and 2028, so it's for two seasons, this will exist. The kit must be
homogated by a manufacturer registered as a constructor, and the car must compete in all
events listed on the calendar with at least two cars. That, again, is quite an interesting detail.
It's not, yes, technically a privateer can do this, but you can't just turn up for one event
and bow out and that'd be it. There has to be some kind of commitment from a manufacturer
slash constructor somewhere. I'm not sure I agree with that interpretation either,
because, yes, the constructor has to fulfill that quotation, but that doesn't mean any
customer who then buys the kit has to as well. The constructor has to enter all 14 rounds. It's
the same thing with the WRC 27 race, that if you're going to build the cars, you have to commit to
doing, well, first have 50% of the rounds next year and then full season in 28. The principle
is the same, just because the constructor of the car has to do the full season in 28,
doesn't mean all of its customers have to. There doesn't appear to be anything prescribed
based on what we've seen written that would preclude customers, but like you say, it's
primarily in that getting, let me think the whole list, so we have Skoda, we have M Sport, we have
Stellantis, we have, who else is, I mean, Toyotane Theory, but we'll touch on that later. Anyone
who currently builds a Molligate at Hyundai currently builds a Molligate rally 2 car,
that only applies to them. I agree completely with that list of that, and I was going to jump
in with exactly the same point, that it is a point of interpretation, and once a manufacturer has
signed up, so Hyundai, to my mind, can say, yep, we're in for that, we'll homologate the
kit, and then Luke Barry, you want to do Monty? Fine, buy your kit, stick it on your car.
Is that permission, by the way? You said that on the record, so just...
Oh, there you go, you're going to do Monty. Alistair, you want to do Sweden? Crack on.
All you've got to do is have a driver, a customer, with one of those homologated parts,
or one of those homologated cars, i.e. the car with the wing, at 14 rounds of the championship,
and you've complied. You don't have anything about nomination at all. So, you know, to me,
I think it is still a private ear thing, but the bigger point here is which manufacturers
are going to homologate the parts. Well, this is where I'm hoping you can come in, David, because
in between the time of the news announcing and us recording this podcast, you have been doing
what you do best. You've been hitting the phones, as they say, talking to as many people as you can.
Is there anything you can update us on, and I guess, where certain manufacturers and teams
stand on this new homologation kit, if whatever, is a kit? I mean, essentially, there's nothing new,
really, Luke, because from what we understand, Skoda has always shied away from a firm commitment
and, in fact, has gone the opposite way. You know, they've always said that it's not what
they're about. They're a customer team. You know, they don't actually even run a factory team anymore.
So, Skoda, from what I understand,
are not about to sign up anytime soon. And Toyota, quite clearly, Toyota already has an RC1 car,
the new 27 car coming, whether it is whatever it's called, MR2 Celica, MR Relica, or whatever
we want to call it, that is their RC1 car. So, why would they, and we've already written this,
why would they put their current RC2 car up against their RC1 car? They wouldn't. But,
as somebody in our internal WhatsApp group pointed out, there will be a lot of very frustrated and
annoyed GR Yaris Rally 2 customers who want to use these cars. So, I don't know. I mean, I would
imagine that Toyota will see sense somewhere, and they may be moved to do it. But, certainly,
at the minute, there's no indication that Skoda's going. We've got Colin and Elliot are in Greece,
chasing Mikhail Harabeneck down. So, Mr. Harabeneck, if you'll look over your shoulder,
if you see them coming, dive into the dive for cover, because I've got a lot of questions for you.
That's the right answer. We need the answers. Turn around and face them.
Actually, yeah, no, turn around and face them. But, you know, the assumption is,
and I think it's a fair assumption, that M Sport will, Stellantis will, Hyundai will.
So, there is going to be plenty of options out there. But my question is, you know, we kind of
have more power. And from what I can understand the discussions with Toyota and amongst the
manufacturers was, there wasn't an indication that there was going to be more power or the
potential for more power delivered in this kit, whether that was, you know, another millimetre on
the, which it couldn't really be that, another millimetre on the on the restrictor, but some
potentially some weight or something, there was going to be some performance advantage,
mechanical performance advantage. There is a little bit, there is a little bit,
there's 10 kilos less as well of weight, the minimum weight is 10 kilos lower. So,
they got a little bit, but like you say, you were expecting a bit more oomph to offset it,
you know, 10 kilos is less than a, if I remember right, it's half of a tyre. It's not even a full
tyre's worth of weight that you've saved, which is nothing really. Oh, it's the fifth of me,
essentially. Somebody's going to do the math.
