2014 World Rally Championship - Page 2

JorritVD · 13 Dec 2013, 11:47 (Ref:3343627)

and Evans/Hirvonen at M-Sport
http://www.m-sport.co.uk/m-sport-new...-for-2014.html

Kubica at LOTOS M-Sport
http://www.m-sport.co.uk/m-sport-new...-campaign.html

JorritVD · 13 Dec 2013, 11:48 (Ref:3343630)

Entries so far for the 2014 WRC:

Volkswagen Motorsport
- Ogier
- Latvala
- Mikkelsen

Citroën Total Abu Dhabi WRT
- Østberg
- Meeke
- Al Qassimi (selected rounds) / maybe some young drivers

M-Sport WRT
- Hirvonen
- Evans

Lotos - M-Sport WRT
- Kubica

Hyundai Shell WRT
- Neuville
- Sordo / Hänninen / Atkinson

Jipocar Czech National Team
- Prokop (targeting full season programm)

tbtstt · 13 Dec 2013, 12:45 (Ref:3343655)

A full works drive for Evans?! Didn't expect that! That's two drivers to cheer on next year.

**BertMk2** · 13 Dec 2013, 12:48 (Ref:3343656)

Quote:

Originally Posted by tbtstt

A full works drive for Evans?! Didn't expect that! That's two drivers to cheer on next year.

It's not a works drive though - it's an M-Sport drive. I think we're seeing the difference between a works backed entry and one that needs financial input from elsewhere. If it was a works seat I don't think he'd have got the drive to be honest. Great break for him though, hope he makes the most of it - he certainly seems to have plenty of potential.

AndyS · 13 Dec 2013, 12:48 (Ref:3343657)

I thought Elfyn Evans was quietly very impressive in 2013 and I hope he can continue his progressive in 2014. Really pleased with the decision to give him a go.

tbtstt · 13 Dec 2013, 13:00 (Ref:3343662)

Quote:

Originally Posted by BertMk2

It's not a works drive though - it's an M-Sport drive.

Ah, sorry. Such was my excitement that the official status of M-Sport slipped my mind!

Given that there is still some association between themselves and Ford I still see M-Sport as the closest thing to a works representation for Ford. But of course you are absolutely right and they are no longer a "works" team. I also agree that may have swung in Evans favour.

Irrespective, still great to see both Meeke and Evans in those seats in 2014.

chunder · 13 Dec 2013, 15:22 (Ref:3343716)

To be honest, no one else runs a works Ford and Msport were running them last

So its a bit like The BMW team in WSB last year or teh Ducati team in WSB when Checa won the title, it is works in everything but name

They will still be getting a modicum of Ford support, just nowhere near as much. Ford are hardly going to not run PR if all of a sudden the Fiesta starts winning!

**BertMk2** · 13 Dec 2013, 16:12 (Ref:3343742)

Agreed - but their budget has taken a hit (VW, Citroen and Hyundai will all be spending more). The reduced money means they're going to be looking differently at the driver market (and the drivers will view an M-sport drive as less attractive too - it cuts both ways). Kubica is a good PR signing - by having him on board it makes them more attractive to sponsors, Evans presumably has a budget he brings with him and Hirvonen is available and cheap(ish) I'd guess. If they still had works money I think the driver lineup would be very different.

Moneyseeker · 13 Dec 2013, 16:45 (Ref:3343757)

Quote:

Originally Posted by BertMk2

Agreed - but their budget has taken a hit (VW, Citroen and Hyundai will all be spending more). The reduced money means they're going to be looking differently at the driver market (and the drivers will view an M-sport drive as less attractive too - it cuts both ways). Kubica is a good PR signing - by having him on board it makes them more attractive to sponsors, Evans presumably has a budget he brings with him and Hirvonen is available and cheap(ish) I'd guess. If they still had works money I think the driver lineup would be very different.

