WRC Season ArchiveRally 

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Looks way better in Tarmac Spec IMO.

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Simmpa
So Rally Finland 2.0 next year again, sigh. Atleast try a new European country.
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I prefer to think of Poland as a faster Acropolis. Sure, it's similar to Finland, but it's a pretty rough event where Finland is the "Grand Prix on Gravel".

Simmpa
Apparantly Citroen is crying tears that China won´t make it to the 2017 calendar but is still able to dictate calendar slots. Makes me think how they made FIA change the rules for WTCC to suit them.
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Can you blame them for wanting the championship to go to places where there is a market? They are a car manufacturer, after all. And it's not like they are the only ones who stand to benefit from a push into China - all of the manufacturers will get brand exposure.
 
prisonermonkeys
I prefer to think of Poland as a faster Acropolis. Sure, it's similar to Finland, but it's a pretty rough event where Finland is the "Grand Prix on Gravel".


Can you blame them for wanting the championship to go to places where there is a market? They are a car manufacturer, after all. And it's not like they are the only ones who stand to benefit from a push into China - all of the manufacturers will get brand exposure.
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I agree but it sort of annoys me how this one manufacturer feels entitled to everything. If China comes back I hope it will be gravel event at some tropical place like they had it in 1999.
 
Dates for the officials unveiling of the "definitive" 2017 WRC cars :

Huyndai : 1st december 2016 at the Monza Rally Show
Toyota : 13th december 2016 in Helsinki
Citroën : During second week of december 2016 in Abu Dhabi
M-Sport : 12 january 2017 at the Autosport Show (not confirmed)
VW : Probably in 2017
 
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Simmpa
I agree but it sort of annoys me how this one manufacturer feels entitled to everything.
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I suspect that all of the manufacturers have similar feelings, but Citroën are simply the most vocal about it. The WTCC thing doesn't reflect well on them, but the WTCC was struggling - Chevrolet had pulled funding and Lada weren't really strong enough to sustain it, leaving Honda as the only major manufacturer. Without the FIA moving to accommodate Citroën, the WTCC would likely have died an inglorious death.
 
Whoever is directing the television coverage of the final day in Wales should be fired. For one, it's not live - after about thirty or forty seconds, the coverage cuts away and picks them up four minutes later (and cuts out a nasty blind chicane). And the footage is full of random shots of people on the hill with nothing to show where they are in relation to the cars.
 
prisonermonkeys
Whoever is directing the television coverage of the final day in Wales should be fired. For one, it's not live - after about thirty or forty seconds, the coverage cuts away and picks them up four minutes later (and cuts out a nasty blind chicane). And the footage is full of random shots of people on the hill with nothing to show where they are in relation to the cars.
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It's always a bit messy in Wales realisation wise, last year sweet lamb coverage was a complete joke.
They also have very bad signal because they are in the middle of nowhere, so the live onboards don't work...
At least the coverage was better toward the end of the stage after a few cars and the stage was pretty spectacular.
 
Simmpa
I think Japan would be an obvious choice, now with a Japanese manufacturer.
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Why? A round in Japan doesn't add anything new. The whole point of going to China was to take the championship and the manufacturers to new markets. A round in Japan doesn't do that, and arguably the old Rally Japan suffered from being far too isolated.

If an expansion to Asia is on the cards, then it should be in China, India, Indonesia or Malaysia.
 
The commentators on the power stage reckon that M-Sport will announce their second driver next Monday. They're tipping Tänak to return, which raises the question of where Østberg will go. As far as I know, M-Sport are only running two cars; if there's a third Fiesta, it will likely be entered by DMACK. However, DMACK have said that they want to be M-Sport's official supplier, so they might not field their own team again; if there's a third car, maybe M-Sport will enter three after all and keep Østberg.

On the other hand, I suppose that he could wind up at Toyota.
 
prisonermonkeys
The commentators on the power stage reckon that M-Sport will announce their second driver next Monday. They're tipping Tänak to return, which raises the question of where Østberg will go. As far as I know, M-Sport are only running two cars; if there's a third Fiesta, it will likely be entered by DMACK. However, DMACK have said that they want to be M-Sport's official supplier, so they might not field their own team again; if there's a third car, maybe M-Sport will enter three after all and keep Østberg.

On the other hand, I suppose that he could wind up at Toyota.
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Malcolm Wilson this weekend : "by middle of next year we hope to be running at least six of the 2017 cars"
Plenty of drivers seats to fill then with the rumored new adapta team (founded by Ostberg) and the d-mack team which might run 2017 cars under the M-Sport banner next year.
 
prisonermonkeys
Why? A round in Japan doesn't add anything new. The whole point of going to China was to take the championship and the manufacturers to new markets. A round in Japan doesn't do that, and arguably the old Rally Japan suffered from being far too isolated.

