FIA WRX 2017

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Few pictures from Round 4 of the World Rallycross Championship at Lydden:







And a few of the Retros:





I shall be attempted to reenact the last picture when DiRT 4 drops through my letterbox! 

Few more pictures here:

https://www.flickr.com/photos/22961613@N06/albums/72157681696573764

If anyone is interested. Round 5 this weekend, will the Polos dominate again?

[breyzipp 0]

I have a picture request, to use as a wallpaper at work.  Does anyone have any cool high-res pictures from Bakkerud in his Ford Focus RS RX?  Can be 2016 or 2017 season livery, doesn't matter.  Thanks!

[DiRTKiNG808 15]

This is the only wallpaper you will ever need. :D Your welcome. These are also pretty cool. :)

[Ruben Correa Alves 28]

Spotted this during the Hell round on Solberg's car, no wonder it's so strong. :D

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The PSRXVW Polos are based on 2014 WRCars. A lot of the engineering staff are all from the WRC team as well, so a huge amount of parts and tech have transferred across. 

[F2CMaDMaXX 505]

Soooo, not the 2013 cars?                                        

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F2CMaDMaXX said:

Soooo, not the 2013 cars?                                        

Not from what I have read: they used the 2014 cars as that was the last year pre-paddleshift transmission. The engines are the same 2.0L engines used in the GRC Beetle, engine management is a Bosch system using the same ECU that was going into the 2017 Polo WRCar. If I recall correctly some of the aero and other design elements have also been copied across from the 2017 Polo WRCar. 

[F2CMaDMaXX 505]

So they went back and got the 2013 steering column? 

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F2CMaDMaXX said:

So they went back and got the 2013 steering column? 

Pass! Perhaps the 2013 column was used again in the 2014 car? Or they didn't have any 2014 columns laying around when they nailed the rallycross cars together? 

I am absolutely certain on the source of the information concerning the cars being based on the 2014 Polo WRCar though. 

[sqdstr 107]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H1Fhmt5XYZo
                                                                                         
Walter Röhrl driving Ekström's EKS Audi S1 WRX car     

[Oscar97 25]

Those European supercars driver are insane. 3 wrecks in the semis, one in the final.

[shadow118 18]

In case anyone couldn't find the FIA WRX Round 8 Livestream, for some reason it's on the Ford Perfomance youtube channel and only available to US (not even Canada, which is funny, because the race is held in Canada), you're gonna need a US VPN

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jEh9wdOEBZc

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Final is here for anyone who missed the coverage yesterday:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=APE9eSJrTWA&t=22s

Can anyone stop the Polos now? 

[KingOfCoins 286]

I have kinda dropped off watching WRX as of late, even though I love the series. I feel like it has become too predictable, with pretty much the same drivers appearing in the semis and finals. The unpredictability is why I started following the series in 2014. Though I find ERX still interesting even though it has the same problem. Just not as much as WRX

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KingOfCoins said:

I have kinda dropped off watching WRX as of late, even though I love the series. I feel like it has become too predictable, with pretty much the same drivers appearing in the semis and finals. The unpredictability is why I started following the series in 2014. Though I find ERX still interesting even though it has the same problem. Just not as much as WRX

Yeah, the European Championship has been far more varied this year. Like you say, a few teams seem noticeably quicker and one team now looks to dominate the rest of the season. 

[Janneman60 154]

There are enough examples of series were one manufacturer dominated. The others pulled out so the dominating team was left alone and also quit. Just hope this does not happen to wrx in a few years. ERX is nice but 5 races is no championship...

[Dytut 89]

Yeah the VW team dominates way too hard right now. Though I must say it's a testament to how good of a platform that WRC Polo is.

[Narzugon 0]

With the unexpected domination of VW this year, I see the other teams coming back stronger next year which will be good for us fans.

As for semi's and finals becoming too predictable; I don't see that as  big of a deal in this case. I mean there aren't enough drivers/teams equally skilled/equiped as the top 4 teams (Team Hansen, EKS, PSRX and Hoonigan) so yeah. There's a limited pool of talent that will compete each round.

Kristoffersson is on a roll and is a safe bet for 1rst each event. Block has worked his way up to a consistent Semi Final finish. That leaves 2nd and 3rd up for grabs and is usually where the action is. Solberg, Loeb, Hansen, Ekstrom or Bakkerud.

I've only been watching WRX for a few years. How much does it differ now from lets say 5 or 6 years ago?

[DiRTKiNG808 15]

The other teams could just take turns crashing into the VW's. Each round they switch rotation. :D :D :D

[Narzugon 0]

For what it's worth Codies, if you're considering new RX tracks for DLC's or even future games, Canada would be at the bottom of the list. Far more interesting tracks in the series.

[Janneman60 154]

Narzugon said:

I've only been watching WRX for a few years. How much does it differ now from lets say 5 or 6 years ago?

Always half through the season some guy seems to do the best job. Nowadays with the playstation generation because of the work of the team, in earlier days because that driver was also the best mechanic at that point of year.

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Narzugon said:

I've only been watching WRX for a few years. How much does it differ now from lets say 5 or 6 years ago?

The scale of it is very different. 6 years ago there wasn't a World Rallycross Championship, it was still the European Rallycross Championship. IMG took the reins in 2013, when the Championship went from the "European Rallycross Championship" to "RallycrossRX". That branding lasted for a year, as the Championship became a fully fledged World title in 2014. 

