Here is the thing about racing: sometimes a blank sheet of paper turns into a beast of a machine. Project Rally One has just broken cover on Friday at the Rally4Passion event in Huy, Belgium, showing off an all-black car that looks ready for business. This is the very first privately led constructor project to emerge under the WRC27 regulations, which open the championship's top category up to independent tuners alongside traditional manufacturers starting next season.
Let me tell you, the machine has already put in the hard graft. It completed five days and approximately 750 kilometres of asphalt running with former WRC event winner Bruno Thiry and Stéphane Lefebvre handling the initial development work. According to motorsport engineer Lionel Hansen, who leads the project, that running happened entirely without a reliability issue, keeping them firmly on schedule for FIA homologation on 1 November.
And the schedule does not slow down now. Hansen explained that further asphalt test sessions will follow next week before the programme moves onto gravel in October, where Teemu Suninen is set to take over driving duties. The ultimate objective? To enter two Rally One cars on the 2027 Rallye Monte-Carlo. Hansen admits it is a demanding challenge, but insists it remains a realistic one with plenty still to happen between now and then.
Underneath the bespoke bodywork developed and constructed by Paris-based Faster Racing, the car packs a VAG Group-badged engine related to the unit found in the Škoda Fabia RS Rally2, heavily modified to meet WRC27 regulations. The operation itself is growing fast, boasting 21 full-time staff and having brought in experienced rally figure Alain Penasse as Sporting Director. While no drivers have been officially confirmed yet for those proposed Monte-Carlo entries, Penasse noted that discussions are already under way.
The powers that be are clearly watching closely. WRC Promoter's Chief Operating Officer Julien Vial welcomed the milestone, praising the ambition of bringing a project from an idea to a physical car with a new identity. Meanwhile, FIA Chief Technical and Safety Officer Xavier Mestelan Pinon called the public unveiling an important milestone as the project looks ahead to its major technical target of homologation.