Yeah, I mean, that was just a weight shame, that seems slightly ambitious, but we'll move on from that.
Yeah, so that's kind of where we're at. But I guess I mean, the bigger question is,
how many people are actually going to sign up for this? And, you know, now with,
and we've got WRC 27 cars. Is there a danger we're getting a little bit confusing again?
I don't think it's a danger, I think it's reality. And I can understand how we're in this
situation, because obviously, and it stated again in the communication, Malcolm Wilson's quote
exactly, is that the aim is from more competitors in the World Rally Chapter,
and we do need that. We all talk about it all the time. It's, it is needed. And this, arguably,
and obviously this is the thing, we don't know it's not the Monte Carlo yet, we haven't seen the
entry list. So we're talking in, I guess, theory rather than practice right now, but this should
give us more cars able to fight at the front. That is the overwhelming positive. But will it work?
We still don't know. And as you see, the optics of this are, it's going to be very difficult. Whoever
comes in and takes over WRC promoter, it's a big job anyway. But you're adding this, like, layer of
complication. It's not the most straightforward thing. It's like when Super Sunday points came in,
isn't it? When rally fans struggled to understand it, it's not, it's not a great sign for trying to
spread the word further out. That's probably my concern. And we've all written our own opinions on
Club Dirtfisher. I guess I'll snap reaction to this. So if you haven't already signed up,
check out those, go to patreon.com forward slash dirtfisher and you should see that there. And
you can just very podcast actually add free. So there's an extra perk for you along with many
other things from all kinds of parts around, but particularly on a rally week, there'll be loads
of bonus content for you as well from the Acropolis. But while I'm saying that, I've forgotten the
actual nucleus of what I was going to say. From a Greek hillside. Yes, he was doing that.
At first 10 minutes, which turned out to be 23 minutes. So I changed his title this time,
because 10 minutes like a lie. Anyway, you get the point. Go head there and find out extra stuff.
But we all wrote our opinions. And in there, I kind of brought forward the question that
for me, what they've done with this rally to kit should just be the top class. And I know it can't
be now because we're too far down the line. But why I understand rally two cannot be the
long term future. We all know the reasons why that can be. And space frame safety, the fact
some of these cars aren't really produced any more manufacturers, all of that stacks up.
But as a short term solution, surely that was easy to bring in. You just said long term solution.
Yeah. You've lost me. I don't know. It should be the long term solution.
I think this should be the short term solution. What I think should have happened is they're
in for two years. For me, this should have just been the top class for two years. And then the
rally one comes in in 29. That's what I think should be. At some point, we've got to grasp the
nettle and go with something else that is space frame. You know, we can't with the best one in
the world, we can't have all know these cars are safe today and less safe tomorrow. You know,
if it's a safety issue, which it is, because the FIA has implemented new space frame chassis
for WRC 27 cars, we know that rally two WRC kit cars are going to be going at the same speed
by definition. Yet they're less safe. So, you know, that that just seems really strange. And I
get your thinking, Luke. But the frustration from me is that we've known that this has been coming.
And it's only Toyota that's kind of taken up, picked up the challenge, if you like, and actually
created a car. Yes, you know, there's a whole raft of other reasons why M Sport, why Ford,
why Hyundai, why Subaru, why anybody else hasn't come and done the same thing. That's to do with
value derived from the championship. That's a totally separate issue. But it is, I was not
comfortable completely that it was a what a single year fix solution. It has to be now. But now it's
a two year solution. You know, I think we definitely definitely need to say right enough, at the end
of 28, that's done. And ultimately, you go back all the way to whenever it was, when was it 2011
or something? When the manufacturers talked about Super 2000 cars being the basis for the new world
rally car. To me, that made a lot of sense there. But it made, you know, we've now created space
frame chassis that we know are the safest rally cars we've ever had. We should be doing everything
we can to progressing into that. And yeah, the FIA is doing all it all it can. But at the same time,
you know, we have this practicality for the next two years where and you know, it's very easy to
bandy around the word safety and danger on what have you. You know, rally two cars are extremely
safe rally cars. But there are safe ones out there. You know, it's a fair point you raise though
about, I guess, it feels like the spreading the eggs, doesn't it? And I'm watching Love Islander
the minute, which the weird things bring up in a rally podcast. But a lot of contestants on there
will talk about putting eggs in one basket and whatever else is the opposite of that. This is
spreading the bets, isn't it? And that works to a degree. But there is an argument as you've
put forward there to suggest that actually at some point, we need someone just to go,
no, we're doing this, no ambiguity. You can't do that right now. And it goes back to me kind
of disagreeing with something David said earlier that you cannot separate the commercial promotional
side from this. Because the only reason our hand is forced and we're having to do this is because
there is no clear direction on the promotional side. They're trying to sell it, of course.
