World Rallycross Championship 2018

[chunder]

Err, they have a massive track record, hundreds of employees and have built everything from Gt cars to V8 Supercars and done consultancy work for countless companies.

This would be an easy undertaking believe me and they a
re not shouting about it like Ford did, so they perhaps only did the basics.

[Marcopolo]

Originally Posted by chunder

Err, they have a massive track record, hundreds of employees and have built everything from Gt cars to V8 Supercars and done consultancy work for countless companies.

This would be an easy undertaking believe me and they a
re not shouting about it like Ford did, so they perhaps only did the basics.

Prodrive don't half ass anything they do, they would not build a car that they don't think will be competitive, it would be bad for the brand.

They have also posted pics of the cars progress on the Twitter quite regularly since they released the digital renderings of the car, it's not like they have been keeping it a secret


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[FIRE]

Even if it's a relative small project it doesn't mean it's cheap.

From the posts on social media I got the impression they are serious about it.
Although I was wondering if e.g. Oreca could not do the same job for less.

[CS1]

Originally Posted by chunder

Err, they have a massive track record, hundreds of employees and have built everything from Gt cars to V8 Supercars and done consultancy work for countless companies.
.

Exactly .... hundreds of employees......... they have massive overheads so its bound to be expensive!!

[tbtstt]

Originally Posted by chunder

I very much doubt this woidlahve cost fortunes, this is Prodrive they probably hadve massive stock of parts from the old mini WRC and Subaru programmes that can be modified.

I'm not certain with regards to the Mini, but I know that the vast majority of Subaru parts were cleared out of Prodrive years ago (most of it was sold to Subaru WRC Spares).

I thought that the article(s) about the JRM purchase of the Mini rallycross program from Prodrive suggested that JRM had taken everything related to those cars (which implied all the WRC parts to me). If that was the case then I would assume everything is now in the hands of LD Motorsport.

I would agree that Prodrive are a huge company (they relocated to a much bigger site a couple of years ago), so the Megane RS RX may not have required the might of the entire company, but I can't see it being a cheap venture, especially as they seem to have done some lateral thinking with regards to the design.

Originally Posted by chunder

This would be an easy undertaking believe me and they a
re not shouting about it like Ford did, so they perhaps only did the basics.

I daresay it was Ford/Ford Performance who were shouting about the Focus RS RX rather than M-Sport: and given that program was manufacture backed that's not really a surprise, is it? I'm sure if Renault were funding this they would be making a lot of noise about it.

As said by others though, Prodrive have been posting about the development of the Megane on social media for over a year. That said, after their experience with the Mini I wonder if there is some reluctance to really shout about the car until it's got some results?

Aside from all the above I hope Race Tech or someone else does a detailed feature on the car. From the little we have seen of the Megane there are some interesting technical details that I would like to learn more about.

[crossfades]

Personally I consider Prodrive to be somewhat comparable to a manufacture, they got of plenty know-how, experience and success from WRC and building other sorts of cars.

Coley noted during a live stream that the brakes on the Megane weren't visible in the wheels. They also got different rims.
https://www.facebook.com/fiaworldral...2848481394303/

[tbtstt]

Something that might be of interest to some of you, I have just seen that the Simpson Motorsport and Xite Racing Facebook pages are posting build videos of the new Mini for Oliver Bennett.

[Marcopolo]

Does anyone know what Cyril Ramond is doing this season?

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[crossfades]

Originally Posted by Marcopolo

Does anyone know what Cyril Ramond is doing this season?

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He was wanted to get a seat in WRX but that didn't happen. Guessing he will be in RX2 or RallyX Nordic with OMSE.

[Marcopolo]

New GCK car livery revealed


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[BertMk2]

Some interesting info on the cars here:

https://www.topgear.com/car-news/mot...rallycross-car

They've gone for a longitudinal engine (in house engine!) and moved the brakes inboard - not seen that before on a rallycross car?

[tbtstt]

Originally Posted by BertMk2

Some interesting info on the cars here:

https://www.topgear.com/car-news/mot...rallycross-car

They've gone for a longitudinal engine (in house engine!) and moved the brakes inboard - not seen that before on a rallycross car?

I have spent most of my lunchbreak zooming in on these pictures and having a bit of a geek out! That cutaway on the Top Gear site is really good as it gives a better idea of the internal configuration of the car than any picture.

I am really curious to learn the benefit of the rear radiator setup: are they using the radiator air as part of a blown diffuser setup for the back of the car?

[BertMk2]

Originally Posted by tbtstt

I have spent most of my lunchbreak zooming in on these pictures and having a bit of a geek out! That cutaway on the Top Gear site is really good as it gives a better idea of the internal configuration of the car than any picture.

I am really curious to learn the benefit of the rear radiator setup: are they using the radiator air as part of a blown diffuser setup for the back of the car?

Those cutaways and the shot of the engine bay are good aren't they?

It's interesting that Prodrive have chosen to go with the longitudinal engine when others have moved to transverse and also gone with the rear radiator with side vents rather than frontal rads (like the VWs) or roof vents (like the Audis). It's more like a 'traditional' supercar in that respect than either the VW or Audi - it'd be interesting to know the merits of each - I assume that they would have evaluated all of the options.

[tbtstt]

Originally Posted by BertMk2

It's interesting that Prodrive have chosen to go with the longitudinal engine when others have moved to transverse and also gone with the rear radiator with side vents rather than frontal rads (like the VWs) or roof vents (like the Audis). It's more like a 'traditional' supercar in that respect than either the VW or Audi - it'd be interesting to know the merits of each - I assume that they would have evaluated all of the options.

Yeah. I guess that the inboard brakes wouldn't have been an option with a transverse engine setup.

Picking up on a couple of lines from that article; "Prodrive describes it as the first ground-up rallycross car" and “The entire engine and all the components were designed by the company’s engine team and built and dyno tested at its in-house engine facility". I really don't see this as a lazy cobbling together of a few parts: this is a seriously well thought out (and I imagine seriously expensive!) build.

Choice of suspension configuration is interesting as well: I thought people were moving away double wishbone?

[crossfades]

Onboard from the US track. Looks like it was "built" over a day. Folkrace tracks in Sweden even looks better.

https://www.facebook.com/WorldRXUSA/...jD3HyN28DcngDY

[Marcopolo]

Originally Posted by crossfades

Onboard from the US track. Looks like it was "built" over a day. Folkrace tracks in Sweden even looks better.

https://www.facebook.com/WorldRXUSA/...jD3HyN28DcngDY

Before I reply can I know you're opinion of the Cape Town RX track?


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[crossfades]

Originally Posted by Marcopolo

Before I reply can I know you're opinion of the Cape Town RX track?


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Don't like any of the "purpose-built" tracks really. They tend to be narrow with tires laid out, concrete walls, quite dusty, have awful jumps, no natural flow, bad chicanes etc.

South Africa has literally no previous experience of rallycross so it doesn't look too bad compared to the other newer tracks of the circus. It looks better than the US track at the moment, Spain and Belgium IMO.

[mivec]

On the other hand... Hockenheim was great!
Nice track, unblocked view at the complete track, grandstand all around the track, no mud...
Rallycross 2.0

Hope (and think) it returns in 2019!

[Marcopolo]

Originally Posted by crossfades

Don't like any of the "purpose-built" tracks really. They tend to be narrow with tires laid out, concrete walls, quite dusty, have awful jumps, no natural flow, bad chicanes etc.



South Africa has literally no previous experience of rallycross so it doesn't look too bad compared to the other newer tracks of the circus. It looks better than the US track at the moment, Spain and Belgium IMO.

Was interested to hear a non South African opinion, I work for the company that does all the electrical work at Killarney raceway (cape Town RX) I also know how much work went into getting the venue ready and compliant for a FIA event, I guess that COTA had a lot less to do to meet the FIA standards so the build seems to have happened a lot quicker

However my point was gonna be that it's very difficult to judge a lap in a single car, also this media launch is used as a test to assess the track,after Petter tested the track in cape Town at the beginning of last year the jump was modified, also the track was widened at places to allow better entry to the corners

As far as the dust at RX Cape Town goes the fact that we are in a huge drought didnthelp, as someone in the crowd it wasn't too bad


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[Marcopolo]

Originally Posted by mivec

On the other hand... Hockenheim was great!

Nice track, unblocked view at the complete track, grandstand all around the track, no mud...

Rallycross 2.0



Hope (and think) it returns in 2019!

