In this section we have talked at length about the importance of competition as a test bench in the automotive sector. Many times we think of that previous development between Formula 1 or Formula E circuits, now that we are talking about electrification, but Rallyes have always been the key for firms with production cars . Especially before the project of a hothatch or GTI like a Hyundai i20 Not a Toyota GR Yaris. What’s more, the manufacturers must launch a production vehicle on which to base the WRC (World Rally Car) that they will offer to the teams that next season. It is logical, then, that the process of hybridization of the car park also reaches the special stages of the World Cup. It does so, definitively, this 2022 in the first FIA World Rally Championship with cars powered by hybrid engines .
There have been three brands that have opted for this format: Toyota, Hyundai and Ford. The Americans do it with the Ford Puma Hybrid Rally1 that has been the talk of the town since its inception. It will debut next February 20, until Sunday 23, at the legendary Rallye Monte-Carlo, a historic event for a moment that marks a before and after in the world of four wheels. The M-Sport car, the Ford team, was unveiled just a few hours ago and has left us speechless.
The decoration of this hybrid WRC is spectacular , with a specific decoration for the season that will pay tribute to a union, that of Ford and M-Sport, with 25 years of championships behind them. Some world championships in which they have won seven titles at the hands of the most recognized pilots on the globe. A season, and a team, that will welcome the return of the French legend Sébastien Loeb, after passing through the Dakar.
Our national driver, Dani Sordo, will get into the new Hyundai i20 N Rally1 based on the production i20 N , one of the most successful cars of last year. He will share the wheel with Oliver Solberg, completing a Motorsport team made up of Thierry Neuville and Ott Tänak . The Toyota GR Yaris WRC Rally1 will not have Sébastien Ogier for the entire calendar, so it will be Elfyn Evans who adopts that figure . Of course, it will not be easy with Kalle Rovanperä as a partner, the prodigal son of Harri Rovanperä.