That's the point. It's different. The reason that we're not going down that road of having a
whole bunch of manufacturers in there with space around chassis is because we don't have value
derived from the championship. Yeah, fine. And that's why you have to do this whole two simultaneous
regulations at once. For me, until you fix that, no regulation set will work.
It's a sticking plaster, isn't it? Yeah, but there's no choice but to use the sticking plaster
because to continue the metaphor, we've run out of blood supply to the top of West.
If you are going to be harsh on this, then you say, see, the regulations have been there for two,
the regulations have been there for two years. No, they haven't. The FAA has been working on
the regulations for a long time, but Toyota has managed to produce the WRC 27 car. Therefore,
other manufacturers could. So if you want to be hard and fast with this, then you say,
no, we are going this way. It's not a practical solution and it's not going to be a great watch
for the sport. It's certainly not going to be something I wouldn't have thought a new promoter
for. Not a bit of an exception in that they don't quite have the same level of very strict,
very business sense, purely looking at a spreadsheet thing. You know what the culture
there is like the value rally for what it is beyond just numbers or a financial report,
which you're not going to get with other car companies around the world. Look at all the
difficulties that Hyundai have had signing off cars over the years and convincing people in
boardrooms. Yes, this sport or sport program is is worth your time. Toyota are kind of an
exception to the rule in that sense, you know, with what it's so sad and its passion. I don't
see what Toyota is doing as being any sort of indication of the health of the sport as a consequence
of that. We're very glad that Toyota is here and spending all that money and investment.
And they're here for the long term. It's clear from the work they're doing to develop a new
facility north of Evascola right now. But you can't, we're not in a position yet where we have the
ROI argument to go into other boardrooms. So I don't think because Toyota did it, others can do it.
This is why we're stuck because Toyota is doing it the way it should be done.
But there's just not the commercial ROI from a pure, how to say, unemotional,
uh, statistic based, spreadsheet based approach, no one else can justify it.
And until you fix the commercial side, no regulation set can fix that.
Yeah, I think we've talked in circles. We agree.
No, no, no, it's exactly that. And that is exactly where we're at. You know,
Toyota dances to a very different tune, doesn't it? But for me, you know, what we do have,
and the plus from this is we've got a championship that, yes, it might be a little bit confusing
with different categories fighting at the top or different cars. But what we do have is variety,
the potential for variety, and we have changed. And we've changed from opportunity. And if I was
a young up and coming driver, I would be looking to get into a manufacturer rally two car, be it
Hyundai, be it Ford with M Sport and get ready for the first three or four rounds, because that's
when the likes of Toyota, project rally one, the likes of RMC, if they come in next
year, which I'm not sure they are in the first half, that's when they're the most vulnerable
that you know, Monty, Sweden, Safari, these cars, new cars potentially will fail in the first half
of the year. And what you've got with a rally two car is a very solid base, you know, you shell out
your seven and a half thousand euros, chuck a couple of bits on the front, you know, are you
going to notice big differences of driver, potentially, certainly on some events, Finland,
you would. But you know, Monty, Safari, probably not. So you've got a reliable, solid car that
performs well that can win you a rally. But I was going to say, and I apologize if it's
interrupting, but that actually brings us onto an interesting point is that is it still possible for
a non kit rally two car to win next year? Ultimately, we don't know. But listening to what you said there,
actually, and this is where it's interesting, isn't it? It's there are so many different ways in
theory you could win a rally, potentially win a world championship, you would think, and this is
not to discredit any of the new projects coming in, you would think Toyota stands in the best chance
of doing that. Well, in fact, it's one of the last, okay, I can't remember the harmonies done in a
role in their manufacturers. And most of the drivers trap just it's 2020 and 2019, even metallic.
