Rally Discussion and Bar Talk Thread

[Francis44]

You are correct - Rallying has missed a golden opportunity to become relevant again. Their switch to Hybrid has been very late, they had an opportunity to make it way more "extreme" and missed it. Think about full EV on liaisons / ICE on stages (including recharging for the next liaison etc ...), maybe even full EV with fast charging at stages end. I understand the engineering challenge (added battery weight, battery life, ...), I understand it may not look anymore like the rallying that we know (which is already a far cry from the one that i grew up with in the 70's) - but if you believe the market value of rallying is to relate to manus production using the same roads as average Joe, can you imagine the PR dream by saying "you commute on these roads everyday, winter and summer - now our champions are doing the same at full speed with our EV - no problem". Wouldn't that be a true proof point for EV acceptance ? Attracting manus to the sport, instead of leaving one by one ?
Yes it will be dull for a few years (even though save from the noise, the lastest Skoda rally EV video looked OK), but how did you felt in 1987 when the GpA cars followed the uber-exciting Gp.B machines ?
Yes rallyes may have to become shorter / more compact, but isn't that already happening ?
I am not saying i would be happy for such move to happen, but i see that this may be (have been ?) the only way for Rallying to become one of the golden series as it once was.

That is all fine and dandy, but how can you maintain a championship if most of the current follower base leaves and you have trouble appealing to a new one (interested in full EVs)?

That is no go for me.

Rally Power: Both articles are from clear pro EV websites, they always tend to muddy the waters in their favor.

We must not forget EU for example is making it all about CO2, so if you are able to develop a CO2 neutral fuel, for example, you cannot just ban it for not being a BEV. They have set their legal base so there is room for other options.