The WRC is currently facing uncertainty over its technical rules for next season after the FIA proposed changes that have been strongly opposed by manufacturers.

In February, the FIA released its vision for the short and long term future of the championship, which included proposed changes to sporting, technical and promotional aspects of the series.

While teams have been largely supportive of the majority of the proposed vision, Toyota, Hyundai and M-Sport Ford collectively wrote to the FIA requesting the current Rally1 technical rules remain in place instead of the FIA’s proposed changes. The tweaks to the rules include the removal of hybrid power, a reduction in the aero, achieved by a modified rear wing, and a smaller air restrictor, to bring the cars closer to Rally2 vehicles.

The proposal also includes a plan to introduce an upgrade kit to Rally2 car, which has not been met positively by Rally1 and Rally2 manufacturers.

The idea behind the proposal is to increase the number of cars competing at the sharp end of rallies while the move is seen by the FIA as the first step towards the introduction of new Rally1 regulations for 2027 and beyond.

Manufacturers believe the FIA should focus on 2027 having raised concerns about the short timeframe and the outlay of resources needed to develop revised Rally1 cars, which prompted the push-back letter.

Speaking at last week’s Croatia Rally, team bosses labelled the 2025 rules limbo as a “critical” situation that needs to be resolved with manufacturers required to communicate the future to their boards.

Following a two-day WRC Commission meeting earlier this month, the FIA is now confident that it is edging closer to a compromise with May now the target to deliver its decision to teams ahead of the June World Motor Sport Council meeting.

Photo by: McKlein / Motorsport Images

“The position we are in at the moment is we need to find harmony with the manufacturers and honestly I don’t think we are so far away,” said Wheatley at a media roundtable including Motorsport.com.

“We have another World Motor Sport Council coming in June where we have to make the preparations six weeks before and we are now right in the process and we are meeting constantly with the manufacturers and exchanging ideas.

“The latest date [to communicate the technical rules] is the June World Motor Sport Council. There is an impression that there is a war between the FIA and the manufacturers and there is not. We had a meeting in Geneva that wasn’t 100% negative, we had a very good two-day discussion about a number of topics.

“We are fully understanding of the position of where the manufacturers are. They just want to do nothing, nothing at all.”

When asked if the plan is to work on a compromise on regulations with the manufacturers, he added: “I think that is where we are at the moment. That is where the discussion is. We have all the options on the table. We know what the target is and what the aim is.”

Wheatley also clarified the three reasons why the FIA has taken such an intervention to propose changes for 2025 and 2026 instead of focusing on just 2027.

He added: “There were three key elements, the first was Pirelli not committing [to a new tyre deal]. The second, the drivers not wanting to do the championship and the third was, and we always have this discussion about Ford whether they are in or out, but there was an additional layer and that was about Hyundai continuing [in the WRC]. That has been a fundamental change in the discussion going forward.”

The WRC Commission is set to meet again on April 25.

Ogier and co-driver Vincent Landais triumphed following an incident-filled Sunday that saw the pair inherit the lead after Hyundai driver Neuville and Toyota’s Evans both crashed in stage 18 of 20.

Ogier took the first win of his 2024 partial campaign from Evans by 9.7s, while Neuville had to settle for third [+45.9s] after his costly error. 

The battle for victory developed into a three-way fight from Friday’s opening leg as Neuville started strongly and took advantage of opening the road to surge into the lead.

After stage six Neuville opened up a 10.1s advantage over Evans before witnessing his lead reduce to 0.1s after picking up a front-right puncture caused by a rock in the middle of the road towards the end of the stage.

Evans managed to edge into the lead on stage seven but Neuville fought back on the day’s final test to incredibly end Friday tied for the rally lead with Evans after 119.74 competitive kilometres.

The stage however belonged to Ogier, who was 9.2s quicker than his nearest rival, a time that hauled himself into the victory fight to sit 6.6s behind Neuville and Evans.

The intense fight for the lead continued into Saturday when the expected heavy rain failed to arrive and tyre decisions played a factor. Neuville’s decision to take more hard tyres compared to Evans and Ogier, who took more softs in anticipation of rain to arrive, proved the marginally correct call.

Elfyn Evans, Scott Martin, Toyota Gazoo Racing WRT Toyota GR Yaris Rally1

Photo by: Toyota Racing

However, the lead swapped between Neuville and Evans before the former produced blistering pace to win the final two stages of the day to move into a slender 4.9s lead. Ogier remained in third, 11.6s adrift after surviving two wild moments that could have ended in drama. 