And so you would think they're in the best place and they're a global car manufacturer with a lot
of resource, you would expect that car with the drivers are likely to have to be the benchmark,
but we don't know that for sure. And I do kind of hope when in a way it's like you kind of want
as as neutral, you kind of want to see the guys that are winning challenge, don't you?
But it would be a bit awkward if Toyota doesn't get rewarded for its investment as well. That's
look at this, it's put all this time and effort into building this brand new car.
If it gets beaten by one of these rally two kids, that is
it's not considered the championship. Yeah. But I like this, I do like the variables because
again, we're still six months out, we've still got a fantastic season to go ahead this year.
But already 27, whatever your opinion on what's happening here is, as you said before, David,
different. It's got us talking. Is it too different? That's up for debate.
But it is fascinating to see, yeah, there's many angles to attack it.
I've also realized something. If Hyundai and M Sport build these rally two kits to keep their
current cars at top spec and Stalantis do what I expect them to do, considering they're already
registered as a manufacturer, which is one of the key, let's say hurdles you have to clear to be
allowed to do this, we will effectively have gained one manufacturer at the top level through
this change immediately. And I haven't figured out what to make of it yet, but there has to be some
point in the fact that when the rally one regs came along, we lost Stalantis and lost the
manufacturer. And now suddenly they're back in again because of this regulation tweak.
I haven't really decided whether that's a good or a bad thing. Yeah, I think if you're still
in Stalantis, you're over the moon because your entire plan has worked.
They never intended to build a top level car, but they always hoped there would be performance
parity eventually when these new WRC regs came in. I talked to Mickey Biazion a bit about it when
the car came out. In fact, he was on the phone to the AFI president, Mohammed Ben Saleh,
to kind of stress the point that parity is good. We should be working towards parity between those
two sets of rules so that as many people as possible can be at the top level.
So they've effectively spent a fraction of the money that Toyota have. They used mostly
Citroen parts. Of course, there's been development. They've not just rebadged the Citroen,
but a bunch of R&D money that Toyota will have had to spend on that car. Stalantis hasn't had
to spend a penny of that money. As just to jump in there, as somebody sagely pointed out to me
this morning, this new category is for the manufacturers who wanted to claim that the
dog ate their homework, which is a very fair point. And actually, Luke, it's a benefit for
you. The point Alice has made because actually now you can go to Monte Carlo as a works Lancia
driver. Sign me up. Exactly. I'll do that. Isn't it? Because yes, there will be works
blessed drivers, the likes of Johann Rossell, I'm sure. But actually, if you drive one of those
Lancia's, it's a factory car. You are a factory Lancia driver, which in many ways as well. That's
just, is it confusing? I don't know. Because there can't be a difference, can there, between
what Rossell is driving as a factory Lancia, epsilon, and what Luke is going to be driving in
in Monte. I do. I do like how we're talking about that as if it is happening, by the way.
Why am I on the same thing? You got Sweden. Yeah, you did.
You're in for Sweden. I'll crash on the last thing.
He's vindictive. But you know, this is the one difference is that that's kind of an odd
or is that just back to Munchies, Stobart, BP? Possibly, but I think I'm going to see who cares.
What does it matter for the audience? You know, there was a written piece we did in Club
Dirtfish talking about how, you know, the word kit, obviously, it's not the same thing,
but word kit, that's got to be having you look bouncing off the walls at the sound of that word
kit with your pension for 90s F2 cars. But you know, how did you explain in very simple terms
as someone who knows nothing about motorsport, nothing about rally? Why is this two wheel drive
car beating or at least on a par with these high tech WRC cars? Does that make any sense? And
you know, David, you'll know far better than that. But were those teams not a bit up in arms about
this is not acceptable? Like why is this car as fast as it shouldn't be possible? But yeah,
reflecting, does anybody who's not a stakeholder in that equation care? No, this is iconography.
This is really iconography. Poor us in a Citroen against the Kray in a Subaru, you know,
they're just they're just epic sporting fights. The average punter, which I think is the target
of the world championship. If you want to be world championship, you have to be about more than
just the people buying the cars and driving them. You have to be about the bigger picture
and people who aren't directly involved in the sport in terms of they have money down,
but they might be willing to spend money on participating in the sport as a spectator.
