Autoblog

If your inner rally driver lusts for something different than the run of the mill Subaru or Mitsubishi, there's a tasty new Gallic morsel to spice things up. Citroen is taking their C2 to the FIA Junior World Rally Championship this year, and the C2-R2 Max Rally kit is their ticket to homologation. The kit keeps the price down, but doesn't skimp on serious pieces. The 1.6-liter engine belts out 190 horsepower, and there's larger brakes and a hydraulic steering rack to keep that power in check and make sure it's properly directed. There's also an adjustable rear suspension to help fend off competitors on the track. All of our puppy-dog enthusiasm is for naught; we can't get this un-subtle killer hatch in the United States. C'est la vie.

[Source: Inside Line]

click above for more high-res action shots

Rally-racing superstar Sebastien Loeb drove into the history books this past Sunday in Monaco when he and co-driver Daniel Elena (a native of Monaco) took the checkered flag at the Monte Carlo Rally for a record fifth time. The Monaco stages kicked off the 2008 World Rally Championship, and Loeb is hoping that the victory at the season opener will be the first of many as he and Elena campaign for their fifth consecutive WRC title.

Although Dani Sordo, Loeb's team-mate at Citroen, put up an early fight, Sordo retired from second place with engine problems, leaving Loeb with an eventual two-and-a-half second lead over Ford driver Mikko Hirvonen. Acknowledging Loeb's repeated domination in Monte Carlo, Hirvonen was satisfied with his second-place finish.

This was the last time the Monte Carlo Rally counts towards the World Rally Championship, as next year the event joins the 2009 Intercontinental Rally Challenge. The WRC picks up again in Sweden on February 8.

We've selected some of the finer action shots from the Monaco Rally and assembled them into a high-res gallery below.

[Source: Autosport]

Monte Carlo is to the World Rally Championship what the Monaco Grand Prix is to Formula One. Aside from being held in the same tiny European principality, it's probably the most iconic, most well-known rally stage in the world. They couldn't cancel it. They wouldn't. They have. Sort of.

Headlines around the motorsport world have been shouting that the Monte Carlo stage will be absent from the 2009 WRC calendar for only the third time since the series' inception. But that's only the tip of the proverbial iceberg. Starting in two years' time, every stage on the race calendar will alternate years, in a bid to include as many locations as possible in the series each year without overcrowding the calendar and putting additional stress on the teams. (And the motoring press, for that matter, thank you very much.) Whereas this year saw no less than 16 rally stages in the WRC, next year will be reduced to 15, and the 2009 and 2010 calendars will be burdened by only 12 rounds each. Yet over the course of the '09 and '10, 24 countries will have hosted WRC stages. So in point of fact, while the Monte Carlo stage is cancelled for the 2009 schedule, it returns in 2010 and will apparently alternate every year thereafter.

Follow the jump to view the full calendars for the 2009 and 2010 seasons of the FIA World Rally Championship.

[Source: Autosport]

A number of rumors began circulating the Web yesterday that contend Suzuki is in the process of building a homologation special out of its SX4 AWD hatch to take on the WRXs of the world. The idea was that Suzuki would enlist some of the technology derived from its WRC contender and it would form the basis of an "SX4 Sport," likely packing a 200+ HP turbocharged motor, along with upgraded brakes and a suspension tuned by rally savant Nobuhiro Tajima.

We took all this with a grain of salt when it originally swirled around the 'Net, and after some leg work by our friends over at Winding Road it turns out that the "Sport" is purely vaporware. According to a Suzuki spokesperson, the fact that the SX4 is already in production negates the need for a homologation version since the five-door hatch already satisfies the requirements for competition.

That all said, we'd still love to see Suzuki combine some of its rally-inspired tech with its motorcycle background, and with the new Subaru WRX and the rumored Ralliart version of the Mitsubishi Lancer coming to market, it would face some stiff competition for the hearts and minds of enthusiasts.

[Source: Winding Road]

Click the image above for over 30 LIVE images of the Subaru WRC Concept.

Okay. We're completely and utterly dumbfounded. We just got back from the Subie-booth and after rummaging through the press CD for ten-minutes, we found exactly ONE sentence about the Impreza WRC Concept. That sentence reads: "The Concept Car, based on the new Impreza, conjures up images of future styling trends for a world rally car."

That's it folks. No word on power output or new all-wheel-drive wizardry, but we think it's safe to assume a blown two-liter flat four sends power to all four wheels via some revised drivetrain software. In the meantime, enjoy the 36 images in our gallery below.

Click the image above for high-res shots of Suzuki's WRC contender.

