Winging it

Think downforce and aerodynamic development, and the mind naturally turns to the world of Sportscars and single seaters. However, since the World Rally Championship (WRC) introduced new rules in 2017, the importance of aerodynamics has grown immeasurably in the sport, becoming an area of intense R&D for teams.

Come 2021 and the arrival of new hybrid machines with spaceframe chassis and silhouette bodies, the rules were being pegged back once again and many of the aero flourishes of the past era will be consigned to the history books. So, what have the teams been up to over the last five years?

Aero through the ages

Of course, aerodynamics has been a consideration in rallying for years, but it was only in the late ’70s and into the ’80s, as speeds increased dramatically and the aero revolution was well underway in other formulae (think ground effect skirts in F1 and huge tunnels in Group C), that manufacturers started to pay attention on the stages.

For example, the exquisitely-styled Lancia Stratos and 039 were both honed in the Pininfarina wind tunnel in Grugliasco, which fittingly is still used for some WRC aero development to this day by Hyundai. These early efforts were more about reducing drag and making cars stable than downforce generation. However, as the Group B era gathered pace, cars began to sprout ever larger wings and other aero appendages.

With power increasing at a meteoric rate (in 1983, the Lancia 037 pushed out around 300bhp, by 1985 the likes of Audi’s Quattro Sport Evo 2 were well over 500bhp), drag was of little issue and the serious