The two big differences that spring to mind between now and then are budgets and circuits. Back in 2011 all the circuits that comprised the European Rallycross Championship were established rallycross tracks, whereas the tracks in the World Championship now are a mix of classic and new. I must confess I was impartial on that matter until the Lydden Hill/Silverstone news this year: although I can understand why they have left Lydden Hill, the direction the event at Silverstone is seemingly taking doesn't seem like it is aimed at motorsport fans at all. I don't want to jump to conclusions, but I find that thought deeply concerning for the future of the sport. 

Budget has become most apparent in the last two years. In 2014/2015 there was a good balance between privateers and teams that had limited works backing (specifically thinking OMSE and Peugeot-Hansen), but matching the performance of those teams was not beyond the reach of the privateers. In fact the Champion in both 2014 and 2015 was, technically, a privateer, though with his budget and sponsors, that's perhaps a generous description for Solberg...

...last year and this year has seen the team budgets shoot up. In 2016 the big spenders were Hoonigan Racing and this year Volkswagen have raised the bar again. With the clear performance margin that VW seem to have, my fear is that the Championship will be dominated by them. And domination is likely to result in dwindling interest from other competitors. 

That said, this year has seen consistent entry numbers in the World Championship again and significant entries in the European Championship as well. A good entry in a European Championship round in 2011 would have been 25 - 30 Supercars: at a World/European round now you are looking at 50 Supercars in total. And, throughout the history of the sport, there has always been periods when a particular car/driver has been very tough to beat. It is perhaps too late to stop them this year, but I hope the competition will be able to get on par with the Polos for 2018.

Aside from everything mentioned the above, the general awareness of rallycross seems to be much better now. TV and social media coverage is light years ahead of where it was 5 years ago: though that does seem to have resulted in a drastic reduction in output from a few of my favourite rallycross websites (specifically ERC24.com and Rallycross World) which has been a real shame to see. 

[Narzugon 0]

Thanks for the brief history lesson. Sounds like WRX has a lot in common with American Motocross/Supercross which had it's humble beginnings and is now a huge industry.

You mentioned budgets and circuits. The true RX circuits had a lot to do with my attraction to the sport. I mean a purpose built track with dirt, asphalt elevation changes and jumps?! Count me in! Even with my short time spectating the sport I to hated to see Lydden go. I can't get into the GRC series here in the US because there are no purpose built RX tracks.

As for teams, EKS and Hansen's teams look to be pretty well funded. Pure speculation on my part,  but I could see them stepping up next season. And you're right. If those teams step up with more Factory funding that will certainly put a gap between the top teams and the privateers. No idea how much you know about Motocross/Supercross here in the US but there is a definitive gap between privateers and Factory or even Works teams. The privateers strive to be noticed and land a Factory ride.

I'm not writing this season off yet but here's to stronger competition next year.

Cheers!  

\m/

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Narzugon said:

Thanks for the brief history lesson. Sounds like WRX has a lot in common with American Motocross/Supercross which had it's humble beginnings and is now a huge industry.

Oh yeah, the World Rallycross Championship was preceeded by the European Rallycross Championship and that has a huge amount of history. For the most part I do think that IMG have done a lot of good with the growth of the sport, and they have been helped by a number of respected personalities within rallycross, however the loss/ignorance of the sports history is a growing fear.

Narzugon said:

You mentioned budgets and circuits. The true RX circuits had a lot to do with my attraction to the sport. I mean a purpose built track with dirt, asphalt elevation changes and jumps?! Count me in! Even with my short time spectating the sport I to hated to see Lydden go. I can't get into the GRC series here in the US because there are no purpose built RX tracks.

I can understand the situation with the GRC: I wouldn't have expected US circuits to commit thousands of dollars to building rallycross layouts when the series is still finding its feet. I was hoping that, a few years down the line (as we are now) the series might have more of a footing: the entry numbers seem to be decreasing rather than increasing though? 

With the World Rallycross Championship I can see that some traditional rallycross circuits just don't have the facilities to host a large event, especially with the growing size of the paddock (Lydden being the latest victim). Some of the "temporary" circuits over here haven't been bad and many of those that weren't great have been improved (Canada and Belgium both spring to mind, as they were car breakers the first years they ran).

Narzugon said:

As for teams, EKS and Hansen's teams look to be pretty well funded. Pure speculation on my part,  but I could see them stepping up next season. And you're right. If those teams step up with more Factory funding that will certainly put a gap between the top teams and the privateers. No idea how much you know about Motocross/Supercross here in the US but there is a definitive gap between privateers and Factory or even Works teams. The privateers strive to be noticed and land a Factory ride. 

I did read the sequence of "biggest sponsored" a while ago, but I can't remember it exactly now. PSRXVW obviously have the biggest backing, then I think it was Hoonigan Racing, Peugeot-Hansen and EKS. EKS now have the Audi Sport name officially attached to the team, but I'm not sure to what extent (financially or technically) they are actually assisting the team. 

I'll be honest, my knowledge on Motocross/Supercross in general is pretty poor! I love watching the British Motocross Championship live and the World events on TV, but I'm not that au fait with all the teams and riders. I can see the same principle applying though and I think it's good that the European Rallycross Championship is being organised with the privateers in mind (i.e. with a shorter calendar to minimize costs). The European Championship seems to have no shortage on entries this year, I think the big question is if the World Championship can continue to hold its appeal to new/existing teams if the budgets continue to skyrocket. 

[Janneman60 154]

Keep in mind that VW and Hoonigan/Msport have their roots in rally. When we talk about skyrocket budgets don't forget it is still marginal compared to rally