WRC 2014 Silly Season - Who? What? Why? When......?

The World Rally Championship has certainly gone through some very interesting times of late. The recent rounds in Finland and Germany of the 2013 season show that there is still plenty of potential for the series to return to greatness. At the time of writing, the French round has just finished. Ogier has dominated, Loeb has now retired and Thierry Neuville is the stand out talent of the year.

A critical time of year, when team managers and sponsors are looking towards contracts for 2014 and it's this game of musical chairs that holds a huge amount of interest. On the face of it, it seems relatively simple, but scratch a little deeper and there is a whole can of worms to work out. A headache for the people responsible for the decisions, a rare treat (in recent years) for the fans.

Lets get VW out of the way first. I think it is fairly safe to say that the same 3 drivers of 2013 champion to be Sebastian Ogier, Jarri-Mati Latvala and Andreas Mikklesen are locked in for 2014. The only interesting possibility is if VW decide to make the Polo R WRC available to customers, something that at present seems unlikely.

The Belgian Superstar

It's the young Belgian rising star Thierry Neuville, who holds the key to the drivers market. Backed currently by fellow driver Nasser Al-Atyliah (The Qatar logos you see on the M-Sport Fiesta's), their relationship has become extremely successful this season. With such success, however, Thierry's stock has risen and it appears that Citroen are in negotiations (Remember when Loeb wrote him/M-Sport off?). The rumours are, Neuville can choose to run with M-Sport in 2014 with Qatar backing, or choose to be paid by Citroen. In fact, not so much a rumour, thanks to Nasser being so open about the negotiations. That was, until Hyundai waved a 3 year contract under his nose..

Now, that deal seems to be signed which, interesting for us, raises more questions than answers. First, it means 2014 could be a year Thierry spends developing the new Hyundai WRC car instead of challenging for outright wins, before a full-on attack in 2015. Of course, the car could be quick out of the blocks, in which case, the fight is on.

When the Hyundai deal is confirmed, we are left with the question of who goes where in M-Sport, Citroen and the remaining Hyundai seat/s. This is tasty.

The Citroen Predicament

Citroen have a big problem. Current number 1 driver Mikko Hirvonen has rarely shown the speed of past results. It is fair to say that in only two or three rallies this year (so far) he has had enough pace to challenge for the top. Meanwhile, Citroen number 2, Dani Sordo, has also had mixed fortunes. He finally took his first victory of his career in Germany. But the season had been fairly lackluster when on gravel. It would be nice if Mikko did the gravel rallies and Sordo the tarmac events, but both would like full seasons.

Enter Kris Meeke who has shown greater potential for future development and possible championships. But, he crashed 3 times in the 2 rallies. Deep down there is such a loyal following for Meeke, even from Citroen boss Yves Matton himself, but he simply cannot be a lead driver in 2014. He needs time to learn and while has does have the motivation, passion, PR speak and ultimate pace, consistency has not proven a strong point.

The plot at Citroen thickens even further. Robert Kubica. He's been very successfully campaigning in WRC2 and ERC this year, run by Citroen Sport themselves. If he does well in the WRC DS3 on Wales Rally GB, he could be a shoe-in. But wait, what's this..? Yes, it's our favourite rally reporter, Colin Clark with a tweet that sent the WRC world into a little frenzy. The word is Kubica has a good offer from M-Sport next year and is close to signing. Well, well.

Lets imagine for a moment that Neuville is at Hyundai and Kubica is at M-Sport. Citroen would have failed to keep hold of arguably the two hottest properties right now. Having ran Kubica this year and Neuville in 2012, neither could be with the team in 2014. That leaves them with Sordo and Hirvonen again, does it not? I hope there is space for Meeke in there somewhere. Mads Ostberg was in negotiations with the team at the end of 2012, perhaps that is relevant now?

Oh, also, do not discount young Sebastian Chardonnet. Daniel Elena's protege from France who wrapped up the WRC3 crown this year. A PH Sport run half campaign must be on the cards..? Maybe..? Realistically more likely to be in WRC2.

Hyundai's Test Fleet

But what of the number 2 seat at Hyundai? Currently, they have Juho Hanninen, Bryan Bouffier and Chris Atkinson as test drivers. I'd say all 3 are perfect for development and have previous experience doing just that. But to win titles? Possibly not. All 3 will no doubt be doing their best to try and get a drive with Hyundai for next year, but will they succeed? It's a maybe.

