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World Rallying powertrains
Current World Rally Championship models are being discontinued as electric mobility takes over the A-segment market. What does that mean for the WRC?
By DIETER RENCKEN
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Ford plans to discontinue production of its iconic Fiesta in mid-2023. This A-segment model not only won over entry-level drivers and two-car families alike, but also numerous World Rally Championship rounds. Shortly after it ends production of the Fiesta, the Blue Oval will also cease to market the Fiesta’s high(er) riding IC-engined sister, the Puma, which also enjoys WRC successes, as it switches to a battery electric range.
Given the direction the motor industry has been forced into by emission legislation, such developments are no surprise and likely to be emulated by most, if not all, manufacturers of A-segment models. As batteries add enormously to the basic weight and cost of vehicles, sales are expected to plunge. An equivalent electric vehicle is expected to price 60 percent higher than fossil-fuelled equivalents that already provide slim margins of profit, adding pressure to manufacturers.
The bottom line for followers of the FIA World Rally Championship and its feeder series is that A-segment derivatives currently provide the core models for the WRC’s staircase, from Rally5 to Rally1. With the likelihood of model cut-backs in this sector, the very existence of the WRC is threatened unless the championship reinvents itself in something of a hurry.
Three manufacturers, including Toyota, Hyundai and Ford, are contractually committed to global motorsport’s governing
During Rally Belgium, Toyota Gazoo Racing tested this H2 Yaris hydrogen car with Juha Kankunnen and Akio Toyoda
body, the FIA, throughout the current 202224 formula, but what happens after that, particularly given the accelerating changes in the automotive landscapes?
In addition to the issue facing the top class, Citroen, Opel, Peugeot, Renault, Skoda, VW are represented in lower categories, and all are also on the fast track to electrification.
Should they take the decision to also withdraw from competition such models as the VW Polo, Skoda Fabia, Peugeot 206 and Renault Clio, the impact upon the WRC’s feeder series will be significant. This in turn will affect the top category given that fewer crews will come through the lower cost ranks. In addition, manufacturer support is likely to decrease commensurately.
Clearly a rapid rethink is required. The championship’s major players, including the FIA, commercial rights holder WRC Promoter GmbH, the current three teams and some prospective entrants are, of course, totally aware of the situation. Indeed, they confirmed to Racecar Engineering during Rally Belgium in August that they are collectively investigating various solutions.
Spider web
Fortunately, the current spaceframe concept whereby a percentile ‘top hat’ is fitted over the chassis in whatever shape or form a manufacturer elects provides a solid base, so the real conundrum lies in choosing the best power unit for the category.
This, though, is the hard part. For starters they face the now-standard choice of two power unit options, namely ICE or BEV. Thereafter it gets more complex. Within these two categories there are a raft of further options such as range extenders, ICEs powered by e-fuels or hydrogen, potentially complemented by battery hybrid elements, or the powering up of batteries via standard electric sources or hydrogen fuel cells.
Compounding the issue is the point that virtually every prospective manufacturer has a different take on the energy solution of the future. Even where the stars align they are at different stages of development. Ask Ford about the future and the answer is likely electric; ask Toyota the same question and they are likely to point to the Prius hybrid or the H2 ICE-powered Yaris GR that ran selected demonstration stages in Belgium.
Hyundai would likely go with fuel cells, as would Honda were it to enter WRC, while if Audi (or another VW Group brand) joins the WRC Rally1 fray they will probably push for a range-extender solution as per the Four Rings’ Dakar entry. Then there are myriad Chinese electric-only brands who will surely one day be attracted into WRC at some level if the FIA chooses an appropriate powertrain.
Power supply
There is another consideration that causes additional headaches for the decision makers. Rallies are usually staged through remote areas where the chances of finding sufficient high voltage chargers or hydrogen tanks are slim. Indeed, between their demonstration runs Toyota discreetly trucked the H2 Yaris to Brussels for gas recharging. Now consider a 20-50-strong field racing for three days solid through the wilds of Kenya, snow of Sweden or mountains around Monte Carlo.