But the battle took another turn on Sunday when Evans cut the deficit to 2.6s before the pair both made errors and ran into different grass banks on stage 18. Evans lost 19.6s following his impact that pitched the car into a spin, while Neuville shipped 23.3s after emerging from the bank with a damaged rear wing and no hybrid power on his i20 N. Neuville attributed the mistake to a late pacenote call. 

The unfolding drama handed Ogier the advantage and despite a brief visit to the grass bank in stage 19, the eight-time world champion held his nerve to claim a 59th WRC victory and his 100th podium.

Evans managed to secure 19 points, the same amount as Neuville. Evans continues to trail championship leader Neuville, who took nine stage wins this week, by six points.

Hyundai’s Ott Tanak finished a distant fourth overall [+58.6s] after struggling with the setup of his i20N. The Estonian did however walk away with an impressive 20 points after finishing second in the Super Sunday standings and setting the second fastest time on the Power Stage.

Toyota’s Takamoto Katsuta finished fifth [+1m55.5s] and ended Sunday’s classification fastest to claim seven points on top of two more from the Power Stage.

M-Sport’s Adrien Fourmaux had held fifth for the majority of the rally before clipping an anti-cut device in stage 18, which cost the Frenchman 16 minutes to repair his steering. Fourmaux reached the finish to bank his eight points for finishing fifth on Saturday, and then snatched a further five points from winning the Power Stage, to maintain third in the championship.

Adrien Fourmaux, Alexandre Coria, M-Sport Ford World Rally Team Ford Puma Rally1

Photo by: McKlein / Motorsport Images

Andreas Mikkelsen’s second Rally1 hybrid appearance for Hyundai ended in sixth [+4m01.0s] ahead of M-Sport’s Gregoire Munster [+5m11.0s], who enjoyed a clean rally.

In WRC2, Nikolay Gryazin took a comfortable 38.2s victory from Citroen team-mate Yohan Rossel.

Neuville’s co-driver Martijn Wydaeghe put down a proposition on the event’s recce after noticing that the final stage of the Saturday morning and afternoon loop featured a 9.11km stage.

Wydaeghe suggested that if Neuville posted two fastest times on the passes through the stage then he would buy a Porsche 911.

While Neuville was already eyeing the stage wins to help extend his lead in an intense head-to-head with Evans, the Belgian duly delivered two committed runs to win the stages on his way to opening up a slender 4.9s overall lead.

“It started on the recce because the last stage of the Saturday loop is 9.11km so I said at the start if you are able to do two fastest times on that stage, I was to buy a [Porsche] 911, but that was maybe a most stupid decision I took in my life. Let’s see [what happens],” Neuville’s co-driver Wydaeghe told Autosport.

“Of course, my target was to take the two fastest times in that stage that was clear but not for any prize,” smiled Neuville. “I knew if I did a good stage the time would be good, and we did a good stage and it was a bit messy towards the end as the hard tyre didn’t work but I was very happy when we got the message that we were fastest.

“I think everybody knew [what we were doing].”

Neuville’s efforts topped a faultless drive across Saturday’s eight stages, of which he set fastest times in five of the tests, amid a relentless battle with Evans, with the pair never split by more than 4.9s, having started the day tied for the lead.

Thierry Neuville, Martijn Wydaeghe, Hyundai World Rally Team Hyundai i20 N Rally1

Photo by: McKlein / Motorsport Images

“It is tough,” said Neuville when asked about the battle. “You know when the countdown clock goes down you know you are going for a real battle.

“I remember rallies of the past and now it is not like you can be a bit more careful on a few corners you have to be perfect everywhere. You cannot just say let’s brake five metres more early you need to be flat out on every corner without making a mistake, it is tough.”

Hyundai team principal Cyril Abiteboul praised Neuville for his efforts behind the wheel but admitted there were plenty of nervous team members watching Saturday’s final stage as he attempted to win the challenge set by Wydaeghe.    

“I think the relationship between Thierry and Martijn is really nice to see,” Abiteboul told Autosport. 

“I think he was prepared to elevate the risk level at the end of the stage simply for the gamble with Martijn.

“We were all smiling, laughing, holding our breath and biting our nails as we could see that he was pushing very hard. I think it is good as you need to want something in sport today. I think Thierry wants it more than other drivers.

“We have a few cars in the Rally1 category but my gosh the level of competitiveness is mind blowing and indeed this fight between Thierry and Elfyn has bene pretty amazing, so hats off to Toyota and Elfyn they have been fantastic competitors, and they will remain to be tomorrow.

“It is super tight, but we got those provisional [178] points tonight which is great and a fantastic reward for Thierry and Martijn. It is clear they want to win this rally.”