Page 101 of 130 FirstFirst ... 519199100101102103111 ... LastLast
Results 1,001 to 1,010 of 1296

Thread: WRC future

  1. #1001
    Senior Member
    Join Date
    May 2005
    Posts
    5,796
    Like
    337
    Liked 3,786 Times in 1,977 Posts
    Quote Originally Posted by AnttiL View Post
    https://yle.fi/urheilu/3-11665104

    Jarmo Mahonen said in an interview that two big manufacturers are interested in joining WRC. He also says the current teams haven't yet signed the paper on committing to the rules, but it has been agreed verbally.
    Google translate says "Two large manufacturers have been interested, but it is not yet more concrete in terms of their brands."

    "Interested" is quite loose term. Anyway from this definition I would guess:

    - PSA (Stellantis), hard to judge the interest level

    - VAG (with other brands than VW, Skoda or Seat), they did recently announce that VW wont do motorsport, but how does it apply to "semi-green" hybrid cars and other brands than VW?

    - There was some talk about Subaru, but that doesn't fit with this definition of "large manufacturers" that need to pick brand

    In short, nothing new, not holding my breath.

  2. Likes: AndyRAC (26th November 2020),pantealex (25th November 2020)
  3. #1002
    Senior Member AnttiL's Avatar
    Join Date
    Apr 2017
    Location
    Finland
    Posts
    9,625
    Like
    8,775
    Liked 10,522 Times in 4,616 Posts
    https://dirtfish.com/motorsport/daka...try-finalized/

    Dakar is planning to start using hydrogen as fuel from 2026 onwards

  4. Likes: cali (1st December 2020)
  5. #1003
    Senior Member AnttiL's Avatar
    Join Date
    Apr 2017
    Location
    Finland
    Posts
    9,625
    Like
    8,775
    Liked 10,522 Times in 4,616 Posts
    I listened to the Mahonen podcast out of which yesterday's news article was derived from. He talked about them planning the 2017 WRC rules and it was the first time they had the manufacturers at the table, and they also tried to create what the fans wanted to see.

    He also mentions that they also considered going to R5 at the time, but it would have meant losing manufacturers, because they were more interested in a high-tech solution(remember that we're talking mid 2010's here, R5 wasn't as popular as it is now)

    He also said that according to Jost Capito VW's yearly budget was 70 million, and Capito said that they could have done two years in secret without anyone noticing, such big are the turnovers of big car manufacturer that a hundred million is just a decimal.

  6. Likes: EstWRC (27th November 2020),pantealex (27th November 2020),the sniper (26th November 2020)
  7. #1004
    Senior Member
    Join Date
    May 2005
    Posts
    5,796
    Like
    337
    Liked 3,786 Times in 1,977 Posts
    It's much more about the optics than the money itself. Following the dieselgate it's not like VW suddenly ran out of money, even with the massive compensations. But withdrawing as a sinner regretting the cheating surely looked good to the steering board.

    Similarly when PSA is kicking people and closing factories it doesn't want to be seen "throwing" money at WRC. Again doesn't matter if they have it or not.

  8. Likes: pantealex (27th November 2020)
  9. #1005
    Senior Member AnttiL's Avatar
    Join Date
    Apr 2017
    Location
    Finland
    Posts
    9,625
    Like
    8,775
    Liked 10,522 Times in 4,616 Posts
    Quote Originally Posted by mknight View Post
    It's much more about the optics than the money itself. Following the dieselgate it's not like VW suddenly ran out of money, even with the massive compensations. But withdrawing as a sinner regretting the cheating surely looked good to the steering board.
    Yes, definitely. That quote was just representing what kind of investment rallying is for car manufacturers in general, not VW particularly.

