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Promoter news and rumours

I didnt even realized we had a promoter already! But its sad that the first thing I read about them is that: "competition for places on the WRC calendar is expected to become even tougher, with fewer opportunities for European rallies."
Sure, lets put 6 Toyotas on an aeroplane and save the World Championship.
 
I don't get it how that there is a very high interest of hosting a WRC round but everything else seems being so screwed up. Even those countries with literally no rally herritage or big number of talented drivers or even anyone desperately want to get in. I mean, I'm happy that at least this is a positive fact, that in that department is a very high interest if anywhere else just isn't.
 
deephouse said:
I don't get it how that there is a very high interest of hosting a WRC round but everything else seems being so screwed up. Even those countries with literally no rally herritage or big number of talented drivers or even anyone desperately want to get in. I mean, I'm happy that at least this is a positive fact, that in that department is a very high interest if anywhere else just isn't.
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Its probably just PR, like when FIA said there were manufacturers and loads of builders interested.
 
what are your thoughts on running the stages four times instead of two? (two in the reverse direction) it would reduce costs and allow spectators to see more without having to move to the next stage then come back. you can use a smaller area for the event too. they would be able to do a full morning loop or afternoon in the middle of a capital, loads of people watching it.... it sounds interesting. maybe not for eeeevery staaage, but it could be an idea
 
I thought that too, but too many people wants to have marathon events, 1000km racing stages, 5000km liasions around 30 stages each probably not repeating them with more than 30 km each. And then we have minute and a half between first and second time on leaderboard.
 
saco0o said:
what are your thoughts on running the stages four times instead of two? (two in the reverse direction) it would reduce costs and allow spectators to see more without having to move to the next stage then come back. you can use a smaller area for the event too. they would be able to do a full morning loop or afternoon in the middle of a capital, loads of people watching it.... it sounds interesting. maybe not for eeeevery staaage, but it could be an idea
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That can be done on asphalt, but on most gravel rallies, the surface would be so destroyed that you'd need a Dakar Hilux for 3rd and 4th pass. And even on asphalt, the road in Croatia this year became almost all gravel, due to cutting.
Also I'd be worried that some spots that seem safe for spectating in one stage direction, might not be if the direction is reversed.
 
saco0o said:
what are your thoughts on running the stages four times instead of two? (two in the reverse direction) it would reduce costs and allow spectators to see more without having to move to the next stage then come back. you can use a smaller area for the event too. they would be able to do a full morning loop or afternoon in the middle of a capital, loads of people watching it.... it sounds interesting. maybe not for eeeevery staaage, but it could be an idea
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I think we would lose many spectator areas if we do this. The entire spectator zoning system relies on the specific direction cars approach a corner. For example, a great spectator spot on the outside of a hard 90-degree braking zone or at the end of a straight before a fast S-bend becomes basically a no-go zone when the cars come from the opposite direction. You would lose access to a huge percentage of the best viewing areas because the safe spectator angles simply do not work in reverse.
 
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good points on the spectators safety and gravel destruction.
what they can do is have it better planned. for the super sundays, for example. make it properly safe for spectators in both directions.
I know thats a really difficult task, but if we are talking about stuff to make the wrc experience better, having one stage being run 4 times is literally an upgrade for the fans at the local, its also good for the broadcast equipament. having the parking serive on the area is also more interesting since all the fans are gathered there. idk... i think theres something in this idea. it needs to be sorted out better, but it is a good idea. not for every stage, maybe not for every rally, but theres something usefull here
 
another doubt for you european fellas: what classes are ran in the national championships over there? im 100% into that idea of bringing something like an open 2wd class or something like that. its more about allowing these privateers to compete in the world championship. i know r5s are in almost every country, but what would be the most common thing among the national championships? or.. idk... on the biggest national championships, do they have some common classes or something close to that? are the 2wd from the french championship thaaaaat different from the 2wd cars they run in finland, for example? im saying this based on the rallyX idea, combining loads of 2wd. its a sucess! dont know why cant wrc (and erc) couldnt do the same thing. its always interesting IMO
 
