[svandamme]

no offence, but the NZ Targa, is not comparable to what they do in WRC
i don't see any of the real pro names in that event either
so to me that says it's not the real competition,
it would be like saying that Ford has competitive open wheel racers
because they win races in a local competition where they have fun with open wheel racers built around ford Sierra engines, when we know for fact that any of the F1 cars and drivers would run circles around any car in that local competition.

don't get me wrong, i'm sure they really go fast and all
but it's not the same level as the WRC teams with cars designed for WRC, with the proper fully sequential gearboxes and fancy hardware...

at this time, when it comes to rallying, the benchmark is WRC
if anybody is discussing "competitive" then it would have to be something that can challenge and beat a WRC car, driven by a top WRC driver, throughout the WRC championship
anything else, is just nancy'ing about in this context...

another thing
Rallying is many surfaces, tarmac is just 1 of them
the fact that Skylines can slug it out in the NZ Targa, says that event is full tarmac, nothing else, that's a very, very limited part of Rallying
i'de like to see a Skyline hold his own in a rally that has mud, ice, snow, rain , gravel...
i think it would be found wanting
just like a GT3 or 911 turbo would