JUMP START
NOT SINCE AUDI ASKED IF anybody minded four-wheel drive and turbocharging being used on the stages has such significant change come to the World Rally Championship. From the series’ inception in 1973, internal combustion has powered it every inch of the way. January’s Rally Monte-Carlo will change all of that. Hybrid has arrived. The next generation is ready.
When Sébastien Ogier leads the class of 2022 through Casino Square at the start of the season, the full force of the so-called Rally1 regulations will be felt. Or heard. Or not heard, to be precise.
Crossing the start ramp in full electric mode means, for the first time ever, the WRC cars won’t disturb the early-evening Martinis outside the Café de Paris. The moment will be silent. And seminal.
World Rally Cars, the top category since 1997, has been replaced by Rally1 – the FIA’s way of simplifying rallying’s pyramid; now, Rally1 is the muddy equivalent to circuit-bound Formula 1.
The only thing that stays the same from last season is the engine.
