RE: Loeb wins ninth - and last - WRC title

[CO2000]

Twincam16 said:

KaraK said:

The lairy factor of the group B cars certainly gained the WRC a lot of spectator and manufacturer interest - it also arguably contributed to the deaths of 6 people and injured a couple of dozen more in the space of one season.

Thing is, the spectator numbers didn't significantly decline when Group A replaced Group B. The dropoff seemed to occur when 'WRC' rules came in and the cars became silhouette things with bugger-all in common with road cars you could buy. The ballsup over the TV coverage didn't help either.

+ Big names stitting on the sidelines (or selected drives only) because they didn't have the budget behind them at the time (McRae & I'm sure there was others)

[Twincam16]

CO2000 said:

Twincam16 said:

KaraK said:

The lairy factor of the group B cars certainly gained the WRC a lot of spectator and manufacturer interest - it also arguably contributed to the deaths of 6 people and injured a couple of dozen more in the space of one season.

Thing is, the spectator numbers didn't significantly decline when Group A replaced Group B. The dropoff seemed to occur when 'WRC' rules came in and the cars became silhouette things with bugger-all in common with road cars you could buy. The ballsup over the TV coverage didn't help either.

+ Big names stitting on the sidelines (or selected drives only) because they didn't have the budget behind them at the time (McRae & I'm sure there was others)

Another reason which suggests to me that the new homologation-based classes are a good idea. If you only need to modify a car you can buy in a showroom, rather than having to get a silhouette car made in the works rally department, then costs will be lower.