Well it looks like all the new proposals in front of the FIA have been passed.

http://www.wrc.com/en_GB/News/2003/0...calchanges.htm

The big highlights are the 2 car limit and the return of rallying to North America with the Corona Rally Mexico (!!!).

http://www.rallyamerica.com.mx/

Corona Rally Mexico will happen March 12-14 of next year, so start making those road trip plans now!

 

I wish we had something in the US, but I think we're too populated and the EPA would probably **** on WRC in the USA.

 

I believe the FIA and SCCA are both very interested in getting a WRC event in the US. I'd guess the earliest you'd see a US rally would be the 2005 season.

 

Checked the flights. Its -$500 roundtrip / 6 hrs flight from Wash DC direct to Leon.

I would really like to go, but let's see how things progress. BTW, Germany in August is another option for me.

 

It took me a while after reading that to comprehend the stupidity of the FIA. Let's look at Citroen as an example: They have already signed 2 drivers which means that their other drivers, McRae and Sainz, who are both ex-world champions will be out of a job unless they want to drive for Hyundai. They have effectively been forced out of the WRC and are 2 of the biggest names in the game. I won't even start on the new recce system.

The teams are against it. The drivers are against it. But, the FIA in it's ultimate wisdom has decided to dictate the fate of the WRC. Just when the WRC was taking hold in countries such as the US the FIA has decided to kill the sport. If you hadn't gathered, I'm absolutely disgusted with the decision.

 

Why do you say Citroen has signed up 2 drivers? Unless I missed something they have only signed Loeb so far (which is a great move) Sainz and McRae were still "competing" for the 2nd spot, so only ONE of them would be out of the job.

I don't think the new rule is all that bad. It does help to create a more even playing field. Sure the well-financed teams are complaining, but when all dust settles, I think it will be fine. The sport will certainly remain as popular as ever.

 

They have signed Simon Jean Joseph (I think that's his name) for the 3rd seat already. However, I think I remember reading something about his contract only being valid providing that the FIA do not change the 3rd driver rule. So, it is quite possible that he will lose his position at Citroen next year. Even so, there's one guy out of a job straight away. And what about Freddie Loix? I'm sure Rovanpera will stay over Loix as he was classified as the 2nd driver behind Gronholm. There are so many accomplished drivers in the WRC already that this will make it nigh on impossible for any new blood to enter the ranks.

 

UFO: Good point, I forgot Citroen had already signed that other guy. I was only thinking Peugeot was screwed since they've already signed 3 drivers.

I'm still undecided about the 2-driver rule. From the FIA report, it sounds like manufacturers can enter as many cars as they want. It's just now that only 2 can be nominated to score manufacturer's points as opposed to a best two out of three that is in place now. Of course this does not give the manufacturers as much incentive to run 3 or more cars. And you might say that the well funded teams will now have even more money per car to spend than they did before, which isn't any good for smaller teams.

 

i think the rule allowing for only two cars is good, like wojo has said, it provides a more even playing field as far as the constructor's championship goes.
Don't know what the rationale behind the elmination of the gravel crew though, if someone can enlighten me on that.
Very glad to hear about Rally Mexico! I was planning on making a trip to Europe just to see the WRC, not I won't have to go very far. And for us Evo/Mistubishi fans, it will also very exciting to see the new Evo WRC.

 

I'm wondering if they're eliminating gravel crews as another method to make it easier for less well-funded teams to come in. The recce will only be able to be done in the rally car or a road car, meaning the teams don't have to invest more money in a fleet of prepared gravel cars. And there's no longer the expense of having to hire the gravel crew, too. Of course it will make for more work for the driver/co-driver crew.

 

Personally I don't like the changes. The main reason for the change is to make it more inviting for other manufacturers to join in. However if this fails and more manufacturers do not come in, we are looking at, if no teams drop out, a total of no more than 14 WRC cars competing in WRC. It is not uncommon for 7 cars to retire in a race. You could have races where only a hand full of cars finish the rally, where there arn't even enough cars finishing to fill the points standings. That would make for some very boring rallying. Team manager of Peugeot also had very good points on the matter.

 

This is actually the part of the proposal that the teams find stupidest of all. The problem as it is stated is that you are able to use a hire car or totally standard road car or rally car.

Using a rally car is basically out of the question, as you would require basically two spare cars at each event for recce.

And all the hire car companies have already gotten wise to the game regarding rallies -- when a WRC team goes to a rally and hires cars, they don't just sign the standard forms, they actually have to sign very specific waivers about drivers and usage. So Hertz and Avis aren't going to be supplying recce cars anytime soon.

That leaves you with totally standard road cars. Which the manufacturers have already approached the Rallies Commission with questions about --

1. Can we swap suspension? Likely answer: Yes.
2. Can we put underguard protection? Likely answer: Yes.
3. Headsets? Yes.

Ooops, this is starting to look an awful lot like a recce car...

I'm opposed to the two driver rule as it means less jobs out there for drivers, but I can see some merits to it. Same thing with no gravel crews.

But thinking that you can take out the recce car to save costs is stupid.

- Christian