I hope Mitsubishi has a successful return. It seems a little less festive with one less manufacturer out there.

I wonder what it would take to get Audi to come back? Maybe there's a pulse in Fiat somewhere? They had some neat rally machines!

What's keeping Toyota away as well? Who remembers their Celica rally winnin' machine?

It would make the WRC seem more "lively" if there were more manufacturer involvement.
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you're right, the championship is a little bit less festive without Mitsubishi. it'd be great to see another team being competative for the top spot on the podium.

i'm guessing that Audi has moved on in the market place, and probably won't be heading back to the WRX. they're targeting luxury buyers, rather than drivers. luxo buyers don't really give a damn if a car has a racing pedigree or not, unlike drivers. the only thing that i can think of that would get them back into rally would be the launch of some sort of sport compact like the A3, where they'd need some sort of racing series to publicize the car. that said, i'd love to see them get back into rallying. actually, wait a second...what if Volkswagen ponied up and brought an R32 to the WRC? that'd be pretty freakin' cool.

Fiat? i thought they went broke at least a couple times....

ah, Toyota. if they actually made some cars that were worth driving, i could see them making a return to the WRC. i mean, c'mon, discontinuing the Supra? making the Celica their flagship sportscar? WTF? now, if they brought out an AWD, turbocharged celica like their old rally cars, it'd help. again, i think that like Audi, they're catering to older more boring buyers who don't care about racing as long as their freakin' Camry can run for 20k miles without an oil change.

 

Sad but true on all counts, My Friend.
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Originally posted by dropkick_muppet
what if Volkswagen ponied up and brought an R32 to the WRC? that'd be pretty freakin' cool.
It would probably be less like the road version than a WRC is to a WRX. They'd have to axe that 6-banger and use something like an Audi 2.0 turbo. I can't wait to see the USDM R32 on the street, though. Same goes for the SVT Focus, if Ford ever decides to make it happen.

--
0==WW==0
"…axles of evil…" - george w. bush

 

and the problem with that would be...? seriously, they would have to do a couple of things to meet the rules, but it'd still be pretty neat. an audi 2.0 liter, AWD R32 would be a hell of a car, and it certainly couldn't do much worse in the WRC than the old ford focus did. get a couple of young hotshot drivers into it, and i think it'd do pretty well.

 

so lets hear your pix for the next race. Will Gronholm win it for the 4th time straight.

1) M. Gronhlom (peugeot)
2) P. Solberg (Subaru)
3) M. Martin (Ford)
4) R. Burns (Peugeot)
5) S. Loeb (Citroen)
6) T. Makinen (Subaru)
7) C. Sainz (Citroen)
8) C. MaRae (Citroen)

i really hate the LONG waits between some of these races.

rich

 

Originally posted by dropkick_muppet
and the problem with that would be...? seriously, they would have to do a couple of things to meet the rules, but it'd still be pretty neat. an audi 2.0 liter, AWD R32 would be a hell of a car...
I think that there's a better chance of Audi getting back into it than a VW nameplate. Not that I wouldn't mind seeing an AWD Golf of some type in WRC. I think that they'd have to use a generic 'Golf' because the Golf R32 = 3.2 liters, so the marketing department would have a little problem.

--
0==WW==0
"…axles of evil…" - george w. bush

 

eh, screw marketing

okay, here are my thoughts on Rally Australia:

1. Marko Martin
2. Richard Burns
3. Petter Solberg
4. Carlos Sainz
5. Harri Rovanperra
6. Sebastian Loeb
7. Tommi Makinen
8. Didier Auriol

i'm going on the theory here that Gronholm is going to crash out, or have a mechanical serious enough that he'll either be way out of the points or forced to retire. i don't think McRae will finish the rally either.

Burns has a pretty good history down under, and i think he'll be able to keep the car together for the entire rally as long as the mechanics don't let him down. i don't think he has the speed to win, but i'd bet on him finishing on the podium.

Sainz, what with his wealth of experience, should do well. he's good at keeping cars together, driving arround problems, and keeping his cool unlike his Scottish team mate.

i'd expect Solberg to go well, but my guess is that Makinen will be driving at about 8/10ths, in view of his upcoming retirement. i don't think that the Finn has the motivation to win in Australia. i'd also expect that to possibly weigh down Solberg and the whole Subaru team.

oh, and the long waits between rallies do suck -- but think of the drivers flying all over the bloody globe...

 

I like that you're going out on a limb. That's the best (one of the best) things about rally in the first place. anything could happen in the plink of an eye.

So if Gilles and Richard are going to other teams next season is Rovanpera going to stay on as second driver?

 

no kidding, anything can and usually does happen during rallies. my guess is that Gronholm is going to either push to hard, and crash the 206, or that he'll suffer from a mechanical.

i think Rovanperra is going to be sticking with Peugot for next year. i just checked http://www.wrc.com and it looks like he is angling for a test in the Peugot 307 -- which is certainly news to me. i didn't realize that Peugot was hoping to have the 307 ready quite that soon. here is the news flash, shamelessly snipped from wrc.com

 

Damn i can't wait to see that car. That is one of the sites i look at when finding out stuff about the WRC. I think i'm on there news letter

 

There's a cool video clip on this page.

 

holly cow!!!!!! that was not what i was expecting at all. But damn it looks fast!!!!!!

 

the 307 is really quite differant that the current 206. size wise, at least judging from the attached photo above, the 307 is about the same size as the Citroen Xsara, and much closer to the Subarus than the current 206. i thought that part of the reason that the 206 was so successful was because of it's short wheelbase, quick steering, buckets of torque and chassis balance.

it's strange to see Peugot going in this direction when both Ford and Skoda have gone to smaller and smaller cars that mimic the size (and to some degree) the shape of the 206. it makes me wonder if the success of the Xsara on pavement has given the engineers at Peugot cause for concern. it'll be interesting to see how this new car will do nex year, since i can't see Peugot going with the new car late in the season while Gronholm and Burns are in a fight for the championship.

the irony here is the Burns had a hard time coming to grips with the 206 after stepping out of the Subaru. i have to wonder if Burns would have been more at home in the 307.

wait a second...did anyone else notice that the rear wing on the 307 in the picture doesn't have the uprights in it like the new wings being run by Subaru, Ford and Skoda? i'd put money on seeing a wing similar to what Subaru is running on the new 307 when it makes it's debut in competition, and probably even in testing.

 

I still miss the "silver bullets" in years past. I know it's all about the sponcers etc. but i don't like the red. Now just what color you think Mitsubishi will be using next year.

Rally XS friday Sept.05 at 5pm. There is NO WAY i'm going to miss it this week.

Austalian Rally: Sunday Sept 07th at 6pm

can't wait