[WRC] News & rumours (part III)

[kirungi okwogera]

Alex Kelsey has designed and built his own rally car in a barn in New Zealand. He calls it an MC2 abbreviation of MadCreation2
Here is the local news coverage http://www.3news.co.nz/Kiwi-rally-st...8/Default.aspx Prepare to be amazed
and here is an article with a lot more info
http://alittlebitsideways.co.nz/alex...in-coromandel/

You forgot the best video link, the hot lap!

http://www.3news.co.nz/Video-A-hotla...7/Default.aspx

Listen to the sound, like no rally car I've ever heard, even group B. I wish he'd built this while I was still in NZ...

[kirungi okwogera]

How much did that cost to build?

I'd be interested to know this too. Sourcing every part based on value, buying brake discs from cancelled Subaru WRCs, making your own frame etc. make me think he may have done the classic kiwi style of Burt Munro - maximum speed for minimum money.

[Doon]

You forgot the best video link, the hot lap!

http://www.3news.co.nz/Video-A-hotla...7/Default.aspx

Listen to the sound, like no rally car I've ever heard, even group B. I wish he'd built this while I was still in NZ...

You've obviously never heard of or seen this then?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TYZTvsJsYYA

I'll wait till I heard this MC2 in the forest, but Andy Burton's car is the benchmark for any self build car;

1. It looks better
2. Probably quicker
3. Cheaper to build (that 207 looks expensive!)
4. Will always have a more legendary following

This guy must have taken some inspiration from Andy Burton's 306 Cosworth, Pug, mid engine, build in a barn.......although this fella's ^ barn looks like a pretty decent workshop. Fair play to the lad. Would love to see the 306 vs 207 on a forest stage.

Remember AB was doing Rally GB National 2010, and in Radnor he was 17s down on the stage winner (Petter) which would have put him 7th O/A......and that was after a 10s spin. What a car, what a driver!

[Rallyper]

Well, Doon, you don´t have to be yellous. Both cars are very nice. Though I think theKiwi one is much worse. However which class will they suit?
We do have the R-classes and WRC and none will be suitable for any of those cars.

[Dug83]

How much did that cost to build?

I'd be interested to know this too. Sourcing every part based on value, buying brake discs from cancelled Subaru WRCs, making your own frame etc. make me think he may have done the classic kiwi style of Burt Munro - maximum speed for minimum money.

It says in the video less than a PWRC, not bad if its true.

[CyborgVR4]

That ("Less than a top Grp N") was one of the earlier claims/goals stated for this car, however I suspect the true labour cost was not factored into that sum.

[makinen_fan]

Interesting comments from Peugeot about WRC and its 'promoter'

http://www.maxrally.com/2014/05/13/f...-is-not-for-me

[Doon]

Interesting comments from Peugeot about WRC and its 'promoter'

http://www.maxrally.com/2014/05/13/f...-is-not-for-me

Another guy who has lost sight of what the WRC actually is. A compact 3 day event (this I assume is including the recce) is not the way forward for the WRC, possibly 1 day of 'micky mouse' stages and 2 days of proper stages, with 2 days of recce might work. It sounds to me that manufactures want to go Rallycrossing, purely because it's cheaper and it's and easier to broadcast. For me Rallycross is one up from 'banger racing'. The whole point of the WRC is the surroundings, the stunning scenery and local places and people in the back of nowhere, places that'd you'd never normally visit. I've seen some excellent places in the europe watching WRC events, but it's not for the un-adventureous. It's not for people who want to sit by a race track for 8 hours, and I say let those people stay at the race tracks and the rest of us can have adventures watching the WRC!

I agree that the cars should be cheaper, and with an R5 format the entries would be much higher in the top class, but R5 cars are a little dull compared to WRCs.

In the good old days, the sport did as it pleased and it worked. Trying to appease the masses clearly doesn't work. I still stand by the fact that over the last 15 years watching the WRC live, on the stages (not on a 50 inch flat screen, in your armchair on Sunday afternoon), the sport has not changed apart from loosing the entries. It's still as exciting, the cars are even fast, the drivers fitter and quicker.

[MJW]

Another guy who has lost sight of what the WRC actually is. A compact 3 day event (this I assume is including the recce) is not the way forward for the WRC, possibly 1 day of 'micky mouse' stages and 2 days of proper stages, with 2 days of recce might work. It sounds to me that manufactures want to go Rallycrossing, purely because it's cheaper and it's and easier to broadcast. For me Rallycross is one up from 'banger racing'. The whole point of the WRC is the surroundings, the stunning scenery and local places and people in the back of nowhere, places that'd you'd never normally visit. I've seen some excellent places in the europe watching WRC events, but it's not for the un-adventureous. It's not for people who want to sit by a race track for 8 hours, and I say let those people stay at the race tracks and the rest of us can have adventures watching the WRC!

I agree that the cars should be cheaper, and with an R5 format the entries would be much higher in the top class, but R5 cars are a little dull compared to WRCs.

In the good old days, the sport did as it pleased and it worked. Trying to appease the masses clearly doesn't work. I still stand by the fact that over the last 15 years watching the WRC live, on the stages (not on a 50 inch flat screen, in your armchair on Sunday afternoon), the sport has not changed apart from loosing the entries. It's still as exciting, the cars are even fast, the drivers fitter and quicker.

But if the manufacturers dont get what they want, they wont play, simple, WRC will be for amatuers and hobbyists with no paid or sponsored drivers. How long will it survive then?
I think an R5 or R5+ future with say recce on friday, long day of competition on saturday before a power stage focused sunday, could save rallying for the manufacturers. Afterall, manuifacturers are not sports enthusisast they want to sell cars. If Petter and Hansen do that in RallyX with live tv, I am afraid that thats where the sport will go. We have had years on posts on this and other forums and no one is listening. The manufacturerers and FIA wont let us go back to the late 1990's (when I think it was best)

[Doon]

But if the manufacturers dont get what they want, they wont play, simple, WRC will be for amatuers and hobbyists with no paid or sponsored drivers. How long will it survive then?
I think an R5 or R5+ future with say recce on friday, long day of competition on saturday before a power stage focused sunday, could save rallying for the manufacturers. Afterall, manuifacturers are not sports enthusisast they want to sell cars. If Petter and Hansen do that in RallyX with live tv, I am afraid that thats where the sport will go. We have had years on posts on this and other forums and no one is listening. The manufacturerers and FIA wont let us go back to the late 1990's (when I think it was best)

That is probably what it needs. Let the WRC as we know it die out, then amatures start their own championship. Eventually it will become healthy again. It's pretty much the process RX has been going through for the last 20 years.