New regulations aimed at improving show mean new cars for the 2011 WRC season.
Thanks to a new set of regulations, the 2011 WRC season will see the debut of three new models from Ford, Citroen and series newcomers, but certainly no strangers to rallying, Mini. All three cars were officially unveiled recently at the Paris Auto Show. There are a host of technical changes for the 2011 season, including standardized gearboxes and electronic components, but the most significant among these is the drop in engine displacement from 2000 cc to 1600 cc.
After several years of rumors, Mini will be returning to rallying for the first time since the 60s. When it was first announced that Mini would be using the larger Countryman as the basis for their WRC car, it seemed like a strange decision, but it looks absolutely ready for it in full rally trim. It's officially a concept at this point, but the vast rally experience of Prodrive means there's a pretty chance they'll hit the ground running. Mini also announced that IRC champion Kris Meeke would be one of their drivers.
The Fiesta replaces the Focus after several years as Ford's go-to rally car. It's based largely on the Fiesta S2000, but special attention has been paid to improving aerodynamics. Mikko Hirvonen and Jarmo Lehtinen and co-drivers Jari-Matti Latvala and Miikka Anttila have already completed extensive testing on the cars and are sure to be set on making up some ground on Citroen.
After four championship seasons at the hands of Sebastian Loeb, Citroen will replace the C4 with the more compact DS3. Like Ford, Citroen has completed several thousand miles of testing and are showing no signs of relinquishing domination of the series. Needless to say, the DS3 has some big shoes to fill, but they'll still probably be the team to beat in 2011.
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