Official WRC thread

OH my god, I can't believe Latvala made that mistake. Come on man you're not gonna make up any ground just take it easy and get second place!

Anyway, can't wait to see Kimi compete in WRC.
 
Very unlucky for Latvala, another second place would've been great for him and he would've jumped a few positions. Great rally though, hope they keep it for next year.
 
http://www.crash.net/world+rally/news/149172/1/solberg_i_can_do_the_job_for_bp_ford.html
Henning Solberg has thrown down the gauntlet and told Ford boss Malcolm Wilson that he can help the BP Ford Abu Dhabi WRT win the manufacturers' championship, given a 'proper' factory car.

Henning, who finished third in Poland on Sunday, following a rally long battle with his brother, Petter and Citroen's Sebastien Ogier, gained his second rostrum result of the year as a result of Jari-Matti Latvala's misfortune in the final test, the short 2.50 kilometre super special.

Latvala has made a number of errors this year and the latest one was a major blow for the 'Blue Oval', which had been poised to cut Citroen's lead in the manufacturers' to just six points.

"Wow, what an end to the rally, it's very sad for Ford but the podium is fantastic for me," said Henning. "I think it has been a good rally for me.

"I am always thinking for the next rallies. I have to say Mikko did a great job. I think he will be the champion this year.

"If I had a proper car for Finland, I could beat Dani and maybe help the team win the Manufacturers' Championship. I believe that!"

Henning struggled initially in Poland and was not happy with the set-up on his M-Sport-run Ford Focus RS WRC.

However as the event went on he got more and more comfortable and on the final day was quickest in SS15 and SS16.

The six points he picked up for third moves him up to fourth in the drivers' championship, with 27 points now on the board - 2 more than Latvala and behind only Mikko Hirvonen and Citroen duo Sebastien Loeb and Dani Sordo, all of whom are with full factory teams.

"We have come a long way since Thursday when the feeling after Shakedown wasn't very good and today the car has been much better," continued the Stobart Ford man.

"I've been driving as fast as I can on this rally and really been pushing hard in the battle with Petter; the fastest stage times we had today prove just that. We have had a learning weekend and this rally has some fantastic stages but it's also been very difficult.

"I've got the result I wanted, and that helps me maintain my position as the best non-factory driver in the championship."

Henning's co-driver, Cato Menkerud meanwhile added that if they want to do as well in Finland at the end of next month, then they need to be on it from the off.

"We have to start faster on the Friday. But it is not so easy to be in a customer car. We don't get a chance to do all the tests.

"We are driving a lot but not enough. In Finland, we will start fast on Friday morning," he vowed.
 
:+1:

If he can do that well in a 3 year old Xsara, he would wipe the floor in a factory car :mrgreen:

Yeah except when he was driving a factory car the last few years he wasn't getting consistent results. He had to keep going over the limit just to stay competitive with the Citroen and Ford teams, and kept crashing.

Kind of like Jari-Matti actually, except from opposite directions. I think Petter's talent is waning, while Jari-Matti, if he just calms the fuck down and stop being so emo, would be rising.
 
Yeah except when he was driving a factory car the last few years he wasn't getting consistent results. He had to keep going over the limit just to stay competitive with the Citroen and Ford teams, and kept crashing.

Kind of like Jari-Matti actually, except from opposite directions. I think Petter's talent is waning, while Jari-Matti, if he just calms the fuck down and stop being so emo, would be rising.

Petter's issues was due to the car. The Prodrive-Subarus kept failing on him. Watch Engineering the World Rally for a good example.
 
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Petter's issues was due to the car. The Prodrive-Subarus kept failing on him.

Yeah that was always where Petter laid the blame, and I bought into it, but then by the third crappy season in a row that excuse wasn't really compelling anymore. I mean why did Petter's car have issues, but Atkinson's largely didn't?

I say this as a fan of Solberg, but his MO is to blame everyone and everything but himself. I just don't think he's got the speed anymore, and he pushes the car to compensate, and of course the car's going to fail.


