03-26-2009, 10:53 PM
The heavily modified S2000 car that will form the base package for some of the cars in the 2010 World Rally Championship will be stripped of at least one major modification the following year. According to Autosport, the World Motorsports Council has agreed to a new regulation that turbochargers would not be allowed on the 2011 cars, leaving aero mods as the only alterations left to be made to the basic car.
In 2011 and 2012, when S2000 cars take over from the current WRC runners as the template, the cars will be naturally aspirated. Then, from 2013, in a decision proposed by the World Rallies Commission of the FIA and also ratified by the WSMC, the cars will run "cost-effective" 1.6-liter turbocharged engines.
While the regulations have driven industry stalwart Subaru out of the WRC, they could open the door to other manufacturers such as Peugeot, Skoda, Abarth, and Proton who already run S2000 cars in the WRC-rival Intercontinental Rally Challenge.