Official WRC thread

Seriously that is so beyond shit its just not funny. Round 4 of the Tasmanian Rally series had snow and ice on two stages, we were all on gravel tyres and we managed just fine. The charade was wheelspinning in 4th gear and it was fucking brilliant!!! Yet these guys who are world class in million dollar machines can't hack it?? Its pathetic.
 
In the end, the first and fourth stages were cancelled but the rest of the stages were run as planned.

But what a debut by Sebastien Ogier. He took the lead of the rally in the first competitive stage and held it until Latvala took it on stage 6. In other words, this guy not only led the first WRC event he contested, he made the fastest times on the first ever stage he contested in a WRC car. Granted, he was helped by weather conditions but what he pulled off there was astonishing. Mads ?stberg also did well, he held second the sixth stage and is still on fourth.

As the first day drew to a close Latvala took the lead and Loeb second place after a cautious start. As Hirvonen rolled his car after a slow start and Atkinson crashed himself out of contention on the super special PG Andersson took an unlikely third place and Mads ?stberg is on fourth place. Ogier eventually dropped to ninth place after gearbox problems.

Hirvonen continues on 28th place overall, 5 minutes behind leaders, but could still score if there are plenty of retirements. Still, with Loeb on second and Sordo on fifth Citroen' s 11 point lead in the manufacturer's championship means it's is pretty much sealed for Citroen at this point unless both their cars hit major problems and retire.
 
What an INSANE day of rallying!!!! Where to begin!!

Ogier and Ostberg, very very impressive. Helped by leaders breaking all the ice but still amazing drives but not particularly surprising. These guys are very very good.

Latvala is simply amazing when is on form. 30 second faster than Hirvonen in SS3 then blows away everyone again on the second run through. Hirvonen could definitely still come back into contention so the title is still open I think.......just.

Monster crash from Atko, don't even want to see what the car looks like. Interesting that a cautious approach from Loeb + running first on the road still equals second place. The guy is a freak.

Finally WHAT A RALLY!!!!!! THIS IS WHY YOU CAN'T GET RID OF THE LONG STANDING EVENTS!!!!
 
Loeb picked up a 10s jump start on second last stage. One to go, JML 2.2s ahead.
 
Seb is still going to be hard to beat. He already took almost 10 seconds off Latvala on that last stage, and he is going to have the edge mentally as well because he knows he can beat Latvala. This is where Latvala's mental strength is measured...
 
Seb took it in the end, by 2.7 seconds. JML did what he could but Seb was the master, as normal. Sordo took third ahead of Petter, Andersson brought his Suzuki to fifth and Duval finished sixth. Henning Solberg's accident on the penultimate stage promoted Gardemeister in the second Suzuki to seventh. Hirvonen ended up on eight, which makes him the first driver ever to score driver's championhip points in every single round of the championship.

And finally, well done by Valentino Rossi. He completed one of the trickiest events of the year and today racked up times that equal WRC regulars like Duval and Wilson in similar machinery.
 
News on the 'Return of the Gr?nholm' front...

Subaru has offered Marcus a deal for full 2009 season. Marcus has confirmed it but also said that 'I'm not sure about it. They want me to do the full programme but I don't know if I'm up to it.' He also added that agreement should be reached by christmas.

Funnily enough one finnish newspaper titled the news article with pretty much that content (+ added speculation) as 'It's confirmed now, Marcus Gr?nholm returns to WRC'. The only thing I see confirmed in that article is that Marcus has an offer from Subaru, anything beyond that is either not said or the journalist's imagination.
 
Looks like NZ was what cost Ford the championship.

The Gr?nholm Subi thing sounds interesting. Odd he didn't go with Ford, but then they have two aspiring young drivers and a reliable car. Not sure how well Marcus will do in a Subaru considering their mechanical problems of the last couple years. But it would be fantastic to watch.
 
Great drive from Jari Matti, really superb after his difficulties earlier this year. But you just can't hold off someone as good as Seb. The man is simply a driving machine. Awesome rally.

Rossi was brilliant, such difficult conditions yet he made it to 12th!! Anyone else think that Matthew Wilson just isn't a world class driver?? I know that sounds harsh but he has been in WRC a few years now and just hasn't done anything particularly amazing. Great driver but I don't think he has what it takes to be right up there, just like his dad I guess!

So so so so so sad WRC is over :( :( :( :( :( :( What a brilliant year.
 
Congrats to Citroen and Loeb for a brilliant year. What a finish!
 
The Swedish guy (Patrik Flodin) who won the Group N class in Wales, was done for speeding back home in sweden, and will probably loose his drivers license for 2 months.
 
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the FIA was going to get out of wales because all the drivers a few years ago were caught speeding... i think about 4-5 lost there licenses.. the reason behind it all was that to have a speed check on the road it must be dangerous... so all the road sections were dangerous... if i was the head of the fia i would of pulled it... gobshites running the place...
 
Sorry, i was a bit unclear. He was done for speeding back home in Sweden.
 
the FIA was going to get out of wales because all the drivers a few years ago were caught speeding... i think about 4-5 lost there licenses.. the reason behind it all was that to have a speed check on the road it must be dangerous... so all the road sections were dangerous... if i was the head of the fia i would of pulled it... gobshites running the place...

yeah well they were driving on PUBLIC ROADS in between stages, and why should they be given immunity for speeding~?:rolleyes:
 
yeah well they were driving on PUBLIC ROADS in between stages, and why should they be given immunity for speeding~?:rolleyes:
Because there the best drivers in the world?

I do agree thou, as great as they are they need to learn that they have to obey the local laws! Even when some twit who hates motorists is in charge!
 
Don't think the WRC cars even have speedos do they?

I think they do, actually. As rally cars are driven on public roads they have to comply with the requirements normal road laws impose on them. I would think the laws on most countries dictate that all cars must have a speedometer, and I'm fairly certain that the finnish law does.
 
Autosport.com said:
FIA set to confirm S2000 future

By David Evans Thursday, December 11th 2008, 12:07 GMT

Tomorrow's World Motor Sport Council meeting is expected to announce that the future of the World Rally Car will be based on Super 2000 machinery alone, forcing the hand of firms like Subaru to create a whole new car.

It had been expected that the next generation of World Rally Car would be based on both Super 2000 and Group N cars - with a kit of parts being added to both to create the new WRC.

The World Rally Championship Commission has made a detailed study of both categories and it is reported that it would be too difficult to maintain performance parity between the two.

Such a decision will force Subaru's hand if it remains in the sport. The Japanese firm had been considering running its car off the Group N Impreza WRX, but that car would now be redundant at the highest level of the sport.

The Commission reported in its proposal to the WMSC, leaked to autosport.com, that there were serious concerns over the cost implications of trying to level the playing field between two quite different cars.

The proposal states: "There is clearly a problem in managing the performance equalisation which is necessary when the Super 2000 and Group N cars are competing directly with each other."

Tomorrow's meeting of the WMSC is also expected to outline an agreement with Ralliart Italy to supply the five Mitsubishi Lancer Evo Xs for the Pirelli Star Drive winners.



Can you read into this "2010 Citroen C5 DTM driven by Sebastien Loeb" as well? Seb did say that if the S2000 cars were forced in, he'd be on his way out of rallying and into circuit racing.
 
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