Also, I'd be surprised if Latvala loses his drive. I don't see who would replace him; no one else has his speed, even if he's inconsistent. Henning just isn't a realistic 2nd driver for the works team. They just need to get Latvala into therapy or something.
 
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Yeah that was always where Petter laid the blame, and I bought into it, but then by the third crappy season in a row that excuse wasn't really compelling anymore. I mean why did Petter's car have issues, but Atkinson's largely didn't?

I say this as a fan of Solberg, but his MO is to blame everyone and everything but himself. I just don't think he's got the speed anymore, and he pushes the car to compensate, and of course the car's going to fail.

Well, Petter always wanted to win so he drove the cars harder (and was generally faster) and that meant the cars failed more often. There was propably a lot of frustration in the mix as well. I really doubt Petter has lost his speed, he just needs a proper car to use. I use the word 'proper' reservedly with Citro?n's customer cars because Citro?n has a tendency of controlling their old cars like no other manufacturer.

Also, I'd be surprised if Latvala loses his drive. I don't see who would replace him; no one else has his speed, even if he's inconsistent. Henning just isn't a realistic 2nd driver for the works team. They just need to get Latvala into therapy or something.

Henning has more points than Jari-Matti does and that counts for something. However, there are others I'd be even more keen to see in the second factory Ford. Drivers like Atkinson and Andersson, to name a few.

I think Jari-Matti could do with a break from the car, at the moment his confidence is in pieces, his endless self criticism is not helping at all and he is under huge pressure to do well. And to make matters worse, next up it's Finland where he will be under more pressure than anywhere else and where he has never done well. To be honest, I expect another few fast stage times and a big shunt on the first day.

That's the last thing he needs right now, what he needs is doing as much miles in a rally car as he can without pressure to build his confidence back.
 
Unsurprisingly I agree with Hazardous on both issues.

Petter is a man rejuvenated this year. Yes he is frustrated with the car but I think he absolutely loves the underdog status and it brings out the best in him. He has been the best driver this year blindingly fast on every rally with no real mistakes, also still has the best co-driver. Would love to see him win a rally this year.

The Jari-matti situation is an impossible one, yet created by himself. He won his first rally way too early which then put the idea in his head that he could be a world championship contender. EEHHH!!! WRONG!! Ever since then he has been a liability to the Ford team instead of saying "yay I won a rally thats awesome now to support Mikko as number two". He just can't cope with pressure at the moment. But you can't get rid of him, he is the only driver with the speed to match Loeb and Jari-Matti in full flight is the best vision in the world championship, Finnish driver of the old school. There is also the small issue of how much Ford has invested in his ability, they want to see a return and at times they are getting it.

I don't have an answer. I think that to drop him from the Works team would be a mistake.......but I don't think keeping him there is doing much good either. One thing is for sure there is a dearth of suitable options to replace him otherwise I think one would have been found. I honestly think if McRae was still with us Malcolm would have called him first. Duval is no more consistent, as far as I know Atko hasn't driven in anger since Ireland so would be majorly rusty (why he doesn't get an IRC drive I don't know). Maybe Gardemeister or PG Andersson?

Hopefully Mikko wins in Finland. His confidence is high (when was the last time Mikko crashed?? oh wait GB 2008 never mind) and Loeb's is low going into the rally where confidence is everything. They say its the highest average speed of the year but surely it can't be faster than Poland!
 
I don't have an answer. I think that to drop him from the Works team would be a mistake.......but I don't think keeping him there is doing much good either. One thing is for sure there is a dearth of suitable options to replace him otherwise I think one would have been found. I honestly think if McRae was still with us Malcolm would have called him first. Duval is no more consistent, as far as I know Atko hasn't driven in anger since Ireland so would be majorly rusty (why he doesn't get an IRC drive I don't know). Maybe Gardemeister or PG Andersson?

From what I understand there's no way Gardemeister is going back to Ford. Apparently the relationship between him and the team didn't work very well in 2005. That said, he'd be ideal number two for the team, reasonably fast and very consistent.

