Project Rally One has officially unveiled the eight drivers who will develop its new car ahead of its planned World Rally Championship debut in Monte Carlo. The announcement was made on Friday at the Rally4Passion event in Huy, Belgium, marking a concrete step for the Belgian team towards the global rally stage.
The yet-to-be-named car has already completed 1000 km of Tarmac testing, with plans to cover another 2000 km on both Tarmac and gravel in the next six weeks. Stephane Lefebvre is known to have done some driving, but he is not the only one.
Technical leader Lionel Hansen told DirtFish that the testing schedule is intense. "We have tests every week, minimum three days a week. This week we tested in Belgium, next week in France for Tarmac, and then the 10 days of Tarmac test will be over, and then we have five weeks to have also 10 days of gravel. We go to France, Mazamet, two times in the south of France and south of Spain to finish the gravel test," he explained.
Regarding the driver lineup, Hansen mentioned several experienced names. "We have already a few Belgian drivers, famous drivers, with Bruno Thiry for the first test, which is also a good feedback for us—he’s close to the team family. We have Freddy Loix, who did recently a very good performance in the Ypres Rally and so on, but also a massive performance and a massive experience about development. We have Lefebvre, who already tested, with a few Belgian drivers and French drivers we are close to from our 992 family, like Quentin Gilbert in France. A Porsche driver in France, Raphael Astier, who is the leader at the moment in the French championship. That’s our driver family, but we have Teemu Suninen now on gravel, and we will announce two more as soon as we have the first gravel test ready. But it’s a total of eight for the test, and in that case we are not so bad, I think with the lineup."
The presence of Teemu Suninen, the ERC champion, to lead gravel development signals serious intent. Suninen is known for his speed on rough surfaces and his WRC experience, making him a suitable choice to develop the car in gravel conditions.
When asked if there is strong interest from other drivers, Hansen added, "I will answer to everybody that is trying to ring me at the moment, but it’s Alain Parnasse who manages this. At the moment we are focused only on the homologation and finish the car. But yes, there is few people on the phone."
Project Rally One’s sporting director, Alain Penasse, admitted that driver selection is not yet final. "Of course, we looked at how is the market today, who could be a valuable choice, but we didn’t decide at all about the drivers. A good mix [of youth and experience] is maybe nice, but we have to give the chance to younger drivers because it was very difficult for young drivers to step up in the current Rally1 period—and it’s maybe a mistake because we have to look to the future. We have some very talented drivers in WRC2, so why not start a new generation and kick off with these guys?"
With eight drivers involved in testing, Project Rally One demonstrates significant ambition to compete at the highest level. The combination of experienced drivers like Thiry and Loix, along with young talents such as Suninen and Gilbert, is expected to accelerate the car’s development. The debut in Monte Carlo will be the true test for this Belgian-based team.
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