It's a question I often ask myself; if I was bidding to break into the WRC would I be better off competing in the WRC2 category on WRC events or competing in the European Rally Championship?
Both series are for R5/S2000/RRC specification vehicles, the second highest rung of the rallying ladder if you like. They are both great championships to help promote promising drivers into the big time. If we look at the current WRC drivers, many of them have progressed from S2000 machinery into full spec WR cars. And there have been some differing career paths. Looking at M-Sport, two of their trio of drivers have driven in the second tier of rallying and been promoted into the big time. Elfyn Evans did so in the WRC2 category, as did ex-Formula 1 driver Robert Kubica last year. Kubica won the championship driving for Citroen and has since been snapped up by M-Sport. Evans was lucky in that he was backed by M-Sport last season, and did enough to show he had what it takes. World Champion Sebastien Ogier, his team mate Jari-Matti Latvala and Hyundai's Dani Sordo have all progressed through the WRC feeder series, as did the all conquering Sebastien Loeb. However, a lot of the young, fresh talents have made their way through the ERC or the iRC as it used to be known. Citroen's Kris Meeke, Hyundai's Juho Hanninen and Volkswagen's Andreas Mikkelsen are all former champions of the iRC and have since progressed to join the WRC. It took Kris and Juho a few years to get a seat, but the Norwegian jumped straight behind the wheel of the Polo R immediately after 2 championship wins in a Fabia S2000. WRC event winner Thierry Neuville also emerged through the iRC, having previously competing in the JWRC. The Belgian enjoyed good success driving a Peugeot in the Intercontinental Rally Challenge. The only driver who hasn't really profited as yet from the feeder series is Ireland's Craig Breen. Breen is a proven winner in the ERC, and won the SWRC title in 2012, but hasn't yet managed to break into the WRC although has had a couple of guest appearances. There are many career paths you can take to reach the WRC, and ultimately it really comes down to your talent rather than where you compete, but there are advantages to the 2 championships. Competing in WRC2 is likely to set you up well for your WRC future, since you compete on actual World Championship events. For this same reason it is easy to be noticed as all the WRC teams are in the same service park as you so they can easily see how well you are progressing. Alternatively, competing in the ERC allows you to get good experience competing with works teams such as Skoda and Peugeot. Also, as you are running as the top seeds you are in with a chance of becoming an international rally winner, which is a rather special feeling, particularly special on a famous event such as Corsica. If I was a privateer in a competitive R5 car, I'd perhaps do a season alternating between both championships if my budget allowed it. But if I had to choose, I think the lure of becoming an international rally winner and maybe champion would be too hard to resist.
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8/9/2022 11:33:41 am
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