WRC Season ArchiveRally 

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richiem2282
I'll add the day 5 videos later once they go online...
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Its a shame that there will be a 30 minute highlight show of which 20 minutes will probably what we've already seen when they could've shown the powerstage live, hopefully they do that on Eurosport if they get a full time contract in time for Sweden.
 
Can anyone tell me what ever happened to this? The article (which is only a couple of weeks old) on the website says the Exige would take part in the Monte, but I haven't seen any mention of it at all. Quietly dropped at short notice?
 
Day 5 of Monte Carlo in High Def:



Great Rally and great to see Monte Carlo back in 2012, Next up Sweden - 09 - 12 Feb 2012

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I've just seen pictures of the 2012 model of VW Beetle, and I have to say I really like it - so much so that I'm disappointed VW chose to develop the Polo for the WRC instead:

vw-beetle-2012-4.jpg


It looks like a mini Porsche.
 
prisonermonkeys
I've just seen pictures of the 2012 model of VW Beetle, and I have to say I really like it - so much so that I'm disappointed VW chose to develop the Polo for the WRC instead:
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I have to disagree, the Polo looks incredible in rally form, it will be the best looking WRC car (the DS3 is 2nd) in my eyes.

vw-polo-r-wrc-frankfurt.jpg
 
Can't say I agree about how the new Beetle looks. The Polo looks much more poised than that...thing...

Certainly looks like it has bigger cojones compared to the beetle.
 
It kinda sucks. He hasn't been banned which is good, its only a suspended ban which means it kicks in if he speeds again.

He is safe as long as drives sensibly.
 
Autosport - the magazine, not the website - is reporting that in 2013, the WRC will get two new rounds in the BRICs: Brazil, Russia, India or China. If this is true, then my money is on Russia and India.
 
The Prodrive split was inevitable, BMW care more about DTM now 👎

In more positive news, here is Richard Goransson's Mini for Rally Sweden
MINIProdrive1-590x440.jpg

The car will have an onboard camera which will stream to his website for the whole rally.
 
I can't understand if this is 100% BMWs fault or Prodrive's fault... What has BMW done, what has Prodrive done. This all thing is just utter 🤬!

BMW didn't want to put a lot of money, Prodrive didn't find sponsors... It's a 50:50 I think.

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Wait, so even if BMW decided to pull back I don't think it will affect them too much. Financially, yes but not too serious if they can find a buyer. In fact, BMW hand in no factory technical support whatsoever for them during the Monaco event and from what I've been told, the engine they currently use is no longer on BMW's hands and the car is all Prodrive's. All they need is a good result in Sweeden to attract any buyer.

All is obvious now that BMW is concentrating a lot on their DTM campaign but I will be honest with all of you, the split between Prodrive and BMW is just a matter of time. There's no solid agreement between them!
 
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Just makes me think to myself about BMW, if your heart was set on DTM all along, why did you bother with WRC?
 
BMW left Peter Sauber high and dry and now Prodrive. Clearly there is more to it than just blaming BMW but it does seem that their heart really wasn't in going the full way with the WRC. Perhaps BMW were expecting to simply drop a few funds to a team to get them to run in their branding while Prodrive were expecting proper manufactrer backing like they recieved with Subaru? Prodrive wanted to win a championship while BMW just wanted to put their name on a rally car.

Either way lets just hope Prodrive can find another way to keep competing.
 
BMW is simply being relenless in there DTM effort...they have hired the most hig
H profile drivers no doubt commanding big salaries, and have. Funny thing is the DTM effort has so much sponsor backing. Wherever BMW itself goes is where all the money goes. BMW AG wouldn't even help out BMW NA to get a few cars at LE Mans this year. What a shame.
 
Bad news :( The Eurosport deal has collapsed, rallies have been told to find their own deals http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/97314

Sounds a lot like the FIA being stubborn again, thats why North One lost out in the first place, they've wrecked the TV coverage for F1 in Britain now WRC but this time its global, I just hope the series survives this because it is looking on the up.
 
Wow this is just not a good year for Rally, I think they'll need more than VW joining next year to bring Rally back.
 
GOTMAXPOWER
Bad news :( The Eurosport deal has collapsed, rallies have been told to find their own deals http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/97314

Sounds a lot like the FIA being stubborn again, thats why North One lost out in the first place, they've wrecked the TV coverage for F1 in Britain now WRC but this time its global, I just hope the series survives this because it is looking on the up.
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North One's owners going into administration and their failure to find a backer is somehow the FIA being stubborn?

Why is it that people choose to take sides when they know nothing about the deals that went on. For all we know Eurosport's demands were unreasonable.

Sure it sucks, but don't blame it all on the FIA when you know nothing about what happened at these negogiations. To be honest, WRC finds itself in this position due to a number of factors over the years (not just the FIA). Its not at all surprising.
 
Ardius
North One's owners going into administration and their failure to find a backer is somehow the FIA being stubborn?
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They had a major Qatari cash injection just round the corner but the FIA pulled their contract away just before they could be saved.

Ardius
For all we know Eurosport's demands were unreasonable.
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That may be the case but they can only offer what they can, the FIA need to get WRC out there, even if they make a short-term loss by airing it for free on the WRC website its the only thing that will keep the manufactures and therefore the series going.
 
The FIA said that the backing from Qatar didn't have good enough proof that it was all legitimate and future-proof, or something like that. Again, why is it that it is seen as the FIA leaving it late before the season before deciding instead of North One leaving it so late to actually secure their backing?
Isn't this a clear indication that the FIA waited plenty long enough for North One to sort themselves out until it was necessary to take action and find someone else more reliable?

