Over its 22 years of existence,. the M-Sport Ford World Rally Championship (WRC) team has enjoyed its fair share of success, most recently securing its 300th consecutive FIA WRC manufacturer points finish – the first time that has happened in any form of motorsport. However, things have changed considerably over the years in every form of motorsport – WRC included – and some forthcoming updates may actually prompt Ford to ditch WRC altogether, it seems.
In a recent interview with Motorsport.com, Ford Performance Motorsports global director Mark Rushbrook said that the automaker wants to retain the “opportunity to compete as a manufacturer,” where it has secured 94 wins – the second-most in WRC history. However, Rushbrook also added that the company will only commit to that series beyond 2026 if forthcoming changes to technical regulations for the 2027 season – which are expected to be revealed this December – are “right for everybody.”
“What happens in Rally1 and Rally2 has to be decided, what is the future, and that’s where we need to make our decision,” Rushbrook said. “We want to [commit], it just needs to be right for everybody. We definitely want to have the full pyramid with rally racing. But it seems like different manufacturers want different things, so if the FIA can write the regulations such that you’ve got the ability to like in Dakar where you can go with combustion engines, naturally aspirated turbo, you can go with a hybrid, if you got that opportunity in rallying as well you can attract more manufacturers.”
“Technical parity which is what Dakar does now with the equivalence of technology and with the torque sensors on the [vehicles]. So I think it’s things like that,” he added. “But then there is also the promotional side of it, aside from the technical rules, making sure that it is engaging for fans to really embrace the sport.” Thus far, FIA is expected to propose that future racers utilize the same sort of safety cell as existing Rally1 cars, which would reduce costs by a considerable margin for manufacturers, and enable them to create cars based around B-Class, C-Class, and production compact SUV models.
In the meantime, Ford and M-Sport continue to enjoy success in WRC competition, where the duo recently debuted the new non-hybrid Puma Rally1 racer at Rally Poland. There, M-Sport Ford claimed another podium finish, while the new non-hybrid racer finished fifth in its competitive debut as well.
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Comment
Implementing a system similar to the one IMSA uses would certainly work. It largely neutralizes varying driveline configuration advantages, and refocuses the events performances on the drivers. I believe it’s called Balance of Power.