Yes, wonder what happened to the Sweden WRT? Didn't they have a 3 yr plan to deliver Sweden's first WRC champion since Stig Blomqvist ?
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Yes, wonder what happened to the Sweden WRT? Didn't they have a 3 yr plan to deliver Sweden's first WRC champion since Stig Blomqvist ?
Loeb is a fantastic driver and a worthy champion but let's not forget he is at the pinnacle of a major investment project over 10 years which has left other drivers attempting to compete with one hand tied behind their backs, especially in the ability to fund continuous incremental improvementQuote:
Originally Posted by Prisoner Monkeys
I don't think German companies take big risks, they look to be meticulously planning how to beat Citroen. I don't buy the stories of how the Polo isn't performing to the required standard yet. I would not be surprised if they have not allowed anyone to see how they run in optimum set up. They have been comparing settings, driving styles etc and have so much more analysis available to them than either M-Sport or Prodrive could afford. This is the first truly works competition that Citroen will have faced. I think with Ogier (best motivated driver they could have) they are hoping to beat Citroen / Loeb fair and squareQuote:
Sure, there are other teams competing, but they're established. I'm talking about start-up projects. Volkswagen are taking a huge risk, but I think they know Loeb won't be around forever, and if they spend time developing their cars, they'll be ideally-positioned to take advantage of the inevitable power vaccuum.
I'd have said quarter-assed -very difficult for a private developer to run a team when expected funding doesn't materialise - Possibly Dodgy Dave was overly-optimistic regarding BMW support for what is clearly his project but I hope the Bavarians look at Wolfsburg with envious eyes next year and provide the necessary funds / facilities for the Mini to be competitiveQuote:
And while Mini are in their second year of competition, they've been pretty half-assed about it. Their attitude reminds me of the manufacturers who used to do half-season campaigns and talk about a full entry the next year, but then they would lose interest.
Or they may take the view that VW have such a head start that it isn't worth trying to compete - Seb Ogier 1 more championship than Loeb being the quest, I fully expect that will be the long term plan!Quote:
If Loeb retires, then the championship will be blown wide open, and that will make things very appealing to new manufacturers. They will have the opportunity to carve out a niche for themselves.
Done a Go Fast on us maybe. I can only think that they are waiting for BMW to make up their minds about doing WRC or DTM (why not do both?)Quote:
Originally Posted by noel157
DTM or WRC is not really a choice that BMW need to make, because they've made their decision already. BMW are doing DTM, and they certainly will be doing it in the nearest future. The question is: are they willing to spend some leftover money on WRC?Quote:
Originally Posted by Plan9
If that's the case, I don't know what is stopping them from becoming a customer team to one of the other manufacturers. If they want Sweden's first champion since Blomqvist, then nominating to run a Mini was probably the worst decisions they could have made. The car is certainly being developed, but the problem is that everyone else is developing faster than they are. If they were dead serious about it, they'd side with Volkswagen and run a customer team for Sandell and Andersson.Quote:
Originally Posted by noel157
They spent the money that they had planned. The problem was Prodrive that didn't found the promised budget to fund part of 2012 season.Quote:
Originally Posted by kober
As BMW entered with Mini on the WRC with a lack of confidence on the project (it was a favour from BMW no Mini guys...), when the things went bad they simply abandoned it and stoped working on a solution.
Chris Atkinson will use the Mini 01A in Wales? MI will return to the old car?
Because they had no time to change the tarmac car to gravel specs.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Andre Oliveira
My guess is that we will only see the MI 01B again this year in France. I suspect they will use the old version again in Spain.
where did you read that?Quote:
Originally Posted by Andre Oliveira