WRC main class in 2025

[wyler]

i think the problem is just how we call such new cars...

i'm totally against the rally2 solution. we already have a similar thing that's erc and it's not the dreamland people see for the top tier. there's the need of a top tier, clearly.

so keep the rally1 name and make a reg that's a step (backe if you want, but who cares?) toward wrc spec style, that's proven a good balance. it can be cost capped at half a current rally 1 , and that's still nearly 2x a rally2, which mean space for sensing the difference between the 2, but way more affordardable if costs is the problem (which i don't buy, btw).

still, thing is: how a top tier car should be? engine-wise (power source) and maybe suspension/tyre also, more than aero/restrictor.

[Steve Boyd]

On a tangent inspired by that... We hear the term "local heroes" in threads like this. But how much does being local count for? Has a local driver done the stages in (say) the Central European Rally before, do they have better knowledge than WRC drivers with all their recce and study of previous onboards and so on?

Once you get beyond "Scandi-Baltic drivers are more familiar with snow", how much does being local count for in rally driving?

Decades ago when WRGB was known as the RAC Rally and the stages were secret with no recce or notes it was a very big deal. The leading British crews would frequently finish in the top 5 overall, even if they rarely won. Top Finnish & Swedish drivers would enter the British Championship to get experience of the stages that would be used at the end of the year on the RAC Rally to ensure they had the best chance of winning.

These days, I doubt it means much apart from, as you say Scandinavian & Baltic area drivers being better able to judge tyre selection and grip on snow than WRC novices from other parts of the world. French drivers with experience of winter alpine conditions may have a similar advantage on the Monte but once a driver has had a couple of seasons in WRC they should have learned all they need to know and if they are any good the "local hero" should be well behind.

[seb_sh]

So I've done the famous survey and unfortunately even the survey itself gave me a negative impression. First of all it was quite "weak", having completed several such surveys for F1, WEC and MotoGP in the past, the WRC survey felt cheap and superficial. Also for the other categories some questions were more open, for example instead of some pre defined phrases like "WRC should be exciting because this and that" you could choose 5 keywords that define the series out of like 30 options.

Overall I felt that this survey is not being used as a tool to learn the audience and what they want and instead someone already has a plan and has already made a decision and this survey will be used to justify whatever that decision is.

What follows is speculation on my part but I think the rumors of Rally2 in 2025 and Rally2+ in 2026 are true. There were some people saying on twitter that the plan for 2024 was to reduce costs by reducing fly away events and then teams would run 4 cars each. I think that might have been the last attempt to save Rally1 as it is and it failed because probably one team couldn't do it. Now they are in panic mode and the 2025 season with Rally2 will be a knee jerk reaction. I think this is a mistake and will ruin Rally2 in the long run. Probably the best solution would have been Rally1- (simpler, less expensive cars between current Rally1 and Rally2) but that needed to be planned out in advance and they failed to do that.

[Mirek]

"Roadside" does not litterally mean just beside heavy traffic. It means of course areas you can put a reasonable cars out of traffic.

However I think we´ve happened to avoid the main reason; remote services may attract more spectators even out of stages, making WRC back to the roots again.

How do you create areas out of traffic in let's say Rallye Monte Carlo where everyone has to use the very same mountain narrow roads because there are no alternative routes?

You can ask anyone who actually organizes rallies and I think he would send you to hell with your idea, sorry.

[Mirek]

In this thread, people have talked about restrictors and aero and powertrains (especially clever diffs), and how they affect "spectacularness".

But I wonder, is suspension a bigger factor? Group B cars had a lot of power, but they also bounced around on uneven ground. It seems to me (not an expert) that modern suspension is so good it just eats the bumps and makes a lot of rally stages look not so different from circuit racing as the car goes between corners.

Current suspension level is a result of decades of development and it's impossible to go back in time. You simply can't put dampers worse than on an average 2024 stock car to a Rally1. It's same as if you asked them to use 1980' tyres. Besides that the suspension is major safety factor. Bouncing cars are dangerous.

[typhoon]

For me it looks like this survey was generated by AI...

It was definitely NOT generated by AI, instead by someone who already took a decision and need a "people's justification" for something they want to announce and ratify.

[becher]

The talk about a cheaper Rally1 gets me thinking. In what way would cheaper Rally1 help the championship? New manufacturers won't join because of that, more privateers is questionable at best as Rally2 is such a attractive market for them. Current manufacturers running more cars? Maybe.

[lmmjvss]

What cheaper Rally1 car even mean?
Removing the hybrid? Think of the 17-21 cars, even those were more expensive than what privateers could afford. Just go for Rally2, its going to be fun. We talked here, the stories are the hooking part. The cars are not THAT espetacular? No, but we will get used and the entries will make up for it. We will have all the names in one class, finally. Tierry, Sebs, Oli, Evans, Paddon, Lappi, Meeke, Ingram, Lukyanuk, Nasser... It is going to be a fun watch! How can we not agree with that

[drive]

Yes, keep dreaming that Thierry, Ott, Kalle would run the same spec cars as other 'locals' or say Ingram etc... 😀 still will be top 5-7 drivers and the rest....

[Kenneth]

What cheaper Rally1 car even mean?
Removing the hybrid?

Use road car based engines, use cheaper material for body panel, for suspension and stuff use only parts that everybody can buy instead of purpose built parts... it's not that hard.