WRC mainclass from 2027

[saco0o]

i always check rally games and they always focus on the rad cool cars of the past.
its crazy to think how stuff changed, eh? theres no ACTUAL COOL CARS anymore (on the planet) to be seeing in rallying for us to be all OHHH WHAT A DELIGHT OF CAR
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=da8pliLycAw
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_ZC13FSCxPE

[COD]

Nobody from stock rally2 will fight for title, nobody will suddenly become Ogier or Neuville, Evans, Tanak. And nobody from Rally2 kit will fight either as there will only two cars with that packages will exist for that rule (two Rally2 Fiestas). That 14 events rule as I understand is there that even if manufacturer wanted to offer those kits to customers they need to field two cars to be able to homologate that. Novoby will do that so the packages practicaly won't exist. And again as I said, if Rally2 stock will be able to fight for wins straight away, what is the point of Kits anyway? And also if more of drivers will be able to win (or fight) for title overall in a Rally2 car entering only half events as Ogier, then Toyota could do it to, and suddenly some events could end without top drivers. It's a mess up, created by FIA.

That is the part of the regs I don’t understand. Why make it a must for a manu to take part in all 14 in order to homologate the kits. My thinking would be that more kits= more privateers on the top tier. What is FIA doing?

[WRCStan]

What is FIA doing?

Getting entries into the constructors/teams championship that fuels the entire circus. Privateers can't do that.

[wyler]

Yes, but the difference is that in 2027 there will be 6 WRC27 cars (by Toyota) and 2 Rally2 Kit (M-Sport). Nobody takes seriously Project Rally One. Do you really think that those two M-Sport cars will fight for anything except stay on the road? We don't watch this sport just for overall wins but the whole championship where scores count at the end. Hyundai, Skoda, Lancia will not be there for that.

and 2026 (but also 2025, and earlier) was so different?

5/6 toyotas, 2/3 hiunday basically fighting to finish in one piece, m-sport nobody takes seriously (for the drivers).
skoda, citroen and lancia not there for the championship...

[wyler]

True. WRC was never a massive manufacturer effort like some people here treat it out. Boreham was literally a shed within Ford's Dagenham plant. Alpine was a small workshop in Dieppe. Lancia and Abarth were pretty much back garages. Ralliart, Prodrive and early TTE weren't massive efforts either. And in the Group 4 and Group A days local dealerships and preparators always cooked up something for the national round. VW (and to a lesser extent Citroen beforehand...) have shifted the perspective that you need massive budgets and full manufacturer backing to compete in WRC. Maybe its time to reverse the trend? Go back to the grassroots and open up the entry list? You can't keep going with 10? top efforts, little to no privateers and no local heroes. Just a thought...

i'm pretty sure lancia pushed real big money in the fight against audi (and was already fiat group, a huge manufacturer)