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Old 15 Mar 2017, 07:47 (Ref:3718720)   #13
Umai Naa
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Join Date: Dec 2011
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Umai Naa should be qualifying in the top 5 on the gridUmai Naa should be qualifying in the top 5 on the grid
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Originally Posted by mayhem View Post
This. In a time when motor racing seems to be struggling in many areas including manufacturer involvement, TCR seems to be sweeping through Europe and Asia with the blessing at least of a variety of manufacturers. Gotta be honest, I'm yet to see a race that has captivated me, but maybe that would change if there were drivers or manufacturers that I cheered for.
I haven't paid too much attention to it, but many of the national series are still in their infancy, which means small-ish grids and questionable talent pool.

Lets say, hypothetically, we dumped the CotF/Gen2 thing, and went to TCR. All of a sudden, you'd open the taps on manufacturers who've walked away, or said no in the past, to want to get involved again. 26 cars straight off the bat, plus our existing driving and engineering talent, the racing would be pretty decent.

Just about every manufacturer with a TCR-homologated car, has had some sort of involvement in motorsport here in Australia at some point in the past. With platform and running gear-sharing that exists these days with PSA, Nissan-Renault, VW/Audi/Skoda etc, you'd broaden the scope for even more manufacturers. Volvo would probably side-step into TCR too, once the WTCC finally goes belly-up.

Could well be a much cheaper, and sustainable means of going forward. Plug-and-play options are there too with Audi, and a couple of others. The ruleset also lends itself to greater international potential, with world cup-style events, as well as tapping into the apparently sought-after Asia market.

Putting aside all setiment around the V8 noise (which was kinda diluted once everyone fell in love with the racket the Volvo and MB made), and big RWD sedans that are either extinct, or on the verge of... if the sport jumped onto it within the next 2-3 years and really pushed it, it could be what takes us into the next 15 years or so of premier tin-top racing in Australia.

I don't think bespoke racecars that are irrelevent to what's at the forefront of the new car market here in Australia, are the way forward anymore. It certainly never worked for sports sedans.
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