With this in mind, surely it makes sense that they then find a reliable future broadcaster rather than sign the first deal that appears? Of course they don't want to be going without any broadcaster for any length of time but equally they are clearly treading carefully with what they sign.
Especially as Eurosport is pretty unreliable, they tend to have an order of preferrence with live events and will over-run their schedule on a regular basis. If two live events clash, one will suffer for it.
Perhaps they could not come to an agreement with the FIA to give live coverage of WRC a reliable and preferred slot over other coverage.

As you see, this can be read any number of ways. I don't hold the opinions I've just typed but I don't agree with fully blaming the FIA without knowing anything about these background dicussions. We basically don't know anything beyond the WRC lacks coverage.
I'm certainly not surprised that Eurosport hasn't been the choice considering their extremely unreliable TV schedules.
 
Ardius
As you see, this can be read any number of ways. I don't hold the opinions I've just typed but I don't agree with fully blaming the FIA without knowing anything about these background dicussions. We basically don't know anything beyond the WRC lacks coverage.
I'm certainly not surprised that Eurosport hasn't been the choice considering their extremely unreliable TV schedules.
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I read that the Qatar investment looked promising, I understand the problems with Eurosport and their random times of broadcast (their programmes can come on at any time within an hour of what they say if they're on at all!) but the fact is they show highlights of rallies every night (for 5 days at the Monte), then a full highlights show on top. That makes me think they've been turned down because of the money they offered, this would be a disaster for the teams. Prodrive can't get enough sponsors to survive I doubt this would be happening if they had more TV time (or just being on a free to view channel.

Now we just need to hope that rallies can sell commercial rights to their rallies in a way that is beneficial for the teams and fans.
 
Ardius
Again, why is it that it is seen as the FIA leaving it late before the season before deciding instead of North One leaving it so late to actually secure their backing?
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Because it's the FIA. Given their track record in the past, most people automatically assume that they've done the wrong thing. And even if they still do the right thing, people will still blame them for something ("they should have done it sooner!" is a popular argument here).
 
GOTMAXPOWER
I read that the Qatar investment looked promising, I understand the problems with Eurosport and their random times of broadcast (their programmes can come on at any time within an hour of what they say if they're on at all!) but the fact is they show highlights of rallies every night (for 5 days at the Monte), then a full highlights show on top. That makes me think they've been turned down because of the money they offered, this would be a disaster for the teams. Prodrive can't get enough sponsors to survive I doubt this would be happening if they had more TV time (or just being on a free to view channel.

Now we just need to hope that rallies can sell commercial rights to their rallies in a way that is beneficial for the teams and fans.
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Promising or not, don't you think it was a bit late to be leaving such a deal to be secured? The FIA's intervention seemed to be more a case of the FIA making sure there was a TV deal in place for Monte Carlo in time rather than the FIA screwing North One.

I don't have a lot of sympathy of North One as they've helped screw this sport up over the years.
 
Just announced on the Official Mini Motor-sport Site:

"After Dani Sordo (ES) and Carlos del Barrio (ES) finished second on the return of the brand to the legendary Monte Carlo Rally, the direction has now been set for a long-term MINI presence in the FIA World Rally Championship (WRC): On Thursday 2 February, the Fédération Internationale de l’Automobile (FIA) accepted a two-car manufacturer entry by WRC Team MINI Portugal into the 2012 FIA World Rally Championship for Manufacturers. As a consequence MINI will complete the homologation for the MINI John Cooper Works WRC. The WRC Team MINI Portugal - consisting of Armindo Araújo (PT) and his co-driver Miguel Ramalho (PT), as well as Paulo Nobre (BR) and co-driver Edu Paula (BR) - will contest the remaining 12 events of the 2012 FIA World Rally Championship.

This long-term homologation ensures that the MINI John Cooper Works WRC can be used in the premier league of rallying, and other series in accordance with FIA regulations, up to and including 2018. The cooperation with Prodrive will be put on a new basis. Prodrive remains responsible for the construction and support of MINI John Cooper Works WRC customer vehicles, and will continue to work with the BMW Group on the further development of the car. The WRC Team, run by Prodrive, will from now on start as a works-supported private team.

"I am delighted that the future of MINI in the WRC has been secured on a long-term basis," said Dr. Kay Segler, Senior Vice President MINI Business Coordination and Brand Management. "We remain convinced that the sport of rallying is perfectly suited to our brand. The situation we now find ourselves in means the MINI Motorsport family can, and will, continue to grow on the rally scene. With three podiums from just seven starts in the world championship, the MINI John Cooper Works WRC has already emphatically proven its potential. I am confident that our customer teams around the world will continue to thrill MINI fans with this car over the coming years. The FIA was just as interested in the long-term presence of the MINI brand in the WRC as we were, and was actively involved in finding a constructive solution. We are grateful for the good cooperation and the understanding it has shown us."

Segler added: "With its great enthusiasm and hard work, the Prodrive team has played a major role in the remarkable sporting success we have achieved on our initial outings with the MINI John Cooper Works WRC. On behalf of MINI Motorsport, I would like to thank everyone at Prodrive for their efforts so far and we look forward to working with them in support of our MINI John Cooper Works WRC customers in the future."

http://www.minimotorsport.com/en/news/mini_to_follow_new_path_in_the_fia_wrc


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