2023 WRC News & Rumours

**AnttiL** · 6th December 2022, 19:48

Originally Posted by manthey

More Teams, more cars and more drivers for the title…as in Group A time. That world be perfect

I remember Group A times differently. Usually two or three teams fighting for the title - or maybe just one like Lancia 1987-1989!

**SubaruNorway** · 6th December 2022, 20:07

Most people can barely get a full WRC2 season together, not sure many would be able to do a full WRC season anyway, it's nice to dream but it won't happen.

**manthey** · 7th December 2022, 05:08

Originally Posted by tuuli101

https://uus.autosport.ee/ralli/eesti...s5vTAbYY5Y9zDc

Martin Järveoja and Kuldar Sikk starting a training program for codrivers….

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Martin also brought a very talented young driver to Vittorio Caneva Rally School in Italy

**djip** · 7th December 2022, 07:30

Originally Posted by AnttiL

I remember Group A times differently. Usually two or three teams fighting for the title - or maybe just one like Lancia 1987-1989!

1987-89 were dull in terms of results (Lancia, Lancia, Lancia) but remember nobody save Lancia was ready for the switch from Group B, everyone was working on Group S. Yet in terms of factory teams involved, they were aplenty : Lancia, Mazda, Ford, Opel, Subaru, VW, Renault, Toyota, Nissan ... Of course many would run only a few events but still, this was jobs for drivers who also competed in other series (APCR, British Open, ...)

Then came the nineties and boy - this was a hell of a period with the Ford, Subarus and Toyotas that would be run by the dozens at every event. Look a the entry lists, sometimes 25+ top cars. Not to mention te "F2" kit cars who were also factory-backed. So many drivers rose to the top by starting as privateers in equal machinery. True to say factory teams were mostly on top but the gap to the best privateers/importers was not that large and you could shine and attract attention.

In the end, this is very similar to WRC2 today, isn't it ? The only difference is WRC2 cars are running 20+ minutes behind the Rally1 cars, so nobody notices ....

RS · 7th December 2022, 08:21

Originally Posted by SubaruNorway

Most people can barely get a full WRC2 season together, not sure many would be able to do a full WRC season anyway, it's nice to dream but it won't happen.

It’s not that simple imo. If Rally2 cars or something like them were the top class then they become more visible, and therefore more attractive to sponsors/manufacturers. At the moment you are only really guaranteed any significant tv coverage in WRC2 if you are in the first few crews and sometimes even then not very much.

**AnttiL** · 7th December 2022, 08:58

Originally Posted by djip

1987-89 were dull in terms of results (Lancia, Lancia, Lancia) but remember nobody save Lancia was ready for the switch from Group B, everyone was working on Group S. Yet in terms of factory teams involved, they were aplenty : Lancia, Mazda, Ford, Opel, Subaru, VW, Renault, Toyota, Nissan ... Of course many would run only a few events but still, this was jobs for drivers who also competed in other series (APCR, British Open, ...)

Then came the nineties and boy - this was a hell of a period with the Ford, Subarus and Toyotas that would be run by the dozens at every event. Look a the entry lists, sometimes 25+ top cars. Not to mention te "F2" kit cars who were also factory-backed. So many drivers rose to the top by starting as privateers in equal machinery. True to say factory teams were mostly on top but the gap to the best privateers/importers was not that large and you could shine and attract attention.

In the end, this is very similar to WRC2 today, isn't it ? The only difference is WRC2 cars are running 20+ minutes behind the Rally1 cars, so nobody notices ....

The world has changed, less money in car industry to use for marketing and rallying is not seen as important. Also less sponsor money to use.

Furthermore, we can only guess whether someone was actually paid to drive or had to bring budget. It's reported that someone like Armin Schwarz often had German dealer money to bring to teams. Andrea Aghini had to pay for his Lancia drives in 1993 etc.

And you mention teams like Opel and Renault...those guys were like the WRC2 (or even WRC3) of today, not fighting for rally wins.

Another thing is that a Group A car could be anything from a top spec factory car to a Group N car that had one part changed to make it past Group N limits. At least in Finland we had many of these "N+" cars because factory cars were hard (and expensive) to obtain.