M-Sport

This is also a bit of a pickle at the moment. It would be really cool to see Kubica in a seat for the full year. But if that is the case, where does that leave Ostberg? Or Novikov? Or rising talent Elfyn Evans? Or, perhaps, more importantly, the Qatar backing if Neuville leaves to Hyundai?

It's widely assumed that Novikov pays for his seat, so that should hopefully continue in 2014. Has Ostberg shown enough speed to be a number one driver? I'm not sure, at times he has, but not throughout the season and could defect to Citroen. Does Kubica then have the ability to win rallies? A relative unknown. I think everyone is still pessimistic if Kimi Raikkonen is to go by. But they are poles apart (excuse the pun) so it should work out.

One thing is for certain, Malcolm Wilson has never been afraid of a punt. Expect the unexpected.

On The Edge

This is discounting drivers on the fringe too. PG Andersson is Hankook's test driver and they will be running in the top flight in some form or another next year (possibly WRC2 with a Fiesta R5?). Jari Keetoma has been up and then down, but the DMACK tyres seemed to work well in Finland and they too could possibly back a WRC car in 2014.  Hayden Padden is quick, but has little funding and a now old S2000 car. However a one-off WRC drive in the upcoming Spain WRC round could make or break his career. Pontus Tidemand is favourite to win the JWRC in 2013 and has great PR skills, but it's believed he will be running in WRC2 next season.

So, it's up in the air then?

Yup, it certainly seems that way! Pretty much everything mentioned in this blog is rumours with a bit of calculated guessing. Please bear that in mind.Either way, it's an exciting time for fans and a very nervous time for drivers! Brilliant!

Heroes & Villains - WTCC Marrakech

A new blog post we will try to do after each FIA WTCC round, that highlights our winners and losers from each race meeting. Be that drivers, teams, tracks or officials, there's nowhere to hide from The Wastegate's WTCC Heroes & Villains. We start with the 2013 Morocco round of the World Touring Car Championship in Marrakech.

Heroes

Pepe Oriola

His first race victory in the WTCC. Not only that, but he defended like a demon, showing 100% commitment to keep the two RML Chevrolet's of Muller and Chilton at bay. Well done Pepe.

Michel Nykjaer

Another first time WTCC winner. It takes real guts to overtake a determined Gabrielle Tarquini. A long time coming for Michel, however. Quick in the Seat in the years gone by, but never lucky. Now he has the car of choice and an ex-Chevy Sweden works team behind him. Maybe now people will take notice of the quiet Dane.

Villains

The F.I.A

We all know that the Marrakech track is a but rubbish. This year it actually gave some very exciting races, but safety, high curbs and concrete walls were all major concerns. It seems the WTCC goes there because there is money, which is fine, to a degree. This year matters seem to have come to a head. We'll see if the WTCC returns in 2014.

The Blue Flag Company

For seemingly forgetting to produce any blue flags. Home driver or not, how Mehdi Bennani was able to drive around at the front of the pack despite being a lap down, was a joke.

Tom Chilton

Driving into the back of team mate Muller in Race 1 and having to retire. Trying to overtake Muller in Race 2 at an impossible part of the track. Getting past Nash in Race 2 using a braille technique. Tom can keep up with Yvan this year and is in the best possible position to do so with a top car and a great team, but a shabby showing in Morocco.

The Curious Case of Hyundai in the WRC

I would like you to cast your mind back to 2003. After 3 seasons of promise and much potential, the Hyundai works WRC team (run by British team, MSD) looked finally poised to deliver what they had always threatened. Results.

Yet, it was common knowledge that the team had an extremely basic budget that season and this really stifled their efforts. Instead of moving forwards, they fell further behind. The only promising event that season was New Zealand, with Freddy Loix set for a great result until...he crashed. As per usual for the likeable Belgian.

It was with a whimper then, that Hyundai withdrew at the end of the 2003 season, although really it felt like they did that in 2002. It was often joked that the Hyundai CEO never even knew what the WRC was. It wouldn’t have been so surprising if that were to be true.

