As the Australian Rally Championship progresses towards a new set of rules for the 2016 season and beyond, the regulations for the new generation 4WD ‘AP4’ rally cars were released. The category is shared with New Zealand and will give drivers and spectators access to a similar type of modern rally car now commonplace in Europe.
At the announcement during the National Capital Rally, ARCom Chairman Colin Trinder and ARC Sporting Director Peter Macneall presented the final regulations for AP4 and described the concept for another production-based 4WD category to be known as ‘G4’.
The two sets of regs describe the types of new cars appearing for the first time at the National Capital Rally Mark Pedder’s ‘Maxi’ car and Justin Dowel’s Hyundai i20 prototype.
The AP4 regulations, adopted jointly by CAMS and NZ Motorsport, covers the introduction of the ‘Maxi’-type cars. These cars, originally developed by Baratec in Argentina, consist of a modified bodyshell with controlled dimensions for parity and a standard ‘kit’ of parts specifically designed to reduce build and ongoing running costs for competitors. Mark Pedder’s Peugeot 208 ‘Maxi’ car is an example of the type of car permitted under the AP4 regulations.
The G4 regulations differ from AP4 in that they have been designed to allow teams to develop 4WD cars equivalent to an existing PRC 4WD rally car using a current production 2WD car and production parts from a donor car. G4 requires significantly less bodyshell re-engineering and is similar in concept to the existing Group N (P) category which allowed Toyota to build cars to match the Group N Subaraus & Mitsubishis of that time. Justin Dowel’s Hyundai i20 prototype is an example of the type of car contemplated under the G4 category.
“We have designed theAP4 regulations to reflect the concept of FIA R5/S2000 category vehicles but at significantly lower cost,” explained Colin Trinder.
“The current generation of PRC/FIA Group N spec cars have served our sport incredibly well for almost twenty years, but since 2013 the FIA has moved away from these categories, adopting more ‘race-car’ like R formula cars. We’ve looked closely at the R category vehicles and concluded that at the top end it just too costly for rallying in Australia and New Zealand.” “However, we believe that in both the AP4 and G4 regulations we will have the ability to incorporate a lot of the elements of the FIA cars at a much lower cost point for competitors.”
“Australia and New Zealand agreed that it would be silly for each country to develop its own interpretation of the FIA’s R category when we all face the same problems – an aging fleet of existing cars and potentially unmanageable costs to develop new generation FIA-compliant cars. We hope that our combined efforts with these regulations will foster development of this category and cooperation across the Tasman for the good of both our Championships.”
Trinder and Macneall both explained that cost was at forefront of the conceptual development, while still delivering a new generation of vehicles that are fast and spectacular to drive and watch. The ability for each country to recognise these vehicles for international competition in the region was also an important factor.
“We looked very closely at the ‘Maxi’ regs before setting out the AP4 rules. The attractiveness of the ‘Maxi’ car is that it contains a lot of elements that are designed to be cost effective with a many common and interchangeable parts.”
“While these are custom built race cars they retain a lot of production based elements like their engine, gearbox and differentials.”
Trinder admitted though that in the process of developing the AP4 regulations some options for providing additional freedoms compared to the Argentinian model were included. “We looked at options to free up some of the provisions, for example to allow for an east-west engine orientation. Also, with cost in mind, we have provided for teams to present for consideration and approval cost-effective options, such as around the choice of transmission systems.”
This may include local firms developing common parts from the existing ‘Maxi’ regulations, which covers areas such as wheel hubs and sub-frames.
“The idea isn’t necessarily to let anyone race out and start building all their own parts, we want to try to keep everything as aligned and common as possible. However if someone believes they can build a better part, and make it available to all AP4 competitors, then that’s something we’d be happy to consider.”
One concern about moving away from an internationally recognised FIA category is the difficulty of then contesting the local Rounds of international series such as the Asia-Pacific Rally Championship and the World Rally Championship. Trinder said that the FIA is now prepared to allow ASN’s like CAMS and MSNZ to nominate cars they recognise for inclusion in the international field at these regional events. Vehicles still need to comply with FIA safety requirements and these have been preserved in the AP4 regulations.
The intention is for AP4 cars to be as competitive as possible with current generation FIA R5 cars, including the Ford Fiesta R5 Scott Pedder will campaign for the first time at Rally de Portugal this weekend.
“At the recent WRC in Argentina there were a host of ‘Maxi’ cars competing, their benchmark was the R5 cars, and based on the results they were not quite as quick but very close,” said Trinder.
The projected build cost of an AP4 ‘Maxi’ car is similar to a high-end Group N or PRC car with $150,000 Australian dollars being the target mark (depending on build specification).
Meanwhile the G4 regulations would allow more production vehicles to convert to 4WD, and is being pitched as the modern equivalent to the Group N (P) regulations Neal Bates built his Toyota Corolla’s too that took Simon Evans to Australian Championship victories in 2006 and 2007.
“Our intention is that G4 would allow production cars, or existing 2WD rally cars, to basically fit donor parts from another vehicle and be as competitive as an existing PRC car,” explained Trinder who added that a number of drivers who had built two-wheel drive cars over the past couple of years to the G2 regs were already looking at G4 as a way to upgrade their cars.
“We recognise that the vast majority of our customer base is running a PRC rally car, and we want to continue to offer a level playing field for all of those competitors, while also allowing new competitors to build equivalent cars.”
Justin Dowel’s Hyundai i20 prototype would fall under the G4 regulations as it mates a production 2WD body shell with the drivetrain from a Mitsubishi Lancer Evo X.
“We don’t want to leave PRC behind, G4 will need to stay aligned to PRC, but any freedoms offered under G4 will also need to be offered to those drivers currently running PRC cars. Our aim is to keep G4 simple, we want the regulations to literally be a two-page document, everything after that will fall under the existing PRC regulations.”
Trinder concluded the meeting by saying; “I just want to reiterate that what we’re proposing are not new categories for ‘anything goes’ hot rods. This is not a new Group G.”
“The way forward is trying to strike a very fine balance between some competing priorities. We want to give the competitors fast, fun and spectacular looking cars that don’t break the bank. We want our existing competitors to stay involved in the sport, and we also want to continue to have our local crews contesting our International level events.”
"At the same time we need to recognise that the majority of competitors will still be competing in PRC cars and they shouldn't be unnecessarily disadvantaged".
Summary
AP4 Maxi cars
1600cc Turbo with 34mm restrictor
Engine from the same manufacturer or the 'Prince' engine as fitted to
Peugeot/Citroen/Mini/BMW
G4 rally cars
2000cc turbo with 34mm restrictor
Engine & transmission from donor car to PRC specifications
Click here to view the draft regulations
SUBSCRIBE BELOW TO READ THE FULL STORY
