2022 WRC News & Rumours

[WRCStan]

And let's wait whether we have anybody on the grid in 2025

Electric?

[AndyRAC]

Alfa has a rich history in rallying, there were a force in the 60s, less so in the 70s (but then they dabbled in french events with one of my favourite car, the monster Alfetta V8 !), then back in the 80s with the groupA Alfetta GTVs.
I know WRC is not the most "efficient" marketing tools these days, but if you do it properly, it can do miracles to re-establish a brand tat nobody really cares of anymore (circa Audi, Peugeot, Subaru). After all, there isn't a simpler message than "drive the same car on the same roads as the champs do". Fingers crossed, but don't raise your hopes too much ...

I associate Alfa more recently with touring cars, especially the 155 V6 DTM beast of the 1990s.....

From memory, we had Ferrari in F1, Alfa-Romeo in Touring cars (DTM/ITC/BTCC) and Lancia in WRC. Then it was decided the majority of the group's motorsport activities concentrated solely on F1 with Ferrari.

One hopes we see a return but I would imagine the WRC won't be top of their list of series to join......Looking at their cars, none really scream WRC; maybe a Giulia TCR, or a Stelvio/ Tonale Rally Raid/ Dakar car.

[lmmjvss]

The "hype" is LeMans and Dakar right now. Gotta see where the "Hype" is going to be when Alfa leaves F1. Tho I imagine they will stay up until 2025, right? Since Audi is joining only in 2026.
Theres that new eGT coming up and FIA is kinda moving away from TCR to go e-TCR haha u'know? So...eh... Idk what to think about motorsport anymore haha just hoping they stop creating more and more championships, jeezzz. Its just making it super expensive for fans, since each one has its own stream service ($$)

[seb_sh]

The "hype" is LeMans and Dakar right now. Gotta see where the "Hype" is going to be when Alfa leaves F1. Tho I imagine they will stay up until 2025, right? Since Audi is joining only in 2026.
Theres that new eGT coming up and FIA is kinda moving away from TCR to go e-TCR haha u'know? So...eh... Idk what to think about motorsport anymore haha just hoping they stop creating more and more championships, jeezzz. Its just making it super expensive for fans, since each one has its own stream service ($$)

Alfa in F1 ends in 2023.

[lmmjvss]

Alfa in F1 ends in 2023.

Im going to doubt on that simply bcuz F1 is on an 'all time' high right now.
Honda said they were leaving too and look at themm u'know? Its very beneficial to just stay in the championship.
Unless VW is putting money to make them leave. (Like, a contract with Sauber that doesnt allow Alfa to continue in 24 & 25)

[TypeR]

Different thing.. Honda is actual rngine supplier.. Alfa-Romeo is basically just a name/brand on Sauber cars..

[meh]

https://dirtfish.com/rally/wrc/where...os-future-lie/ - more new without any news

[er88]

Jeez, clearly Dirtfish or any rally journalists don't have a clue what's going on. I think that's 3 different articles from the same Sordo quotes just rehashed. And Latvala's quoted where he said something along the lines of "why would we change the drivers, but it's not upto me", has also had 3or4 different (but samey) articles trotted out

[seb_sh]

Jeez, clearly Dirtfish or any rally journalists don't have a clue what's going on. I think that's 3 different articles from the same Sordo quotes just rehashed. And Latvala's quoted where he said something along the lines of "why would we change the drivers, but it's not upto me", has also had 3or4 different (but samey) articles trotted out

slow news so they're reheating the same quotes with different article titles

[Danny0405]

For Hyundai, the situation is quite clear paradoxically:
- Sordo 6 to 8 rounds is a no-brainer: he is reliable and can score good points; but full season is not possible because of fast gravel-snow rallies + he needs good road position to achieve a result in slow gravel.
- Mikkelsen sounds also a no-brainer for part-time; he is the most reliable WRC2 driver at the moment and M-Sport drivers have shown nothing this year. But full-time for a return is not realistic to put him in conditions to achieve podiums (they clearly need to play on road positions so part-time.
- it would be non-sense to fire Solberg to hire a Loubet or a Fourmaux or a youngster which is not a no-brainer choice, considering what they said (even if I don’t agree personnally). So the last question is either they succeed to steal Lappi or Evans from Toyota or not. If not, the only reasonable choice is probably Suninen (and it can be only part-time)

So for me, it’s either:

- Neuville 1st car / Lappi or Evans 2nd car / shared 3rd car Mikkelsen-Sordo

- Neuville 1st car/ Mikkelsen-Sordo-Suninen sharing 2nd and 3rd cars (a bit like in 2019 with a 10-8-8 dispatch, and perhaps a 4th driver for a couple of specific rounds like Breen in 2019; why not trying Fourmaux for 1 or 2 tarmac rounds or Paddon for a couple of difficult rallies?)

Only guy who could realistically change this is Breen if freed for nothing by M-Sport as he knows Rally1 car. But considering his season, it cannot be for a full-time seat so it would be instead of Suninen.
Even if I think it will be too short to match Toyota (especially if no Lappi or no Evans in Hyundai) and they should have bet on Solberg’s improvements.