Young talented drivers

[EstWRC]

In the WRC it will be very interesting to follow Camilli and Meeke, because they still have a steep trajectory of improvement, where drivers like Evans and Tannak fail to deliver.

you think that Tänak doesnt have a steep trajectory of improvement anymore?

[tommeke_B]

you think that Tänak doesnt have a steep trajectory of improvement anymore?

Well... In '12 he finished 8th in the championship (with 2x mechanical retirement), then also had one podium finish just like in '15. In '15 he finished 10th in the championship, with the worst results in the last events. If you call it a steep trajectory it must be going downhill. Everyone was expecting better results from him, including you, I'm sure.

[EstWRC]

What I meant was that do you think that he doesn't improve this upcoming season anymore? And of course I was disappointed with this results.

I think he will improve because he goes now second year straight into a next season and Raigo has some experience now. They were really struggling in the beginning of the season. You don't understand Estonian but if you looked inboards from WRC+ then you could hear Tänak screaming "READ" at him. Later on in the season I didn't hear this anymore.

If he doesn't improve then even I agree that he should be dropped.

[Lundefaret]

you think that Tänak doesnt have a steep trajectory of improvement anymore?

No, he has flattened out and I know why.
First he is not close to having perfect pace notes, and a perfect partnership with his codriver. And he has a driving trait that causes him to have to many moments. As a driver he is incredibly fast, but he needs to be more of an athlete in terms of the boring stuff, like pace notes.
If he sorts that out he can continue his improvements. If not it will be more of the same. Glimpses of greatness and big disappointments I am afraid.

[vino_93]

About small R cars, does anyone know more about the "local" R2 : Polo R2 in India, Polo R2 and Toyota Etios R2 in South Africa / Namibia ?
Are they cheaper than european R2 ?

[Rallyper]

About small R cars, does anyone know more about the "local" R2 : Polo R2 in India, Polo R2 and Toyota Etios R2 in South Africa / Namibia ?
Are they cheaper than european R2 ?

OT

[Rally Power]

For Bergkvist I'd either like to see him in an R5 doing ERC or I'd like to see him in WRC doing either JWRC or Dmack Trophy.

It's a bit like believing in Santa's, but I'm really hopping Opel is developing the R5 Corsa and could be in '17 WRC2 with Bergkvist!

[Simmi]

It's a bit like believing in Santa's, but I'm really hopping Opel is developing the R5 Corsa and could be in '17 WRC2 with Bergkvist!

I'd love to see Opel step up to R5. But it's debatable whether being in that car would be good for Bergkvist. Surely he'd be better off in a proven package. Although I agree 2017 is a more realistic year for him to attempt WRC2.

[Rally Power]

This may be a little off-topic, but it's a topic that's important for the development of young drivers all over Europe. I hope the FIA takes a look at the "ladder" of classes in cars (R1, R2, R3, R5, before jumping to WRC). R1 isn't really expensive, but it's too slow to be called a rallycar. Many people who drive an R1 have a faster car when they are doing recce than during the rally... For fun/budget in almost all countries drivers prefer old Saxo's/Clio's/Civics etc. Also for sponsors some R1 isn't interesting as you can't score any decent result with it in a rally with a normal entry field. Then R2 is a huge step. The cars are quick and exciting to watch, and in many countries there's a good coverage in cups/trophies or junior championships. The problem for almost all drivers is that they are too expensive to drive. To buy a new R2 you need some 55K to 60K euros (for 208 or Adam or Fiesta 1.0). Rental costs for these cars are easily 10 000 euros and more for a national rally. I think apart from JERC or a very strong national junior championship or trophy (are there any left?) it's hard to justify these costs towards people who invest their money in it... Then there's R3, which is even much more expensive and gets less interest than R2. We're seeing that this is starting to be a step that is left over by most drivers, who try to go directly from R2 to R5. R5 seems to be a great formula, as the number of entrants and the number of sold cars prove.

In my opinion it would be nice if FIA rethinks the R1-R2-R3 classes, with having R3 ditched (as there's a lack of interest anyway), and renewing R1 and R2 classes. With new cars/engines on the market, couldn't it be possible to get R1 and R2 from the same basic car? A car with 1.0 (such as Ford's Ecoboost or Opel's EcoFLEX, or the 1.2 PureTech from PSA) could make a perfect basic car. I'd like to see a new R1 car, with the power of almost current R2 but much more restricted in the area of suspension and gearbox. Something that's still relatively affordable but already exciting to drive and watch. Then there could be an R2 car, like the current R2 car but with rules to allow some more power (like bigger restrictor on turbo cars). With some more power and a good competition among some drivers, the R2 cars would be at least as exciting to see as the old S1600 cars. Maybe it could be possible to do a big upgrade on an R1 car to make an R2 car from it, so the step from R1 to R2 could be smaller as well? Nowadays R1/R2/R3 have a completely different base car. People who buy an R1 now, do a season with it, then want to move on, and have to sell a car nobody wants... In reality it surely isn't as easy as explained here, but the way it is now isn't really the way to go for young drivers who don't have some millionaire behind them. I think Opel showed a good formula with the Adam Cup.

Pitty that FIA isn't interested in the "health" of this sport called rallying...

FIA should rethink R1, R2, R3 and R4, because there's room for a 4wd entry class (there's a huge gap between 90.000€ R3's and 230.000€ R5's and closing that gap would also benefit young drivers).

The whole R Group came from the assumption that limiting rally homologations and providing manus official tuners a sort of rally car building monopoly would involve more manus in the sport. That's eventually happening, but in a very slow pace and with a big cost for the vast majority of rally costumers: official tuners enginering is the state of the art, but will always be expensive (and FIA cost control works only on paper).

Probably ASN's homologations for local private tuners developed 2wd and 4wd rally cars will be the solution that FIA will, sooner or later, get to fix this problem.

Btw, even if some technical aspects aren't perfect, it's fair to say that since the earlier 00's, with Junior WRC introduction, the rising of young drivers in WRC became much easier than in the past.

[Rallyper]

I'd love to see Opel step up to R5. But it's debatable whether being in that car would be good for Bergkvist. Surely he'd be better off in a proven package. Although I agree 2017 is a more realistic year for him to attempt WRC2.

No problems with that. But what should he do in the mean time? 2016 is coming rapidly and nothing yet from his management.