On January 20, the 2022 WRC World Rally Championship was rekindled in Monte Carlo. In stage 16, the penultimate stage of this race, Sebastian Ogier, who has always been in an absolute advantage, was finally "suppressed" by sebastian Loeb, a veteran who is about to turn 48, due to a puncture in the penultimate stage, and once again stood on the top podium of Monte Carlo. In the opener, the two "temporary workers" who did not participate in all stations showed their unique strength and made a strong start to the new season of WRC. As the FIA's top event, cars participating in the WRC are limited to having to be production models with more than 2,500 units, so we can find the production versions of these cars. So which civilian cars are based on which cars are racing in the arena? This theme will be revealed for everyone.
New Season Profile & Toyota GR YARIS
At present, the WRC is divided into four groups: WRC, WRC2, WRC3 and JUNIOR WRC Youth, which have different requirements for vehicles. Among them, the WRC group, which is often mentioned in group 1, is the top group, and television broadcasting is basically based on this, so we will start with group 1 in this theme.
Summary: Changes in the global automotive market environment have also had to change rally events like the WRC, and the addition of the hybrid system is also of epoch-making significance for the event. For Toyota, which wins in an all-round way in 2021, how to do a good job of "electricity and oil" is also the most important part of the road to defending the title this year.
Hyundai i20 N & Ford PUMA ST
In addition to the defending champion Toyota, Hyundai and Ford M-Sport also use cars based on their own sports divisions, which also have very strong performance, and the prototypes of these cars are also very noteworthy.
Summary: For Hyundai and for the Ford M-SPORT team, the change of the new rules is both an opportunity and a challenge, and the ability to adapt to the new rules is also a major challenge for them.
Jingrui & C3 & Carnival
After talking about the top WRC group, the next thing to introduce is the lower class of racing. Unlike Group 1, WRC2 allows private teams to compete with OEMs, while WRC3 is limited to private teams and has stricter restrictions on car modifications and the age of drivers, requiring the use of more original parts. Automakers will also directly build cars that meet the entry criteria for sale, and eligible private teams and drivers can directly buy them to participate.
Editor's Summary: Due to the continuous changes in the rally stage in recent years, the requirements for the handling of the car are also getting higher and higher, so the cars used by each team are all more flexible A0 class or A class hatchbacks, and many classic sedan cars have long been extinct. And because of the limitation of the number of mass production cars, the majority of luxury brands have not been able to participate in today's WRC events. However, when the time comes to 2022, the global automotive market is still in the midst of a huge change, so the future direction of the WRC is also very uncertain, where will this prestigious event go? Perhaps only time will bring us answers.