What are Citroen playing at?

We’re in the middle of a recession and motorsport has supposedly been hit hard.

Budgets have been capped and drivers, teams and events are struggling to find sponsorship, so why is Citroen continuing to develop the C4 WRC HYbrid4?

So Citroen want a Hybrid World Rally Car under their flashy gazebo do they? Very impressive but wake up guys, it's not going to happen.

The car, which had it’s first competitive test following Rally Portugal, is a partially-electric version of the WRC C4.

Apparently Citroen Racing had a desire to build a competitive yet innovative car and they’ve certainly done that.

The car has an Internal Combustion mode, behaving exactly like one of Citroen’s regular petrol C4 WRCs. An Electric Mode can also be used on road sections and in service parks to quieten the car down. Finally there is a Boost Mode which uses both the petrol engine and an electric motor to give an extra 300 Nm of torque.

Yeah, that’s all well and good, I’m very impressed with all your hard work Citroen, give yourselves a pat on the back.

It’s only a concept car at the moment but Citroen have said they are preparing for the likelihood of environmentally-friendly technologies being mandated in the World Rally Championship in the future.

Right, so if in the future the use of hybrid technology ever becomes legal Citroen will be able to react straight away.

That’s great guys, preparing for the future shows fantastic organisational skills but I just don’t understand where you’re coming from.

Last month rallying had bit of bad news…Max Mosley announced Super2000 cars would replace the World Rally Car format in the WRC from 2011.

Did Citroen not get that memo?

I love the idea of the electric mode – as well as being almost silent on non-competitive roads it’s environmently friendly so it will hush the critics.

Sure it has potential to be great but I just don’t see the point of developing a clever World Rally Car when there’s no chance of it ever seeing the light of day. Surely Citroen should be concentrating on building a brand-spanking new Super2000 car if they want to continue their dominance in rallying.

In my eyes it’s just showing off, plain and simple.

Wales Rally GB future, a clearer view on what’s going on

Wales Rally GB is in jeopardy and the official WRC website hasn’t even reported on it yet.

All the other stories out there are cram packed full of way too much information and I don’t know about you but I’m confused!

So here’s Remote:Service’s understanding on the matter.

As I’m sure it did for you it came as a bit of a shock for me when last week the Welsh Assembly Government announced it was to end it’s £2.2million a year sponsorship for Wales Rally GB…..but when I thought about it a bit more, although it is unfair, it does kind of make sense.

We all know that the FIA have implemented this daft rotational system – some rallies are in the calendar, some rallies are out and this means that WRGB doens’t have official WRC status in 2010.

In 2006 when the Welsh Assembly agreed to support WRGB until 2011 this rotational system wasn’t in place. Every WRGB until 2011 had WRC status but that is no longer the case so surely they have every right to pull the plug.

I’m no solicitor but surely this denotes a bit of a change in the original contract – an event minus WRC status isn’t the type of event the Welsh Assembly agreed to sponsor is it?

As I mentioned in last week’s Rally Round-up the chief excutive of the company which runs WRGB, International Motor Sports Ltd’s Andrew Coe is now planning to sue the Welsh Assembly Government for breach of contract when surely he should be taking the matter up with the FIA.

The funny thing is the 2010 calendar hasn’t even been finalised yet and won’t be until it’s approved by the World Motor Sports Council later this year – WRGB might still play a part in 2010!

As I said I’m far from being a solicitor and I don’t know the ins and outs of this contract so Remote:Service is not taking any sides….I just think it’s important that fans are kept in the loop about what’s going on with one of the most popular events in the series.

It will be interesting to see how it all works out.

One HANs device please, HOW MUCH????

Sebastien Loeb has this week given the HANs device a big thumbs up over on the offical WRC website.

Yes you're safe, but you're also bankrupt

Our world champ has rated the Head and Neck Support device as being the most significant safety feature introduced to the WRC since he began competing.

Seb told wrc.com that although he found the device uncomfortable when he first started wearing it he doesn’t even think about it now and feels strange and ‘too loose’ without it.

I recently went to a marshals training day where I tried one of these little gizmos on and couldn’t believe how light it was. Sure it’s tight round your neck and shoulders and does feels a bit claustrophobic at first but you definitely feel secure.

I’m neither a rally driver or codriver myself but thought I’d have a quick look at how expensive these things are out of interest.

Prices ranged from about £500 to £1500 but for a top-notch HANs device you’d have to fork out £5000!

I know, it’s extortionate!

If motorsport bodies are to introduce this safety feature to all levels of rallying I don’t know how the average rally driver competing for fun is going to be able to afford it especially when the sport is already so expensive to compete in.

Saying that though Jari-Matti’s accident has shown us how important these features are so maybe I shouldn’t be putting a price on safety.

£5000 though……

The end is near….

If rumours are to be belived Max ‘the useless one’ Mosley is to get his way when new turbo-free techicnal regs are expected to be approved on March 17.

Oh dear. I know a lot of people are all for these new rules, they’re cheaper and supposed to be safer. If he wants to make things cheaper why can’t the wonderful Max turn his attention away from Formula One and give WRC a look in for once?  How much time has he actually spent working on this proposal? If he’s not out there promoting his beloved F1 he’s off doing, well, you know what.

WRC cars are supposed to be WRC cars not Super 2000. I mean have you actually listened a Super 2000 car?? Has he ever listened to a Super 2000? Obviously not. I’m just be being picky but nothing compares to the sound of a Ford spluttering and popping on a start line, it’s what makes them stand out, now they’ll just sound like any other car out there.

It’s one bad thing after another these days.

Weekly round-up 23rd Feb – 1st March

Not much has really been going on this week so there’s little to report.

• Munchi’s have finally confirmed its entry in this year’s championship. They’ll take part in eight events and Federico Villagra and Jorge Perez Companc will be the registered crew but could be joined by other drivers on a round by round basis.
• The FIA is expected to announce new plans for turbo-free technical regulations for future versions of WRC cars. Oh yes the end is near. The FIA has the final say on the spec of the next generation of WRC cars and it’s believed the Max Mosley and co are likely to give the go-ahead for the Super 2000 based vehicle on 17 March.