That's the target here overall, even if it's not necessarily where we're at today.
I think that's a it's a very fair point. And you know, people standing at the side of the road
in Catalonia or Corsica, watching Bugowski and people like that or Penizzi and in the
307 Maxi 306 Maxi or whatever, they didn't really care. You know, they were just listening and
loving the noise of those cars and enjoying the spectacle. And I think potentially you're right
that we do get too hung up on to people completely understand. Some people need to and maybe it's
our job in the explanation just to say, don't worry about it, just enjoy it. You know, because
the numbers that we can bring, it can it will add to the spectacle. As Malcolm said in the quote,
you know, it's about building numbers. And if you now go and stand at the side of the road and
watch a rally two car, you're gonna be entertained. You know, look at some of the ERC footage,
particularly stuff from Sweden recently is it's incredible. And now you say the only work per
sorry to cut across, but the only work per if you're watching a WRC event today, rally one first,
if they're not there, you don't watch a rally two and say, Christ, that's boring.
But even I would debate that, Luke, even you know, if you're watching them off the line,
yeah, because, you know, there's so much kind of thunder, isn't there about a rally one car
going off the line. But then equally, if you if you ever had the the the opportunity to watch a
an RX supercar go off the line, that dwarfed anything. And then if you had the opportunity
to watch an RX, you know, what Concorde take off, you know, you keep going up incrementally. But
so I think it depends where you watch a rally two car. And even if you watch a rally two car
in a fairly slow hairpin uphill, you're still going to be like, wow, that's pretty cool. You
know, it's only where you've got those big aero places on tarmac. Usually that you look at a
rally one car and think that's unbelievable. And the fact that we're missing, I don't know what it
is, probably 60 70 horsepower, but you're still going to get the air on the new car on the kit
car on the whatever they call, I think potentially is still going to get spectacle.
And mentioning mentioning Concorde, though, just to make a slight joke out of this, British
Airways, if you are listening, you can build a car for next year. Join the WRC. Sorry, Alastair,
that was just an important thing to say. Yeah, and I've kind of forgotten it now,
unfortunately, with that little. Yeah, I apologize, loosely. That was plenty of scope
perspective. And you know, perhaps I went, the safety perspective is definitely there. And it's
the reason that we're moving in this general direction towards tubular chassis, we're getting
there. And you know, fundamentally, the FAA has done more under Mohammed Ben Salim.
Is it? I can't remember exactly when tubular chassis came in. But from the beginning of 22,
those things have been unbelievably safe. I mean, we all remember those pictures of
Thierry's shunt before Monty, when it landed on its roof. And I mean, any other
specification of car, you know, 17 cars as much as we love them and as much as that
the modern day Group B, they're not nearly as safe. You know, I think, and you remember,
there was another huge crash that it was, it was mind blowing what these cars can
for a big one, then Monty didn't need the first year. Yeah, the first event of the car.
That wasn't what I was thinking of. But anyway, you know, they're the safest cars. So thanks to
the FAA, thanks to Mohammed Ben Salim for the work that he continues to do. But right now,
it we're about the spectacle. And we're about bringing cars, putting bums on seats,
and getting competition out there. And the potential you go to Sweden next year and whoever
the young swede is, it's going to be amazing. It's an amazing opportunity. You know, because of
my age, I continually come back to Mark Higgins. And you know, back in the day, Higgie always
waited for rally GB for the RAC to have that opportunity to sit in the same car as Colin
McCray. And now people are going to get closer than ever to that. And that's got to be a good thing.
Mark Higgins airfitched with my Pong Sean for 90s F2 kick cars. So that's very much a load.
Thanks, David. That's good.
But what was the golf actually?
Not the golf. No, no, it was Nissan before the Astro. The Astro's one I remember,
because that was 2000 was the first year I remember watching a rally in the dual of that car.
We're getting bogged down. It was only ever the Meaghan. There was a proper wow,
the Clio first and the Meaghan. So Higgie didn't drive that ever. So therefore,
I'm so sorry, Mark. And David doesn't like you anymore. That's it.
If we have to rewrite history.
