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WRC - MIA... again.

Nathan Strum

Entry posted by Nathan Strum

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Last year, after the World Rally Championship season started in February, it took until April for highlights to start showing up on TV.

 

This year, they may not show up at all. Assuming the season actually happens in the first place.

 

The problem is that the WRC's main sponsor - North One Sport - was sold last year to Convers Sports Initiatives - a Russian-owned company that in the end, turned into a $1.6 billion case of fraud. Ouch.

 

North One Sport provided the WRC's website, smartphone apps, TV coverage, and of course, sponsorship money. When it tanked, the WRC very nearly tanked with it.

 

There were serious questions as to whether Ford was even going to field a factory team this year. At the last minute though, they committed to another two years. Unfortunately, it came so late, that their lead driver (and world champion runner-up) Mikko Hirvonen had already signed a contract with rival Citroën, since his contract with Ford had expired. Citroën was looking to replace their number 2 driver (Sebastien Ogier) who had left the team after too many conflicts with management and number 1 driver (and reigning world champion) Sebastien Loeb.

 

So Citroën ended up with the top two drivers in the world, and Ford moved their number 2 driver Jari-Matti Latvala up to the number 1 spot, and brought in former world champion Petter Solberg as their new number 2. Ford tried to hire Ogier but couldn't come to terms with him, so he ended up moving over to Volkswagen, who are developing a WRC car for the 2013 season. That doesn't leave Ogier without anything to do this year though, since besides helping develop the new car, he'll be competing for Volkswagen in the SWRC series in a Skoda Fabia.

 

Mini, on the other hand, who had such a promising start in the WRC last year, missed the deadline for the 2012 season entirely, and only after an extension from the FIA (the governing body of the WRC and F-1, among others), committed to returning. But they haven't committed to all events, and are only going to have one full-time driver (Daniel Sordo), instead of two. If they do bring in a second driver at any rally, it will be local drivers who have to pay to drive the other car.

 

Meanwhile, the first rally of the season is happening this week in Monte-Carlo. But just over a week ago, the FIA severed ties with North One Sport entirely, since they'd been unable to commit to sponsoring and supporting the WRC (a supposed deal for a new buyer for North One Sport apparently fell through).

 

I wondered why their website hadn't been updated since December. :ponder:

 

So that left the rally not only without sponsorship, web coverage and TV coverage, but without the necessary timing gear to hold the rally at all.

 

At the last minute, TV production company EuroSport took on broadcasting the Monte-Carlo rally, but there's no word on if that will extend to other rallies, or if any of it will ever be seen in the U.S. Presumably, Velocity's (formerly Discovery HD Theater's) deal was with North One Sport. Hopefully, something can be worked out. The FIA claims to be working on it. I still hope North One Sport can bounce back - I really liked their coverage, and what happened to them wasn't their fault. The timing issues were also worked out, with the rally organizers in Monte-Carlo providing their own timing equipment. But as for what might happen next month in Sweden... it's anyone's guess.

 

At any rate, while I usually don't like to check in on rally results until I can watch it unfold on TV, I may just have to settle for checking it out on the web, since the way things are looking, it may not show up on TV at all. :(

 

That aside... I'm still looking forward to seeing how the season unfolds. Assuming, that is, that they can find sponsorships to keep it going.

 

Citroën will be a force to contend with again, although I don't expect Mikko Hirvonen to do much other than support Sebastien Loeb. I don't think Hirvonen has the raw speed to compete, plus he's in an unfamiliar car. But it will be interesting to see what he can learn from Loeb.

 

Ford should be interesting to watch, with Jari-Matti Latvala being given the top spot (and rightly so). He's blisteringly fast, if he can continue tempering that speed with consistency, as he had done so well in the second half of last season. Also, with Petter Solberg as his team-mate, I think we'll finally get to see Petter return to some podiums this year, now that he no longer has the burden of running his own team. He can just drive, and bask in the full support of a factory team. He may take a little while to get used to the Ford, but I don't think it'll take him that long. I expect he'll consistently be in the top three with Loeb and Latvala.

 

I'm disappointed that Mini's only running one driver this year, but they picked the right one to keep - Daniel Sordo has a lot of as-yet untapped potential, and the Minis have been proven to have the necessary speed to be competitive.

 

 

Also this year, Subaru is participating in a support category called Rally Class, which will compete during six WRC events. The cost is a mere 260,000 Euros for a fully-prepped Subaru and entry into the events (time to start saving my pennies). The winner gets a fully-paid ride in the class the following year. The question though, is with North One Sport out of the picture, did Rally Class go with it?

 

 

Meanwhile, speaking of Subaru, while I was on vacation, I took an afternoon to check out the new 2012 Impreza. Sweet car. Even though it's "only" 148 HP, it feels faster than my Subaru, due to it's lighter weight and better transmission. I tested the CVT version, which I thought worked great (the paddle shifters were admittedly fun to play with, too). Even the fairly bare-bones one I test drove was nicely equipped. And while I'm in no hurry to replace my Impreza, it's nice to know that there's one out there that I'd be willing to buy again. I'm looking forward to seeing what they do with the WRX version later this year, too (I'm hoping for a six-speed automatic, like they're using in the BRZ).

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Nathan Strum

This weekend - Rally France.