Pretty much ever since, whenever someone mutes a manufacturer returning to the sport, Hyundai was near the top of that list. To me this always seem strange. Firstly because they only ever seemed to care for 2 out of their 3 years previous and also due to the Kia brand being the one that is meant to have “sporty pretensions”.

Yet, fast forward 9 years to the Geneva Motor Show in 2012 and Hyundai are at it again. The i20 will be the weapon of choice and this time they are serious. So we were told.

There is no doubt that the i20 WRC looks the part. Those spoilers, skirts and air intakes transform a humdrum Koren hatchback into something of real aggression. They are to be a real works outfit too (a scarce thing in this day and age) with initial design and development in Korea, followed by the operation being run from a base in Germany.

Hooray. A nice car, a works team and no doubt the budget to compete on a competitive level. Lets all forget their previous efforts and eagerly await the 2014 stage debut.

Only, pardon me for being a little pessimistic, but something seems a little amiss.

Firstly, apart from the initial launch, it has been eerily quiet. No one has seen the team testing. No one has heard from the people involved. In fact, nobody seems know who the team is! Many have linked Petter Solberg with the Hyundai team to test the car this year and compete next. But this is nothing more than a pipe dream at present. The great man himself was quoted directly only this last week when speaking to the self-proclaimed Voice of Rally, Colin Clark. See the Tweet below:

"Petter [Solberg] told me yesterday he has had absolutely no communications with Hyundai. Can't find anyone who's working the project!"

Oh dear. But this is early days, right? It is far too early to judge. But lets look at the car in question, the i20. It was originally launched at the tail end of 2008, which means by the time 2014 starts, it would be knocking on 6 years old and in Hyundai maths, that means it will be replaced right around the time Monte Carlo kicks off. So why choose now as the time to launch a programme? Or why not use the newer Kia Rio which will have a longer shelf life, is part of the younger Kia brand and a model that could do with a kick up the backside.

Then, 2 days ago, this video appeared on the internet:

Seems quite normal at first glance. A gaggle of Hyundai engineers shaking down their new i20 WRC car. Or are they? Yes, they are. Or maybe not? Certainly, whether it was meant to be the case or not, the video has certainly caused plenty of discussion on the internet and has stolen some of the VW launch party limelight.

Lets first of all look at the source. It is not Hyundai themselves that have released the footage. It has been uploaded to the YouTube channel by the name of Vadim Ovsiankin. Google that name, and you find very little, but a Twitter account by the same name (37 followers, mainly Russian in language) states that the man in question is a motoring journalist. The same goes for the YouTube channel description. So far, there are many car related videos all of a fairly questionable quality.

However, this seems to fit in well with the lack of finesse to the WRC video in question. There is also a video of a ride in the brand new, yet to be revealed, Kia C’eed GT on the same channel. So, clearly there are contacts within the Hyundai/Kia organisation. This adds credence to the WRC footage. The reason for the scrutiny is twofold.

Firstly, no one from Hyundai themselves has spoken very much, if at all, about the project. Thus, why would they let a little-known YouTuber ride shotgun in their top secret project. Secondly, the audio on the video sounds very odd. It’s as if the gear ratios of the car are incredibly short or the sound is dubbed over the top (although the sound does match the revs indicated). There are exterior images, but not moving film of the car in action, mixed together with the onboard video, which again seems a little suspect.

Not only that, but the video description makes extremely bold claims about their budget for their rally project to be in the region of 60-70 million euros. Many respected rally people on Twitter have debunked the video as a fake, including Colin Clark, Andrew Coley and others.

@ryan_champion I dismissed it as a fake Ryan! You think it looks right from the inside? Just wonder why they put such low quality vid out?
— Colin Clark (@voiceofrally) December 10, 2012

One primary reason is that the car on display at recent motor shows has blacked-out windows and didn’t appear to be anything more than a road car with a WRC frock on. However, in Hyundai’s previous official teaser trailer, it is clear the car runs and is 4 wheel drive (40seconds in). Another area of investigation appears to be the interior of the car, but all you need to do is see the interior of a road going i20 on the Hyundai website and compare to see that the dashboard shown on the video is that of a race prepped (or at-least stripped) i20.

