Lancia officially launched its Ypsilon HF Integrale Rally2 in Paris on Tuesday - here's what we learned
Photography by Stellantis & Red Bull
Words by Alasdair Lindsay, Head of Digital Strategy
A somewhat coy press conference at Stellantis Motorsport’s headquarters on the outskirts of Paris, France, revealed a few details about its upcoming WRC2 program that begins next year – but held short of the big news.
Any hope of a driver announcement – perhaps a confirmation that Yohan Rossel would continue to spearhead Stellantis’ rallying efforts at world level – were dashed. Drivers TBA. And which WRC events Lancia will turn up at? Beyond the season-opening Monte Carlo Rally, that’s also a mystery – though Lancia has said it’ll be a total of eight events in WRC2 next year.
Here’s what we have gleaned so far.
François Wales, head of Stellantis Motorsport’s customer racing division, was in no mood to temper expectations. Lancia’s objective is clear: winning is the only option.
“Our ambitions are quite clear,” said Wales. “We are competitors. We are just here to win the rallies. The clear ambition is to have one of our drivers clinch the WRC2 title next season.”
Yohan Rossel is expected to drive one of the Lancias in WRC2 next year
To do that will require a top-shelf line-up. Rossel is one of the expected names. The big question is who will be alongside him in the sister Ypsilon HF Integrale.
“The 2025 season is not yet complete, so we are not in a position for contractual reasons to reveal the identity of our top drivers,” said Wales. “Stay tuned, I hope that within a few weeks, we’ll be back to you with the reveal of the lineup.”
DirtFish did its best to press Wales on the topic of drivers. He would only budge to a certain degree.
“Our target will be the drivers already at the top of the category,” said Wales.
But does that mean looking outside the existing Stellantis line-up? Jean-Marc Finot, the vice president of Stellantis Motorsport, stepped into reply: “The description of the driver is a championship contender,” he said.
Outside of WRC2, Andrea Mabellini is in contention to spearhead an effort in the European Rally Championship, after missing out on the championship title at this year’s season finale.
Four-time Italian champion Andrea Crugnola is also expected to move from the Citroën C3 Rally2 to the new Ypsilon HF Integrale, with his team F.P.F. Sport holding strong ties to Stellantis. Wales also indicated a factory presence at Rally2 level was on the cards for the French championship.
While it has the same engine, the Ypsilon is not simply a C3 with a new bodyshell
Lancia has stressed repeatedly that its new Ypsilon Rally2 isn’t a redressed Citroën. That’s partly true.
There’s two key reasons the C3 is being phased out: one, production of the car the Rally2 version was based on has ended. But two, homologation jokers weren’t sufficient to make the performance enhancements Stellantis had in mind for its Rally2 offering. By homologating a brand new car, it could recycle base components from the C3 to the Ypsilon but bring a raft of upgrades to it.
The engine is the same base 1.6-liter unit which was in the C3 with minor fettling; the big change on the running gear side is the exhaust, which has been redone to accommodate the road car’s centrally-positioned setup.
The bigger changes are in the software: reworked engine maps for torque and throttle have been a big focus of the Ypsilon’s development. Gear ratios and differentials have also been modified.
The chassis is brand new compared to its predecessor. Gone is the PSA-based PSA PF1 platform, which is being phased out across the board, replaced with the Stellantis CHP (common modular platform).
Orders for the Ypsilon Rally2 open today
The order book for the new Ypsilon HF Integrale Rally2 opens today, Wednesday November 19. The queue to acquire one looks like it’s going to be long – potentially more than 100 orders by Lancia’s optimistic estimate.
Delivering those orders when each chassis takes two weeks to prepare before any hardware is fitted makes turning orders around expediently a tough ask.
What’s certain is two cars will be on the start line of the Monte Carlo Rally in January: DirtFish saw one of the chassis destined for the WRC season-opener in one of the race bays at Stellantis Motorsport’s customer racing workshop.
Words:Alasdair Lindsay
Tags: Lancia, Lancia Ypsilon Rally2, WRC, WRC 2026, WRC2
Publish Date November 19, 2025 DirtFish 
https://dirtfish-editorial.s3-accelerate.amazonaws.com/2025/11/9FBxEyLj-LANCIAYPSILONHFINTEGRALE-780x520.jpg November 19, 2025
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