You would imagine that Ford would leap in and add some more support back into M-Sport to capitalise on Kubica's signing.....

chunder · 13 Dec 2013, 18:30 (Ref:3343786)

Weirdly I thought Citroen were right in with Kubica

Maybe they were less than impressed with the crashing and maybe Robbert said no to WTCC.

Cant blame the fella, he seems happy doing this, I do just worry a bit though! He seems on the very edge

Moneyseeker · 13 Dec 2013, 20:19 (Ref:3343815)

Quote:

Originally Posted by chunder

Weirdly I thought Citroen were right in with Kubica

Maybe they were less than impressed with the crashing and maybe Robbert said no to WTCC.

Cant blame the fella, he seems happy doing this, I do just worry a bit though! He seems on the very edge

Can't be the crashing, Meeke crashed on two rallies (when expressly told to drive for a finish) and still go the drive...

Maybe Robert thinks that M Sport offer the best of two worlds, a top line car without the pressure of a manufacturer?

kober · 20 Dec 2013, 16:44 (Ref:3346360)

The entry list for the 82ème Rallye Automobile Monte Carlo 2014 is out. The following are the RC1 entries:

#1 Ogier/Ingrassia - Volkswagen Motorsport
#2 Latvala/Anttila - Volkswagen Motorsport
#3 Meeke/Nagle - Citroen Total Abu Dhabi WRT
#4 Ostberg/Andersson - Citroen Total Abu Dhabi WRT
#5 Hirvonen/Lehtinen - M-Sport Ltd
#6 Evans/Barritt - M-Sport Ltd
#7 Neuville/Gilsoul - Hyundai Motorsport
#8 Sordo/Marti - Hyundai Motorsport
#9 Mikkelsen/Markkula - Volkswagen Motorsport II
#10 Kubica/? - RK M-Sport WRT
#11 Bouffier/Panseri - M-Sport Ltd
#12 Delecour/Savignoni - François Delecour (Fiesta)
#21 Prokop/Ernst - Jipocar Czech National Team (Fiesta)
#22 Melicharek/Melicharek - Slovakia WRT (Fiesta)

I'm not sure if you've noticed, but FIA rally class structure had changed - they're down to six now: RC1 (WRC), RC2 (groups: S2000, R5, R4, N4), RGT (tuner-homologated), RC3 (S1600, R3, R2C), RC4 (R2B, et al.), RC5 (R1, et al.).

Also, since 01.01.2014, there's no longer a requirement to prepare ten S2000 cars (or their equivalent in parts) to homologate a WRC (VW had to do that, Hyundai hadn't). That's the final nail to the coffin of S2000 group.

AndyS · 20 Dec 2013, 16:56 (Ref:3346364)

For some reason its not bringing up the Quote from the last post. Shame the S2000's are on their way I quite liked them at the height of the IRC. I don't know what it was but the cars seemed to look more purposeful than the WRC's to me.

kober · 20 Dec 2013, 17:00 (Ref:3346368)

Every time you take a look at the current-generation WRC you see an S2000 car. The only difference is the wing.

AndyS · 20 Dec 2013, 18:26 (Ref:3346386)

I know what you mean, the new ones are a huge improvement on their predecessors.

kurski · 23 Dec 2013, 18:49 (Ref:3347324)

Samuli Vuorisalo, young Finnish rallying talent, got a surprise chance to test full spec Fiesta WRC thursday at M-Sport.

Starfish Primer · 26 Dec 2013, 19:06 (Ref:3348047)

Quote:

Originally Posted by kober

Every time you take a look at the current-generation WRC you see an S2000 car. The only difference is the wing.

Quote:

Originally Posted by AndyS

For some reason its not bringing up the Quote from the last post. Shame the S2000's are on their way I quite liked them at the height of the IRC. I don't know what it was but the cars seemed to look more purposeful than the WRC's to me.

The S2000 are replaced by the R5 group. R5 theoretically would be cheaper to run and the evolutions are limited to lower the long run costs.

