WRC mainclass from 2027

[deephouse]

WRC is in state that we simply can't choose who will come and with what. Everything would be accepted. What do we say about Lancia. Sorry but in reality Lancia Ypsilon is ugly as shit but we are so happy they choose to recover their brand with entering into rallying again. Also Toyota is very ugly and Hyundai too. Only Puma does look like some beautiful made rally car by new standards, even if it's completely changed in dimensions of a real road car. Some of them will be ugly, some of them will look awesome, and some of them will not look like anything from showroom. When the WRC will boom with entries, then I think rules will be somehow strict again, but right now anyone which does bring more entries is welcome. Also I like the idea there is various segments of car, even if there would be Porsche in it, as long as there is good competition, worth watching it completely live (on site) and as long as many of us will be excited to follow every single event from start to the end.

[focus206]

They will look like the shape of a production model, then fans will ask "What is that car?" and the answer is "It's a Project Rally One Rally1"... then "OK thanks, I'm going to support that team because it's red and white and got cool drivers with Gen Z names like Lando. I follow him on Bik Bok"...

The middle aged people will learn they're getting old and will get used to it very quickly I'm sure. It's a big change. Older people will watch old videos on VHS and say "they look like real men there, not like these kids today".

I don't think that's what will happen. If someone, even younger, approaches the world of rallying, does so because they like cars, especially the ones that remind road cars models, as opposed to single seaters. Are they going to be enthusiastic about these made up protos? I don't think so. Just like nobody was excited about those Extreme E cars.

We need to live in our times and not compare to the incomparable and unachievable. There were no commercial rights or promoter in Group A amateur privateer days and no Rally car extensions to Group A. Where is the red line? Maybe you will realise now it was put there 30 years ago and has been moving closer to you ever since. You decide, it's personal to you, but I think you will still be watching in the future

If we don't look at the world with a historical prespective and without the knowledge of the past, we're doomed to never understand the present, let alone build a future. In rallying terms, the line has been pushed and pushed and today we see they're getting rid of one of the core aspects (if not THE core aspect) of rallying.
No, I won't be watching a championship if it will be infested by these "things", many other championships and disciplines out there.

[focus206]

Lol this is worse slippery slope than I've ever seen at Twitter, lol. You are starting to look a bit crazy, focus206. Just because rallying will allow cars that don't look like any car sold there will be motorbikes and racing only inside circuits? Also SxS would be better for you, wouldn't they? Because you can buy Polaris RZR and drive it on the roads. And didn't WRC change one of the core aspects of rallying in 90s, when kit-car and WRCs were introduced, basically blocking any private tuners?

Those are examples of red lines that shouldn't be crossed, I don't think they will happen. But if one just accepts everything, who knows what the future can bring.
Absolutely, SxS fit the requirements more than these protos in terms of production - but they're SxS, not cars, so they don't qualify as WRC contenders in my book.

Did you forget that tuners CAN use bespoke design, not must use it? They also can use body shape of any other car. And I bet most of them will. They can find some funding from local importers, it's much better marketable for customers and it will be much more interesting for the fans. There ara lot ofof upsides.

Did you read the conversation? I literally said that few posts ago, when I answered to giu canbera. It's possible that Project Rally One's car will be similar to a Porsche model, I know. I don't like the "CAN" though, should be a requirement at the very least.

Also again, 90% of rally fans don't even know that current Rally1s are also on the space frame. And those who knows don't really care. You can see that on instagram, where some cassay says that space frame will be end of rallying or successfully ignoring the fact that it's being already used. And the rest just care about what car it resembles.

Yes, I see fans that care what car it resembles too. And I believe they'll be disappointed when/if they'll understand that some of these new protos are made up and won't resemble anything.

[WRCStan]

If we don't look at the world with a historical prespective and without the knowledge of the past, we're doomed to never understand the present, let alone build a future. In rallying terms, the line has been pushed and pushed and today we see they're getting rid of one of the core aspects (if not THE core aspect) of rallying.

I don't really know what your alternative to all this is but sorry, I don't think you do understand the present, or are being nostalgic.

What is the core aspect of rallying?

