Rally Croatia in 2019 and 2020 as WRC candidate.
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Rally Croatia in 2019 and 2020 as WRC candidate.
this year as a candidate with possible entry for WRC 2019 and 2020, Croatian Government today signed money guaranties
video only from this link, our prime minister
https://www.facebook.com/sebalj.hr/v...1853542213045/
Government gives money guaranties for two seasons, 2019 and 2020
To be WRC candidate means almost nothing...
Agree, I think we had already a candidate event last season (or season before) but Turkey was quicker then us.
Next year’s World Rally Championship looks set for two additional long-haul events, with Rally Japan expected to join Chile on a new-look 2019 calendar.
Japan will run a candidate event in November, but Motorsport.com’s sources have indicated the event will be included on the provisional calendar presented to the FIA in the autumn.
WRC Promoter has always made it clear next year’s series will go from 13 to 14 rounds, but Japan’s first return since 2010 will force out one of the European rallies – sources predict that will be the Tour de Corse.
The Bastia-based event is unpopular with the teams for the logistical expense in getting there and the limited number of fans attending.
The organisers of the Tour de Corse declined to comment when contacted by Motorsport.com.
With Rally Turkey returning this year and the Safari expected back in 2020, WRC Promoter will introduce four new events in just three seasons – all of them at the very edge of or outside Europe.
Getting Japan in place in 2019 is understood to be a key part of Japan’s efforts to raise its sporting profile ahead of the summer Olympics, to be held in Tokyo, 2020. The all-new Rally Japan will shift south from its former base on Hokkaido, running on the nation’s main island closer to Tokyo.
While WRC Promoter is keen to see the number of rallies on the calendar raised to 15, the teams have made clear they’re not ready for that jump yet.
One source said: “Fifteen rallies will be coming in the future, but it’s too soon for now. What we need now is for everybody to be getting something from the championship. The teams have been by paid by the promoter for Turkey; it’s part of the agreement [with Turkey] that there’s a fee for them to cover some of the logistics.
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“That’s a multi-year agreement as well, so the teams will be paid as long as we’re going to Turkey. The promoter has to make that happen, it’s keen to make a new funding model work where rallies have to pay their way – just as they do in Formula 1. It will be the same agreement with Chile, Japan and Safari when they arrive.
:The promoter has to have the ability to make a business out of the championship. Without that, what’s in it for them and what do they have to promote. But it’s a balance – a fine line that they’re treading well now.
“The guys at WRC Promoter really understand the sport now and they understand the importance of the iconic events: the Montes, the Finland, the GBs; these are the rallies which lead the television coverage and provide the historical backbone to the series.”
As part of its two-year review, WRC Promoter has put every event under the microscope, and sources suggest the results have revealed events like Corsica and Rally Germany are struggling to make the strongest financial case moving forward.
FIA president Jean Todt was joined by WRC Promoter managing director Oliver Ciesla in Paris to sign a promotion agreement with the organisers of the Safari Rally late last month.
A Nairobi-based candidate event will run in March or April next season.
Eleven rallies – of which eight are outside Europe – have an active interest in the WRC, placing more pressure than ever on the existing rallies of the championship.
Croatia is busy rebuilding a case for a WRC round, with government funding, but a planned Zagreb-based event is not believed to be among the 11, its case not helped by the fact that it falls within Europe.
To paraphrase... WRC Promoter: "we don't care about the sport at all, only how much money we can milk from it"
Same as the last Promoter, and most probably the next Promoter....... trying to grow the sport outside Europe, but go to who offer the most £$£$£$ and continue to ignore NZ.
Toyota debuts preparation for Deutschland Rallye with JML ► http://bit.ly/2MNmPUi
On the other side of the table....
https://www.autosport.com/wrc/news/1...le-group-tests
Wilson: ‘Ogier won’t give up title fight' - https://t.co/WOTY6A9tRM https://t.co/NRkMYEQS90
lol who would ?
Hmm, Latvala, Meeke
930/5000
Discover what you expect from the rest of the season, what you have in mind for the immediate future and more in the long term ...
