Rally2 (ex-R5) News

[Fast Eddie WRC]

Paddon development testing the i20 in Spain yesterday. It's a good job somebody is !

https://x.com/llluis555/status/1818382228549955718

[Fast Eddie WRC]

Abiteboul confirms more development for the i20 Rally2 but production will be discontinued at the end of the year...

https://dirtfish.com/rally/wrc/whats...is-rally2-car/

[saco0o]

skoda looks to be doing so well selling R5s. toyota looks to be at the start of doing the same thing. it looks lucrative, idk why hyundai would stop doing that, but ehh, i dont have all the real details on that. no ideia what the next cycle will be, this class is just ideal

[Fast Eddie WRC]

As you say, so many Rally2 cars have and are still being sold. I dont know how any new Regs could be much different to allow new cars to compete with all the current cars and vice versa.

Regarding Hyundai, it could be the finances were/are being concentrated on the Rally1 car.

[486]

Any thoughts on the side impact safety of Rally2 cars following the Ostberg / Barth crash in Italy ?

Can anything be done or is it too late and costly to fit any improvements retrospectively?

I would add to the roll cage a third lateral beam running horizontally between bases of A and B pillars, in parallel with the X. It would help a bit. This is already being done by some small workshops when preparing (under the former group A/N regulations) bodyshells of models from the 80s, 90s, and 00s. These chassis are not as robust as the cars nowadays, and it has been proven at the field that makes a big difference. Some guys call them "tree-pullers" for that instance. Although, I am not sure if this is a mod that could be applied to already built Rally-2 cars (I would have to investigate on the thermal hardening / tempering / welding "brittlening" effect - sorry, I am not anymore up to date with the metallurgical specs / characteristics / workmanship processes of Rally 2 roll cages - my time is limited ). For new built cars this could help a bit (not a lot) in my humble preliminary opinion (detailed structural FEM calculations would be needed).

[Fast Eddie WRC]

This sounds quite a good idea to better protect the side of the car but I suppose the big issue would be it making access into and out of the car more difficult.

So instead of adding to the roll cage, couldn't the beam be welded onto the door itself and the whole door frame be strengthened ?

[saco0o]

interesting! thats the kind of "new set of rules" R5s need. some safety upgrade.
after reading cyril interview i started to wonder if they were jumping out from this class because there would be a total shifting in everything, but yea, as eddie said, theres way too many R5s already out there and new skodas, msports and toyotas being selled right now. theres c3s, polos and i20 still being bought and sold among racers and teams. cyril was probably making excuses to not say "hyundai is just not interested in rallying anymore"

[486]

This sounds quite a good idea to better protect the side of the car but I suppose the big issue would be it making access into and out of the car more difficult.

So instead of adding to the roll cage, couldn't the beam be welded onto the door itself and the whole door frame be strengthened ?

I would not put the beam in the door itself, but I would definitely reinforce the door frame adding as much energy dissipative material as possible, waiting for a lateral crash to happen......This is a crash structure.

[saco0o]

saw some 2013-2014 wrc footage with those top class cars. they look veeeery similar to current R5s, eh? in terms of speed and driving, are them similar as it looks? tho they (wrc top class in 14') were waaaay more "loose" - on the visual aspect - while current modern R5s looks super tight, almost glued to the surface.

[Jarek Z]

Abiteboul confirms more development for the i20 Rally2 but production will be discontinued at the end of the year...

https://dirtfish.com/rally/wrc/whats...is-rally2-car/

That is sad news. Just 6 months ago they introuced their i20 N Rally2 European Challenge and now they leave?
https://motorsport.hyundai.com/new-i...ean-challenge/