I just watched the live coverage of the Power Stage.. and I have to say, that's a pretty good idea. The fact that there's some points left up for grabs late in the rally when the order board might be a forgone conclusion sure adds some interest.

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Billyee
I believe that VW is going to be bringing out an s2000 car next year

hopefully it's better than the Polo S2000 was...

I imagine that VWAG might take much the same tack as PSA:
Pug 207 and Citroen DS3 reportedly share platforms - Peugot has a S2000 presence, and Citroen plays in the WRC.
Since VWAG already has a successful S2000 car (Skoda Fabia), maybe a VW WRC car on the same platform?



a bigger issue IMO is North One Sport (the owner/promoter of the WRC)'s stated desire to have no more than four mfrs in the WRC... ( http://www.rallybuzz.com/wrc-manu-2011/ )



I still think that they should go back to proper manufacturer points - none of this "M-Sport Ford Abu Dhabi" and "Petter Solberg WRT" things in the MANUFACTURER points. Finish in the top 10 in a ford? Add it to Ford's total. Finish in the top 10 in a Citroen? Add it to Cit's total. Is that really that hard?



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 03/07/2011 12:10AM by Aaron Luptak.

I for one am loving the new WRC cars too. Sound like proper racing cars!

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Aaron Luptak
I still think that they should go back to proper manufacturer points - none of this "M-Sport Ford Abu Dhabi" and "Petter Solberg WRT" things in the MANUFACTURER points. Finish in the top 10 in a ford? Add it to Ford's total. Finish in the top 10 in a Citroen? Add it to Cit's total. Is that really that hard?

It's not that hard - but it's not that fair either. The amount of work that goes into a WRC car makes it not a Ford, Citroen or whatever, but more of brand who-ever-prepped-it.
We can think what we want about that, the engineering that goes into it, etc. - but I think at least it's a valid point and reason for doing it the way it's done now.

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Brgrds
Brian

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wildert

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Aaron Luptak
I still think that they should go back to proper manufacturer points - none of this "M-Sport Ford Abu Dhabi" and "Petter Solberg WRT" things in the MANUFACTURER points. Finish in the top 10 in a ford? Add it to Ford's total. Finish in the top 10 in a Citroen? Add it to Cit's total. Is that really that hard?

It's not that hard - but it's not that fair either. The amount of work that goes into a WRC car makes it not a Ford, Citroen or whatever, but more of brand who-ever-prepped-it.
We can think what we want about that, the engineering that goes into it, etc. - but I think at least it's a valid point and reason for doing it the way it's done now.

But even if you look at the work of building it, and the engineering - it should still just be two "manufacturers": M-Sport and PSA Sport (or whatever they're called).

Yes, the current "manufacturer" entries do at least service the cars during an event. but I'm under the impression that all the fords go back to M-Sport for re-prep between events... Hardly seems fair to call "Stobart" or "Monster" or "Ice 1" manufacturers, doesn't it? (and I'll admit it, the purely semantic change of calling it the Team World Rally title would satisfy me - but that will never happen because a name change like that might indicate that the manufacturers aren't really involved any more - oh noes!)

I think the reason that the "manufacturer" title is currently this way - so that constructors who don't seem real interested in selling current cars to privateers (PSA) can have a decent fight against those who are happy to sell current-spec cars (m-sport).

That's true - I was just thinking things like Tommi Makkinen and the others that actually build and prep cars. It would be equally fair that they we're labelled manufacturers. But the teams that by a ready-prepped car, or a base/foundation with a recipe for prep, and a service agreement for re-prepping after events, aren't much of manufacturers :-).

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Brian

I found watching those car very entertaining, the drivers were working hard! Also have to say the Block put on a good face and acted like a pro in what must have been a very frustrating situation. The scenes through the underground were freaking cool! What on earth do we have to get a WRC race in the US?

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alkun
I found watching those car very entertaining, the drivers were working hard! Also have to say the Block put on a good face and acted like a pro in what must have been a very frustrating situation. The scenes through the underground were freaking cool! What on earth do we have to get a WRC race in the US?

Have events with more than 22 cars.
Have worker base like in the mid-80s.
When we had more than 22 cars of which 17 were one brand.