2024 WRC News & Rumours

[Eli]

Unrelated to Fourmaux or Croatia but it saddens me to think it’s 5 years (to this weekend) since the last Wales Rally GB

[turdzi]

In before we launch a whole new Rally2 discussion, Rally2 and WRCars already had a tubular chassis, it was just combined with a cut up road car shell and therefore pretty expensive to develop.

But it is still based on a road car so there are a lot of panels you do not have to make. It has to be a massive cost to build those Rally1 shells. 448205986_866205238885534_8898326913719789245_n-e1718091839315.jpg

[Mirek]

But it is still based on a road car so there are a lot of panels you do not have to make. It has to be a massive cost to build those Rally1 shells. 448205986_866205238885534_8898326913719789245_n-e1718091839315.jpg

With rally2 the manufacturers have to use a suitable stock bodyshell which might not be in their production at all or when there is some it is definitely far from optimal. That itself prevents some manufacturers from entering the sport and makes the life hard for the everyone at the same time.
Any changes to the bodyshell to optimize the rally car must go through all processes of the stock production. Everyone who works or worked in the automotive knows that this is extremely time consuming, expensive and ofthen simply impossible process to do. The extreme case is Toyota Yaris GR where they developed a road going rally car like in the 80' to have best-suited possible bodyshell for the Rally2 however that was possible only because the Toyota management are crazy in rallying. The cost behind creating this car was definitely enormous and with any other manufacturer the managing board would kill it when it was still a power point presentation.
There are less and less usebale bodyshell being produced as the car industry changes, for the new cars the space frame will be necessary even for Rally2 because the pool of usable cars is drying.
The body panels for the future Rally2 may not be made of carbon. If the rules are different they can be pretty cheap glassfibre fabric produced by whomever. It's only about how the rules are written.
For the manufacturers a spaceframe prototype is an easier option because it allows them to separate the motorsport development from stock production.