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Old 09-09-2003, 01:43 PM   #1
TT
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Default WRC - New rules for 2004 confirmed by FIA

Yeh, we already heard about the changes in the rules, but finally FIA has spoken and sure there will be some team not very happy with the final decisions...

(Here is a copy and past from wrc.com)

The World Rally Championship is set for radical changes next season after the FIA's World Motor Sport Council passed all the proposals put to the council last week.

The championship will increase from 14 to 16 rounds, with Mexico and Japan joining all the events in this year's calendar.

Factory teams will only be allowed to enter two cars into the championship, with both cars' results counting towards the manufacturers' championship.

The FIA says this will lower the barrier to new manufacturers, reduce the differential between the well and not so well financed teams and create a more level playing field.

And the 'Mille Piste' concept of recceing will be adopted. On the Wednesday before the event, crews would be allowed a single pass over all the stages.

On the Thursday, any remaining stages would be recced and scrutineering and shakedown would take place.

On the mornings of the event, crews would have a second pass over the day's stages, before tackling the stages at competitive speed. The recce would have to be completed in a standard road car or the actual rally car, and gravel crews would be banned.

Rally Monte Carlo and Rally Sweden will be exempted from the Mille Piste system in 2004 because their planning is already too far advanced.

Detailed proposals on testing, 'flexi-service' and telemetry will be put forward to the World Motor Sport Council next month


16 races instead of 16 is obviously nice, as long as Eurosport will keep doing some coverage and I'm curious about Japan and Mexico
The two cars rule is the most important one IMO, as some teams like especially Peugeot already based their future on the idea a third car would have been allowed.. so now the have booked Loix for nothing basically...
But sure, this will help levelling the field with minor teams like Hyundai and Skoda or potential new manufacturers.
The Mille Piste concept is good to improve security IMO.

The calendar will be:

Monte Carlo January 23-25
Sweden February 6-8
Mexico March 12-14
Argentina April 30, May 1 & 2
Cyprus May 14-16
Greece May 28-30
Turkey June 25-27
New Zealand July 16-18
Finland August 6-8
Germany August 20-22
Japan September 3-5
Great Britain September 17-19
Italy October 1-3
France October 15-17
Spain October 29-31
Australia November 12-14

I wonder what the teams will do between Mexico and Argentina.. will they stay in America?
And well.. so strange to see Great Britain moved ahead, and the season ending in Australia...

As for the third driver debate, here is a good link: http://www.wrc.com/en-GB/Features/Fe...irdDrivers.htm
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Old 09-09-2003, 02:46 PM   #2
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Hmmm. I think Freddy Loix' new contract with Peugeot might get cancelled now. :cry: They already feared that this would happen.

And Great Britain in september? That won't be the same anymore. This used to be the climax of the season.
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Old 09-09-2003, 10:37 PM   #3
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wonder if they will be racing thru mt akina
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Old 09-09-2003, 10:57 PM   #4
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i hope i'm not the only one who is utterly disgusted by the latest moves from the FIA world council. they're trying to cut cost and make too many decisions that will destroy the entire charm and characteristic of the world rally championship

first they make a third driver rule, then wait two months and totally abolish third drivers. it's fucking ridiculous. the STUPIDEST new rule is banning gravel crews. does the FIA know that gravel crews' duty is to make the stage runs safer? i think if they had any idea of such, they'd not ban gravel crews. the mille piste recce system is gay, third driver rule is gay, two driver rule is gay, the entire council is gone to shit


like corrado proverra said, the reason for the two rule driver is to make the WRC more like F1, but F1 has 11 teams, 22 drivers on each grid. the WRC will only have 7 teams (6 if hyundai bails), which will drop the total driver count from 18 to 14. who the fuck is gonna watch the WRC now?
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Old 09-10-2003, 12:34 AM   #5
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What only 14 drivers. That is practically no drivers!

Well damn, who would ever watch an sort of motorsport with only 14 drivers.

What is the world coming to.
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Old 09-10-2003, 04:57 AM   #6
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And the third driver was a good way to launch new faces for big teams! Just thing about Ford and Martin, or some time back, again Ford and Solberg...
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