ARC - yawn

[gomick]

so possum bourne won the rally of tasmania (saxon) - gee, it must have been tough cause you have so many rivals to beat possum....

almost gaurenteed a 6th straight aust rally championship - why dont he race in the wrc (obviously money) - but he must be getting bored himself.....

[racer69]

Aparently Hyundai and Peugeot are looking at teams for next year, and i reckon Subaru should run the second car for Cody, and Ralliart should get a Lancer for Ed, seeing as they are now getting a WRCar, and Kennedy has bought an Peugeot 206 for next year.

[gomick]

it would definitely be more interesting if there were 6 or 7 wrc spec cars out there

[elephino]

Thing is, everyone has been saying that for a number of years now. I just hope it happens for 2002.

[AdrianG]

I heard a rumor that Neal Bates has a Ford Focus on the way.

[elephino]

Nice rumour. I'd like to know who will pay for it though.

[racer69]

Maybe Ford will, he has driven for them at Bathurst in 99 and 2000.

[elephino]

Possibly, they are trying to start up the motorsport bit now they have all that tennis money to spend. I hope they do bring the Focus out, as a road car as well.

[Buckshot]

Yeah something has to be done - isn't Possum running a 2000 spec WRC Impreza against Bate's old Carolla ?

Last rumour I heard were that Bates was looking at buying a Peugot.

Also, the ARC needs a Tarmac Rally.

[racer69]

Yeah, have a second round in Tasmania, maybe using the Targa Tasmania roads. Also, why not a rally in the snowy mountains in the middle of winter. This could be the Australian Monte Carlo, with tarmac, snow and ice, it would be awesome.

[elephino]

The reason there isn't a full tarmac rally in Australia is cost. As the teams would need more suspension bits and other things to set the car up for tarmac instead of gravel. As nice as it would be, the odd stage or two is enough.

[Alan Jones]

Nothin' against Possum, but it must take the sweet taste of victory out of your mouth when there's no real competition. Bates is good but he needs a better car as stated earlier in the thread.

[Brock]

In todays AutoAction there is a story that The Australian Rally Commission is trying to drop WRC by 2003 for a form of Modified PRC rally car. Personally I think maybe a move to Group N only would be a lot better for the sport and ad some stability

[elephino]

There are advantages and disadvantages to having grpN only. The biggest disadvantage is that there is less coverage internationally as Aus/NZ drivers cannot run up near the front (top 6) at the Australian and New Zealand rounds of the WRC. Group N is good and competitive but it doesn't always get you into WRC which is supposedly the aim of being at the front of the ARC.

[gomick]

i think i heard that all wrc spec cars are to be dropped and top class will be 4 wheel drive cars etc focus, whatever....

not sure if i heard right, i do hope there is an immediate change as bourne vs bates has run its day

[racer69]

If these new rules are adopted, how many manufacturers are going to bother to develop a PRC car just for Australian conditions, none most likely, meaning the only competitive cars will be the Subaru and Mitsubishi, as they are the only competitive Group N cars.

Possum Bourne has already said he would not compete, and Bates said on RPM he didn't think that a Group N series would be good.

And all this comes just when interest in WRC cars is on the rise. Hyundai and Peugeot are looking at factory teams for next year, and a guy named Kennedy has bought a Peugeot 206 through Peugeot Sport UK according to AA, and there is talk of making it an international championship, so this rule change doesn't make sense, unless manufacturers have requested this change.

The series may go back to the bad old Group G days of the early 80s, with no recognition overseas, and any manufacturer thinking of entering probably won't now, and the head of ARCom only a few weeks ago said he was confident of more WRCars, this story doesn't make sense.

[AdrianG]

I beleive that if the ARC runs to these proposed new rules that no one would be able to compete in rally Australia, as these cars would not be internationally homologated. It was the same situation with Citroen's Xsara T4 in Europe last year, it was only able to compete in France, as it was not homologated outside of France.

[elephino]

Well it still isn't definite which way the rules will go. It is, personally, in their best interests to get WRC rules with more cars than trying to go their own way or grpN only.

[racer69]

It seems the new rules have been given a cold reception overseas.