Rally Entries/Rumours that never happened

[saxoflute03]

The late Richard Burns signed to return to Subaru for the 2004 WRC but the brain tumour that later claimed his life put paid to that.

Colin McRae was in the frame to take Burns' place at Subaru but ultimately lost out to Mikko Hirvonen.

[S griffin]

McRae was also going to do the last couple of events of 2007 with Subaru, with a view to a full time return with them in 2008. Sadly that didn't happen

[Alex Langheck]

Originally Posted by saxoflute03

The late Richard Burns signed to return to Subaru for the 2004 WRC but the brain tumour that later claimed his life put paid to that.

Colin McRae was in the frame to take Burns' place at Subaru but ultimately lost out to Mikko Hirvonen.

There is an interesting story about that; McRae was talking to Prodrive; but the manager of Mikko went straight to the top. Go for a driver who wants to be paid, or a driver who'll bring some budget?
I think history will show they made the wrong decision, as it was a disaster for Mikko; he simply wasn't ready for a factory drive at that point in his career.

Actually, I remember being in Resolven on RallyGB in 2003; and Dave Richards was there with an entourage, including Heikki Kovalainen(DR was at Benetton-Renault at the time as well); someone in the crowd asked about Colin in the Subaru, his reply "Well we're working on it".

[BertMk2]

The Proton WRC car that Prodrive built but it never competed:

https://topgear.com.my/features/this...ould-have-been

It would have been interesting to see how this would have compared with the other cars at the time.

[FIRE]

Originally Posted by BertMk2

The Proton WRC car that Prodrive built but it never competed:

https://topgear.com.my/features/this...ould-have-been

It would have been interesting to see how this would have compared with the other cars at the time.

When Mitsubishi Lancer and Subaru Impreza get married.

[saxoflute03]

Colin McRae was also looking at a possible attempt at the 2008 Dakar Rally with BMW.

Even if he hadn't perished in that helicopter crash, it wouldn't have made any difference, the event was cancelled due to terrorism fears in Mauritania.

[saxoflute03]

All the cars intended for Group S before that ruleset was abandoned obviously.

[BertMk2]

Originally Posted by saxoflute03

All the cars intended for Group S before that ruleset was abandoned obviously.

That's a good shout, from what I can remember there were:

Audi (that has subsequently reappeared and done events like FOS)
Lancia (that was finished unofficially and then destroyed?)
Opel (became the John Welch rallycross Astra?)

Was the Toyota MR2 Group S or was that a very late Group B car? Any others that made it further than the drawing board? I think Ford were going to use an evolution of the RS200 but never built it?

[saxoflute03]

Originally Posted by BertMk2

That's a good shout, from what I can remember there were:

Audi (that has subsequently reappeared and done events like FOS)
Lancia (that was finished unofficially and then destroyed?)
Opel (became the John Welch rallycross Astra?)

Was the Toyota MR2 Group S or was that a very late Group B car? Any others that made it further than the drawing board? I think Ford were going to use an evolution of the RS200 but never built it?

Audi Sport Gruppe S (unofficial)
Ford RS200S (planned)
Lada Samara EVA S-Proto
Lancia ECV/SE042
Mazda RX7S
MG Metro 6R4
Mitsubishi Starion 4 Wheel Drive
Moskvitch-Aleko 2141-KR
Opel Kadett E 4S
Peugeot 205/405 T16 ("E3" Evolution)
SEAT Ibiza Bi-Motor
Skoda 130 LR Evolution
Toyota MR2 222D

[pimmy]

The Ford Escort RS1700T. Intended to be Ford's works machine in Group B but the project was abandoned. A shame, as it's a fantastic looking piece of kit.

[NaBUru38]

In 1996, Mitsubishi Ralliart promised the N4 champion to enter select races in 1997 with the the Group A factory team.


Gustavo Trelles defeated Uwe Nittel, however the Uruguayan was skipped as our new car market was minuscule.

[FIRE]

Originally Posted by saxoflute03

SEAT Ibiza Bi-Motor

It had really two engines.

[saxoflute03]

I know the Citroen C4 did compete eventually but it was originally intended to debut in 2005.

[BertMk2]

Originally Posted by pimmy

The Ford Escort RS1700T. Intended to be Ford's works machine in Group B but the project was abandoned. A shame, as it's a fantastic looking piece of kit.

Although the RS1700T didn't make it there were plenty of rwd mk3 Escorts built - the Gartrac G3 being the obvious example. We very nearly ended up with one of these instead of our current Mk2 but ultimately the availibity of panels for the Mk2 won the day. I'm not sure how close in design the RS1700T and G3 were? Obviously both rwd with longitudinal engines but how close did the G3 get to the group B car in overall design?

[saxoflute03]

The Dacia Logan Super 2000 in 2005.

[Tom908V12]

There was also an Opel Corsa R5/Rally2 in developpment(when the german brand still was part of GM)

[FIRE]

Originally Posted by Tom908V12

There was also an Opel Corsa R5/Rally2 in developpment(when the german brand still was part of GM)

https://evocorse.com/2017/05/23/new-...a-r5-unveiled/