Volkswagen agrees to freeze WRC car development
Posted 19th June, 2013 in Motorsport | Leave a comment
Volkswagen Motorsport has agreed to freeze WRC car development in order to keep Citroen and M-Sport in the championship next season.
With Volkswagen’s Polo R WRC, the Ford Fiesta RS WRC and Citroën’s DS3 WRC reaching the end of their homologation cycle this year, the cost of developing a new car – around £3 million – would probably see M-Sport disappear from the competition.
Even though the Polo R WRC has dominated the series, securing four wins from six events, the team is currently working on an evolution version. However, Volkswagen’s decision to lobby the FIA to maintain the car’s current specification means that the upgraded vehicle won’t appear until 1015.
“We talked about what is best for the future and what’s the best to keep the level of entries up in the championship, and we found that the best way is to stay with the cars we have for this year,” said Jost Capito, Volkswagen Motorsport team principal.
M-Sport boss Malcolm Wilson added: “We are very grateful for this. As you can imagine for the likes of myself and Yves (Matton, Citroen team principal), it’s a real positive move. We know we can still be competitive next year without having to spend millions on development”.
[Source: Autosport]