ArnageWRC · 27 Dec 2013, 12:39 (Ref:3348139)

S2000 as used in the IRC had a 2.0 N/A engine. Then we had the S2000 based WRCars, but with the 1.6T engine. Following on from that we had the RRC 1.6T cars, almost the same as a WRCar, but with a smaller restrictor, smaller rear wing, etc

Now we have the R5 cars; which are 1.6T with a smaller restrictor and rear wing, and more 'Production car parts' - meaning a less expensive car. Well, at least in theory.

On the Grizedale stages a few weeks ago, we saw the debut of the Fiesta R5+ - which will likely be used in National events; it has a larger restrictor and a WRCar rear wing.

Confused????

At the moment Peugeot, Citroen, Skoda and M-Sport are all developing R5 cars. VW and Hyundai have no plans to build one - at the moment. Toyota are rumoured to be building one, and there have been muttering a about Opel.

NaBUru38 · 27 Dec 2013, 18:07 (Ref:3348179)

There's simply too many classes and not enough entries in each.

In WRC, Al-Attiyah resulted 11th by collecting three 5th finishes.

In WRC+2, the top 3 drivers only faced each other in two races. There's 13 races, but each driver only races in 7. Ketomaa resulted 11th with only two starts.

In WRC-3, there were 5 races out of 13 with no entries. Great Britain and Monaco only had one driver in the top 4. Al Mutawaa resulted 5th with two starts.

In the European Rally Champoinship, the top 3 drivers faced each other only two times. Lappi resulted 4th with three starts out of 13.

In the European Rally Cup, the 4th driver had two scoring results out of 16.

Starfish Primer · 27 Dec 2013, 20:43 (Ref:3348196)

For the problem is not the number of classes, the problem is the cost.

The RRC and R5+ don´t have sense for me, but most of the national championships are open or nearly "run what you brung" and there is business for them. In Spain there has been a long discussion if the national championship should stick to FIA rules or being an Open. Open allows you to run highly tuned GT Porsches, Evo N4+ and WRC/RRC but only a few can afford them. Meanwhile R classes would develop the drivers to FIA standards but are less spectacular for the fans.

NaBUru38 · 28 Dec 2013, 13:59 (Ref:3348318)

R5 sound powerful enough to me. Are they good enough for race spectators? Are they cheap enough for national championships?

Starfish Primer · 31 Dec 2013, 21:11 (Ref:3349320)

Quote:

Originally Posted by NaBUru38

R5 sound powerful enough to me. Are they good enough for race spectators? Are they cheap enough for national championships?

There are a lot disussions on that and seriously I don´t trust anybody because they try to move the goalpost. Spectators love GTs, a big 400Hp Porsche 911 going sideways cannot be matched by any other car. Apparently Gts are cheaper than S2000 but again, I don´t beleive some cost reports.

ArnageWRC · 1 Jan 2014, 12:51 (Ref:3349424)

If you are of a certain age, then GT/Sportscars were quite a common sight in Rallying, and the WRC. What could be better than a powerful car, lots of noise and RWD?

Yet it seems the modern WRC fan would prefer a 'shopping trolley on steroids', and that GT cars are for racetracks only.

I'd like to see an actual category for Sportscars; WRC-GT. The FiA should be encouraging them; the WRC needs more Tarmac rounds. There should be an even split between gravel and Tarmac; not what we have now.

Starfish Primer · 1 Jan 2014, 18:38 (Ref:3349497)

The rally fan prefers other Car types but the manufacturers want mainstream cars for márketing reasons.

Marc Duez will run at Monte with a Porsche fia-gt spec.

cg7aa · 10 Jan 2014, 22:28 (Ref:3352618)

Sounds like the WRC may be heading to BT Sport in the UK, I guess when you've got a virtual monopoly on providing broadband access to the countryside and you've pocketed the £1bn or so of public money being given to you to do a job you're failing to do on time, you can afford to bid for all sorts of TV rights. I'll get me coat!

Anyway, I hope it is not one of their exclusve deals which leaves terrestial TV viewers out in the cold.

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