Project Rally One may not have announced its driver lineup for the 2027 World Rally Championship yet, but one thing is certain: they are taking a completely different approach from the big manufacturers. Instead of mimicking Toyota's strategy of fielding at least one world champion, the Belgian outfit plans to rotate its drivers from race to race.
This decision is not without reason. Project Rally One will not compete in a full season in 2027. They have chosen to focus on Tarmac first before pivoting to gravel. This means their target is not the world title, but rather building a foundation and demonstrating the car's performance at each event they enter.
Lionel Hansen, the team's technical leader, explained that this difference in targets opens up the possibility of driver rotation. "We have completely different targets from a manufacturer," Hansen told DirtFish. "We don't have the same goal of being a World Rally champion with the same driver [next year], so I can choose my driver for each race."
Hansen even gave a concrete example. He imagined Dani Sordo could compete in his home event in Spain. Andrea Crugnola in Italy. Or Kris Meeke at the new rally in Scotland. "It's also one of the goals that we can jump driver to driver race by race," he added. However, he leaves that task to Alain Penasse, the team's driver manager.
Interestingly, even though they haven't competed yet, the team has already confirmed six of eight drivers for testing and development. Stephane Lefebvre was the first to join, and recently Teemu Suninen was announced to test on gravel. However, Hansen admitted he doesn't know if Suninen is interested in racing.
The biggest challenge for Project Rally One is convincing top drivers to trust an unproven team. "First of all, compared to the OEM manufacturer, you need to convince drivers to come to us, to trust the team that we can do a proper job," Hansen explained. He added that the WRC has changed and offers more opportunities for this kind of project. If he can show a homologated car ready to go to Monte Carlo, that might convince a top driver from a different category.
Although difficult, the decision not to contest every event might actually be an advantage. Without the burden of chasing a title, the team can be more flexible in choosing drivers suited to each rally's characteristics. This also opens the door for Tarmac or gravel specialists to showcase their skills without the pressure of full-season consistency.
With this approach, Project Rally One is not only challenging the dominance of manufacturer teams but also offering a new model for managing a satellite team. Driver rotation could be a smart strategy to gather data, attract fan attention, and build a reputation before entering a full season. We'll just have to wait and see whose names will appear on their rear window in 2027.
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