WRC main class in 2025

[WRCStan]

Deary me!

Apart from the Lancia and Subaru point, aren't you just describing ERC? Even that GT series isn't worldly.

[typhoon]

Deary me!

Apart from the Lancia and Subaru point, aren't you just describing ERC? Even that GT series isn't worldly.

Ford and Hyundai would basically be still factory teams in terms of budgets and development, simply without the whole marketing thing of a fully-fledged factory team. Don't think an Average Joe will research through the FIA registration papers to check if "M-Sport Qatar" will have anything different than "M-Sport Ford".

I mean, really... I'd go 100% for a Qatar-whoeveritpays-backed private M-Sport team with 3-4 cars at each event like in 2013, rather than a "factory" Ford with 1.5 on the entry list!

At the end of the story, we need an interesting, challenging championship that can deliver spectacle on the special stages and thus on TV to be back to its old glory days. I don't really care about who will pay the fee to the FIA for Manufacturer registration lmao

[WRCStan]

I don't really care about who will pay the fee to the FIA for Manufacturer registration lmao

This season, it's value alone is over a million euros to the Promoter, before talking of exposure deals. You are saying the Promoter should invest in a product worth watching, but not giving them the means to, whilst saying the 'whole marketing thing' could stop.

But OK, I thought you were saying bring the manufacturer's championship to an end.

[wyler]

Ford and Hyundai would basically be still factory teams in terms of budgets and development, simply without the whole marketing thing of a fully-fledged factory team. Don't think an Average Joe will research through the FIA registration papers to check if "M-Sport Qatar" will have anything different than "M-Sport Ford".

I mean, really... I'd go 100% for a Qatar-whoeveritpays-backed private M-Sport team with 3-4 cars at each event like in 2013, rather than a "factory" Ford with 1.5 on the entry list!

At the end of the story, we need an interesting, challenging championship that can deliver spectacle on the special stages and thus on TV to be back to its old glory days. I don't really care about who will pay the fee to the FIA for Manufacturer registration lmao

i seriuosly doubt that hiunday will develop an entirely new car only for privateers, and maybe also m-sport. The same is for skoda and otehrs i doubt. they ll continue to sell "normal" rally2 to customer and leave the rally2+ for wrc manufactures.

[WRCStan]

i seriuosly doubt that hiunday will develop an entirely new car only for privateers, and maybe also m-sport. The same is for skoda and otehrs i doubt. they ll continue to sell "normal" rally2 to customer and leave the rally2+ for wrc manufactures.

FIA wouldn't allow them to sell Rally2+ for starters.

[Steve Boyd]

This season, it's value alone is over a million euros to the Promoter, before talking of exposure deals.

Is that part of the problem?

A manufacturer sees a bill of €385815 just to register for the championship before design & development costs, entry fees and running costs and that frightens them off. The difference of €118349 registration for a manufacturer team in Rally2 compared with €11835 for a private team probably explains why there are no works teams from Skoda or Citroen.

If the FIA & WRC Promoter were making an entertaining product that they could sell at a suitable profit then they could lower the registration fees and grow the WRC. While they are offering poor quality content and are happy to live off registration and entry fees WRC will never grow.

[typhoon]

If the FIA & WRC Promoter were making an entertaining product that they could sell at a suitable profit then they could lower the registration fees and grow the WRC. While they are offering poor quality content and are happy to live off registration and entry fees WRC will never grow.

Exactly this point. If WRC Promoter works on an entertaining product to sell (we talked elsewhere about "selling the story", which is totally spot on), then you don't need to have a "M-Sport Qatar" team, but since there's no investments on this side from the company that is supposed to make the championship grow, then it's reasonable to find a compromise, mid-way solution by allowing "private-factory" teams like we saw in the past with Kronos Racing, Red Bull Skoda, M-Sport Qatar, or Abu Dhabi DS3 team, etc.

At the end it's a matter of choices. If the championship will be appealing, there would be no need for those gimmicks, but seeing the product right now, allowing "private-factory" outlets is the only feasible solution with Rally2+ cars that would allow to field cars in a cheaper way. And a Rally 2+ with "WRC kit" would fit perfectly for some wealthy privateers.

[rallyfiend]

Manufacturers comes and goes, no big deal on that. If you have an exciting championship with good events, the show will be higher and thus you could have wealthy privateers with good sponsors to pay the bills. People would still come to see a better show, even though with "cheaper" cars and TV figures would increase with more exciting battles with different cars and teams/drivers.

Said that, Hyundai could remain as customer racing, which at the end of the day doesn't affect the show, just naming difference. Same for M-Sport, they would remain as just "M-Sport" without Ford backing. It already happened when Ford withdrew after 2012 (and was "just" Qatar M-Sport WRT). The cars will be on the entry list either way.

Same would apply with Skoda for example, while we could see a comeback from Lancia or also Subaru, which was rumoured to be interested to a cheaper commitment by using Haas F1 business model (purchasing parts and engine from Toyota and maybe outsourcing to a developer like Prodrive in the past).

The whole thing is still how much commitment we would have from WRC Promoter to "sell the brand". Liberty Media in Formula 1, but staying in Europe we can watch at Ratel's SRO creature with GT World Challenge (which grew ridicolously good in the last couple of years!), shows that without investments on crafting something catchy, you wouldn't have any return.

Mentioning SRO's products in the same context as any other motorsport series is an absolute mess.
They are rich gentleman series with zero spectators and the bare minimum of media coverage on youtube just so the rich guys can show their mates and feel like proper race car drivers... Most of their races are lucky to get 200k viewers in total. And that's basically the entire audience....

[rallyfiend]

Is that part of the problem?

A manufacturer sees a bill of €385815 just to register for the championship before design & development costs, entry fees and running costs and that frightens them off. The difference of €118349 registration for a manufacturer team in Rally2 compared with €11835 for a private team probably explains why there are no works teams from Skoda or Citroen.

If the FIA & WRC Promoter were making an entertaining product that they could sell at a suitable profit then they could lower the registration fees and grow the WRC. While they are offering poor quality content and are happy to live off registration and entry fees WRC will never grow.

I don't think a manufacturer really gives a shit about the 385k fee to the FIA. If they do, they're not a serious company. This is a World Championship. It's never going to come for free.
Have you seen how much the FIA charges to F1 drivers for their SuperLicense?!!

[Franky]

I don't think a manufacturer really gives a shit about the 385k fee to the FIA. If they do, they're not a serious company. This is a World Championship. It's never going to come for free.
Have you seen how much the FIA charges to F1 drivers for their SuperLicense?!!

It's not so much about being free but about being worth it.