2016 World Rally Championship

[BertMk2]

Originally Posted by FIA's rally director Jarmo Mahonen

"Do we want the so-called gentleman drivers coming with these cars? No, we don't."

Whilst I think he's utterly wrong I also think I know where he's coming from. I think he's going back to the group B era when gentleman drivers could afford the cars but couldn't necessarily handle them. I assume that this is an attempt to head off a Santos situation where a 'gentleman' loses control and has a big accident possibly involving spectators.

[1975DCS]

There is to much changing in rules (I like the extra power, but do are wider cars nicer to watch?), to many subclasses, to much expensive components for making the cars fast while on the other hand restrictions to slow them down. I think we could basically need something technical as the old Group A8 cars with the looks of the 2000-2016 WRC. A 360 bhp 1.6 engine and a steel body with carbon panels would be fine enough! I also prefer the (semi-) Tarmac events. Next to that I think there is room for a proper European championship. It should also be allowed for drivers to upgrade their cars to newer spec or rules. And older cars should be able to drive as well. Why shouldn't we able to enjoy a 2003 Impreza or Focus?

[chunder]

Lets face it Bert

You and I have both watched the footage from 85 and 86 and I was there as a fan watching and in some countries like Monte, Italy, Portugal there was very little spectator control.

Surer nearly kiledl himself on open plains in an RS200 and he was an ex F1 driver, Santos was a decent driver in Portugal, capable of a top 6 even with noone dropping out.

The reason that accident happened was a simple error from him ploughed his car into people that should not have been there, anyone could ahve made the same mistake.

He later scored a top 6 in Portugal in a rwd Cosworth, so no mug as a rally driver

[BertMk2]

Originally Posted by 1975DCS

There is to much changing in rules (I like the extra power, but do are wider cars nicer to watch?), to many subclasses, to much expensive components for making the cars fast while on the other hand restrictions to slow them down. I think we could basically need something technical as the old Group A8 cars with the looks of the 2000-2016 WRC. A 360 bhp 1.6 engine and a steel body with carbon panels would be fine enough! I also prefer the (semi-) Tarmac events. Next to that I think there is room for a proper European championship. It should also be allowed for drivers to upgrade their cars to newer spec or rules. And older cars should be able to drive as well. Why shouldn't we able to enjoy a 2003 Impreza or Focus?

I'm not sure there are too many classes - at least now there is an obvious 'career' progression up through the various 'R' classes before you get to the WRC. I agree on some points though - are wider cars needed? Older cars should still be allowed to compete (but should run to correct period spec - they shouldn't be developed onwards).

Originally Posted by chunder

Lets face it Bert

You and I have both watched the footage from 85 and 86 and I was there as a fan watching and in some countries like Monte, Italy, Portugal there was very little spectator control.

Surer nearly kiledl himself on open plains in an RS200 and he was an ex F1 driver, Santos was a decent driver in Portugal, capable of a top 6 even with noone dropping out.

The reason that accident happened was a simple error from him ploughed his car into people that should not have been there, anyone could ahve made the same mistake.

He later scored a top 6 in Portugal in a rwd Cosworth, so no mug as a rally driver

Agreed - Santos was no mug and the accident he had was for the most part 'just a typical off' . The only reason it's remembered is for its tragic consequences - which were totally avoidable. But the shadow of that accident still hangs over the sport and this does appear to be an attempt to prevent such a thing occurring again. I don't think it's the right way of doing it and ultimately if spectators put themselves in the firing line then inevitably these sort of incidents can occur - rally cars fall off stages.

At the end of the day the competition licences are there to ensure that drivers are competing in relevant events - if they're looking at restricting entries then surely it would be better to adjust the licensing for these events so a higher grade is required - that way there is more control over who's entered but it's still open to people beyond the works teams.

[chunder]

I think honestly there are more than enough steps in place in rallying to ensure a very rich gent driver does not end up competing in the higher echelons.

I have witnessed some truly woeful, pathetic driving at historic events and quite a few other far more MSA noncy profiles.

Some of the driving at Goodwood for instance is abject yet that is seen as the sort of event where this is fine.

I think not

[NaBUru38]

Originally Posted by BertMk2

I'm not sure there are too many classes

I do think so. The WRC-2 and WRC-3 standings have looked like French cheese for decades. Each class should have at least the same dozen drivers at every race.

[BertMk2]

Originally Posted by NaBUru38

I do think so. The WRC-2 and WRC-3 standings have looked like French cheese for decades.

Great description! I like that

Originally Posted by NaBUru38

Each class should have at least the same dozen drivers at every race.

In an ideal world we'd have a consistent set of drivers in each class at every round and then top up the entries with local drivers and 'one off' appearances form other drivers. Unfortunately the numbers (and budget) just aren't there to keep a consistent entry in all clasess - so it's more like 'French cheese' than we'd like.

[cg7aa]

Motors TV not showing daily WRC highlights anymore then? Has someone else taken over the rights?

[BertMk2]

Originally Posted by cg7aa

Motors TV not showing daily WRC highlights anymore then? Has someone else taken over the rights?