Well Cape Town has a 5 year contract (from 2017) , imagine COTA has a similar contract so wonder what track it would replace in 2019


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[djksuedwest]

Originally Posted by mivec

On the other hand... Hockenheim was great!
Nice track, unblocked view at the complete track, grandstand all around the track, no mud...
Rallycross 2.0

Hope (and think) it returns in 2019!

In my opinion, Hockenheim was the worst track ever. Too narrow, too slow, only a lot of carnage after the start in turn 1 and also when they crossed the regular track, because of the tire barriers.

[djksuedwest]

Originally Posted by Marcopolo

Was interested to hear a non South African opinion, I work for the company that does all the electrical work at Killarney raceway (cape Town RX) I also know how much work went into getting the venue ready and compliant for a FIA event, I guess that COTA had a lot less to do to meet the FIA standards so the build seems to have happened a lot quicker

However my point was gonna be that it's very difficult to judge a lap in a single car, also this media launch is used as a test to assess the track,after Petter tested the track in cape Town at the beginning of last year the jump was modified, also the track was widened at places to allow better entry to the corners

As far as the dust at RX Cape Town goes the fact that we are in a huge drought didnthelp, as someone in the crowd it wasn't too bad


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You did a really good job in Cape Town, mate. Track was special, but the drivers loved it and especially turn 1 and 2, the jump and the Joker exit where really nice.

[crossfades]

Originally Posted by Marcopolo

Was interested to hear a non South African opinion, I work for the company that does all the electrical work at Killarney raceway (cape Town RX) I also know how much work went into getting the venue ready and compliant for a FIA event, I guess that COTA had a lot less to do to meet the FIA standards so the build seems to have happened a lot quicker

However my point was gonna be that it's very difficult to judge a lap in a single car, also this media launch is used as a test to assess the track,after Petter tested the track in cape Town at the beginning of last year the jump was modified, also the track was widened at places to allow better entry to the corners

As far as the dust at RX Cape Town goes the fact that we are in a huge drought didnthelp, as someone in the crowd it wasn't too bad

There is definitely some preference for bigger or more well known tracks from IMG and FIA. Höljes, which is a very good track and has a small, hard working organization, constantly gets criticized and drained for money. They are struggling just to keep the event alive.

Some examples from other tracks that aren't problems in Höljes;
It is one km between the track and the paddock in Spain. Hardly has real gravel.

Belgium literally breaks cars, looks like a rally sprint and the start is in the opposite direction of the track.

Canada is surrounded by concrete walls and the cars are visible just for a few seconds.

Silverstone is apparently to slow, will run in conjunction with an ongoing festival, has bad viewing points and Solberg made a remark that it should be about rallycross when the move from Lydden was announced.

I have mentioned many track-related issues but problems at other tracks are never mentioned or go unnoticed, yet these are to some degree obvious. Meanwhile, Höljes got a 83 pages long report from FIA with things that needed to be improved. No way the organizers are treated equally.

[chunder]

I agree.

Holjes is not and never will be an FIA track, they can only survive in IMG world because they get such a big crowd, how Hell manages I don't know. All the tracks that did perfectly well in ERC are largely gone now. And they must all be struggling as they no longer have that big ERC pay day to help them camping and stuff etc, they couldn't afford IMG's hosting fees and IMG anyway always want new markets and venues based around the drivers, and obviously those that pay the most hence Argentina, Italy, Turkey (WTF) and others.

They don't give a damn about legacy or existing venues, they are a corporate monster, only interested in their brand and making money. Hence new areas of marketing possibility like Africa and the like. Invariably the tracks they run at lose so much money they don't take up a new contract. Fair play to IMG they have veerygood salesemen, or they are totally corrupt and bunging lots of money to various people to get rounds there.

IMG don't want these tracks, they would rather have a race in a car park in Stockholm.

The more I know about this series, the more I will never ever support a round or watch it anymore.

And to be honest, if you do you are feeding the total and utter collapse of what I know as rallycross.

[Hickey]

Originally Posted by djksuedwest

In my opinion, Hockenheim was the worst track ever. Too narrow, too slow, only a lot of carnage after the start in turn 1 and also when they crossed the regular track, because of the tire barriers.

Wait til you see Silverstone. Made Hockenheim look like a speed circuit.