[WRC] News & rumours (part II)

World Rally Championship - News - SWRC to thrill as crews confirm schedules

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Originally Posted by SubaruNorway

What places would you suggest for a rally? Something different like a Safari style rally in the south maybe...

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What we need here is for the FIA or somebody to clarify what the stakes are. We don't know if we are going to loose 2 of our favorites or get a 15 round calendar.

I would jump for Ireland myself. It looks like this years IRC round will be awesome, the Titanic docks is a nice touch. Also look into Bulgaria or Poland, awhile back there was some talk about having a events that ran through several countries in that area of Europe. Just a thought.

Bring back calendar from 10 years ago and that's it.

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Originally Posted by Plan9

What we need here is for the FIA or somebody to clarify what the stakes are. We don't know if we are going to loose 2 of our favorites or get a 15 round calendar.

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Jean Todt: "We want to have one proper World Rally Championship with a balance of half in Europe and half outside Europe." - quote from his interview @ autosport.com

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Originally Posted by Miika

I would have thought that after all the problems lately they would have first concentrated on getting the basis of the series into a better shape before reaching new areas/countries. Selling a broken product into new areas and then wondering why it isn´t appealing to anyone there either, I can´t see how that would be the wisest thing to do at the moment.

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Absolutely!! Yes, the sport needs new areas of growth, but it needs to walk before it can run. Now is not the time for going to new countries. Lets get the sport settled, sort the problems out, etc Then, when it is stable - go to these new markets. And remember, F1 might be able to get away with 3 men & a dog watching, but the WRC most definately won't.

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Originally Posted by Plan9

I would not like them to come at the expense of a well established event. The WRC is not like other motorsports that can trial events very fluently. Since 2000 only 2 events have become integral to the calendar (can you imagine a season without Mexico or Germany). My point is, if we replace a established event for a risk in a BRIC country we may lose the established event for awhile longer than one year. If you get my meaning?

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A merger between Alsace and Germany, gives 1 free slot in the calendar... same if they pull out Mexico from the calendar (not much spectators, national sponsors not interested in big programmes in the series [but only for the event], etc.)!

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Originally Posted by Prisoner Monkeys

That depends entirely on what you consider to be of benefit to the sport. If the WRC is indeed looking at two extra rounds in Brazil, Russia, India or China, then the organisers evidently feel that the sport will gain something from it.

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No it doesn't. It's a matter of common sense.
Presently we have a system where the tail is wagging the dog i.e. the promotional arm is controlling the sport. By moving into large population blocks they'll argue that larger population means larger markets which'll bring more watchers and opportunities to sell more cars. This'll attract more manufacturers into the WRC and so on and so forth and we'll all live happily ever after. And subsequently, they'll be able to charge plenty for their services.
The reality is very different, as was clearly spelled out by a Brazilian member elsewhere on the forum. That country is the world's 6th biggest economy and a large car market. However their interest in rallying extends to the 6 contestants in their national series with their wives & girlfriends being the only onlookers. Where is the benefit of running a sub standard event in a country with no rallying infrastructure and where no-one will watch it or even know it is taking place?
Far better to grow strong existing high quality events to an iconic status that will ensure mass media attention for those taking part and which people from "emerging markets" will strive to enter.

I would tend to think these strategies have strong backing by at least VW and Citroen. So contrary to be a potential double-dip setback of the sport, it likely ensures these two will stay long term. It's definitely a move you have to take, and you need to take it when you have a couple of strong players.

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Originally Posted by sollitt

No it doesn't. It's a matter of common sense.
Presently we have a system where the tail is wagging the dog i.e. the promotional arm is controlling the sport. By moving into large population blocks they'll argue that larger population means larger markets which'll bring more watchers and opportunities to sell more cars. This'll attract more manufacturers into the WRC and so on and so forth and we'll all live happily ever after. And subsequently, they'll be able to charge plenty for their services.
The reality is very different, as was clearly spelled out by a Brazilian member elsewhere on the forum. That country is the world's 6th biggest economy and a large car market. However their interest in rallying extends to the 6contestants in their national series with their wives & girlfriends being the only onlookers. Where is the benefit of running a sub standard event in a country with no rallying infrastructure and where no-one will watch it or even know it is taking place?
Far better to grow strong existing high quality events to an iconic status that will ensure mass media attention for those taking part.

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Brazil is a big market for Volkswagen - first of all - and Citroen in a couple years. So, what can they do for it in cooperation with the local organizers and the WRC Promoter? Making sure it will be Eurosport, already involved (with big success, I'd say) there with WTCC and IRC, I think it could be a good example to debut in a new country!

Have a look to Buenos Aires, Argentina: the WRC runs hundreds of km away from the rally-area of Cordoba, but just a roadshow attracted about 50.000 people for some donuts. That's a good way to promote these events: advertising the WRC rally with two show events - the first one in Rio, the other one in Sao Paulo would be fine - with a low-budget, some adv on tv and medias, etc!

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Originally Posted by Rally Hokkaido

On-board of Paddon's first test in Fabia - it's a short loop and video doesn't really show much......well, I suppose at least it's proof that ANZACs should have one top driver representing them in Sweden

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dXQn6dkd7X4

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I think that it is interesting that Chris has not been able to find any new money from Australia (the country that is supposed to be recession proof) to fund anything in the WRC; whereas Hayden was able to put together 2 programs (Subaru in PWRC now Skoda in SWRC) in the WRC by utilizing local enterprises to fund them and NZ has not had the good fortune that Australia has enjoyed of late.