Congratulations To The VW Rally Team

"Arch Duke Maxyenko, Shit Talk Extraordinaire" (arch-duke-maxyenko) 09/14/2014 at 22:10 • Filed to: shoop

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For securing the Manufacturer's Championship.

Dusty Ventures > Arch Duke Maxyenko, Shit Talk Extraordinaire 09/14/2014 at 22:18

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Even though I refuse to root for VW (or at least the Ogier half of VW), this is definitely a shoop worthy of The Rally Takeover.

Arch Duke Maxyenko, Shit Talk Extraordinaire > Dusty Ventures 09/14/2014 at 22:20

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I root for M-Sport, god bless them, but Ogier VW seems to be taking over where Loeb Citroen left off.

Dusty Ventures > Arch Duke Maxyenko, Shit Talk Extraordinaire 09/14/2014 at 22:29

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Even Loeb Citroen wasn't this dominant. VW took their Dakar budget (rumored to be $100 million per year) and used it to make the most dominant car the WRC has ever seen. Just look at Mikkelsen, he's a good driver, but I think most would agree he's not "third best in the WRC" good. And yet there his is in his sophomore season, with a 42 point cushion over fourth.

For Sweden > Arch Duke Maxyenko, Shit Talk Extraordinaire 09/14/2014 at 22:34

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Suck it Mercedes you haven't clinched anything.

Arch Duke Maxyenko, Shit Talk Extraordinaire > Dusty Ventures 09/14/2014 at 22:35

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It's what VAG does, if they want something, they throw money at it until it's theirs. Look at Le Mans over the past decade, the Group B rally days, the European Sales Blitz Krieg, and every brand that they own. I'm shocked that they haven't bought Ferrari or made a serious go at F1 yet.

Dusty Ventures > Arch Duke Maxyenko, Shit Talk Extraordinaire 09/14/2014 at 22:46

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Exactly right. VW's M.O. is "win at any (financial) cost. Makes it difficult/demoralizing for any competitors and, after enough years of it, a bit boring for the fans.

The worst part of it all is I like the way the VW rally team does a lot of stuff. Their "Rally The World" video series on YouTube is awesome, I like that there's no team orders ever, and they're always doing cool stuff in the service park like delivering big, fancy cakes to the other teams, hosting a soccer shootout between all the drivers in their service area, and coming over to Hyundai's service area to cheer on the mechanics when they fixed Neuville's car after the shakedown crash. If their car and budget wasn't so far ahead of what everyone else has they'd probably be my favorite team.

Arch Duke Maxyenko, Shit Talk Extraordinaire > Dusty Ventures 09/14/2014 at 22:56

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I know that it would probably kill the WRC, but, what if, all cars partaking in an event that are competing for WRC points had to actually be production cars?

Yes, you can strip out the interior and put in the safety equipment, replace the glass with Lexan, and give it a fuel cell, but nothing more. No suspension changes, no aero, no power increases, no AWD, nothing unless it is on the real car. It would bring costs way down and you would see a lot more varied cars, but speeds would be slower and sooner or later, 1 dominate car would emerge. Could this bring in more fans if the know that they can go out and buy that car ?

Dusty Ventures > Arch Duke Maxyenko, Shit Talk Extraordinaire 09/14/2014 at 23:13

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I would totally watch that, but sadly like you said it would kill the WRC, there needs to be some level of madness. And really, it wouldn't do much for leveling the field, one of those cars, when in stock form, will be inherently better at rally than the others. Case in point, the Rally America B-Spec class has taught us that the Fiesta is a god, the Honda Fit isn't too shabby, and the Yaris is ZZZZZZZZzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzZZZZzzzzzzzzZZZZZZZZZZZzzzzzz (thanks, fuel efficient gearbox). I think something like the R5 category may be the way to go. Price cap the cars, significantly increase the number of production parts that must be used, and insist that the manufacturer must put the car up for sale (no hoarding the design/tech).

Arch Duke Maxyenko, Shit Talk Extraordinaire > Dusty Ventures 09/14/2014 at 23:20

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But what if there was no limit on what car you choose to drive, it just has to be a full production car? No hand built specials, but actual production cars.

Dusty Ventures > Arch Duke Maxyenko, Shit Talk Extraordinaire 09/14/2014 at 23:28

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Ah, I see. This is just your roundabout way of getting a Dodge Viper rally car.

There would still be one car that's inherently better at rally than the others. Also from a marketing standpoint manufacturers would rather use thoroughly upgraded versions of "attainable" cars than stock versions of top-end halo cars. So the "no limits" thing still wouldn't get you your Viper ;)

Arch Duke Maxyenko, Shit Talk Extraordinaire > Dusty Ventures 09/15/2014 at 07:05

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Well everything is a means to get a rally viper.