WRC future

[mknight]

Thought the same.. like Knight Rider back in the 80's

Obligatory:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oNyXYPhnUIs

To stay on topic, the vid is sped up and crap. Impossible to say anything about the car.

[cali]

https://youtu.be/VSk7QS2xfwg

Sent from my ONEPLUS A5010 using Tapatalk

[Francis44]

https://youtu.be/xv6ZF1LMhFY

I know its their first attempt but it is kind of embarrassing, lots to be done if this is going to be something in the future.

[Mirek]

To stay on topic, the vid is sped up and crap. Impossible to say anything about the car.

You can say that it has no sound

[AnttiL]

https://www.rallit.fi/fia-pomo-uskoo...mielenkiintoa/

Matton believes hybrids will add interest for new manufacturers. He also says that the "R5+" wouldn't be a good choice as a top class, there needs to be some new energy sources involved to ensure the future of the sport.

Original source is Motorsport Aktuell magazine

[Rally Power]

In another thread Rally Power (and Cali) suggested writing about my thoughts on the rally future, which I, out of respect, will do, but following the discussion so far, I think pretty much every topic has been covered well.

• Spaceframe chassis – knowing how things have developed in other forms of motorsport, I won’t be surprised if FIA (as already suggested in this thread) introduce a single make spaceframe assembly supplied to each manufacturer for them to add their own mechanical components and bodywork. Will it be a chipper way for existing manufacturers to go rallying and facilitate new ones to enter in - most likely. Am I fun of this solution – no, but if it allows rallying to survive, I am not going to be against it. Other series have gone through a similar process (i.e. Nascar moving from stock chassis to spaceframe long time ago and DTM with single type survival cell), so it is difficult to argue.
• Propulsion system type – I am an older generation, so the internal combustion engine is engrained in my DNA, though as an engineer, I can’t fail to see the advantages of the electric motor as a propulsion system (obviously the energy source for these is not yet there). My fear is that neither (or combination there off) of these is a satisfactory solution one way or another, as pointed out in various posts here. The potential and hypothetical new generation of spectators that would be interested in electric power is not tremendously concerned with motorsport in general, while the older one like me, with the internal combustion engine in mind, do not represent a segment of the population that the manufacturers much care about. Some form of hybrid may temporarily satisfy the current manufacturers but, as pointed by others, even this is becoming quickly outdated in the automotive world. And we have to agree with Mirek, that rallying must be attractive from marketing point of view to the manufacturers in order to persuade them to splash the cash on rally cars.

All of the above means it will be very challenging for motorsport to survive in general. Interestingly somebody at work pointed out to the below (few months old now) link yesterday – even less reasons to be optimistic

https://www.thegwpf.com/net-zero-co2...ant-every-day/



Interestingly, I am of the opinion that the future of transportation will look like in the Minority Report film, with the automated city/motorway cars (in my opinion) being powered by rails embedded in the road with small batteries present to cover any stretches of unpowered roads, which leaves even less room for any marketing interest in rallying from whatever vehicle manufacturers are left out there.

On the positive side, historic motorsport will most likely thrive, at least for a while as the rich would be able to buy their way out of anything.

Great post NickRally; honestly I’m a bit more optimistic on motorsport future.

Btw, more than preparing for a future spec chassis, spaceframe option seems to be a way to guarantee that some manus can run the WRC without a suitable standard chassis; that could be MSport case in a couple of years as Ford already mentioned a full switch to SUVs; apparently Toyota and Hyundai aren’t making such radical plans.

On Rally Hybrids we can’t also predict if they’ll last a few years or a couple of decades; full EVs range and safety issues in Rally won’t be easy to solve. Besides, it’s too early to say that EVs global use is granteed; at some point taxpayers may start resisting political attempts to impose EVs at their (ours) expense.

Meanwhile, let’s hope 2022 Hybrid rules will be sensible enough to avoid WRC cost escalation, attracting more manus to the series. Fingers crossed!

[Fast Eddie WRC]

M-Sport working on electric rally car:
https://www.autosport.com/wrc/news/1...tric-rally-car

[the sniper]

M-Sport working on electric rally car:
https://www.autosport.com/wrc/news/1...tric-rally-car

Still working on it? That story is from March last year.

[deephouse]

Yves Matton told that FIA wants North America (most likely Canada) and China on WRC calendar and that they established work group to help them organize events in the future. These two markets are very important for all manufacturers involved in WRC.

[Rallyper]

Yves Matton told that FIA wants North America (most likely Canada) and China on WRC calendar and that they established work group to help them organize events in the future. These two markets are very important for all manufacturers involved in WRC.

Sounds reasonable.

However the quality of a WRC rally is another aspect...