The sound however, remains a bit of a mystery. As does the origin of the clip, plus the silence of the company. The man driving it certainly seems happy that he is being filmed, which doesn’t seem to fit with the secrecy involved. One point that seems to be glossed over is that the uploader mentions in the video description that many other journalists were there too. This could be the key. What if it was a real event, but the overly-keen budding journo broke a NDA by jumping the gun and getting an exclusive scoop? In a month or two time, will magazines and websites write about passenger rides in Hyundai’s new WRC challenger?

Either way, it highlights the strange approach Hyundai are taking to their re-entry into the World Rally Championship. The real question here is not the reliability of the video, but are Hyundai finally willing to support a concerted effort to win the title and do they have a firm understanding of what it takes to do so? At this moment in time, I remain to be convinced.

Update 1: Uh-oh...

Something going on at Hyundai, but unclear what! Hearing a component supplier was due to deliver WRC spec parts but order changed to R5 spec
— Colin Clark (@voiceofrally) December 10, 2012

Update 2: Intriguing...
If you do a bit of digging around on the Hyundai website, you will come across this job listing: It is for a "General Affairs Manager" to, and I quote, "In order to further extend our World Rally Championship activities in Alzenau (near Hanau)." [Germany, near-ish Frankfurt. It is also one of the few places where you cannot use Google Street View. Spooky.] Posted on the official Hyundai Global website on 12/11/2012. With this in mind, could it be that we simply haven't heard anything because they simply haven't recruited anybody into their EU WRC programme. This would seem to suggest so. It would certainly be difficult without someone to "Manage the overall administration of the company" and "Advise the Management to support meeting business goals and objectives".

Update 3: Take this with a pinch of salt...
Swedish rally news website Ericsson Motorsport are claiming Kris Nissen will be the man to lead the campaign. Well, he's certainly Scandinavian (Danish) and free, after leaving VW Motorsport earlier this year (No Kris, Sainz will not return to rallying and no, Vettel will not drive the Polo either..). The article also goes on to say that Jari Ketomaa could be the test driver. Take this as you will. This is a rumour at best. Sounds like an educated guess to me however.

PR or not to PR

In a world where less manufacturers enter motorsport to try and cut costs, Motorsport relies on sponsorship and big money deals to keep the drivers driving. So, it is only natural then that teams that do manage to get sponsorship deals or works drives, try to get value for their backers. A current tend at the moment is to blame parts of the car failing that the team hasn't made.

Picture the scene. You have millions of pounds of sponsors behind the racing team. Maybe you have a few company chiefs visiting the circuit and eating pasta in your hospitality tent. Then the car breaks down. Disappointingly so. The inevitable TV, trackside and website interviews happen, so what do you say? Clearly, your investors are number one priority.

See that wing flapping? Alan Gow's personal fault that is..

So, what has been said in the BTCC of late goes something along the lines of this. "Well, we showed strong pace in practice with the Morrison's Bargain Bananas Mazda so I was really looking forward to the race, I think we had a good shot at a podium. What a shame that one of the TOCA supplied common components, that the Morrison's Bargain Bananas team have nothing to do with at all, failed. It's something that we have no control over and something that we are forced to use, forced to use I say, so a real shame that our hands were tied" etc etc...

You see. Crisis avoided. Wasn't the teams fault, blame it on the regs. Sponsors happy. Or are they...? Here's the rub. Things break. Fairly often. Especially in racing. It is part of the game. I don't think anyone would really begrudge a team and their backers if once in a while the car broke down as fans expect it to happen a few times in a season. So firstly, to blame specific parts failures on the governing body so quickly puts everyone's back against the wall. You certainly wouldn't here something like "well, the Brembo brakes broke and we didn't make them so it's not our fault. Honest". There are thousands of components in a racing car, a lot of them made by outside companies. Do drivers signal out Xtrac by name every time there is a drivetrain problem? No, of course not.

But more prominent is that all this finger pointing is negative for the series and the set of NGTC regulations as a whole. These are newish rules. Most teams are new to the rules. Lets go to MG as a case study. At Croft, they had an electrical problem that appeared at the end of qualifying and for the first race of the day on one car. A certain driver was then understandably upset. In an interview it is fair to say that the TOCA supplied electrical components we heavily critised.Thus shifting blame from the team and hopefully pleasing the representatives of MG, who were visiting the race meeting from China. But, if you point the fingers at the TOCA parts, this is ultimately undermining the regulations and you could see the case of Tesco & MG thinking their money could be taken to another series. Mention TOCA parts and problems too many times and it damages the reputation of the series, potentially making it harder for sponsorship deals. Not just for your team, but others in the championship too.