We see the faces with Dani Sordo for this interview at an event organized by Shell, one of the sponsors of the Hyundai team in the WRC and the Spaniard shows how he is: sincere, simple and knowing what role he has within the team. He knows that in Spain he has it difficult with the great mark that Carlos Sainz is still leaving and with the success that Spanish sport has in so many other disciplines, but he does not stop struggling to keep up and although he recognizes that the WRC World Cup "burns a lot" ", He trusts his options to get back on the top of the podium and confesses that, to this day, he continues to be linked to the rallies, at least one more year.
He also tells us about his future, about what interest other disciplines have for him and if he is ever competing in the Dakar.
Auto Bild: Hyundai fights for the titles of drivers and teams in the WRC, how do you face the final stretch of the season?
Dani Sordo: The truth is that very happy, because so far everything goes well, with Neuville leader, also leaders in the World Championship of Brands. So with much desire. Now rallies come a bit difficult for us, asphalt rallies we have to improve the car a bit and we will have to apply a little, because it seems that on asphalt costs us a little more, but we will try to do a good job of previous tests.
AB: On one occasion I read that you recognized that perhaps one point of improvement for was the way you take the notes. Have you made any changes with Carlos del Barrio in this regard?
Dani Sordo: The notes are a personal thing, every driver has a way, but nobody can make it perfect. This year is doing well. I can not tell you why. It is true that in the subject of notes I, sometimes, fail a bit, we have tried to improve and we keep improving every time. I have not made a specific change nor is it due to the change of co-pilot (last year his 'copi' was Marc Martí).
AB: In 2018 your contract with Hyundai ends, when will you sit down to negotiate?
Dani Sordo: At the moment we have not spoken anything. It depends on how the season is going. I am an optimist and my intention is to continue one more year at Hyundai.
AB: After your visit to the Rallycross of Barcelona, a few months ago, it was said that you were planning to run there, what's true about it?
Dani Sordo: Someday I will have to run another thing if I want to continue competing. But right now the rally is the highest level and everything else is below. It's like the F1 of mountain roads. However, I do not rule it out for the future and it is a discipline that is fun to have fun.
AB: What if Hyundai was officially?
Dani Sordo: At the moment I do not think about it in the short term. I would like to do at least one more year in rallies. But it is true that the Rallycross looks fun: there is a little less pressure than in the WRC, the races last less, it is a circuit, you do not have to move so much, I think that the people who do it, like Loeb, It has been a bit too for comfort. There are fewer trips, fewer tests ... The world rally 'burns' a lot: there are many trips all the time, tests, many days out
1457/5000
AB: It is said that Kimi Räikkönen could run next year with Toyota in the WRC, how do you think he would go?
Dani Sordo: The F1 drivers in rallies have already seen several times that they have tried and many have the problem of the notes. Kimi tried it already, it was going well and what happened was that he had accidents due to the subject of notes.
AB: (Robert) Kubica also had his mishaps ...
Dani Sordo: Yes, but in Kubika's case I think it was to admire what he was doing for what he had in his hand. It was a pilotazo and it did it better than Räikkönen.
AB: The figure of Carlos Sainz marked an era in this sport. Undoubtedly, the bar left it very high and perhaps people now do not know how to value anything beyond victory. Maybe his shadow has been too long? Have you missed some support?
Dani Sordo: The truth is that you have to have a respect for Carlos. He has been a champion, he continues to be and has won world titles and that helps a lot. So it's normal for people to have Carlos as an idol, which is what he really is. Now in Spain it is difficult, because it is clear that if you do not win races it is not worth it. But I consider myself quite lucky because I have enough fans who follow me. It is clear that I would like the rallies to come out a bit more on 'TV', but that also depends on me. If he wins, more will come out. In addition, in Spain we have another 'problem', that there are many good athletes of many things: football, basketball, motorcycles ...
AB: What would you say to these people so they would understand the difficulty of reaching the top?
Dani Sordo: It's difficult, because it also happens, for example, with Nadal. As soon as he does not win, even though he is working 100%, we start criticizing. Sometimes things happen and others do not happen. But is normal. I know that people appreciate my work and follow me. And those that do not, well, you also have to respect them.
AB: Would you like to try the Dakar in the future?
Dani Sordo: I like the Dakar, but a little less than the Rallycross, which is more action, shorter and the results are seen before. The Dakar is a beautiful adventure and they look very fast, but you have to have more experience and I, personally, like a shorter competition.