Driving as fast as you can wasn't the core aspect for the first 40-50 years of rallying. Modifying the cars was a big no. They couldn't remove any of the comforts that production touring cars had, there was no need to, and in many rallies all the seats had to be filled by passengers or ballast. Origins of production GTs and sportscars belong in road races, which as speed limits and laws came in were made into rallies with special stages. Maybe the red line was put in place when the touring cars were allowed to be modified, after everyone decided that racing on special stages was the more fun and entertaining way to go rallying. It was acceptable to manufacturers then. It's not now.

We've fallen out before over Ecorally, stately regularity rallies, there's your core aspect of rallying IMO. I'm not suggesting you should go to ecorally, but the consumer manufacturers would rather identify with sensible (woke) driving with winning technology (which is where F1 and WEC comes in) these days than the laddish boy racer look. That's a sign of our times. Win on Sunday sell on Monday in rallying is an absolute joke. Nobody even test drives anything anymore, they work out affordability with the monthly payments, then agree to a lease online what they can get from a brand they recognise and have a preconceived notion about, then the car gets delivered and then they don't drive it because they've only paid for so many miles. If it breaks, they tap the app and it gets picked up to be fixed, pr is swapped. It has traction control, reverse parks itself, lane guidances itself, crawls in traffic itself, holds the brakes itself, cruise controls itself, maps on the screen, games on the screen even, heats and demists from a phone app.... and I've not even touched self driving. Make driving 120mph sideways over a crest through a forest relatable to all that. I fully understand why it was relevant in the past, I can remember buying Max Power magazine and heading to the local retail park car park to do donuts in a car which we'd tinkered with ourselves because doom-scrolling hadn't bee invented then, but I can't really understand what or why WRC today or the future has to relate to production cars or modern motoring.

[WRCStan]

Those are examples of red lines that shouldn't be crossed, I don't think they will happen. But if one just accepts everything, who knows what the future can bring.
Absolutely, SxS fit the requirements more than these protos in terms of production - but they're SxS, not cars, so they don't qualify as WRC contenders in my book.

I agree SxS won't happen, it'll cronk too much with rally-raid which at world championship level has a different promotor.

Bikes on the other hand would be fantastic to see on tarmac. Imagine Canaries with bikes. Not with a co-rider riding pillion lol.

[focus206]

What is the core aspect of rallying?

If I'd have to say what's the #1 core aspect: using cars that are related to production models. Every other aspect, such as driving on regular everyday roads, comes after, in my opinion. Yes I know, today that's no longer possible at high level. Hence why I'm okay with just the bodyshell in common. I'm not a fan of spaceframe, but I can stomach it, at least the aesthetic will resemble the production model. That's the tiny bare minimum, and now not even that, if we get tuners that make their own designs...

but I can't really understand what or why WRC today or the future has to relate to production cars or modern motoring.

Because that's what rallying is! If one wants to start using protos that have 0% in common with production cars (as opposed to 1% for spaceframes and little more % for bodyshells), one should begin a new discipline or championship. Why take this away from rallying? 1% is already very little... why go to 0%?
If I had to say the #1 core aspect of hillclimb racing would be racing on a uphill road. It would be crazy to suggest hillclimb racing should start going downhill or on flat roads...

[Fast Eddie WRC]

All this talk of Tuners and their 2027-spec cars coming in to WRC is all very well, but how are they going to be competitive against the Manufacturer teams that enter ?

Where is the budget to test and develop the car coming from and to pay a top driver if they want their car to beat the likes of Toyota, Hyundai and even Lancia (Stellantis) ?

Otherwise the cars are just going to be for also-rans and the extra cars at the top level will be pointless.

[WRCStan]

Let me rephrase the question: what aspects of the ordinary motoring that you do are found in WRC?

Saying the bodyshell is tenuous, because even the shell is modified. The bodywork put on it is substituted, the inside trim that should be attached to it is missing, a safety cage is added because it's inadequate for the sport... etc etc.

"Why take this away from rallying? 1% is already very little... why go to 0%?"

Because letting 99% go to 100% and redefining the word is much better than clinging on to something that barely exists.

[WRCStan]

All this talk of Tuners and their 2027-spec cars coming in to WRC is all very well, but how are they going to be competitive against the Manufacturer teams that enter ?

Where is the budget to test and develop the car coming from and to pay a top driver if they want their car to beat the likes of Toyota, Hyundai and even Lancia (Stellantis) ?

Otherwise the cars are just going to be for also-rans and the extra cars at the top level will be pointless.

How is Rally2 or anything else different?

[Rallyper]

Isn´t 2027 something like Rally2 in old Group B format?