Two Guys Rally

Rally Ireland 2009
[ February 3rd, 2009 ] By: Charles Smith Posted in » Ramblings

The WRC’s Rally Ireland opener for the 2009 season took place this weekend. No surprise that the dominating force Citroen took 1st and 2nd place (Loeb and Sordo respectively). But that’s not the interesting part of Rally Ireland. What is more interesting is that there are only 2 manufacturers placing. While it is technically considered 4 manufacturers (for points) it is only Citroen and Ford.

What the hell? I know the global economy is in shambles but only two manufacturers in the premiere Rally racing league? It is good to see that Chris Atkinson tranistioned into a Citroen succesfully (and Solberg will be showing up in a Xsara in Norway), but it is sad to see such homogeneity in what used to be one of the most diverse racing leagues ever.

Maybe the P-WRC will be the league to watch for diversity’s sake. Subaru hinted that it might stick around for some P-WRC action. Redbull just confirmed a Skoda for their 2009 P-WRC team. I imagine you’ll see some Puegeot S2000s kicking around too. 

Or better yet, 2009 could be the year the US Rally viewership approaches that of Europe (we can hope).