Suzuki's newest entrant into the WRC may never grace the gravel if changes in car regulations take place earlier than anticipated. Originally, the new vehicle regulations changes were to take effect in 2012 under the World Rallies Commission's "Vision for 2012" plan. That's up in the air, however, as a competing plan targeted at 2009 would make WRC incorporate modified Super 2000 regs that retain turbocharging and 4WD, while still embracing simplified technology. (The standard S2K regs prohibit electronic driving aids in cars.) Using a revised flavor of Super 2000 might be very attractive to the WRC teams, as the simpler tech could potentially lower operating costs.

Nobuhiro "Monster" Tajima, head of Suzuki Sport, recently sat down with the automaker's senior execs to mull over the possibility of nixing the SX4's planned entry in October's Corsica rally. According to Autoweek, Tajima even questioned the development of a new car at all "when it will be quite useless in two years time."

[Source: Autoweek]

Click images to enlarge

Next month in Frankfurt, we'll all get our first looks at Subaru's new WRC car in the form of the Subaru WRC Concept. The automaker will have driver Petter Solberg on hand for the introduction of the racer, which for all intents and purposes shows us what the next-gen Impreza WRC car will look like. It should also offer a very strong hint at the styling of the forthcoming Impreza STI. The STI grille, big wing and bulging bodywork do the new Impreza some good, as this looks worlds better and far more aggressive than the soft-looking standard car. Subaru has released no details other than the two images you see here. Rest assured, our Frankfurt team will bring you the full scoop from the floor in Germany next month.

[Source: Subaru]

Click image for photo gallery

Last month, the Suzuki SX4 WRC underwent tarmac testing in Europe, and the consensus is that things are progressing well, but there's room for improvement,. And to be competitive, more improvement is needed. The car's current configuration is said to be very close to what the team will use in the WRC test entries it's scheduled for -- the Rallye de France in October and Rally GB in November.

Suzuki Sport's president, Nobuhiro "Monster" Tajima (yes, him), said that while the results the group has seen are encouraging, he knows that the European WRC teams are evolving and improving just as quickly, and he and the rest of the team at Suzuki Sport are working very hard to ensure that the SX4 WRC will be a competitive entry when takes part in this season's upcoming test rallies, and more importantly, next year's World Rally Championship season. We hope this WRC effort will ultimately spawn a snazzy, turbocharged SX4 street car to do battle with the WRX in the marketplace. Because, you know, we're selfish like that.

Press release after the jump.

[Source: Suzuki]

click above image for more high-res pics of the Ford Focus ST WRC Edition

Hot hatches and rally cars: two European trends that are only starting to catch on in America, Ford's home market. But that doesn't stop the blue oval from campaigning fiercely in both arenas. The latest point where the two intersect is here, with the Ford Focus ST WRC Edition.

Not to be confused with the 136-hp TDi-powered Focus WRC-S shown last month at the Barcelona show, the ST WRC Edition (as you might well have guessed) starts with the already red-hot European Focus ST and upgrades from there. It's motivated by a 2.5-liter turbocharged Duratec inline-5 mated to a six-speed and coupled with an Eibach suspension kit that drops the ride height by 15mm. The WRC Edition, available only in white and decked out in special stripes and decals, also gets a full body kit with a front splitter, side skirts and rear diffuser, plus chrome-tipped exhaust and monster 20" powder-white OZ racing rims.

The only change to the interior is an aluminum plaque on the center console bearing the signatures of Marcus Gronholm and his co-pilot Mikko Hirvonen, victors of the 2006 World Rally Championship, the two drivers who took the 2006 WRC constructors title for Ford, which this car is made to commemorate. Only 50 will be made, and even with the approximately $11,000 premium over the standard Focus ST, they should sell out pretty fast.

[Source: Ford]

For two decades, participants in the World Rally Championship haven't been bothered with flat tires due to the expanding foam that quickly inflates when air pressure is lost. Since the system was instituted, it wasn't uncommon for drivers to win races – sometimes setting record times – on foam-infused tires. However, new FIA regulations have mandated that the gooey compound are to be nixed for the 2008 season in an effort to keep costs in check.

As such, teams are looking to employ new tire-monitoring systems that can give drivers real-time data on inflation and temperature, to let them know when a tire should be changed. BERU F1 Systems is just such a supplier, having proven its wares in everything from LeMans to F1 racing.

It strikes us as odd that the FIA's decision to eliminate foam was hailed as a cost-saving measure, considering that this new tire-monitoring system will likely increase the cost of campaigning a WRC vehicle. We'll have to wait until next year to see how the new regs will be implemented and how it will affect the outcome of some of the more grueling races.

[Source: Gizmag]