DirtFish understands Lancia will homologate an Ypsilon Rally2 in time for next year's Monte Carlo Rally
Photography by AdRallye & Girardo & Co. Archive
Words by David Evans, DirtFish Head of Media
DirtFish sources have indicated Lancia will homologate an Ypsilon Rally2 from January 1 next year.
And yes, you did read that right. Lancia. Rally2 car. Next season.
We have reached out to Lancia and Stellantis Motorsport, but no official comment has been forthcoming. So, what do we know? Well, we know Yoann Bonato tested the car in France last month and we know it’s a car which comprises – unsurprisingly – Citroën C3 Rally2 underpinnings.
One source in the Italian media told DirtFish: “We knew something is happening for next year and this is it… Rally2 Ypsilon. There are many voices coming from the [Stellantis] Group, but nobody is putting their name on the words.
“Is this Lancia coming back to the top of the World Rally Championship? For sure not. For sure not for next year. But maybe this could be the good platform for 2027?”
WRC27 regulations are very much based off Rally2 regulations, so homologating a base car next season could be a sensible move. Stellantis Motorsport’s customer racing manager Didier Clément met with FIA president Mohammed Ben Sulayem at last week’s Rally del Paraguay. Ben Sulayem has talked openly about his desire to see one of the Stellantis brands at the top of the world championship.
Lancia isn't expected to run a works program for a Rally2 car, but what about 2027? (Photo: AdRallye)
Current indications are that the Ypsilon Rally2 could make a good privateer car, but it’s thought unlikely to run as a factory effort in 2026 – even if Lancia’s sporting director Eugenio Franzetti has shown himself to be a big fan of the WRC’s top tier in the past.
Lancia hasn’t competed as a manufacturer in the WRC since 1991, but did return with a homologated Ypsilon Rally4 (basically a rebodied Peugeot 208 Rally4) which has delivered class success at home and in the European Rally Championship.
Andrea Adamo managed Hyundai’s customer racing department before taking over the running of the whole manufacturer and taking it to two world titles. More than a world championship winner, Adamo is a proud Italian.
“It would be easy to get carried away with this test,” Adamo told DirtFish. “I don’t know what’s going on, but a private car selling to private Italian drivers who enjoy to romanticise this label could be a commercial success – and if it’s a C3 underneath then we know it would be a good car.
Lancia's last works effort in rallying was back in 1991, when Juha Kankkunen won his third WRC title
“Look at somebody like [Andrea] Crugnola, winning Italian championship rallies in a Citroën… if he was winning rallies in a Lancia this could be a big story in Italy. There’s a marketing case for this, but like I said, it needs to be kept in context and DirtFish shouldn’t get too excited!”
Too late. Sorry boss.
We are excited. And why not? Granted, Rally2’s not Rally1, but the prospect of a Lancia topping to tier two timesheets in Monte Carlo come January is a deeply mouth-watering prospect.
Will it happen? Watch this space. And don’t stop believing.
Words:David Evans
Tags: Lancia, Lancia Ypsilon Rally2, Rally2
Publish Date September 2, 2025 DirtFish 
https://dirtfish-editorial.s3-accelerate.amazonaws.com/2025/09/XY7QYqb8-Screenshot-2025-09-02-at-17.55.23-780x526.png September 2, 2025
Up Next