‘So far we’ve had a city car (Yaris), fivedoor hatchback (Hyundai i10) and a crossover (Puma) win this year,’ says Robert Reid, FIA Deputy President for Sport and world champion co-driver in 2001. ‘There is no reason why [the spaceframe concept] can’t be extended to other manufacturers, so I think we’ve got the basis of something [for the future].
‘By the end of this year, the target that I’ve given to the WRC people is to work out what [we need] for 2025.’ That might be an interim solution for 2025/6 followed by battery technology in 2027. Then, though, he adds another layer to the challenge: ‘There are also some manufacturers who are interested in coming now with something electric.’
The man tasked with the WRC overhaul by the FIA is the governing body’s Rally Director, Andrew Wheatley. Formerly Business Development Manager for Malcolm Wilson’s M-Sport operation which operates Ford’s WRC programme, the Briton is perfectly qualified to expand on the championship’s future plans from commercial, regulatory and manufacturer perspectives.
In an exclusive interview with Racecar Engineering, Wheatley says: ‘When you look back to 10 years ago, the talk was “Do we make it a two-litre, 1600cc; two-wheel drive or four-wheel drive?”
‘Now the opportunities are so wide you need to be some sort of mind reader to see what’s going on [in the automotive sector] and we have this huge opportunity at the FIA to be able to identify which products work best in which environment.
‘Electric was perfect for Rallycross as the events are run in heats. If you look at cross country, you have range extender, you have petrol, you have diesel, you have synthetic fuels, you have two-wheel drive, and fourwheel drive and they’re all competing in the same event. You’ve got vehicles derived from production vehicles and things derived from people’s imagination.’
The issue is, though, that cross-country marathons last for up to two weeks, whereas rally stages are short and sharp, with two cars finishing within a tenth of a second on the same stage. This year each of the three manufacturers has taken home top honours and any equivalence formula is unlikely to deliver the same level of intense competition. Thus, whatever is decided upon needs to tick all boxes, or WRC risk losing popularity.
‘If we want to try and keep that level of competition, we need to pick a technology and focus towards it,’ believes Wheatley. ‘That doesn’t mean to say that there couldn’t be different classes that could do different technologies, but at the pointy end of the competition there needs to be probably one technology. At the moment we are talking with the manufacturers that are both the current stakeholders in rallying, and potentially future stakeholders to understand what their thoughts are.’
Wilson, who has been in the rally business as both a successful WRC driver and team owner for over 40 years, admits to genuinely not knowing the solution, pointing to the fact that ‘[Fewer] manufacturers are now producing a 1.6 IC engine that you can run in [feeder] categories. The clearest [solution] for me at the moment is probably Rally1, with what we’ve got now with this chassis, this safety cage structure.’
That implies rolling over the current regulations for another year or two, but that simply kicks the can down the road. The other issue is costs. Wilson is adamant that any WRC formula needs to reduce costs. Current Rally1 cars come in at more than 700 000 Euros, in line with the Toyota Hilux Dakar featured in the January edition of Racecar Engineering, but any new-fangled power unit technologies are unlikely to decrease costs.
That said, to delay the decision might lead to a wider the choice of powertrains available, and lower costs are likely given the present rate of change for alternate energies. Equally, WRC has to look at least five years
The WRC has introduced hybrid technology this year, but it’s an interim solution and a more permanent solution must come soon
What is the Toyota Yaris H2 like to drive?
Racecar Engineering quizzed four-time WRC champion Juha Kankunnen and Toyota President Akio Toyoda, who co-drove the car and raced one in Japan, about driving the Toyota Yaris H2 after they completed a set of stages in Belgium.
‘You have to compare it to a standard GR Yaris, [and] the engine is different, there is more torque and maybe a little bit more power,’ he explained. ‘I was changing gears all of the time and it was going to rev limiter straight away, the response is good from the engine, surprisingly good.’
There was, though, a diesel-like ‘knocking’ after startup, which decreased as the four-cylinder warmed up.
Indeed, he admitted to being pleasantly surprised by throttle response, saying; ‘I thought it would be less [responsive] and lazy but it is quicker than the standard car, and there is no difference in engine braking because it is still [like] the petrol engine.’
