Rally News

[Claudie_Schnaudie]

Sounds good! Let´s hope that Kimi still drives Rally next year so that we can be even more happy about that news

[Denorth]

it's been posted

[Claudie_Schnaudie]

it's been posted

huh?

[luieluv]

Lapworth : New WRC cars would be Spectacular

Prodrive technical director David Lapworth says rally fans around the world should have nothing to fear from the next generation of World Rally Cars - they'll be just as spectacular as ever.

The cars competing from Rally Sweden onwards next year will run with 1.6-litre instead of two-litre turbocharged engines and they’ll have less technology in the transmission than the likes of the Citroen C4 WRC and Ford Focus RS WRC we’ll see in Spain this week. But, to you and me, they’re going to be just as quick, according to Lapworth.

“There’s not going to be a dramatic difference between this year’s car and next year’s,” said Lapworth. “I’m comparing what we’ve got with the Mini and the generic World Rally Car from today and I’d say, from the outside, you won’t be able to tell any difference - the cars will be just as spectacular.

“There will be a little bit less torque lower down because we’re running less turbo boost off a smaller engine, but at the same time the cars will be lighter.”

Mini is expected to resume testing its all-new Countryman-based World Rally Car this week and both Citroen and Ford are running their 2011 machinery at the moment. Ford’s Mikko Hirvonen and Jari-Matti Latvala both got their first taste of the Fiesta RS WRC on the loose in Spain last week.

With the absence of an active centre differential - a part of the car which offers better grip when turning into a corner - on next year’s WRCs, there had been talk that there could be a return to the super-sideways approach to the stages. Lapworth has ruled that out.

“Driving styles have moved on a great deal,” he said. “The drivers have learned now that the fastest way is the straightest way. That won’t change, no matter what happens to the cars.”

http://www.wrc.com/news/lapworth-new-ca ... ?fid=13791

[Denorth]

it's been posted

huh?

I posted news that there'd be more TV coverage only to find out that it had been posted one page earlier. So it was about the post I edited, not anyone's else

[icemaid]

The fastest rally crash...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7bA6DDM6EKw

[Maria d]

The fastest rally crash...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7bA6DDM6EKw

[momo]

FIA WRC Academy launched
25 October 2010
WRC Academy aims to build on the successful elements of the Junior World Rally Championship.
A brand new feeder series to the World Rally Championship will start in 2011, run in partnership by motorsport's governing body, the FIA and the WRC's global promoter, North One Sport, it was announced at the weekend.

“The 'WRC Academy' will be the first step on the WRC ladder for young drivers and will give the stars of tomorrow an unrivalled opportunity to develop their talent on the world stage in an extremely cost effective way,” said the organisers in a statement to the media.

The WRC Academy aims to build on the successful elements of the Junior World Rally Championship, which is where current WRC stars Sebastien Loeb, Dani Sordo and Sebastien Ogier cut their teeth.

However it also wants to set 'new standards for training and development as pioneered in the Pirelli Star Driver programme'.

The WRC Academy will be a one make series where all drivers will compete with identical Ford Fiesta R2s prepared by M-Sport. To further level the competition, the cars will be fitted with control tyres from Pirelli.

The six round series will run as a separate category on WRC rallies in 2011, to ensure drivers gain relevant experience and exposure alongside the main competition.

“The WRC Academy aims to be accessible and affordable and the basic cost of participation is set at 118,000 UK Pounds (approx 135,000 Euros) per season. In addition, drivers will have to provide for travel and accommodation for the crew, a car to participate in recce and the cost of repairing accident damage to the cars,” added the organisers.

“As well as learning their craft on the stages, drivers contesting the WRC Academy will take part in a comprehensive training and tuition programme to maximise their potential both in and out of their cars and equip them for every aspect of competing in an FIA global championship.”

An extra incentive for the competitors of the WRC Academy will be a 'substantial' prize fund, including a scholarship worth 500,000 Euros, for the winner. Further details about the WRC Academy, its regulations and its calendar of events will be announced in the next two weeks.

http://www.crash.net/world+rally/news/1 ... mpaign=rss

[momo]

Kubica to race in Monte Carlo
Mon, 25 Oct 12:26:00 2010



The Pole suffered a terminal engine failure on the prologue – and so has unfinished business on the Monte.

He will race a Renault Clio R3 at the Intercontinental Rally Challenge season-opening event.

"Rallying is for fun: it is a hobby and a passion," he said. "Formula One is my job, but I hope to be back rallying again because I really like it. Who knows what will happen."