It's on BT Sport now - not sure if it's anywhere else as well?

Today looks like it was quite lively, Paddons car totally destroyed by fire after an off, Tanak went off at the same place later on - looks like his car got lightly roasted but should be ok.

[BertMk2]

Good to see Meeke get the win - he's been denied a couple of times this year (thanks to hidden rocks!). With Ogier sweeping the road and Meeke running a bit further back he seemed to be in control - even to the point of carrying an extra spare just in case. There seemed to be quite a few retirements - it certainly seemed to be a punishing event, there were some bloody big rocks about with no margin for error in some places.

[tbtstt]

Great result for Meeke. Another encouraging sign that, hopefully, things are falling into place for a good Championship fight next year.

[fergus_r]

Nice to see VW and Ogier complaining every time they lose a rally- maybe they should look at themselves instead of blaming others for their problems.

Road sweeping has been around in rallying forever, it's the nature of the sport, deal with it already.

[Alex Langheck]

It's the issue that won't go away. With modern events being so short it's become a bigger problem than it was years ago when it didn't seem to cause an issue as events were far longer & tougher.

We have far too many dry, dusty gravel events - get rid of some of them, and bring in more Tarmac events which are more 'road relevant'. That could help.

[1975DCS]

Yes! More road tarmac please! Cars look great on them and they have more meaning here in Europe! As a matter of fact: I'd rather see a massive European Rally Championship than WRC

[S griffin]

I don't agree that one off winners devalue the series, the more variety of winners the better. What about the days when we used to get drivers competing in one event a year? VW are talking pony as usual

[NaBUru38]

Why would anyone drop the Argentina, Mexico and Australia rallys?

[Alex Langheck]

Mexico & Argentina should stay. Australia offers nothing - unless it's based in Perth; otherwise it's just another gravel event. Replace it with NZ - The best roads in the world!

[cg7aa]

Originally Posted by BertMk2

Good to see Meeke get the win - he's been denied a couple of times this year (thanks to hidden rocks!). With Ogier sweeping the road and Meeke running a bit further back he seemed to be in control - even to the point of carrying an extra spare just in case. There seemed to be quite a few retirements - it certainly seemed to be a punishing event, there were some bloody big rocks about with no margin for error in some places.

Two and counting! Despite being a fan of the Meeke and Nagle combo, I would have liked to see more or a toe-to-toe battle with Paddon and Ogier with Meeke edging it in the end .

I agree with the comments about the gravel rallies, I particularly don't get the point of the mixed surface events; Catalunya should be all tarmac for example.

Anyway, it was good to see Camilli showing what he can do, the last rallies have been tough for him.

[BertMk2]

Originally Posted by cg7aa

I agree with the comments about the gravel rallies, I particularly don't get the point of the mixed surface events; Catalunya should be all tarmac for example.

I quite like the mixed surface events - it means that the cars have to be set up to cope with tarmac and gravel - so they're not 100% dialled in for either and that makes it harder to drive at the limit (so good drivers should benefit). The Monte is a mixed surface event - snow, ice, tarmac - and that's usually a cracker.

Over the course of the season the WRC should run on as many different surfaces as possible - you have to have snow, tarmac and gravel.

[tbtstt]

Great result for Neuville in Italy. I had feared that he had gone off the boil a bit, nice to be proven wrong!

That's now 5 different winners in the last 5 rounds!

[pimmy]

Originally Posted by tbtstt

That's now 5 different winners in the last 5 rounds!

Which hasn't happened since 2001! WRC has been really good this year.

[Alex Langheck]

Originally Posted by tbtstt

Great result for Neuville in Italy. I had feared that he had gone off the boil a bit, nice to be proven wrong!

That's now 5 different winners in the last 5 rounds!

Great result - but I think it was more down to road position. And it looks like the WRC is finally competitive....but I'm not sure its quite like that. Ogier running first for two days means he can't win unless those running behind him hit trouble.

And this new competitive nature of the WRC is hardly having a positive effect, is it? Interest in the sport is as poor as ever.

[tbtstt]

Originally Posted by Alex Langheck

Great result - but I think it was more down to road position. And it looks like the WRC is finally competitive....but I'm not sure its quite like that. Ogier running first for two days means he can't win unless those running behind him hit trouble.

And this new competitive nature of the WRC is hardly having a positive effect, is it? Interest in the sport is as poor as ever.

Yeah, true. Given that I was expecting this year to be a total whitewash (or rather Ogier-wash) it's nice to at least see a few different names on top of the podium. I do agree that road positioning is to thank for that though and, despite the mixture of names, Ogier is still well clear in the standings at the moment.

I'm hopeful that the changes coming next year will draw attention back to the WRC.

[bobec]

To me it just seems like the typical modern motorsports gimmick solution. It does make it a lot more unpredictable, but I never felt happy with punishing the fastest drivers. Just feels a bit artificial.

[ArnageWRC]

Well yes, its artificial. But it seems to be acceptable in motorsport. You wouldn't put up with it in a lot of sports - but for some reason people just go along with it.

At least the WRC doesn't have the BoP farce....