  10. Likes: pantealex (27th November 2020)
  11. #1006
    Senior Member AnttiL's Avatar
    Join Date
    Apr 2017
    Location
    Finland
    Posts
    9,625
    Like
    8,775
    Liked 10,522 Times in 4,616 Posts
    I'm translating direct quotes from Mahonen about creating the 2017 rules because this stuff is golden

    "When I came to FIA, they had no strategy, no plans five years ahead"

    "The first point on our strategy was to take the position of the fans, what they want to see. It was a big shock to the manufacturers when we had a meeting and I said we need to make new cars. It was dead silent and they asked 'what kind of cars?'. I said 'let's start with 600 bhp, spectacular cars'. Again dead silent. They said I was crazy and it cannot be implemented. But it was the first time we sat down with the manufacturers and offered to plan it together"

    "We have to accept that when car manufacturers are involved, it's extremely difficult to control costs"

    About going to R5

    "We considered going to R5 but we would lose 150 million Euros coming to the sport"

    "It was a clear message in my times [that the manufacturers want to show their high-tech competence and they are not able to do that through simpler and more limited R5 cars]. They wanted this new car that would be spectacular and could be used in marketing"

    "It's not cheap either to put up a team and drive 12-14 WRC events on an R5"

    about Citroen leaving

    "We could see it two years before that they are leaving from their weird statements, and Ogier jumping ship was their final excuse to pull the plug. They weren't successful and although they talked about green values, in reality they were out of money on the department"

  12. Likes: EstWRC (27th November 2020),pantealex (27th November 2020),the sniper (26th November 2020)
  13. #1007
    Senior Member AnttiL's Avatar
    Join Date
    Apr 2017
    Location
    Finland
    Posts
    9,625
    Like
    8,775
    Liked 10,522 Times in 4,616 Posts
    Quote Originally Posted by AnttiL View Post
    https://yle.fi/urheilu/3-11665104

    Jarmo Mahonen said in an interview that two big manufacturers are interested in joining WRC. He also says the current teams haven't yet signed the paper on committing to the rules, but it has been agreed verbally.
    I have to also clarify this. What he actually says is that two manufacturers were interested in joining the 2017 WRC rules, but it has been quiet from them now. The news article was misleading.

  14. Likes: pantealex (27th November 2020)
  15. #1008
    Senior Member
    Join Date
    Jul 2009
    Posts
    2,025
    Like
    78
    Liked 212 Times in 133 Posts
    With Audi leaving FE and investing heavily again in motorsport with combustion engines (albeit in a slightly different way in Dakar) could we see another VAG brand joining the party in rallying?!

  16. Likes: pantealex (1st December 2020)
  17. #1009
    Senior Member Sulland's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jan 2004
    Location
    Norway
    Posts
    6,377
    Like
    2,004
    Liked 1,367 Times in 710 Posts
    Quote Originally Posted by AnttiL View Post
    I'm translating direct quotes from Mahonen about creating the 2017 rules because this stuff is golden

    "We have to accept that when car manufacturers are involved, it's extremely difficult to control costs"

    About going to R5
    "We considered going to R5 but we would lose 150 million Euros coming to the sport"
    It is hard to control cost if you keep changing the regulations, and use political reasons to do so.
    In large parts of the world ICE will be 99% of the market for years to come.
    Fully electric is currently nor possible in rally
    Hybrid is a Parentises in the car history, no use going there for rally.

    So manufacturers pay 150 mill to FIA to participate.

    Still I think looking at the current corona situation, and that car manus struggle with sales, FIA should keep it simple and run with R5/Rally2 as top dog for a few years. Give FIA and the manufacturers more time to agree on rules for lets say 2024. Corona will be a challenge for at leat one more year from date, if not longer.

    That will give all some time to breathe and find the way ahead.

  18. #1010
    Senior Member AnttiL's Avatar
    Join Date
    Apr 2017
    Location
    Finland
    Posts
    9,625
    Like
    8,775
    Liked 10,522 Times in 4,616 Posts
    How about we won't start this debate once again. However, I want to correct one of your statements

    Quote Originally Posted by Sulland View Post
    So manufacturers pay 150 mill to FIA to participate.
    This is obviously the yearly budget of two manufacturers. If they chose not to participate in the sport, that money would go elsewhere than rallying. Like Mahonen said "the money would not come to the sport". The drivers, mechanics, events, organizations etc. would not get the money, other sports would get it.
    Last edited by AnttiL; 1st December 2020 at 08:56.

  19. Likes: pantealex (1st December 2020)

Posting Permissions

  • You may not post new threads
  • You may not post replies
  • You may not post attachments
  • You may not edit your posts
  •