WRC2 Pro & WRC2 2019

[Rally Power]

Well, WRC2 has professional-level competition and the rallies are long and expensive. I heard in the Absolute Rally podcast that a WRC2 rally costs roughly double the amount of an ERC rally. And doing national rallies in some country (Italy, Finland) would probably be even cheaper. And competition-wise, it's good to learn to win, to build mental strength on keeping a lead and finishing a rally under pressure. It's easier to win a national rally or an ERC round than in WRC2. Of course, you have to go to WRC2 at some point if you want to be a professional, but if your career is at the point where you want to learn different types of roads outside your country, it just doesn't feel like a cost-effective idea. If you have the budget/backing and modest results won't take that backing away, then no problem.

Actually I wasn’t trying to compare different series costs but only to say how pointeless it’s to judge drivers about the way they get money to run; as long they pay the bills they’re all entitled to do it, no matter if its 'mammy or daddy' (btw, why not the wife or the gf?), their ASN or a bunch of sponsors supporting them.

But once we got here I’d like to ask about MSport runing deals. Can someone say how much more a JWRC competitor will spend on a series program with MSport than on a ERC U27 with, f.i., Sainteloc on a 208? The same for a WRC2 program on an MSport Fiesta rather than ERC U28 on a Motorsport Italia Fabia or any other car from a small scale team.

It's always amazing to see the number of JWRC and WRC2 cars that MSport rent and service at WRC events; maybe their larger scale, besides being the actual car builders, allows them to offer better deals than the competition, which may became tempting for drivers at the hour of choosing what series to run.