Quote Originally Posted by rallyfiend View Post
Anyone who thinks that any drivers other than the current top 6 or 7 would ever have a chance to get close to these top guys even if they were all competing in 'equal' Rally2 equipment is absolutely deluded.

You can change the class of cars, these guys would still wipe the floor with them.
I'm responding to you but it's really to the idea that you and others have written, and asking some honest questions.

For me that's not the main point, the main point is to give new drivers a chance to learn the machinery. Remember guys like Makinen, Gronholm, Hirvonen, even Loeb and Ogier and many others got a chance to drive a top tier car as a privateer or sponsored or occasional entry as a non nominated car to get noticed or get a chance to learn. Neuville was sponsored to drive in a 2nd "private" Ford team and finished 2nd in the championship before he went to Hyundai. How many new drivers are we getting recently, especially with the complicated hybrids? Only MSport is doing this because they have no choice...

If there are no privateers or "extra cars", how will we get multiple top drivers in the future? Will we pull them out of the pocket? I get that the idea is to have a small elite category with Rally1 but is that healthy medium to long term? If Rovanpera comes back pumped up and Tanak retires and we get 2-7 years of domination will that be fun to watch? I think whoever is running the show is trying to force a product by gimmicks like the points system instead of building something from the foundation. Maybe it's not for me and I watch too much rally for my own good but I'm a bit cynical at the moment.