FIA Confirms S2000 Spec-Based Future For WRC [Racing News]

Interested in maintaining teams and competition in a bad economy, the FIA will move the World Rally Championship to a Super 2000 Spec car with optional control turbochargers in 2010.

Although the exact details are still beyond murky, we've got word straight from The Man describing a bit of what's in store for the future of rallying on the international stage. The official statement:

As already announced, the 2010 World Rally Car will be S2000 based. However, the removable kit, already adopted by the WMSC, will be redefined with no electronic benefits, or similar upgrades, to ensure cost reductions. The new S2000-based World Rally Car will only be permitted for use on World Rally Championship events.

The FIA Production Car World Rally Championship will be retained for Group N cars, including the existing S2000 car.

Let's back up a bit. Super 2000 cars are currently sporting naturally-aspirated 2.0 Liter or smaller engines with no electronic driver aids. There are a few other rules, but what sets these rockets apart from the rest of the field is one chief difference: affordability. Rally is sometimes leagues above other comparable motorsports in terms of cost. It's in the FIA's interest to keep costs low as possible to attract more manufacturers in an effort at capturing a larger market of viewers.

The year 2010 marks the arrival of the World Rally Championship spec vehicle. The only information available at the moment is word this car will be Super 2000-based, but will feature a removable performance kit featuring a spec'd turbocharger, aero package and a few other small modifications looking to add somewhere around 50 horsepower. The kit is expected to cost somewhere south of 30,000 euro. It's likely the kit will be used to differentiate between green and experienced drivers — slower rally cars are safer and more easily controlled.

This news brings the promise of more rally cars in more races in more countries, providing a rare happy moment during the Carpocalypse. [WRC]

Hat tip to Scroggs!

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X-Rated Rally Games

The X Games Rally Super Special is history. Yeah, we know, this is not “real” rally racing or even a super special in its purest form. And its true that some of the “qualivited” action sports crossover competitors may not turn times as quick as many of the real pro ‘shoes, but it is X-citing and its good to see any kind of motorsport huck itself into the mainstream spotlight. Although this year’s super special was rather anti-climactic compared to the thrills and spills of the first four years that rally’s been at X. Make like Travis Pastrana here and hit the jump to see our StreetFire.net video coverage and more pictures and stories from X.

By now you should all know the results. In the finals, defending Rally X Gold Medalist Travis Pastrana went up against 1999 Indy 500 winner Kenny Brack. It was set to be a knock down, drag out brawl – America vs. Europe, Subaru vs. Ford, action sports vs. motorsports. During the final heat the cars were separated by only 300 hundreths of a second when Travis tagged the wall that has caught so many X Games rally racers before him wedging his STI Austin Powers style handing Kenny with the win.

This year the gap on the big jump looked mega but it was “only” a 40-foot gap instead of the usual 60-foot divide and the sweet spot for the landing was at 70-feet if the cars hit it at an optimal speed of around 55 mph. Shooting the gap here is Ken Block, the man who invented this jump. You may also know him as the guy who was in that Gymkhaha video.

Mr. Block made an uncharacteristic bobble in the Sunday morning practice where he clipped a curb and rolled his STI. While his Vermont Sportscar crew was able to Humpty Dumpty KB’s Subie the misaligned body may have caused his door to fly open on this run. I think this is the first time we can see Block’s pedal work without an in-car camera.

Check out Matt Johnson’s graphics. The privateer put the title sponsorship of his car on an eBay auction. It looks like Travis and Nitro Circus won the sponsorship for a whopping 25 Benji’s. The Subaru was desecrated with a nude Playgirl spread of Andy Bell with the number plate strategically covering his chicken and biscuits – personally I woulda rocked Streetbike Tommy. However ESPN banned the buff Bell graphic citing the family nature of the X Games broadcast. I wonder if they would have placed the same sanctions upon Johnson if Nitro Circus was on ESPN instead of MTV.

Kenny hasn’t raced in almost five years following his horrific and infamous ’03 crash where he sustained a 214g hit (?!) at Texas Motor Speedway. It was a poetic comeback for him to win X. And it seems like the only reason he came out of retirement was because of his relationship with the Olsbergs MSE team with which he partners on a driver development program in Sweden. The truth is, Kenny Brack may not be back at the Home Depot Center defending his crown next year. Bummer.

Tanner Foust was giving Kenny a run in their semi-final match up until he made a very rare error coming out of the fountain hairpin. While he earned the bronze it was a hollow award for the man who once won X gold.

It could be argued that had Travis not tagged the wall on the entry into the HDC he would have beaten Kenny or if he hadn’t attempted that toilet paper roll 360-ish 720 thingy on Friday’s Best Trick where he fell out of the sky onto his elbow. By Sunday morning Travis’ elbow looked mangled. And while that’s racing, as they say, it would have been a better show to see Kenny and Travis fighting all the way to the checker.

There’s no other way to describe this than the agony of defeat. Here Ken Block gets consoled by his team manager Derek Dauncey after a devastating defeat. Block always seems to take himself out of the running at the X Games. At last year’s X Games Rally KB was posting the fastest splits on the tarmac before he augured in on the jump he invented! And this year he was in the process of crushing Brian Deegan until he tagged a water barrier hard enough to damage the suspension and prevent him from getting up to enough speed to hit the jump. His DQ allowed Deegan to advance.

Rather than leave you with the agony I’ll let you soak up the thrill of victory.

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