Future of National Series

[OldF]

Should national teams be forced to step into 1.6tWRC cars, which are expected to be 40% more expensive than today’s S2000 cars?

If the direct injection will increase the price by 40%, how much will the price increase with the hydraulic gearbox? Lets hope at least it’s going to be the same format as in S2000. Three manufacturers make the gearboxes and the teams choose which on to use. No more for a team purpose made gearboxes. One issue that will affect the price of the hydraulic gearbox, is an active centre differential allowed or not.

What cars are used in national championships depends on the decision of the national ASN.

Shouldn’t FIA reconsider the S2000 ban and the review of traditional N4 regulations for national use?

N4 and S2000 as they’re now are IMO OK. If there will be more freedom in the technical regulations for N4, the prices will increase again.

[rv65]

The FIA proposed to have a paddle shift gearbox made by 1 or even 2 vendors.

[Rally Power]

]You didn't notice that since then the number of WRC cars in WRC championship is going stadily down and that we ended with 2 factory teams from 6 or so?

Think just logically, is it more expensive for team to built 3-4 cars per year for their WRT which they can't sell further or to built 20 cars and 16 of them sell to privateers for cash and provide service and spare parts? In early 2000' there were some 5x more WRC cars built per year.

I understand your point Mirek, but selling WRC cars was always more important to private structures like Prodrive or MSport than to manufactures rally departments, like the ones of Citroën, Peugeot, Mitsubishi, etc, because for these providing 2nd hand cars was a residual budget fraction.

More than development costs, the “death” of WRC cars it’s linked with the inflated level of technology involved, that arouse a degree of expertise accessible to very few.

[Rally Power]

]WRC and national series are not different worlds. They need to coesist as one depends on the other. We can't talk about one and doesn't think about the other in the same time.

Knowing how easily world rally manufacturers involves in “armour races”, forgetting costs and costumers accessibility, it really makes sense to split world and national rally cars, in order to provide top national teams affordable and competitive machinery.

1.6tWRC cars will be great for WRC use, but other 4wd category will be urgently needed for national series, otherwise will live a Gr.B look like scenario, with only one or two competitors fighting for national champs titles.

[Mirek]

In my opinion if WRC stays completely separated, nothing will change. We will continue with 2-3 manufacturers, maybe sometimes 4 for one year experiment.

Only Citroën can afford to run WRC with no sales to privateers now. Others need that.