The new 2017 WRC cars will be delicious
In all honesty, I have no idea what 2017 cars will look or feel like and whether the changes announced not long ago will live up to everyone’s expectations, but with recent videos, shot during Volkswagen Motorsport 2017 car test, we did get a first taste of new machinery. And that first taste, to me at least, is delicious. Even though it’s still early days when we talk about 2017, I really like what I see. Inevitably, car will probably change in some ways before its debut in ’17 Rally Monte Carlo, but the idea of wider and meaner appearance together with some tech changes could draw some extra attention to the World Rally Championship, you know, those odd types racing their cars in the middle of nowhere, even though there are perfectly nice racing tracks available everywhere. It’s also possible Volkswagen (and other teams) will test several different concepts for new aero setup before deciding on the most optimal one.
What we also don’t know is the price of this evolution in rules and car design; I don’t suppose this particular information will ever reach our mortal ears. For now, only Volkswagen came out with their future car, showing some of the design ideas they have for it. Citroën is still, as far as I know, trying to make up their mind about next year and beyond while Hyundai is still busy preparing their 2015 car for 2016 debut. Or something like that. That leaves us with M-Sport – hopefully they will be able to spare an engineer or two to start working on their 2017 car, while others are busy building those moneymaking R5s. After FIA announced new rules, team bosses had very little to say about costs and instead emphasized how much sport will benefit from new looks and technology, so let’s take their word for it – it’s not too expensive and it’ll be just fine.
In the end, I don’t know about you, but this test driver Volkswagen hired to drive the new Polo is a good one. Someone should really consider hiring him, looks like he knows what he’s doing. I think his name is Markus Grönholminen… or something.
