Could Lancia be on its way back to the WRC? Here’s what we know

Excitement of rallying fans went into overdrive in recent weeks as a new rally car broke cover for the first time.

In the picture-perfect mountains, a Lancia Ypsilon was spotted with images and videos quickly making it onto social media and video platforms shortly after. This wasn’t the Rally4 version that has been in competition already this year - this was something brand new. This model had four-wheel-drive, this model resembled the Rally2 and potential incoming 2027 regulations for the top line of the FIA World Rally Championship.

Could Lancia be on its way back to the top-flight?

We dissect what we know and what could be worth reading into. Even just as a fan… it's hard to not get excited about a new car getting put through its paces!

Stellantis Group Shuffle

First off - let’s look at the bigger automotive picture. The Stellantis Group has a plethora of motoring marques under its manufacturing umbrella - several of which have a foot in one motorsport camp or another. 

Peugeot despite much speculation has committed to its 9X8 LMH Hypercar project for the World Endurance Championship following the signing of New Zealander Nick Cassidy for 2026 - possibly with a view on 2027 too.

Citroen, having pulled out of the WRC full-time at the end of 2019 have been in a Customer Racing support mode in the WRC2 and European Championship categories ever since. Stellantis is set to replace the Maserati brand in the Formula E front line with the Citroen badge- keeping all personnel in place. 

Since the mid 2000s when Citroen and Peugeot went to war in the WRC, there is now a shift to avoid clashes of the ‘home’ brands competing against each other, which leaves a nice open space in the rallying circle with a team ready and waiting to get to work.

When looking at the suite of brands at Stellantis - many have rich rallying heritage. Abarth, Fiat, Opel, Vauxhall would all be perfect - but there is one that stands out above the rest. Lancia.

Veloce

The Legendary Lancia Locker 

One name springs fear into rivals and romantic flutters in the hearts of rally fans world wide. From the late sixties to the early nineties, Lancia was there and was there winning, sometimes even dominating. Whether it be the Fulvia, Stratos, 037, S4, Delta HF or Delta Ingrale models, victories came on every surface.

Although its last win in the top-flight came in San Remo in 1992, Carlos Sainz senior managed to wrestle a by then outdated Jolly Club run HF Intergrale to one more podium in Greece 1993. They may have been absent from the sport for over 30 years, but they are still to this day the Godfather at the top table with 10 manufacturer titles.

First Steps Back

Lancia made its announcement that whey would return to rallying with the front-wheel-drive Ypsilon Rally4 HF at the end of 2024 - ready for 2025. Thanks to having the Peugeot 208 Rally4 in the stable, many components and leanings were taken into the new Italian car.

It was a modest launch, but it got the rallying fraternity fired-up pretty quickly! Especially when they wheeled out Lancia legend and double world champion Miki Biasion to test drive and pose for some throwback photos on a Martini striped inspired car!

According to Race & Rally - the UK and Ireland Stellantis rallying dealer - the initial production run of the Ypsilon Rally4 was so popular all cars were sold and allocated within hours - forcing a long waiting list for the popular supermini outside of Italy.

The demand was there and success was also starting to show domestically in Italy, but most recently on the Czech round of the FIA European Rally Championship - Craig Rahill took the Junior ERC win with a Ypsilon - its biggest win to date. Lancia was making waves.

Jigsaw Pieces 

The Rally4 car was the perfect way to reintroduce the brand. With perhaps only modest competition in the class, if success and demand comes in the front-wheel-drive category - what’s to say that wouldn’t translate into a Rally2 four-wheel drive version?

A four-wheel-drive version of the Ypsilon has now been seen and what starts to get the rumour mill into overdrive are three stickers on the car. HF and Intergrale harking back to the glory days, but most importantly on the roof - Rally2 - this could be it - all the ingredients ready for a true comeback.

There has been no public comment from Lancia or Stellantis at the time of writing, but a lot can be read into the first outing. Confirmed to be behind the wheel - Yoann Bonato - a vastly experienced French national champion, ERC event winner and a long-term servant and test driver to… you guessed it…Citroen.

The car was seen in wet conditions on a short Tarmac road. Unlike the Rally4 Lancia which sounds identical to its Peugeot cousin, the Rally2 Ypsilon however has a slightly different exhaust note to the Citroen C3 signalling a new project and new direction perhaps?

Could this be a car destined for national championships, or for the bigger 2027 WRC picture?

It would be a shame if it was just for domestic use, but with the new regulations and cost reductions, for a smaller firm like Lancia the WRC would well and truly be on the radar.

Could we see this car next year in WRC2? We have a feeling we might be seeing this at some point in 2026 but most likely focusing on a full attack in 2027 when the new regulations are to roll out. 

On a side note, our interest piqued when Yohan Rossel - lead charger for Citroen in the WRC2 support category, made some interesting comments at the end of Shakedown for Rally Finland last month. Whilst complementing his rival Oliver Solberg on his Latvia win after a one-off drive in a Rally1 car a round before, the Frenchman then went on to say whilst trying to hide a smile…

“Maybe we fight with him in the top class in the future.” I am no body language or facial expression expert but read into this if you will. It looked like the face of a man who knew something we didn’t. Maybe he was made aware of the Lancia project or had driven the car himself, at this stage - who knows. The Frenchman who has two category wins and three further podiums under his belt is one of the drivers to look out for and on the Citroen books since 2019 - he surely would be a shoe in for a seat perhaps? 

Is this real life, or stuff of fantasy?

Maybe we are reading too much into it, but we love to speculate and get excited about something possibly big in the pipeline. What we will say is - the 2027 regulations, which are a shift closer to the now Rally2 spec cars, have already started to gather interest from manufacturers looking at a more cost effective global showcase. If there ever was a time for return.

The time is now.

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