Retweeted by Ogier...
@FordPerformance
Well done @MSportLtd on winning the 2017 @OfficialWRC Manufacturers Championship with the #Ford Fiesta WRC! https://t.co/jij2B3j2Kn
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Retweeted by Ogier...
@FordPerformance
Well done @MSportLtd on winning the 2017 @OfficialWRC Manufacturers Championship with the #Ford Fiesta WRC! https://t.co/jij2B3j2Kn
congrats to Hyundai too, they made this year real thrilling battle, that have not been seen in years.
I hope this will send a clear message to the Ford management and will be hearing an announcement of them coming back.
the most happy dad tonight
https://pbs.twimg.com/media/DNTkL68XUAAKK1z.jpg
Game, set and match to MSport, congratulation. Well deserved!!:D
Game: Evans
Set: Drivers title, Ogier
Match: Manufacturers Title. First since 82.
First ever win in WRC for both Evans and DMack, and that on homeground :bounce::bounce:
What a day for UK rallying!!
Let´s hope this gets big effects on rallying in UK and in the whole WRC.
Yes, yhey did it. Private team "destroyed" factory teams.
Malcom-enjoy; as the future doesn't look so bright for the M-Sport.
Seb and Julien-no comment needed. Simply (by far) the best duo in WRC. And as somebody mentioned-the smartest. Showed again, that rally is not just flat out all the time.
And now time to celebrate.
Just back from WRGB, and it was a good watch I must say. The 2017 cars certainly do what they intended in terms of spectacle.
A few points I noted.
Positive.
Evans - Clearly had more grip than the others, but used it perfectly. Faultless everywhere we saw him.
Neuville - Was ON it everywhere, other than 1st pass through Hafren when I believe he had a technical issue, he was notably pushing harder than everyone else. Great to watch.
Latvala - Very good, in a car that wasn't at its best for much of the event, he was always good driving where we saw him.
Negative.
Paddon - I like Paddon, and I think he is fast. But he seemed to be beaten in the mind and was just not quick on this event.
Sordo - Why did they enter him? Was pointless if the intention was for him to beat Ogier.
Obviously well done to M-Sport and Ogier, but all has been said about that already
Comments on rally GB:
Evans - very well done, as Ogier said in Argentina even if tires give you an advantage you still have to drive yourself. That said it does seem like the advantage was quite big, notably watching the Saturday TV stage the difference in grip between the DMACK fiesta and other fiestas was apparent. Again a problem with comparing cars on different tires, you never know how much is it the drivers and how much the tires.
M-Sport - yes they achieved all their goals but their performance was imo a bit worse than expected. On Saturday and Sunday they were clearly behind Hyundai, doesn't quite agree with the "advanced" pre-event assessment by D. Evans and C. Clark, especially considering this was their home rally.
Hyundai - as a team/car very good, did pretty much maximum they could hope for under normal circumstances, somehow typically weak Friday. In term of drivers Neuville and Mikkelsen had very much same times whole Saturday and Sunday (check 2/3rd leg standings). Neuville should imo be actually applauded for the foggy stage. Yes self-centered comments as usual, but here I am talking about performance/results not about personalities. He took it safely and didn't risk anything (which seemingly can't be said of Ogier) and re-took the 2nd place on Sunday without trouble, Evans was too far ahead anyway.
Paddon disappointed again... sure could be some lack of confidence after getting dropped for Spain, but he has been driving this car for a year now and clearly it was a fast car on this rally.
Btw. Haven't seen it talked about much but Sordo had the "old" pre-catalunya aero while Neuville/Mikkelsen/Paddon had new aero.
Citroen - performance wise I'd say they did quite well. Wet slippery gravel and no testing and still both Meek and Breen had some decent times. Very good times on dry gravel (PS). Without some mistakes Meeke would have been at least partly involved in the fight for 2-6. Compared with how Citroen fared here with DS3 recently I wouldn't say this was any worse. Also for second rally in a row Meeke showed consistency which only deserves applause. Note that in this rally only 2 cars retired which is unusually low, with normal retirement rate like we have seen in other rallies Meeke would have been around 4th.