We never had the 306, Maxi here, did we? Which is another
No, no, no, but I always fall out with people because as I was reported out,
and I'm again, making abundantly clear, if anyone's able to talk about anything ever,
it's obvious I've got his passion for the British championship, particularly in that era.
But I don't rate the 306 that highly as a kick car because we never had it.
And that's exactly so many people. No. Yeah, it was like one of the things I think was like
the only car we didn't have in the UK. We didn't have the Hyundai Coupe either,
but I don't think we misdirected. No, we didn't have the Hyundai Coupe either.
We did have the Hyundai Coupe with Andrew Pinker. Oh, yeah. I good to let or drove it.
Yeah. 2000 again. Never mind. I sound corrected. Anyway,
probably managed without the Hyundai. Yeah, maybe maybe trade that for the 306.
Quick way I want to end this podcast, and it's slightly hypothetical, obviously. Well,
it's very hypothetical and probably difficult to answer because as I've said before, we don't
know truly how these cars are going to compare. We know the effort is being put in,
but until they hit the stage, we don't know. But for both of you, if right now you had the
task of willing out to get any car to compete in the 2027 WRC, which would you choose? Would it be
the brand new WRC 27? Would it be rally two as it is? Would it be the rally two kit? Would it be a
rally three just for the giggles? Which would you choose if you had to pick right now? 306 Maxi.
No. Toyota WRC 27. It's going to be the most invested in car, have the most evolution within
the next two years. Wherever its baseline is, nothing will get better over time than it will.
Yeah, it's impossible to argue. And that that point is that it's at the beginning of a development
cycle. Whereas, yeah, rally two cars have had 234 years plus of development,
so that makes them a better option early doors, but longer term. And potentially,
you buy that WRC 27 MR2 Elica, whatever it's called, chassis, and that's good for 10 years,
isn't it? This is the whole ethos of what's come. You can take out a nice engine, you can drop in
battery power, or you can hydrogen power, whatever, the chassis is there for a decade.
But that's the same for Yves Maton's project rally one. So I'm going to go with that. I'm going
to back the man Yves largely so I can tell him that I'm back. Yeah, you've got evidence. I'll tell
you what, I'll get the podcast out before you talk to me. There you go. I'm going to waive my
right to answer this question as the host and just move us on to thanking you for listening.
To do the Jim Clark rally in 2000, what would it have been?
The Golf, because it's the first car. And you know, we're getting really sidetracked,
you've never encouraged me. When we went, when Donna Kelly hosted his British Championship
reunion in 2024, I was fortunate enough to see his big collection of cars and so many amazing
machines then, including all four of the 2017 cars, all group B cars, all these F2 cars,
literally the only car I saw was the Golf. The rest were just shapes to me. And I never realized
that was that important, but it is a first rally car, that specific one, Tapioca and
Blue Golf with the green wheels, first rally car I ever remember seeing. And for that reason,
that's the answer. I don't think it was the best, but it's, it's two poignant for me.
So yeah, that, that's my answer. So bring that back. It was cool, wasn't it? That's Sony livery.
It just, I think so. Yeah. And then just Kyle Williams from sitting in it, just looking cool
as ever. It was like, anyway, I'm dreaming a bit there. As I was trying to wrap up the podcast,
and this was going to say, to encourage you rather to keep an eye on all of Dirtfish's channels
as all this breaks will be plenty, as David said, reaction to this from the service park this week
in Greece. So we'll bring you those opinions as quickly as we can. And again, just to repeat
ourselves, consider joining Club Dirtfish as well. Plenty of opinions about this and plenty
of other subjects available there as well. That's Patreon, forward slide, or sorry,
bye.
About this episode
FIA rules are reshaping how Rally2 will sit alongside Rally1 in the next WRC, and the hosts break down the key 2027 changes. They explain the “amalgated kit of parts” confirmed in Macau, including a homologation window before December 1st, 2026, and a cost target around seven and a half thousand euros. The debate turns to eligibility for customer teams, manufacturer commitments, and whether the safety-and-chassis direction will keep speeds comparable while making the cars easier to watch and more accessible.
In this 'breaking news' edition of SPIN, The Rally Pod, DirtFish's David Evans and Alasdair Lindsay join host Luke Barry to discuss the new Rally2-WRC-Kit and what it means for drivers as well as competing constructors - both current and prospective.