Asked about the potential adoption of H2 in rallying and the wider industry, Akio Toyoda admitted that a lack of infrastructure was likely to be the main impediment. ‘Hydrogen or electricity, we kind of need some infrastructure,’ he said. ‘We have a hydrogen station in the only city of Belgium (Brussels), so we need some kind of infrastructure. However, if we move to this kind of power unit, if we continue with it and all the people feel the same [opinions], then we can make a future together.’
Kankunnen, though, believes firmly that hydrogen ICE is WRC’s future. ‘Rallies are too long for full electric cars plus they are very heavy and they have no noise, but if you have clean fuel like hydrogen, I think it will be the future for rallying,’ he said.
Toyota Gazoo Racing is progressing with hydrogen combustion technology to replace the current engines and believes it will provide an option for the future of the World Rally Championship
ahead, yet cannot afford to be left behind through the wrong choices. But who knows, a miracle solid state 100kW battery weighing 200 kilogrammes may be on the horizon, as could be a sudden breakthrough on the e-fuel front.
Hydrogen debate
Speaking to Racecar Engineering during the recent FIA Gala Awards evening JariMatti Latvala, team boss of the (double) championship-winning Toyota Gazoo WRC team, made no secret of the fact that his company’s future rally car would preferably be hydrogen-powered via an ICE engine as demonstrated in Belgium and raced in Japanese endurance events.
‘During Rally Belgium, we tested this H2 hydrogen car with Juha Kankunnen and [company boss] Akio Toyoda,’ said the Finn, himself a former 18-time WRC winner. ‘Whenever we think about sustainability, for sure we have [taken] great steps in motorsport with these hybrids and with e-fuels, but if we think about the future, and we need to think about it, I believe that hydrogen could be one option.
‘But is it ready in three four to years’ time? I’m not sure about that and I can’t give you an answer about how many years it could take, but it certainly has potential because I was myself driving on the Fuji race circuit this season with the H2 Corolla.
‘When you have an internal combustion engine which is like in a [current] rally car but it is working with hydrogen I think this is a great way to continue with a motorsport [category] which has the sounds and you have the same [sensation], with a proper engine but zero emissions.’
Hyundai WRC Team’s former Head of Powertrain and now Deputy Team Principal Julien Moncet envisages extending the current formula for another year. ‘There are several options for 2025,’ he admits. ‘First of all, we [could] extend the current regulations with a combustion engine and wait for a few more years to maybe give us some more time for a bigger step with new technology.’
The Frenchman believes that a ‘more efficient or more powerful hybrid system than is currently available could provide a better balance between a combustion engine and electric, like [future] Formula 1 it could be 50/50.’ But he admits some current and potential entrants would prefer to go down the full electric route sooner rather than later.
‘I guess most of the manufacturers would have interest is that right now, but we [WRC] are not ready for that in 2025. Maybe in the future or longer term, but not right now,’ he says, adding that the teams need to work with the FIA to develop even better sustainable fuels as a matter of priority.
Asked about hydrogen, Moncet references fuel cells. ‘It is an area we have an interest,’ he says. ‘Our brand is investing a lot and is quite active with hydrogen fuel cell technology, but we have as well the hydrogen combustion engine technology.’
Commonality of thought
Although the parties currently have divergent thoughts about the future of WRC, they do agree that they need more than three manufacturers. However, where does the optimum level of ‘works’ entrants lie? ‘I’ve worked for 25 years in WRC, and I’ve seen where we’ve had two and I’ve seen where we’ve had seven,’ says Wheatley. ‘For me, the best was when we had four; five is great, because it’s an insurance.’ Crucially, he adds that when there were seven entrants, three failed to score a podium. It is vital that all teams are in with a chance. ‘Otherwise, if you haven’t got a podium finish, it’s incredibly difficult to go back and justify to your board of directors why the company is doing this.’
Therein lies the crux. Any new powertrain formula needs to attract more manufacturers and create a larger fan base, particularly among emerging audiences, via a better spectacle delivered by relevant technologies. These targets are a massive ask, but the biggest challenges facing the WRC are to achieve these targets while simultaneously reducing costs of entry and operating budgets in the face of new technology.
According to regulations a final decision needs to be taken within the next three months. The chances are therefore that the current rules are extended for another year whilst the optimum solution is sought.
