WRC future

[Lancia Stratos]

Can we leave the personal battles behind and move over to something else? Maybe even *sigh* discuss George Donaldson's idea of moving to R5's.

What Donaldson suggests is that they put a bigger restrictor to get more horsepower, and just reinforce the parts which wouldn't withstand the increased power. I'm not saying it's impossible, but sure not as simple as he makes it sound like.

If we think further, would Skoda join in as a manufacturer team? We know how great that car is, how much better than all the other cars. And would Toyota just drop out for a year while developing their R5 car? Would their drivers go to Skoda then? And what kind of a super team that would be...repeat of the VW era?

Is it a coincidence that Donaldson has close links with an R5 manufacturer...….

[AnttiL]

Is it a coincidence that Donaldson has close links with an R5 manufacturer...….

I didn't realize he's still working with some team. But that surely makes his statement a bit biased...

[AnttiL]

Breen supports the idea of R5 cars on main level https://dirtfish.com/rally/wrc/breen...rally2-future/

[Fast Eddie WRC]

Its a good idea for cost-saving and getting private entries but the problem is manus want to promote hybrid / electric cars now.

R2 (R5) as the top level would only work with private teams running them. And who would then create any new R2 cars going forward ?

[AnttiL]

R2 (R5) as the top level would only work with private teams running them. And who would then create any new R2 cars going forward ?

R2 is not the new R5
Rally2 is the new R5
Rally4 is the new R2

"Rally" does not equal "R". You can't just exchange the old and new prefixes or it becomes nonsense.

[Fast Eddie WRC]

What are the existing cars going to be called... eg Citroen C3 R5... Citroen C3 Rally2 ?

[AnttiL]

What are the existing cars going to be called... eg Citroen C3 R5... Citroen C3 Rally2 ?

Yes.

https://www.skoda-motorsport.com/en/...ason-new-name/
https://www.m-sport.co.uk/single-pos...-FIESTA-RALLY4

[pantealex]

What are the existing cars going to be called... eg Citroen C3 R5... Citroen C3 Rally2 ?

You really didn´t know that there are ?

Fabia Rally2 EVO

208 Rally4 (new bodyshape, 5-doors only)

Fiesta Rally4 (update kit is available for R2 owners)

[AnttiL]

https://dirtfish.com/rally/wrc/how-p...riving-styles/

Esapekka Lappi reminds again how the new rules will mean that they cannot drive flat out all the time like now

[Franky]

As automotive companies are starting to face the harsh realities caused by the lockdowns and the potential future, I think we might end up thinking of a completely different kind of rallying future. When sorting old magazines last weekend, came upon a graph showing who controls which car brands. There are 14 different big companies controlling most of the brands.

Today read the news that Renault is in deep trouble (Link to Reuters article, dated 22nd May). And obviously everyone is on a cost saving mission but tough times lead to mergers as well. So the outlook for new manufacturers to enter WRC doesn't look very bright, in my opinion.

If to look at the very dark scenario, that many different manufacturers will have very difficult times and even more brands will end up being owned by even less companies, then could we end up with a situation where no manufacturer would be interested in running a WRC marketing campaign? If it goes that way, will the customer racing have to take the leading role in WRC? Or could there be a crazy move to private outfits and more prototype style class (if the manufacturers won't let use their vehicles' designs or other restrictions from them)?

Just throwing some ideas in the air as the future looks very different now than it was 5 months ago.