The WRC should be ready to ride a new wave of prosperity. In Volkswagen the sport has a new and heavily backed manufacturer that has just made nine-time manufacturers champions Citroën look like rank amateurs.
Hyundai is committed for the long haul and eager to hand BMW a lesson on how they should have handled MINI’s failed foray into world rallying. You sense Ford would be willing to consider a return of full factory presence if it had greater confidence in the sport’s administration.
Sebastien Ogier is replacing the irreplaceable Sebastien Loeb with some ease. Thiery Neuville is a young driver laughing at the reputations of those with much greater experience, fast on his way to success. Mikko Hirvonen, Jari-Matti Latvala, Dani Sordo and possibly even former F1 ace Robert Kubica, won’t be happy sitting in the background watching the Sebastien and Thierry show. The WRC has some serious talent, if not an over abundance of depth.
And then there’s the might of the Red Bull marketing machine who is supposedly promoting the category.
So what’s the problem? What’s going wrong? Well, we can’t really tell you because meaningful discussion from the latest World Rally Championship Commission meeting to chart the future of the sport appears to have been silenced.
All we can tell you is Volkswagen walked out of the latest meeting in disgust and share a sweeping statement from an unnamed source that shows things aren’t as rosy as you might expect: “It’s fair to say this wasn’t the most productive Commission meeting.
“There’s a real feeling that there simply isn’t enough communication on matters which are key to the future of our sport.
“We still don’t have answers on key questions about the future.”
The WRC is such a spectacular category. It deserves much better, especially when manufacturers are slowly showing renewed interest.
[Source: Autosport]