What would you choose, the glory of IRC or the challenge of PWRC ?

[A.F.F.]

It was a joke from beginning and still is the same, like Hänninen said after 1st day in rally GB, "I did have 2 flats, even i did not hit anything" that should explaine quite alot.

Plus was ashamed to win and said he was sorry for it.

[sal]

Being thinking again about this whole question again and I still come down in favour of the IRC regardless of whether the driver would be using an S2000 car or Group N. So here is my further arguement.

Of the S2000 cars only Fiat have a proven package so assuming "our driver" has managed to get him/herself into a Punto they stand a good chance of getting decent results in either championship and takes out the "developing the car"arguement that could be levelled at the Toyota etc.

You then have to look at the series. The PWRC uses the same stages as the WRC events on the occassions that these two events run together so there is familiarality there and understanding of how the events run. There is also the kudos of a "World" title. However you then have to look at the competition, the PWRC is a bit of an old boys club with the same drivers like Arai who do the championship year in year out, for heavens sake Stig was a regular for several years!! How would a driver new to the series be able to be judged fairly against these guys? If the newbie wins then people could argue that the competition wasn't really tough as these were old drivers with little left to prove, if they lose then why they couldnt even beat these old guys! I'm sure that Travis Pestrana will shake things up in 07 but the PWRC still feels like a place where "journeymen" drivers go, not necessarily to die but to keep some food on the table. Furthermore other than 15mins on some minor cable/satellite channel there is little or no media coverage to keep sponsors happy and to heighten the drivers profile. There is also the fact that winning the championship is little or no guarantee of a WRC seat and that there would possibly be more to gain in spending the budget on two or three well chosen WRC events in as new a spec WRC car as poss and driving the door handles off it "a al Hirvonen".

You then have the IRC. A new series with some classic events from the past and some new ones in emerging markets that will appeal to sponsors. TV and media coverage almost guaranteed and the likelihood that you can be fairly judged against the competition. As some of the events have recently been in the WRC you will still get to learn how an event operates and if you are at the sharp end ie in the top five of the event you will learn how to deal with media attention. You could use the "spend the budget on three WRC drives" equally here, however there is still a title to be had which as yet dosnt have the stigma of a PWRC crown which has done little to further the career of most of those who have held it already.

However this may still prove acedemic. The FIA have proven pretty adept at killing off any series which threatens the popularity of their flag ship(s) in the past witness the World Touring Car in the 90s and the WRC in the past threatening F1. Now with a lot of money at stake who's to say that the WRC media rights holder wont put pressure to bear to protect their interests should the IRC take off...

[N.O.T]

Guys aren't you jumping on that IRC thing a little too fast ?????

I mean we don't even know if any drivers who actually have some skills to showcase are going to participate and we comparing it with the PWRC which is part of the World series ??????

My opionion is that the IRC is going to be a failure.....as far as competition goes....something like Asia Pacific and ERC....

[Tom206wrc]

Tom, the question was what would you do as a driver not as a fan...

Where's the problem ??

I would drive the 207 as driver ON IRC...

[Jarek Z]

I will not judge whether IRC or PWRC is better, but I want to highlight one thing that nobody noticed yet.

In an IRC round, spending the same amount of money (or even less), you can do something that is impossible in PWRC. You can win a rally in overal classification. You can be overal winner, first car on the finish line, the only hero. They will show you on TV, you will hit the press. That can never happen in PWRC, where you can be 24th, 15th or 10th if you are lucky (and your WRC opponents not).

Safari Rally winner, SanRemo winner - how does that sound in your ears, my friends?

[N.O.T]

It sounds good definately....but the true value of the competition gives honour to the winner....for example what did Donchev earned when we won ELPA rally last year from a bunch of useless locals ???

[Jarek Z]

Well N.O.T, you can ask the same question to Martin Rowe and Niall McShea, who both achieved something more than one win in ERC round. And where are they now?

P.S. That was Iliev, who won Elpa Rally.

[N.O.T]

Exactly....my point is that if you want to make a step further you need to achieve something in a division with good competition not just win a division...thats why i think IRC will fail...because it will not attract high skilled competitors....and if you do a direct comperison of PWRC and IRC the level of competition is better in PWRC (although not high enough the last few years to guarantee the winner a place in the sun)

Of course i wish i am wrong, but i rarely am....

[sal]

Exactly....my point is that if you want to make a step further you need to achieve something in a division with good competition not just win a division...thats why i think IRC will fail...because it will not attract high skilled competitors....and if you do a direct comperison of PWRC and IRC the level of competition is better in PWRC (although not high enough the last few years to guarantee the winner a place in the sun)

Of course i wish i am wrong, but i rarely am....

How do you know that it wont attract the right level of competiton? Have you seen an advance copy of the list of proposed competitors in the IRC? I guess not so think you are being premature in writing off this series. It's not a rival to the PWRC but an alternative.You can compare it to touring car racing with the ITC/DTM and the 2 litre formulas where there is room for all.

As for an idle boast like that think you should get your knife and fork ready for all the humble pie you might need to eat...

[PLuto]

Guys aren't you jumping on that IRC thing a little too fast ?????

I mean we don't even know if any drivers who actually have some skills to showcase are going to participate and we comparing it with the PWRC which is part of the World series ??????

My opionion is that the IRC is going to be a failure.....as far as competition goes....something like Asia Pacific and ERC....

Hello Gregory, it is nice to see you here ) I am talking with thinking about future, which plans FIA... And their plans are to make two levels of WRC - one for WRC cars and second for S2000, PCWRC, JWRC. First level by Richards, second level by Eurosport...