In order to attract more manufacturer teams into the sport, the FIA has confirmed during today’s World Motor Sport Council meeting that the World Rally Championship season will be downsized beginning in 2009.
Today’s high-tech, prototype-like WRC cars will be phased out in 2012.
Photo: SWRT
The ’09 campaign will feature just 12 events, down from 16 this season. The excessive number of rallies has been given by some automakers, most notoriously Mitsubishi and Skoda, as the justification for the end of their factory-backed involvement in the sport.
Photo: SWRT
To further reduce costs, the FIA also announced that WRC cars will be focused on the current, production-based Group N and Super 2000 specs beginning in 2012. Today’s cars are entirely purpose-built, sharing no parts with their production counterparts.