Kubica has taken part in several national rallies in Italy and elsewhere this year, with some promising results.

Most recently he took a class win and third overall on the Antibes Rally in the South of France.

http://uk.eurosport.yahoo.com/25102010/ ... carlo.html

[apple]

Saw some interesting stuff while my son was having a haircut. I read the magazine Tekniikan Maailma which reports and tests new cars and everything thats related to it. They make great articles about everything what happens in technical engineering and this time one story was about next years cars.
There is some controversy about the engine as FIA hasnt yet approved what is the size of the strangler on the turbo.
Also the new engine has turned out to be a very difficult to tune up as engineers are trying to get the last horsepowers out of it. M-sport engineers had to try 17 different exhaust pipes until they got out extra 7 kw from the engine.
The car has to have the same shock absorbers in front and back.
The teams cannot make their own gearboxes as they has to use the system FIA has approved. M-sport and Mini use X-tract and Citroen uses some French company which name I dont remember.

The article also said the car which Mikko and Jari- Matti and all Ford drivers has been using is actually very old version, from 1999. Citroen made a new car at 2004 .
Its about time to do a new car for Ford boys..

[Julia]

the rumor says that VW has already made the decision to join wrc i 2012 not all rounds but from 2013 wiht all rallies... announcement in a couple of weeks.

http://www.motorsport-aktuell.com/autom ... 28055.html

Juho Hänninen (this years IRC winner) is planning to drive half of the SWRC (6)rallies next year in a skoda (skoda is owned by VW) -> rumor says that they are grooming him to the VW WRC-seat.

so we probably going to have both 2009 and 2010 IRCwinners driving in WRC next year!

[Lunna]

Well, what I've heard (you can call it "inside"))):
- 2011 - 8 rallies for Skoda with Juho in SWRC
- 2012 - factory VW team in WRC with Hänninen and Al-Attiyah and... Red Bull sponsorship

[sleenster]

There's a short bit of news in today's autosport magazine that said Markko Martin crashed the Mini in testing

Mini crashes in testing

Markko Martin became the first man to crash a Mini WRC last week when the Estonian rolled the test car in Spain on Wednesday.

The high-speed accident halted the Prodrive-run team's test briefly, with the only significant damage to the car being the loss of a wheel.

Martin refused to comment on the test, but Prodrive's Richard Taylor said that the team was pleased with the way the Countryman model stood up to the impact.

"It was nothing too serious," said Taylor. "These things can happen during tests and we were happy with the way the car dealt with the hard usage. We were up and running very quickly [afterwards]. We didn't lose much time."

Martin and 2011 signing Kris Meeke drove the car for two days each on gravel.

"It was more early durability running," said Taylor. "The car completed more than 500 kilometers without any problems, including some 40-kilometre-plus runs. The car ran well. We used three separate roads on the test."

[Julia]

Well, what I've heard (you can call it "inside"))):
- 2011 - 8 rallies for Skoda with Juho in SWRC
- 2012 - factory VW team in WRC with Hänninen and Al-Attiyah and... Red Bull sponsorship

OK when you opend that pandoras box ... I opted not to mention Red Bull but... rumors: the team which Juho is driving for in 2011 is Baumschlagers Red Bull Rallye and that red bull is planning to swap from citroen to VW when it comes to WRC in 2012... so how does this fit in to the rumor that RB is planning to spend less money on rally and what about Kimi and RB?

[Mar]

There's a short bit of news in today's autosport magazine that said Markko Martin crashed the Mini in testing

Mini crashes in testing

Markko Martin became the first man to crash a Mini WRC last week when the Estonian rolled the test car in Spain on Wednesday.

The high-speed accident halted the Prodrive-run team's test briefly, with the only significant damage to the car being the loss of a wheel.

Martin refused to comment on the test, but Prodrive's Richard Taylor said that the team was pleased with the way the Countryman model stood up to the impact.

"It was nothing too serious," said Taylor. "These things can happen during tests and we were happy with the way the car dealt with the hard usage. We were up and running very quickly [afterwards]. We didn't lose much time."

Martin and 2011 signing Kris Meeke drove the car for two days each on gravel.

"It was more early durability running," said Taylor. "The car completed more than 500 kilometers without any problems, including some 40-kilometre-plus runs. The car ran well. We used three separate roads on the test."

And yesterday I saw the photos one guy took of a Fiesta a couple of days ago during some testing in Spain, before and after it got into flames .