saco0o said:
what are your thoughts on running the stages four times instead of two? (two in the reverse direction) it would reduce costs and allow spectators to see more without having to move to the next stage then come back. you can use a smaller area for the event too. they would be able to do a full morning loop or afternoon in the middle of a capital, loads of people watching it.... it sounds interesting. maybe not for eeeevery staaage, but it could be an idea
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There is also the issue of the number of entries. If there are a large number of entries and the loop of stages is short then everyone has a long wait in the re-group between each loop for everyone to get through the first loop before the second loop starts. That's why most events run a loop in the morning and repeat it in the afternoon. Estonia managed to repeat stages in the morning and then repeat different stages in the afternoon, so they might be able to do three or four repeats in a day, but what state would their roads be in?
If the third and fourth loops are reversed then there's an even longer wait while the stages are reconfigured to run in the reverse direction. All of the junctions and hazards need re-arrowing and you may have to move timing equipment to the other end of the stage, if you haven't installed duplicate sets. It can be done but it might not be worth the effort.
 
saco0o said:
another doubt for you european fellas: what classes are ran in the national championships over there? im 100% into that idea of bringing something like an open 2wd class or something like that. its more about allowing these privateers to compete in the world championship. i know r5s are in almost every country, but what would be the most common thing among the national championships? or.. idk... on the biggest national championships, do they have some common classes or something close to that? are the 2wd from the french championship thaaaaat different from the 2wd cars they run in finland, for example? im saying this based on the rallyX idea, combining loads of 2wd. its a sucess! dont know why cant wrc (and erc) couldnt do the same thing. its always interesting IMO
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I think most countries have their own class structure and technical rules. I know UK & Ireland are different, though it's easy for national cars from each country to compete in the other's events, and many competitors do compete, quite successfully, on both sides of the Irish Sea. UK national competitors also used to compete regularly in Belgium in the past on their tarmac events. I don't think there are as many doing that these days as there used to be following Brexit and the customs costs and hassle of organising carnets for the vehicles & spares plus, since 2018, it has been possible to close public roads in UK for rallying so there are tarmac events closer to home than there used to be.
Looking at what cars are used in 2WD at national level, I suspect that it's a function of what cars have always been popular in that country. You'll see more Volvo's in Norway/Sweden/Finland than further south. Northern Europe has more Opels than UK & Ireland where there are still dozens of Mk2 Escorts competing. What's under the skin of these cars can also be very different from what they used to have. The most successful Escorts in UK & Ireland have 2.5 litre Millington engines, sequential gearboxes & Reiger suspension - nothing like your historic specification car!
 
saco0o said:
another doubt for you european fellas: what classes are ran in the national championships over there? im 100% into that idea of bringing something like an open 2wd class or something like that. its more about allowing these privateers to compete in the world championship. i know r5s are in almost every country, but what would be the most common thing among the national championships? or.. idk... on the biggest national championships, do they have some common classes or something close to that? are the 2wd from the french championship thaaaaat different from the 2wd cars they run in finland, for example? im saying this based on the rallyX idea, combining loads of 2wd. its a sucess! dont know why cant wrc (and erc) couldnt do the same thing. its always interesting IMO
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This will give you an idea for Sweden's national rally championship. Not many Volvo 240 in SM. They are very frequent in non championship events though and mostly standard Volvo 200-series except this one.

https://www.rallysm.se/liveresultat...+Rally+Nyköping&datum=2026-05-14+-+2026-05-16
https://resultatservice.se/resserv/v2/results/result.jsp?tvlnr=2026003&deltvlnr=1&page=1a3
www.raceconsulting.com

After SS 4

After SS 4
www.raceconsulting.com www.raceconsulting.com
 
"WRC Promoter GmbH, the entity which holds the commercial rights to the World Rally Championship and European Rally Championship, has been sold to a joint venture between French automotive technology and services platform Cosmobilis and private credit investor Park Square Capital."

It's about time. Lets see what their new ideas actually are. Talk is cheap.
 
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