Rally2 (ex-R5) News

[RS]

Maybe some "leading" driver is going/planning to do Safari, trying to get "easy" WRC2 points...

I wondered that but is a test really needed for fitting bull bars and is snowy Czech gravel the best place to do it?!

[the sniper]

Could it be something to do with South America? Quite a few R5s down there so a market to serve. These 'bull bars' are relatively conservative compared to what you see on the likes of the Transchaco rally though...

[WRCStan]

Maybe some "leading" driver is going/planning to do Safari, trying to get "easy" WRC2 points...

Not just easy, but also bonus points for teams (and Master's Cup). Teams still needs two cars starting.

[Sulland]

Citroen C3 Rally2 (car no. 100) goes to Poland. Its driver will be Michał Tochowicz, who is going to compete in Polish championship:
https://pl.motorsport.com/rsmp/news/...olsce/9722914/

The C3 has gone from being very difficult to drive for most drivers, and for most it felt dangerous is some situations on the loose.
Then they started a development program, and many parts of the car was changed. Now the C3 is a potential winner on all surfaces, and sell a lot of cars. Good work by Ostberg and the other drivers + the factory to turn it around!

2 other cars are in need of same program, Hyundai and Ford!

[Fast Eddie WRC]

2 other cars are in need of same program, Hyundai and Ford !

But both of those are still in WRC so have had other priorities ie. a Rally1 car to build and develop. And Toyota still haven't even made a Rally2 !

Citroen and Skoda total concentration on their Rally2 cars have unsurprisingly made them the better vehicles.

[Danny0405]

But both of those are still in WRC so have had other priorities ie. a Rally1 car to build and develop. And Toyota still haven't even made a Rally2 !

Citroen and Skoda total concentration on their Rally2 cars have unsurprisingly made them the better vehicles.

For M-Sport, it’s pretty clear that they decide to abandon the Rally2 category, at least for the moment. When I say «*abandon*», I mean just living with the current car with no real development and makes a few sales with it; the fact that they have no WRC-2 team, the number of sponsors Huttunen has on his car (whereas he is their lead driver) and the fact that Cais has his own structure are the best proves. They are just giving some backing to be able to compete. On the other hand, they are focusing on the new market of Rally3, and let’s be honest, it works well with more than 50 sales + Junior WRC (I thought it would be a complete failure) and they will be dominant for one more year (Renault will come in one year according to their plan). So with new Rally1 regulation + a new client category that is working well, we can understand they will do nothing on Rally2 for now (except some sales, maybe by being competitive on the price + the car is competitive on tarmac which could help in some countries); and don’t forget they have also Rally4 (even if Renault is a big competitor there).

For Hyundai, my understanding is that they are trying to do with Suninen the same job that Citroen did with Ostberg so I think they are in the development period. From what I understood, they will begin in Portugal because it was a little later and it allows to focus on gravel for World Rally drives (and they have Ciamin in France Tarmac). And with a start in Portugal, it is possible to do a full 7-round WRC-2 program in Europe for Suninen.

[Jarek Z]

Have you looked at the results of Rally Croatia? Not a single VW Polo in top 10. It seems only Citroen and Skoda count in WRC2!
https://rally-base.com/2022/croatia-...61&ssGroupId=1

[Danny0405]

Have you looked at the results of Rally Croatia? Not a single VW Polo in top 10. It seems only Citroen and Skoda count in WRC2!
https://rally-base.com/2022/croatia-...61&ssGroupId=1

Linammae was the only interesting driver in VW in Croatia (so it’s not an issue of speed but more about sales and commercial as we evoked in this topic earlier this year).
Don’t forget VW did a good performance in Sweden + Solans’ win in ERC.
And without Munster’s late mistake in MC, Mikkelsen would have been the only Skoda driver in the podium in both MC and Sweden.

But yeah for sure, VW car will not developed anymore so it will drop at one moment (but maybe not that fast considering the car is not ridiculous today).
Then, let’s see what Hyundai will succeed with Suninen.

[Sulland]

For M-Sport, it’s pretty clear that they decide to abandon the Rally2 category, at least for the moment. When I say «*abandon*», I mean just living with the current car with no real development and makes a few sales with it; the fact that they have no WRC-2 team.

I understand that M-Sport UK have a lot to do with Rally 1, and that they focus on that. Suddenly for the first time in years they have a car that can win, and they want to keep it that way!

M-Sport Poland has done other cars into winners in the junior classes, and have made the Rally 3 from scratch. So they have good knowledge on the customer/privateer market.
Why not give the Rally2 responsibility over to them. Engineering is done online anyway, so they get that support from the UK team, but R&D and testing is handeled from the polish arm.
Then they will have all customer based cars, and UK can focus 100% on Rally1.

[RS]

Improved safety and bodyshell strength in new Fabia:
https://www.skoda-storyboard.com/en/...source=twitter