Official WRC thread

Very true the Colt would be just about the perfect size and would give Mitsubishi some much needed "cred" back.

Hopefully The lighter weight means they can really throw these cars around, especially if they give them some decent grunt ~350hp

Rally Catalunya this weekend, any predictions from anyone??

(I like it when the WRC Thread moves along, it deserves better)
 
I guess it's basically another walkover for Loeb, I can't see nobody else taking it away from him. I think it will be a close battle for the 2nd place between Sordo and Hirvonen.
 
From wrc.com

Sebastien Loeb confirms GP2 test

Defending World Rally Champion Sebastien Loeb will drive a GP2 racing car run by the DPR team at an official test session in Jerez on 8 October.

Loeb confirmed the test amid continued speculation that he will tackle the last round of the F1 season, the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, on 1 November.

Loeb impressed at a test with the Red Bull Formula 1 team last November, and has been linked to a seat with the associated Torro Rosso team in Abu Dhabi.

Recently, Citroen Racing boss Olivier Quesnel said he wouldn't prevent his star driver from driving in a Formula 1 race, provided it happened after Rally GB (23-25 October).

Loeb said the GP2 test had come about after a conversation with one of his engineers at a Porsche Carrera Cup race in France. "Because he knows that I love to get more experience at the steering wheel he informed me that a place was available in the DPR team. I'm testing with the C4 on 6th and 7th in Great Britain but I'll be at the GP2 test on the 8th," he said.

The five-time World Champion also revealed that he had modified his physical training routine in order to be ready for any racing opportunities - regularly wearing a weighted crash helmet to build the muscles in his neck.
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Makes the F1 rumours seem a bit more realistic...
 
I am wondering if Loeb's recent results (before Aus) were a result of him being distracted by F1. I can see him switching. It is something different, and F1 is a bit more popular than WRC.
 
I still can't see Loeb making the switch. Then again, I still can't see Kimi leaving Ferrari at the end of the year, so what do I know...

Either way, here's the speculation about teams post-S2000 switch I've meant to write for the last two days...

Citroen (two cars for Loeb and Sordo)
Citroen B (two cars, one for Ogier and one propably shared between various drivers in the Citro?n Junior programme)
Ford (At least two cars for Hirvonen and Latvala, possibly third car as well)
Ford non-factory cars (Two to four cars, one propably occupied by Matthew Wilson and others for young drivers)
Skoda (Kopecky, H?nninen)
Fiat? (Basso? Al?n? Some proper driver?)
Peugeot?? (I doubt this a bit... Peugeot's motorsports activity is now in sportscars and I doubt PSA wants two of their marques battling against each other again...

Those are the ones I could see entering. Proton might be another one depending on whether the factory has interest in developing a WRC contender now that they are heading to F1 as well. Of course there are also privateer outfits like Kronos, Bozian and PH-Sports who I expect to see running cars for whoever has adequate backing.
 
Doesn't Subaru already have an S2000 car they can tweak and enter with? Or have they just given up all together?
 
argatoga said:
Doesn't Subaru already have an S2000 car they can tweak and enter with? Or have they just given up all together?
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Not that I know of. I think both Mitsubishi and Subaru have delayed taking on Super 2000 because they have concentrated on their Group N cars which, in most championships(most importantly, PWRC and IRC), compete directly with Super 2000 cars. AFAIK Subaru was also planning to base their next generation WRC car in the Group N car and asked FIA if they could do this but FIA said no and clarified the rules in such way that only Super 2000 based cars will be allowed.

Of course, they still won't need a new car until 2011 so they have around 15 months to take on the challenge.
 
No real surprises in catalunya then...

1. Sebastien Loeb Citroen 3h22m14.7s
2. Dani Sordo Citroen + 12.0s
3. Mikko Hirvonen Ford + 54.1s
4. Petter Solberg Citroen + 1m12.4s
5. Sebastien Ogier Citroen + 1m41.6s
6. Jari-Matti Latvala Ford + 2m49.8s
7. Matthew Wilson Ford + 7m15.5s
8. Federico Villagra Ford + 8m28.1s
9. Henning Solberg Ford + 9m07.6s
10. Dany Snobeck Peugeot + 10m56.0s

Great run by Solberg, setting some very good times in the C4 and beating Ogier. He'll be a contender in Wales, especially if he'll manage to fit a day or two of testing prior to the event.

Not that Ogier did badly either, it was his first normal tarmac event in WRC machinery...

And Sordo was fast as well. It's such a shame the championship battle forced him back to second, with his pace through first two days it would have been nice to see him win the rally in front of his home crowd.

edit:
And forgot to mention this, Citro?n confirmed that both Loeb and Sordo have extended deals with the team, Loeb until 2011 and Sordo at least through next year. Olivier Quesnel also said he'll try to organise at least one more car for Ogier, but whether that will be a third car under the factory banner or the Junior team will be entered again remains to be seen.
 
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While the result was perhaps a foregone conclusion I think there were some surprises in Spain.

Maybe not consistently but considering the C4 is the dominant tarmac car I thought Mikko did extremely well to get as close as he did. Loeb and Sordo are probably the fastest tarmac guys since Panizzi it shows how far he has come to get as close as he did.

