SHERIDAN, WYOMING – April 12, 2026 – Spanish rally stages will see a Lancia factory-backed entry for the first time in roughly three decades, as Lancia Corse España deploys the Lancia Ypsilon Rally2 HF Integrale across the full 2026 S-CER (Spanish Rally Superchampionship) calendar. The campaign marks Lancia's formal return to organised national championship competition in Spain and runs parallel to the brand's wider re-entry into the World Rally Championship after a 30-year absence.
The team and its drivers
Lancia Corse España fields Asturian driver Diego Ruiloba alongside co-driver Ángel Vela as the programme's lead pairing. The duo finished as runners-up in the 2024 S-CER and subsequently competed as rookies in the 2025 WRC season under the Stellantis Motorsport development umbrella, giving them direct experience in top-level international rallying before returning to the domestic championship.
Ruiloba carries a career record in Spanish national rally competition that includes more than a dozen titles across various categories, making him one of the most decorated active drivers in the S-CER field. His familiarity with Spanish stages, combined with the Lancia Ypsilon Rally2 HF Integrale's technical specification, positions the team as a significant challenger within the superchampionship structure from its very first event.
The Lancia Ypsilon Rally2 HF Integrale
The Lancia Ypsilon Rally2 HF Integrale is the same generation vehicle with which Lancia Corse re-entered the WRC, representing the first purpose-built Lancia rally competition car of the modern era. The Rally2 classification places it within the principal competitive class used across European national championships and WRC2, meaning the car meets homologation requirements relevant to both the S-CER and international rallying.
Technical support for the S-CER programme is provided by Sports&You, the official distributor of Stellantis Motorsport for Spain and Portugal. That structure means the team has direct access to manufacturer-level technical resources and spare parts logistics rather than relying on independent preparation. The arrangement signals that the S-CER campaign is treated as an official extension of Lancia's motorsport operations, not a private customer effort running independently of the factory.
Opening round at Rally La Nucía
The S-CER programme opened at Rally La Nucía, based in Alicante, with Lancia Corse España confirmed to start at that event. La Nucía is a well-established fixture on the Spanish rally calendar, held on roads in the Valencia region that combine fast tarmac sections with technical twisting passages through the local terrain, providing an immediate test of the Ypsilon Rally2 HF Integrale's setup under competitive conditions.
Competing from the season's first round gives the team maximum championship points exposure and demonstrates a commitment to contesting the full superchampionship rather than a selective programme. The S-CER format, which aggregates results across multiple events to produce an overall seasonal classification, rewards consistency as much as outright pace, a factor that suits a pairing with Ruiloba and Vela's experience level in the championship.
Why it matters
For Spanish rally fans and competitors, Lancia's official re-entry into the domestic championship reintroduces a historically significant manufacturer to competition they can attend and follow at a national level. Ruiloba's status as an Asturian driver competing under a recognised Italian brand gives the programme regional resonance across northern Spain, where rally culture has a deep following. Attendance and broadcast interest in S-CER rounds could increase with a factory-backed Lancia entry drawing new audiences unfamiliar with the championship's existing roster.
For competitors and teams already active in the S-CER, the arrival of a manufacturer-supported Lancia Corse España entry changes the competitive landscape directly. Rally2-class rivals now face a pairing with WRC rookie experience and factory technical backing, raising the bar for the overall superchampionship title fight. For Stellantis Motorsport as a commercial and sporting entity, the S-CER campaign serves as a real-world development and visibility platform for the Ypsilon Rally2 HF Integrale in markets where Lancia is seeking to rebuild brand relevance, with Spain and Portugal represented through the Sports&You distributor relationship.