Indeed..
Anyone know what they changed in the WRC engine regulations to make them sound better? Some of the 2L WRC engines were particularly quiet and boring sounding (Focus and 307)
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I think that’s a bit of an exaggeration. The top R5 crews push their cars pretty hard and there aren’t that many mechanical problems for them these days. Sure if the Tanaks and Ogiers and Neuvilles are driving them they are pushing them a bit harder but I don’t see that it would change the nature of the sport.
Every rally is a balance between driving as fast as possible whilst not crashing or damaging the car or tyres no matter what you are driving.
Difficult to say who is pushing hard and who not. Many drivers who graduate from WRC2 to WRC have said that the level of competition and pace is so different, you have to go flat out all the time whereas in WRC2 it's not so tough.
As for retirements in WRC2, in Sardegna for example Fourmaux, Camilli and Gryazin retired with mechanical issues, and Østberg lost a lot of time with driveshaft issues.
Meanwhile, we have Tidemand and Bulacia leading WRC2 and WRC3, and they have rarely been the fastest crews on stage times. And remember how ERC was won last year?
Also read this about the difference between the WRC/Rally1 GRE engine and the Rally2 engine
Quote:
On source said: “While the potential for working from a Rally2 [R5] base engine might have been more economic, it would have raised questions over reliability and durability as well as performance.
“We would need to have more [Rally2-based] engines to get through the season, whereas we can make the GRE last longer.”
https://dirtfish.com/rally/wrc/wrc-k...2-hybrid-move/
and comments from Lappi
https://dirtfish.com/rally/how-propo...riving-styles/Quote:
“I have experience from the R5 which is definitely weaker than the WRC.
“I lost a couple of times the wheel already on the R5. And now I’ve got used to the go flat out everywhere [style of a World Rally car], so then I’ll need to start to remind myself of four years ago and try to be smart.”