FIA to Create Special Series for S2000 Cars in the WRC

Nothing has been yet confirmed, but the International Automobile Federation (FIA) is on its way to approving a brand new format of the Production World Rally Championship for the 2010 campaign. It seems the aforementioned series will be split in two different championships next year, in order to create a competitive field for both Group N and Super 2000 machineries.

Throughout the duration of the 2009 season, it has been quite obvious that S2000 and Group N cars were not in the same league (to say the least) for the title. So the FIA decided to bring an end to that controversy and, according to the WRC official site, split the 2010 P-WRC in 2 series: one for each type of cars.

The Group N series – using AWD production cars – will bear the same designation as before, meaning the P-WRC, while the series that will have only S2000 cars will bear the name of S-WRC (Super 2000 Car World Rally Championship). As compared to the P-WRC, the S-WRC will also benefit from a competition between teams (not only drivers), named the WRC Cup for Teams.

As confirmed by a press release issued by the organizers of Rally New Zealand, the drivers and teams running in the S-WRC will need to complete at least 7 rounds of the 2010 championship in order to be eligible for points in the overall classification. Not only that, but two of those mandatory rounds will have to take place outside Europe, with New Zealand being one of them.

If the FIA will indeed give its go ahead for the aforementioned changes – during the meeting of the World Motor Sport Council on December 11 – that means the WRC will contain 3 secondary series from 2010 onwards: the P-WRC, S-WRC and J-WRC (intended for junior rally drivers by the age of 28.