Lancia returns to WRC to rebuild its image: Rally1 already in the sights

After launching in 2025 with Rally 4, Lancia makes its return to the World Rally Championship for the 2026 season. In WRC-2, the Italian manufacturer revives its long history in the discipline, more than thirty years after the last roar of the Delta. Anyone who loves rallying can only rejoice at the return of the "Lancia Corse HF" badge to the world stage, even if today's WRC has nothing in common with the madness of Group B or even Group A.

Running from January 22 to 25, 2026, the Monte-Carlo Rally will feature 17 special stages totalling 339.15 timed kilometers, on a course that will put crews and cars to the test. Typical Monte-Carlo conditions - snow, ice, sub-zero temperatures - will make race management particularly tricky, with tire strategy likely to prove decisive. An ideal test to put the new car through its paces.

Ypsilon HF Intégrale Rally2 takes the plunge

For the occasion, a launch party was organized at the Lancia dealership of the Mozart Autos group in Nice, in the presence of Lancia president Roberta Zerbi, former two-time world rally champion Miki Biasion and a delegation from the Scuderia Lancia Intégrale, a club of enthusiasts who had brought along some beautiful Delta cars for the occasion.

Alongside the new Ypsilon HF (280 hp), the dealership exhibited a Ypsilon WRC-2, like the one that started the Monte-Carlo, in the hands of Yohan Rossel and Nikokai Gryazin. Inheriting the experience acquired by Stellantis Motorsport and Citroën Racing, notably on the Citroën C3, the Ypsilon HF Intégrale seems well born. In any case, it looks good, with its muscular stance, wide fender kit and assertive spoilers, while standing firmly on its wheels. Roberta Zerbi has confirmed sales of over 30 units already, in Italy, France and Portugal.

Rally1 in your sights?

Interestingly, the brand seems very enthusiastic about the new WRC Rally 1 regulations due to come into force in 2027. Focused on cost reduction and greater freedom for body designers, this 2027 WRC will turn its back on the current costly Rally 1s, relying instead on "super-Rally 2s". This could soon lead to a commitment from Lancia, which is counting heavily on the WRC to rebuild its image and regain notoriety. We took the opportunity to chat with Roberta Zerbi.

Roberta Zerbi: I've been in charge of the Lancia brand since November 2025 and I'm very happy, because Lancia is a brand that's really written into Italian history, I'd say.

Italpassion: Precisely what does this brand represent for you?

RZ: If I have to use two words, it's elegance and boldness. Lancia has always made cars that are beautiful, innovative, and then become classics too. It's a resilient brand that has gone through very different phases from its birth to the present day. Starting in 2021, we began to rethink the rebirth of Lancia and the possibility of returning abroad too, because we've only been in Italy since 2014. It's true that the current car is very different from the previous generation, which was really a "city-car" that women really liked. On the other hand, I believe that the Y is much more in the spirit of the times, and above all, represents much better the two aspects of Lancia, on the one hand elegance, but on the other hand also sportiness.

Italpassion: You've only recently taken up your duties at Lancia, and Lancia's return to the WRC is an incredible coincidence.

RZ: It's a great challenge, it's good luck. But it's something the team has been preparing for all last year, in parallel with the launch of the Lancia Trophy, only on the domestic market. Around forty teams took part in the Lancia Trophy, and the demand was great, because it's something that Lancia enthusiasts have been waiting for. In November, when I arrived, the first thing I did was present the car that would take part in the WRC2 rally. Rallying isn't just about a link with the past. I understand that "lancists" are attached to Lancia's glorious past, but we also have to think about the present and the future. But it's a great platform to talk to a lot of people, and also to get a bit closer to young people. It's a rebirth from the ground up.

Italpassion: Micky Biasion may have already been talking about 2027, with the new regulations for rally 1. Could Lancia be thinking about this very soon?

RZ: Yes, that's right. That would be another step, because both WRC 2 and 1 could merge.

Italpassion: The new WRC is all about cost reduction. Do you think it's going in the right direction in terms of budget?

RZ: Yes, because at the end of the day, you have to understand that the budgets behind it are substantial. And in a way, we finance it, I'd say, through our passion for the sport. And also by the passion of those who take part in the rally. On the evening of the first event with the customer teams, we were lucky enough to sell 30 cars in one day, which is a huge number. We sold cars in France, Italy, but also in Portugal, Spain, just about everywhere. It's great because it means there's still some love out there, and we can get back up to speed.

We also had the honor of talking for a few moments with Miki Biasion, in the video below.

Photo credits Nicolas for Italpassion.