Will impresses his sponsors

It is, of course, a hard line to balance. I'm not suggesting for a moment never to pass the buck, but there is a point where things could quite easily actually be a negative thing. On at least 3 occasions his year, the MG drivers have "passed the buck". A similar thing has happened (and arguably still happening) in IndyCar of late. It is clear to see that there are underlying problems with the cars, engines, regulations and governing body. But a public spat never, ever, helped anyone. Not the drivers, not the teams and not the championship. We all enjoy racing and a healthy debate is always interesting, but sometimes I wish the taste wasn't so bitter.

Why The WRC Has So Much To Offer

I have a confession. I love the WRC. I think the driving style required to be quick simply spectacular as the cars crackle, pop and spew gravel everywhere. Then, if there is a crash, it is always mind blowing. But here's the thing. The sport is in it's darkest hours right now.

Kind Of Symbolic Really

After the loss of a promoter at the start of the year (thanks to a Russian "billionaire" who actually lacked the billions needed to be a billionaire and was done for fraud) the WRC had no real TV coverage, no one running the website and no one to find sponsorship for the series. The coverage has continued, but more of a goodwill gesture as the TV reports are cobbled together at the last minute on a shoe string budget and WRC.com is being run by loyal rallying journalists. Then just two weeks ago, Nokia announced they will be taking their title sponsorship ("WRC - Powered by Nokia") elsewhere.

It gets worse. With no promoter, the FIA is in charge of organising the events, coverage and the future event calendar. North One Sport used to give rally organisers money for each round. Theory being, the organisers go through a lot of effort and money to set up the event, but then NOS contributed to get the TV rights. Now, the FIA want organisers to set up the events and then pay them for the right to be on TV. Consequently, not one event has signed the agreement for 2013. Technically as it stand right now, there isn't a WRC next year. (The official wrc.com website currently lists a calendar as a nice PR push, but they don't tell that no one has signed up to run the events!)

Not only that, but some guy called Sebastian Loeb has managed to make this incredible sport boring and predictable. Well, that statement is perhaps a bit harsh. You can't knock the man for being a literal driving god. But ever since his spectacular WRC début in 2001, the sport has been turned upside down. In his very first full season, 2003, he finished a close runner up to the champion Petter Solberg. Since then he has won every single title. Yup, that's 2004, 2005, 2006 (despite being in a semi-works car), 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010 and 2011. There isn't a record left standing that doesn't now have his name attached to it. Just when you think someone in a Ford (be that Solberg, Latvala, Gronholm or Hirvonen) gets close to either winning a rally or a championship, the magical Loeb manages to pull it out of the bag with a simple Gallic shrug.

A national sporting hero in France (not only a French champion, but in a French car) and no doubt at all, the best driver the series has ever seen, if he were to retire at the end of 2012 then the end of the WRC may not be so close. Just imagine what it would be like without him. Looking at this years rallies and those from previous seasons, there have been titanic scraps for the other podium positions. Now imagine those battles being for 1st. We would have had more winners and different champions. There would be a better chance to win (more like the early 00's where any of 6/8 drivers could win each rally) and then surely more incentive for manufactures to enter. Loeb recently expressed a nonplussed attitude to longer rally distances recently introduced, set up his own endurance LeMans team and last month convincingly won a Porsche Carrera Cup race around Pau. So perhaps leaving the World Rally Championship at the end of this season is a real possibility.

Come On, This Needs To Happen

Maybe, just maybe if a promoter is found for next year and if Loeb retires, BMW will do the right thing and continue their Mini programme. It probably won't happen, but it would be nice. Also, this season hasn't been helped by Ford's continued bad luck and the only man who could seriously not just challenge, but beat hands down, Loeb, is not competing. Sebastian Ogier taking a year out to develop the new VW Polo WRC has been a great loss. Rumours cropped up recently when ex WRC champion Miki Biasion tweeted that Lancia could return in 2013. There is a very slim chance that a turbo engine could be stuck in the Proton S2000 car. But nother seem extremely slim.

You get the impression that thanks to French domination and lack of poor leadership, a series with such massive potential has been baulked. It may be on the brink, be the WRC is really worth saving.