Partnering with a manufacturer or constructing its own all-new World Rally Championship car for 2028 are options on the table for M-Sport to continue in rallying’s top tier.
The Ford squad’s future in the WRC beyond 2026 is yet to be officially confirmed, although it is expected the team will be present next year, competing with its Ford Fiesta Rally2. Under the FIA’s new technical framework, Rally2 cars will fight against the new WRC27 cars in one new class for 2027 at least.
M-Sport previously admitted that constructing an all-new WRC27 car under the FIA’s new cost capped formula for 2027 is unlikely due to a tight timeframe.
One other factor that has prevented the team from committing to the WRC’s future is the ongoing sale of the championship’s commercial rights and the WRC’s future direction under a proposed new promoter.
The sale process is understood to be in its final stages, with French automotive company Cosmobilis, led by former Lotus and McLaren Formula 1 team boss Eric Boullier, the leading candidate to take over the WRC’s commercial rights. This is a key detail that automotive manufacturers will weigh up when considering whether to commit to the championship.
While admitting the team’s plans are in limbo until this sale is completed, M-Sport team principal Richard Millener confirmed that preliminary work to build a new car has begun while the team weighs up its options. Working with Ford or another manufacturer, or becoming its own constructor, remain viable possibilities.
“Absolutely [all options are open for 2028], that is what the regulations were designed for and we haven’t made any allegiances anywhere. All those options exist and we are just waiting to see what will work best and what the longer-term future of the sport is,” Millener told Autosport.
“There is nothing dramatic going on but obviously there are a lot of things going on, ready to be unleashed should we get the right information.
“In terms of developing, we have done some minimal work to ensure if something comes along we are not starting from nothing. We have been looking at the very basics like the chassis and some feasibility studies on what body shape we would want, absolute basics.”
WRC 2027 Rally car
Partnering with a manufacturer appears to be the team’s preferred option, and Millener says communications with its current partner Ford, regarding the WRC’s future, are ongoing. M-Sport started its partnership with Ford in 1997, and ran the blue oval’s factory WRC team until 2012. It has developed Ford WRC cars ever since, running as a semi-works team. M-Sport does however operate Ford’s factory programme in the World Rally Raid Championship.
“Ford are always asking questions and we are always answering questions,” Millener added. “They [Ford] still have an interest in WRC as we are running the programme here, and the Rally Raid, and they discuss WRC when they are at Rally Raid events.
“There is a communication chamber. They are doing their job and weighing up every championship that is out there and they are doing a lot of championships. There is nothing groundbreaking to report sadly, but we are also looking at the feasibility studies of doing it on our own.
“For M-Sport to sign off on our own car and do our own thing, we still need to ensure the promoter sale is agreed and there is a plan for the next 25 years. We are not going to fire a lot of money into a project that maybe isn’t going to go as we planned.”
As for next year, M-Sport confirmed that there are no plans to further upgrade its Fiesta Rally2 car, which will be at the centre of any prospective WRC programme next year.
“There won’t be any plans [to do further upgrades]. We did a big upgrade at the start of this year. We definitely feel the car is competitive enough to go up against the other Rally2 cars. To make big changes to a car for one season doesn’t really make sense for us,” Millener added.
“We can never guarantee anything, but I can guarantee we don’t want to not be there. The Rally2 car is a more achievable budget to find. I would hope we can be there with that. The goal is not just to worry about 2027, it is about how we get a new car, as that is the future and it is more important than doing one year with the Rally2 car.”
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– The Autosport.com Team
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