Toyota - surprisingly the clear losers of this rally. Without Latvala's push in the fog they could have ended with best placed car on 6th or even 7th place. Weird since in the wet in Poland they were one of the fastest, aero probably didn't help much here and was getting clogged with mud.
Sad way to (probably) end wrc career for Juho. In a way it was quite typical for him, car/driver not going well for decent top times so he goes for extra push and crashes right after posting a good time.
WRGB made me begin to doubt if Paddon can really bounce back from his tremendous nosedive in form. He was constantly at Sordo's pace, a driver who is arguably over the hill by now. It's a fact that Paddon's spectacular style, much like Ostberg's and old Latvala's, is slower than the rest, but he shouldn't have been so far off the pace.
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Obviously tyres played the big role. With equal drivers capacity it will be seconds on every stage having advantage of tyres. No doubt. Evans had big advantage however he managed it the way he should.
Congrats to the whole M-sport team and drivers!!! What a season it has been for them, unbelievable, almost like a fairy tale or dreamlike. They took everything this year.
And finally Dmack gets its win! They deserve it also so much.
Now it would be perfect if Tänak gets 2nd in the championship in australia but i think the gap to Neuville is too big. And it isnt that important actually.
Fords pace yesterday was worrying, Ogier and Tänak were clearly suffering and lacked pace when the conditions were more wet. If it was dryer then they were good. Toyotas were disappointing, they were so strong in the middle of the season on gravel but now in spain (gravel) and wales the speed hasnt been the best.
https://scontent-arn2-1.xx.fbcdn.net...d9&oe=5AACA10C
https://scontent-arn2-1.xx.fbcdn.net...eb&oe=5A627EF5
https://scontent-arn2-1.xx.fbcdn.net...ed&oe=5A76CC24
Well, to be fair, Latvala retired on the third stage, and the only two Toyotas left were Hanninen and an inexperienced Lappi. I think their gravel pace in Spain was a huge what if. More worrying was their performance on low traction surfaces like Wales.
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nice video,watch first plan with Neuville,as well at 0,25 ,amazing spot.
https://youtu.be/JyfXUJyOZKo
Ott Tänak
Congratulations Teammate @SebOgier You are a True Champ
And very well deserved title for @MSportLtd family!
krismeeke.com*@krismeeke
Congrats @SebOgier and #JulienIngrassia! You may not agree.. but I believe your best title so far! Also for @MSportLtd #Respect
Miki Biasion*@MikiBiasion1
Congratulations @SebOgier. Really the top. Regards Miki. @WalesRallyGB @OfficialWRC #worldrallychampion
Only did two days of the rally, but had a great time - the new cars even more impressive on gravel than they had been in Germany on asphalt. Now busy sorting through my photos, but here's one that I like from Friday.
https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4489/...f76f405f_z.jpg
Huge congrats to Ogier/Ingrassia and MSport. The French is on a class of his own and Wilson totally deserves this year dream results. Fantastic rally from Evans and DMack. Amazing cars, epic fights, new winners; for once the FIA should be praised: ‘17 cars were the right bet. Hopefully 2018 will be even better!
Paddon's words on FB "A difficult rally and one we will forget. But good to get a finish under the belt and some positives to take away from the weekend. Some things to improve and sort before Rally Australia so we can fully reset and start to find some form. Thanks for all your support. Big congrats also to Elfyn/Dan for their first win and Seb/Julian for wrapping up the title #paddonspack"
Well done M-sport. They have received their share of shit here and elsewhere, but getting both championships as a semiprivate operation, deserves great applause.
Toyota, what a poor performance. But it their first year, these things eventually hapoen, they will learn.