Solberg was quick and should be right on the money in Wales. Ogier also did very well to get as close as he did to the factory guys, may have had a few wobbles early in the season but has showed he deserves to be at the top level.

Jari was disappointing but better than binning it with nothing to prove.

The real disappointments were Novikov but especially Rautenbach. Way way out of their depth but at least Evgeny showed some speed before binning it whereas Conrad was just plain slow.
 
Thinking about it, I can't wait for Wales. None of 'if he finishes there I need to finish here' or teammates trying to help each other; Just an all-out duel between Mikko and Seb and the one who finishes ahead takes it all. The top guys were playing it safe in the late stages of Catalunya but there will be none of that in Wales. It is going to be epic.

I just wish the conditions won't be dry and road position won't become a factor. That is something that could really ruin the showdown.
 
Citroen DS3 test. Possibly Loeb driving.

http://www.racingpasion.com/mundial-rallies/primeras-imagenes-del-citroen-ds3-r3

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@ Hazardous & argatoga - Subaru & Mitsu fought against S2000 a bit, as they wanted GpN based WRC. For next year the GpN4 cars have got a slight increase in turbo restrictor size, so they might be more competitive. Hard to take them seriously as they have all but abandoned motorsport.
 
Block lined up for WRC campaign
By David Evans Thursday, October 15th 2009, 11:00 GMT



American rally and extreme sports star Ken Block is close to a deal to join the World Rally Championship in a new Ford team, this week's AUTOSPORT magazine reveals.

Former Subaru driver Chris Atkinson has been lined up as Block's team-mate in the all-new Monster Energy Drink World Rally Team.

The three-year deal, which is likely to be agreed in the next month, would offer the World Rally Championship the chance to break into the all important North American market - a move seen as pivotal to the sport's development.

The deal, which is being brokered by Block's management team Wasserman Media Group, is reckoned to be one of the most significant in the sport's history.

WRC promoter Simon Long said: "Ken Block is an iconic figure in US motorsport and a major box office personality. It wouldn't get much better than this for the WRC going into North America."

Block is driving for the Monster-backed Subaru USA team in Rally America this season, but has never denied his ambition to compete at the highest level of the WRC.

If it is signed off, the programme will start next season. Block and Atkinson will contest around half of the WRC rounds in 2009-spec Ford Focus WRCs. The following year they would compete in the entire series.
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I'm kind of glad to see Atkinson back, not so sure about Block's performance though. This isn't mickey mouse shit to bluff your normal viewers. This is WRC, the proper stuff.

I reckon Block won't make it very far. In fact I think he will struggle to make it into top 8.
 
Who cares Chris Atkinson will be back. He was showing a lot of potential before Subaru decided to bail out.
 
MadCow809 said:
I'm kind of glad to see Atkinson back, not so sure about Block's performance though. This isn't mickey mouse shit to bluff your normal viewers. This is WRC, the proper stuff.

I reckon Block won't make it very far. In fact I think he will struggle to make it into top 8.
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Agreed. Block is just your everyday show-off drifter with his cap on back to front I think it will actually be very good if he can make into the top 8. I just don't trust him as a real rally driver.
 
ALXBWSCREW said:
Agreed. Block is just your everyday show-off drifter with his cap on back to front I think it will actually be very good if he can make into the top 8. I just don't trust him as a real rally driver.
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If look at his achievements in rally america, little too many DNF:s. maybe pastrana would be better
(btw. is this rally america a national championship rally, and is it FIA-sanctioned?)
 
speedometer said:
If look at his achievements in rally america, little too many DNF:s. maybe pastrana would be better
(btw. is this rally america a national championship rally, and is it FIA-sanctioned?)
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Rally America was founded in 2002 by CPD Rally Team owner Doug Havir, who provided scoring and reporting services to the Sports Car Club of America's ProRally Championship. The two companies worked in tandem until the end of the 2004 season, when the SCCA withdrew its involvement in U.S. stage rallying. The SCCA then made the decision to sell all commercial and sanctioning rights to Rally America.

In 2005, the inaugural Rally America National Championship was run, incorporating most of the events previously sanctioned by the SCCA.
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I KNEW IT!!!!!!!!!!

Ever since those videos circulated with Chris giving Ken driving advice I thought that is too much of a coincidence. A rally nut with more money than he knows what to do with and a company that perfectly fits the profile of rallying. Add to that an out of work top line driver who perfectly fits the company profile just makes too much sense.

Hopefully they give the cars to M-Sport to run though, although I imagine that would be in the contract to use Focuses that they would have to be under M-sport's care?
 
There's at least Ramsport who also run Focuses (Focii?), they've most recently worked with Andreas Mikkelsen. Unlike Citro?n Sport, M-Sport sells their cars to customers so other teams can run the cars in WRC as well. Hoewever, M-Sport would obviously be the best bet for this new team.

Not expecting to see Mr. Block do much in WRC machinery, though. He seems to be on about the same level with Travis Pastrana, and looking at what they managed to do in their few outings in WRC events with Gr. N machinery I'd say Block would be around the Villagras and Al-Qassimis.

Despite that, I hope this goes through. With the new TV deal in USA, this is a good chance for rallying to get more popularity there, and with that in mind having an american team running american cars (in terms of marketing anyway) and a reasonably high profile name like Block driving could be of great help.
 
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