 

I couldn't watch it though, since AT&T had problems resulting in my DVR just recording 40 minutes of "We're experiencing technical difficulties".

 

Not a big deal, since predictably Loeb won, and secured his 9th championship.

 

Latvala came in a respectable 2nd place. Makes me wonder though if Loeb was sandbagging in GB just enough so he'd win the championship at home instead. Eh, whatever.

 

Solberg crashed out. Hirvonen came in third. Same old song.

 

There are a few more rallies left, but I'm really more just looking forward to next year at this point.

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Nathan Strum

Stupid car manufacturers. Both Ford and Mini are ending their factory-run WRC teams at the end of this season. That doesn't mean there won't be Fords and Minis run by other teams, but I think this is really going to hurt the WRC, unless some additional sponsors really step up and fill the void.

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Nathan Strum

And the drama just don't stop...

 

Jari-Matti Latvala is moving to VW's new team next season. No big surprise there though, after Ford dropping out.

 

Meanwhile, Ford's other soon-to-be-ex-driver Petter Solberg is weighing his options. Whether to stay with the now-privateer M-Sport group, or possibly move to Citroën, since they're not only losing Loeb (part time), but their number 3 driver - Nasser Al-Attiyah - is also leaving Citroën to go back to training for the Dakar rally. If Solberg doesn't go to Citroën, then it's likely Dani Sordo will, since he's been driving for the Mini team that BMW pulled their support away from earlier this season.

 

The whole landscape of the WRC looks to be very different next year.

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Nathan Strum

Well, this weekend brought Rally Italia. And as usual, Sebastien Loeb won.

 

No... not won. What's the other thing?

 

Oh right. Crashed. He crashed out on Friday. So, we basically got a preview of next season, by him sitting out the rest of the rally.

 

However, just so the weekend wasn't completely out-of-the-norm, both Jari-Matti Latvala and Petter Solberg crashed out. They both resumed racing, but Latvala ended up in 12th, and Solberg was 9th.

 

So, who won?

 

Well, perennial #2 Mikko Hirvonen did. Once all of the other front-runners dropped out, he just basically had to not crash to win.

 

Coming in second was perennial crasher Evgeny Novikov, who surprisingly has managed not to crash recently.

 

Also not crashing for a change is Ott Tanak, who has alternated between impressing in his first full year in the WRC, and, well... crashing.

 

Mads Ostberg (who usually doesn't crash) finished fourth, but would have been in the top three if not for mechanical problems.

 

And Sebastien Ogier (former Citroën stable-mate of Loeb, and VW's lead driver for next year) pulled out an impressive 5th place, while driving an SWRC-spec non-turbocharged Skoda Fabia, out-pacing faster WRC-spec cars.

 

If he can avoid crashing, he'll be a force to be reckoned with next year. Assuming VW has all the bugs worked out of their cars.

 

VW. Bugs. Get it?

 

:roll:

 

Well anyway, the season wraps up in a scant two weeks from now in Spain. But with Loeb having won the drivers' title, and Citroën having won the manufacturers' title, it's all over now but the crashing.

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Nathan Strum

Final round of the Global Rallycross was the other night.

 

My DVR recorded it.

 

And of course... cut off the final round.

 

Again.

 

I hate ESPN.

 

I'm sure somebody won, but I honestly don't care enough to even look it up right now.

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Nathan Strum

Let's see. Spain.

 

Loeb won.

 

Solberg crashed.

 

Latvala managed second, Hirvonen third.

 

And that's the season.

 

Next year should be different. Let's recap the last year, shall we?

 

The previous sponsor went bankrupt, leaving the existence of the sport in doubt.

Nokia came on as a sponsor. Then dropped out.

Sebastien Ogier went from Citroën to VW, who are re-entering the sport next year.

Mikko Hirvonen went from Ford to Citroën.

Petter Solberg joined Ford (after driving a Citroën independently).

BMW stopped backing the ProDrive Mini team, which they'd set up only the year before.

BMW backed a different Mini team, from Portugal.

Sebastien Loeb won his 9th World Championship.

Sebastien Loeb announced his semi-retirement.

Ford announced they were dropping out of the WRC.

Mini announced they were dropping out of the WRC.

Jari-Matti Latvala announced his move from Ford to VW.

Hyundai may or may not be re-entering the WRC in 2014. And so might Toyota. Or not.

The WRC got a new sponsor with Red Bull.

They also changed their timing provider, much to the consternation of the teams.

 

Got all that?

 

So basically, everything has changed. Nobody from the two main teams (Citroën and Ford) from just a year ago will be with the teams next year, and in fact, Ford won't even have its own factory team. Neither will Mini. The company that built the cars for the Ford team (M-Sport) is trying to find new funding. VW has two of the fastest, but crashiest, drivers starting up with their new team next year. The second Citroën seat is up for grabs between Mads Ostberg (formerly driving an M-Sport Ford) and Dani Sordo (formerly of Citroën, who left them to join the ProDrive Mini team which BMW bailed out on). Petter Solberg may be out of a job, unless he can get a seat with some other team.

 

Whew. It'll be interesting to see how it all pans out. The new season starts in January, in Monte Carlo.

 

At least... it's supposed to. :ponder:

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