I originally doubted Paddon as he never showed really great speed in lower classes. He almost proved me wrong, but this year has bern a bad one. Will he rise again?
Neuville, this should have been his year, maybe next year? What will Ogier and Ford do?
great for M-Sport but true is that without Ogier and with Tanak and Camilli they would be somewhere between Toyota and Citroen on manu leaderboard. that's how worth is 5 times champ
Well I don't think Toyota performed poorly. Was it good? No, but not horrible. Lappi and Juho could not do as well as JML who set some top stage times and was close to taking 3rd until he lost some time on one stage. Lappi needs some time to get up to speed with some rallies as he lacks experience, but Tanak will be right there with JML next year.
Evans was killing it all weekend and it would be great to see how he does on a set of Michelin's.. maybe next year.
It's been a great season and one which I've been into from the onset.
I guess it's on to Australia which will sadly be the most uninteresting event all year. Ogier and M-Sport have clinched the titles, the entries in AUS are weak as usual and as an AUS resident I am no longer interested in spectating as it sucks major sheeit to watch cars from a km away in the woods.
BTW, it was weird seeing OTT celebrate M-Sport victories this weekend. He deserves every bit of it, but I think his signing to Toyota should have been announced after GB.
Is it just me or has the Citroen and Toyota less pitch/dive than the others and not getting any weight onto the front wheels to make it turn better?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=veQvLmGNuxU&t=0s
Skoda Motorsport and M-Sport fined for 30 000 euro for wrong pictures in homologation of oil pump... (decisions here)
Congrats to Ford. Ogier is a class act. i still think he was very lucky with broken disc. could have ended his rally. you can talk about skill.. but was pure luck. Hope first of many for Evans. Rumour is the DMack was 0.5s per km quicker than Michelin on this surface. If so Evans was cruising. I feel he will be Ogier team mate next year. Wonder if they can split the team DMack/Michelin.. or will DMack maybe think this is the best result they will get.. and disappear. There has been rumours for years now of money problems. I dont understand the business case for Dmack. The sale of rally tyres wouldnt cover motorsport budget.. and for all but 2/3 rallies, Evans felt the need to defend himself with the deficiency of the tyre.
Toyota not the pace expected. Lappi especially disappointed. Just shows how much experience of this event counts.JML fog expert. Only a win would have saved Hanninen career, it didnt happen.
Hyundai, Neuville was trying really hard to make something happen, but looked ragged. Wondering if Paddon will ever climb out of the hole he is in.
Citroen, for no PET, Meeke done OK. Never been a strong event for Citroen. Only for spin and losing rear wing, could have been on podium. Sounding more comfortable on changable grip surface now. Bods well if it gives driver confidence. Breen flashes of some speed but expected more.
WRC2, Rovenpera.. a lesson on hype. Hope he now takes his time. People push these ultra young guys too hard. He has 20 years rallying infront of him
https://yle.fi/urheilu/3-9907093?origin=rss
Not sure if this is a joke but apparently Wilson sent an SMS to Latvala on saturday evening asking him to "let an old man win the championship" after Latvala had been fast on the foggy stage :D
No, nothing weird about that. He’s not a Toyota driver until 2018, plus he was a key driver for M-Sports success this. Why shouldn’t he celebrate a job well done this year?
It would’ve been weird if he’d celebrate Toyotas result this weekend (if they were better).
Brynildsen: “In 09 a young winner of SWRC was excluded from Rally Wales due to too small pistons in the break caliper Now they give a fine #davidvsgoliat”
https://pbs.twimg.com/media/DNYuNl-W...jpg&name=large
Yep, Sordo has a strong pack of personal sponsors; he’s backed by Santander Bank (3rd biggest bank in Europe) and for the first time Innjoo (electronic devices company based in Dubai) was pretty visible on his car at Wales. It won’t be for financial reasons that he’ll leave.
Btw, Hyundai sold more than 50.000 cars last year in Spain and not even 10.000 in NZ.