AB: To finish, if you had not been a pilot: What profession would you have chosen?
Dani Sordo: I have no idea. Surely I would have worked in my parents' businesses, which are precisely related to the distribution of spare parts and lubricants of cars, so I would be distributing that type of products in the area or managing the karting that my father did, since he has not done by me, but he rode it before I had even started running.
https://www.autobild.es/noticias/ent...a-mucho-270991
Volkswagen urges World Rally Championship not to dither over EV
https://www.autosport.com/wrc/news/1...lectric-future
Think what he aimed at was Latvala's (this year) and Meeke's (last year) comments on giving up season already before Argentina.
Don't crucify me for bringing up F1. However, there are a lot of people in the F1 paddock who rightly say that road value seizes to be a value when it comes to drawing the regulations. In other words, the whole hybrid story is too detatched from road cars for it even to be a thing. I.e. they might as well go back to n.a. V8s... because people watch it for the show and thrill of it and nothing else.
I like rallying because there is a more of a real world aspect to it. They are (highly modified) cars that you can actually buy racing on streets that people actually use. That said, they might as well stick to internal combustion because like in F1, we tune into WRC for the show and maybe some nostalgia. Hence I don't see the point of the WRC turning electric.
If they want to implement a 'WRC E' series in tandem to WRC like FormulaE to F1 to showcase the advancements of electric cars - fair enough, but I won't watch it either.
I agree with Smeets to be honest. I don't think full electric is even possible with the current format of rallies but some kind of future proofing of the sport needs to be taken into account. I assume there are manufacturer working groups where the regulations can be discussed before they are written. Hopefully other proposed manufacturers who are interested in joining the WRC could be part of those discussions. But like he says who are they?
I've seen a few people slating Smeets/VW for commenting. Let's be clear, he's not just got out of bed and thought I'll start slagging off the WRC today. He's been asked about it by David Evans at Goodwood whilst there with the ID electric Pikes Peak car and he's given an answer.
Smeets should shut the F... up.
He is a VW puppet that tries to play the new narrative of the VW after the Diesel gate... they suddenly turned into tree huggers overnight fater they got exposed.
Americans were hypocrites when they still had their own vehicles throwing out pollution.
https://youtu.be/uG8EXFvyXXw (US truck)
WRC could use bio-ethanol blend E85 if looking for a slight green wash.
Lithium battery pack fires can flare up days afterwards. Would probably require a specialist rescue crew to follow the WRC events in countries with few battery cars so proper electric vehicle rescue procedures could happen.
There are redox flow cell batteries and more advanced ultra capacitors etc coming along, so I would not rule out ev wrc cars at some stage.
Smeets and VW Motorsport in general are just a bit angry they have spent an huge amount of money on that EV Pikes Peak car and now they dont have a motorsport series where they can use the technology for further promotion, they already have a bunch of subsidiaries on FE and beyond that there isn't really another option, they know F1 won't budge so they keep trying to pull strings on other series.
That said, I would very much like to have some sort of Hybrid powertrain for the next set of regulations, I think cars could have improved performance without loosing too much appeal for spectators, after all the engines could be a copy paste of the current. And then I would like to hear what kind of excuse VW would have not to re-enter the series.
https://www.autosport.com/wrc/news/1...-his-shoulders
What a douche.. That makes him nothing but a crying baby. Neuville have consistent season so far and now he says that he have so much luck. What about him for the past 5 years? Especially last year with his speed he was nowhere and still win the title.
Re Smeets comments and the future cars..
The current WRC cars arent sustainable financially in the long-term anyway. To get an idea, I just heard on a rally podcast that Mads Ostberg spent £0.5 million doing Rally Finland last year !!!
And we know Citroen are already struggling for budget.
However hybrid/ electric cars could be even more expensive. Plus less spectacular and less reliable.
The future of WRC is a big worry.
We currently have super-expensive, mega-fast, great-sounding, radical-looking WRC cars and live streaming of every stage in 2018.
But I fear the WRC future has none of these things.
The moral to this situation must be 'Enjoy it while you can'...
I think we could be heading for the kind of change like when Group B got banned and the cars went to the slower, quieter, weedier-looking, Group A cars.
It took a long time (maybe never) to get back the popularity.
If so why will a manufacturer want to be part of such a series, especially if its also more expensive ?