The Monte Carlo rally start tomorrow and it looks like it could be a classic. The weather has been very mild so the route is almost totally free of snow and ice making the event a much more normal tarmac rally and the entry list is swollen with talent. Petter Solberg makes his debut in the IRC series and if things follow a similar path to the last two years then it should be Petter who is standing on the top step of the podium come the end of the rally. However I'm not sure that Petter will have the machinery to climb that high, the 207 is no longer a match for the Fabia. I don't think the Peugeots will be able to stop a Skoda pilot from taking the victory but there are so many top class drivers taking part that it could go to any one of the top 15 starters.
It will be interesting to see how Guy Wilks gets on compared to Andreas Mikkelsen, who took Wilks vacated seat in the Skoda UK Fabia. I hope they both have a good clean run but I think Mikkelsen will finish ahead in the final standings.
From the photos I've seen so far of the Citroen DS3 R3T it is a fantastic looking car, if I had the money it would be my current car of choice.
People of interest for Irish motorsport fans are Chris Patterson navigating Petter Solberg at No.2, Eamonn Boland in his Evo 10 at No.36 and Daniel Barry in his Evo 9 at No.47.
IRC website:
http://www.ircseries.com/html/
Showing posts with label Group N. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Group N. Show all posts
Tuesday, 18 January 2011
Saturday, 8 January 2011
British Rally Championship goes 2wd for 2012
It was announced this week that for 2012 the BRC will only be open to 2wd cars up to 2000cc and I have to say that I support this change. A lot of people will be disappointed at the lose of the 4wd cars but it should help to put a cap on costs. It might not seem like that now, when a competitive Group N car can be built for much less than a new R3 class car like the Citroen DS3 R3, as a rough estimate £50k compared to £100k. But, if a talented driver was to find the budget to compete in a top level S2000 car like the Skoda Fabia then it would force the other drivers to come up with similar machinery or get left behind. The Fabia at over £250k is way beyond even a well funded BRC team.
The move to 2wd also opens up the BRC to a much larger range of cars which could potentially bring back some manufacturer support. The basic spec of the cars, is similar to the spec of the F2 cars that were used in the heyday of the BRC in the late 90's when it was regarded as the best in the world for developing new driver talent. If the rule changes can get the BRC back to that level of competition and recognition I for one will be very pleased.
Press Release:
http://www.rallybrc.co.uk/news-stories/514-04012011-brc-spells-out-its-future-from-2012.html
1997 Ulster Rally, just as a reminder of how good F2 was:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5DJEdUt8X6E
The move to 2wd also opens up the BRC to a much larger range of cars which could potentially bring back some manufacturer support. The basic spec of the cars, is similar to the spec of the F2 cars that were used in the heyday of the BRC in the late 90's when it was regarded as the best in the world for developing new driver talent. If the rule changes can get the BRC back to that level of competition and recognition I for one will be very pleased.
Press Release:
http://www.rallybrc.co.uk/news-stories/514-04012011-brc-spells-out-its-future-from-2012.html
1997 Ulster Rally, just as a reminder of how good F2 was:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5DJEdUt8X6E
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