No new WRC events for 2013 season


Plans to include new events into next year's World Rally Championship have apparently been scrapped following a meeting between FIA president Jean Todt and series officials last week.

Next year's World Rally Championship, which will be at the centre of Friday's World Motor Sport Council meeting, is expected to be a repeat of this year's calendar - save for the rotation of Rally Australia in place of Rally New Zealand.

Plans to introduce a WRC round in Brazil or South Africa have reportedly been shelved until 2014. Both countries are running candidate events in the second half of the season and questions had been raised over the sense in leaving a calendar slot open for one or the other rally so late in the year.

The meeting between Todt and WRC Commission president Jarmo Mahonen and WRC manager Michele Mouton delivered a calendar considerably more predictable than originally discussed.

The calendar is likely to be rubber-stamped by the WMSC, but the issue of the events not signing the FIA's 2013 contract remains. Ten of the 13 2013 rounds have resisted pressure from the governing body to sign the agreement.

Despite reports that none of the rallies signed before the June 8 deadline, it appears some events have made an agreement with the governing body.

Further contract discussions will take place between the FIA and the rallies later this month, in an attempt to defuse a row over the £80,000 requested by the FIA for the production and distribution of television and the safety tracking and timing.

Sources are also reporting a softening of Mahonen's stance on the geographical location of the rallies - which could mean a u-turn on rallies like Rally GB and Rally d'Italia, which could remain in their current home beyond this season.

The source said: "The FIA works with the ASN (the domestic governing body). I think this has been pointed out [within the FIA]. It's the job of the promoter to discuss the precise location of events, not the sport's regulator."

An announcement on the identity of the promoter is expected from Friday's WMSC meeting.

The list of 2013 rallies Autosport has been leaked includes: Monte Carlo, Sweden, Mexico, Portugal, Argentina, Greece, Australia, Finland, Germany, GB, France, Italy and Spain.

FIA WORLD RALLY CHAMPIONSHIP AND RALLYING

Following discussions with the FIA World Rally Championship stakeholders regarding the 2013 calendar, the WMSC adopted the calendar proposed by the WRC Commission. Events will be hosted in the following countries:

Argentina
Australia
Finland
France
Germany
Great Britain
Greece
Italy
Mexico
Monte Carlo
Portugal
Spain
Sweden

The dates will be submitted at a later time, taking logistics and the calendars of the other FIA Championships into account and to avoid, where possible, date clashes.

Candidate rallies will be considered for the 2014 calendar, to ensure their events meet the requirements of a WRC event. These rallies will be run and observed before the end of April 2013. Brazil and South Africa have already expressed their interest in participating.

Following the call for Expression of Interest launched earlier this year to promote the WRC, and the assessment of the numerous bids received, a shortlist of candidates has been established. Final discussions with those candidates are currently being conducted with a view to establishing the best possible platform for the promotion of the FIA World Rally Championship. A final recommendation will be presented to the World Motor Sport Council in September at the latest.

With immediate effect, Priority 1, 2 and 3 drivers are authorised to re-use tyres during an event run on asphalt. However, their re-use will only be permitted if the depth of the profile of the tread pattern is at least 1.6 mm.

In order to further assist in cost reduction, from January 2013 the number of new tyres priority drivers are permitted during a service is reduced to four.

The FIA will seek greater involvement in world and regional rallies and is going to work on establishing more flexibility in the technical regulations in order to be able to attract more entries.

The date of the Rally of Tanzania has been changed to 31 August-2 September, and the KCB Rwanda Mountain Gorilla Rally has moved to 21-23 September.

Για να δούμε

Marcus Grönholm hurt in practice



Rally driver Marcus Grönholm was injured in a crash during RallyCross practice on Saturday at the X Games in Los Angeles and was transported to a nearby hospital. Grönholm was breathing but unconscious after the accident, according to X Games medical staff. He is now awake and alert and undergoing further testing.
Grönholm cleared the jump and appeared to be setting up for the next turn but crashed into an exposed light post base, according to a witness on the scene. Practice resumed shortly thereafter.

The Finnish rider came into X Games 2012 as a favorite to win the RallyCross event on Sunday: Grönholm is the current leader on the 2012 Global RallyCross (GRC) tour after wins at the first two stops in Dallas and Charlotte, and won two medals, silver and bronze, at X Games in 2011. He's also a two-time World Rally Champion (2000, 2002) and has helped attract some of the top European drivers from the WRC to compete at X Games and on the GRC tour.

Saturday's accident marks the second serious crash in practice on the X Games RallyCross course this week; another Finnish driver, Toomas "Topi" Heikkinen, came up short on the jump in practice on Friday, smashing the front end of his car and fracturing his left ankle.

The RallyCross event airs on ESPN2 and ESPN3D on Sunday from 3 p.m. to 5 p.m.

YΓ: το βιντεο Greg πρεπει να ειναι λαθος. Στη φωτό φαίνεται να έχει πολύ ζημιά.