If an expansion to Asia is on the cards, then it should be in China, India, Indonesia or Malaysia.
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I think however it won´t happen as it seems Poland have been confirmed and they want Turkey so all 14 slots are already full.
 
Autosport is reporting that Volkswagen could pull the plug on its WRC programme the way Audi did its WEC campaign:

http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/126924/volkswagen-could-pull-wrc-programme

The timing seems odd given that they've just sunk so much into the development of the 2017 Polo.

Accro2008
Malcolm Wilson this weekend : "by middle of next year we hope to be running at least six of the 2017 cars"
Plenty of drivers seats to fill then with the rumored new adapta team (founded by Ostberg) and the d-mack team which might run 2017 cars under the M-Sport banner next year.
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I can't imagine that all of them would be run full-time. They'll probably run at selected events for drivers like Bryan Bouffier.

Simmpa
I think however it won´t happen as it seems Poland have been confirmed and they want Turkey so all 14 slots are already full.
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True, but Jean Todt says that he wants to look beyond Europe because he feels that the championship is too focused on the continent at the moment. Apparently the FIA received fourteen expressions of interest from places as far afield as Russia, South Africa and Brazil.
 
Saw
prisonermonkeys
Autosport is reporting that Volkswagen could pull the plug on its WRC programme the way Audi did its WEC campaign:

http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/126924/volkswagen-could-pull-wrc-programme

The timing seems odd given that they've just sunk so much into the development of the 2017 Polo.


I can't imagine that all of them would be run full-time. They'll probably run at selected events for drivers like Bryan Bouffier.


True, but Jean Todt says that he wants to look beyond Europe because he feels that the championship is too focused on the continent at the moment. Apparently the FIA received fourteen expressions of interest from places as far afield as Russia, South Africa and Brazil.
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Saw the article on racer too, can't believe this. I understand they're in financial trouble but, they pulled a bloody LMP1 program out. Surely they can afford WRC especially when they already have developed a car for the new regs? Hopefully this is only a rumour, because VW have become quite the WRC team.
 
prisonermonkeys
Autosport is reporting that Volkswagen could pull the plug on its WRC programme the way Audi did its WEC campaign:

http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/126924/volkswagen-could-pull-wrc-programme

The timing seems odd given that they've just sunk so much into the development of the 2017 Polo.


I can't imagine that all of them would be run full-time. They'll probably run at selected events for drivers like Bryan Bouffier.


True, but Jean Todt says that he wants to look beyond Europe because he feels that the championship is too focused on the continent at the moment. Apparently the FIA received fourteen expressions of interest from places as far afield as Russia, South Africa and Brazil.
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But I assume most teams are against a round outside Europe because of costs, but a round in Asia like Malaysia would be very interesting. I also hope Volkswagen do not pull out now we finally have Toyota I do not want to see a major manufacturer leave.
 
catamount39
Saw

Saw the article on racer too, can't believe this. I understand they're in financial trouble but, they pulled a bloody LMP1 program out. Surely they can afford WRC especially when they already have developed a car for the new regs? Hopefully this is only a rumour, because VW have become quite the WRC team.
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While it doesn't seem to make much sense considering the car is already developed, VW group is going to lose literally billions of dollars from diesel gate so I imagine they'll try and cut excess expenditure wherever possible.

If it is true, the teams who haven't signed drivers yet are going to have 3 very good options for next year.
 
Simmpa
I assume most teams are against a round outside Europe because of costs, but a round in Asia like Malaysia would be very interesting.
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Yes and no. They were opposed due to costs, but that was at a time when manufacturer involvement was pretty low. Now that there are five, and a wide array of R5 customer vehicles available, it becomes more cost-effective.

aarror
While it doesn't seem to make much sense considering the car is already developed, VW group is going to lose literally billions of dollars from diesel gate so I imagine they'll try and cut excess expenditure wherever possible.
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True, but they can't just axe all of their expenditure at once. That will just stall the business' growth. They need to absorb the costs over the long run.
 
Accro2008
And it's done, VW is leaving WRC after rally australia.
http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/126936

One of the only cool aspect VW had has been killed, great way for VW to shot themselve in the foot IMO.
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For the love of...wow, what a bunch of ****s. :banghead: I agree fully, they shot themselves repeatedly in the foot with this one, they were building up a great identity for themselves, and were doing really good. Feel bad for their team, but I'm sure they'll all find work in some way shape or form.

How long are people willing to bet it'll take for all their drivers to be snapped up? :P Have a feeling their will be a bidding war for Sebastian Ogier lol.
 
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