Andersson would be interesting, he really impressed me last year in the Suzuki by matching Gardemeister's pace and being far more consistent than I expected, not to mention his heroic drive in Norway earlier this year. Atkinson might not have driven in anger for a while but I doubt it would take long for him to get back to pace, and I'd really like to see him in a competitive car. Duval might not have the best consistency but he does have the tendency to bring the car these days, but from his comments I understand that he is not interested in one-off drives in WRC any more. Another name that just popped into my head is Gigi Galli, who hasn't driven since his injury last year...

Hopefully Mikko wins in Finland. His confidence is high (when was the last time Mikko crashed?? oh wait GB 2008 never mind) and Loeb's is low going into the rally where confidence is everything. They say its the highest average speed of the year but surely it can't be faster than Poland!

Poland was surprisingly fast event, but dunno if it's faster than Finland. The roads were remarkably similar to finnish ones.

And it looks like I'll miss Rally Finland due to travel plans... again... :(
 
http://www.crash.net/world+rally/news/149575/1/exclusive_ford_no_plans_to_drop_latvala_in_2010.html
Ford: No plans to drop Latvala in 2010

BP Ford Abu Dhabi team director Malcolm Wilson has told Crash.net that Jari-Matti Latvala will 'definitely' remain with the team in 2010.

Latvala's has had a tough season and while his win on the Rally d'Italia Sardinia at the end of May seemed to re-store his confidence, it took a major knock on the Rally Poland a few weeks back, when he crashed out in the final test, the short 2.50 kilometre Mikolajki super special and threw away second place.

Up to that point Ford was set for another 1-2, a result that would have allowed the 'Blue Oval' to close to within six points of Citroen in the manufacturers' championship. However, in the end the M-Sport-run squad actually lost ground and now lies 17 points adrift with just four rounds still go to.

Despite admitting post-event though that he was 'running out of ideas' of how to help Latvala, Wilson has insisted that they have no plans to drop him and pair someone new with Mikko Hirvonen.

"There is no question," Wilson replied when asked by Crash.net Radio if Latvala will still be with the BP Ford Abu Dhabi WRT in 2010. "Hopefully Ford is going to be in the world championship in the future and he will definitely form part of our plans going forward if that is the case."

As for how Latvala is now and what advice he will be given for Rally Finland at the end of this month, Wilson added that they are doing everything they can to 'get to the bottom' of what happened in that super special.

"It has been a difficult year for Jari, as everybody can see. What happened in Poland was probably one of the biggest mistakes I have seen in world rallying. But we have invested heavily in him and we have got to work with him, which is obviously what we are doing," Wilson continued.

"He is getting a lot of specialist advice outside the car. The driving is not in question. But it is just taking a little bit longer to get him to where we wanted him to be than what we had hoped. However the performance up to that final silly mistake was fantastic.

"The last three rallies have been really good for him. He just made a very, very costly error late on, which we have got to get to the bottom of before Finland."
 
Great news, he is a future world champion no doubt. Colin smashed a lot of cars, as did Ari and Henri. Nice to see some patience in the fickle world of motorsports.

However Latvala Snr's bank account no doubt has an influence.
 
HELL YA!
 
If it results in more interest in the WRC over here I can't complain. Eurosport isn't going anywhere.
 
Boo at Ouninpohja not being in the rally this year. :shakefist:
 
Kimi Raikkonen amongst the rally guys:

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:lol: He looks like a little kid :p
 
In the 2nd picture, Kimi looks like a fan there, and Hirvonen looks like a Mechanic/Tactician or something. Loeb atleast does it right i guess, and looks like a driver.
 
I bet he felt really conspicuous. Everyone around him is dressed in mostly white while he's the only dude with the huge cap, decked out in red (with a huge prancing horse right smack in the middle of his chest)! :|:thumbup::lol:


EDIT:

[YOUTUBE]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PzoMd8OnDR0[/YOUTUBE]
 
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