Thursday, June 3, 2010

VW Coming to WRC in 2011...

OK...its not confirmed but this brief interview with the FIA President Jean Todt leads me to that conclusion...

Some facts we already know about VW:

1) They are currently in a super-aggressive phase of buildout, trying to become THE dominant auto manufacturer in the world with plans on massively increasing their sales volume in numerous key markets
2) They are not shy about coming into a motorsport arena and attempting to dominate it through shear monetary clout (see Dakar)
3) The WRC fits the bill of a motorsport series that focuses on small cars, which are VW's bread and butter and the backbone of VW's increasing volume

On top of that you have a number of VW connected individuals who are advising Todt on the direction to take the WRC including Carlos Sainz (current VW factory driver for the Dakar) and Michele Mouton (factory Audi WRC driver from the 80's). Todt also decries the fact that the WRC is dominated by only two manufacturers (Ford and Citroen).

There have been numerous rumors over the past few months that VW was looking into various motorsports be it F1 or otherwise for the 2011 season...If I had to bet on where VW will end up funnelling its money for a factory effort...I'd bet on the WRC...

No comments: