I think it is time to start this thread...
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I think it is time to start this thread...
What have you heard? :)
No Saudi but Poland in.
I’m not a fan of Rajd Polski but at least it’s a rallying mad country, can’t argue that it doesn’t deserve a place back on the WRC calendar
Loubet and Gilsoul separate their ways.
from Loubet' IG post
Beginning to look ominous for Loubet. Ever since the M-Sport and Ford article saga, you felt the team had lost interest in him. It will require some stupendous performances in the next two/three events to get the team solidly behind him.
Gilsoul seems very stressed in many situations, maybe not the best for an un experienced driver
Anyone has access and can tell what Gilsoul says here?
https://www.autohebdo.fr/actualites/...-exclusif.html
Nicolas Gilsoul will no longer sit in the right seat of the Ford Puma Hybrid Rally1 driven by Pierre-Louis Loubet in the World Rally Championship. “ I admit I took an uppercut. I'm sitting in my chair , admits Thierry Neuville 's former co-driver, already fired at the start of 2021, just before the Monte-Carlo Rally . Frankly, I didn't see this decision coming .
Well the article goes further, no?
And I’m not so sure about this google translation
Gilsoul:
https://www.dhnet.be/sports/moteurs/...I6EWFVZUQOV4U/Quote:
,,Even though I rewatched the images from the on-board camera several times, I don't see where I could have made a mistake," the Belgian teammate told us, still in shock. "We were hurtling at 150 km/h with hidden curves. If I didn't announce it at that time, it would have been too late at the speed we were arriving. If I had to do it again, I wouldn't change a thing.
It's a unilateral decision that I didn't expect at all. I really don't understand. I took an uppercut there, admits Nico. After Finland again, Pirlouis called me to congratulate. I have 246 scratches and 43 podiums under my belt in the WRC. I'm not perfect, but I don't think I should take the blame for that. It's sad to end our contract like this rallies at the end of the season."
It was certainly no error of Nicolas, i think it is Loubet who should blame himself.
Loubet's had three different co-drivers in WRC since 2021: Vincent Landais, Florian Haut-Labourdette and Gilsoul. Gilsoul is a proven winner at WRC level, Landais is winning with Ogier and Haut-Labourdette is still active so can't be useless either. I guess it's rather obvious that co-driver's are not at fault for Loubet's awful results.
In a way his merry-go-round reminds me of Gus Greensmith. He too has had plenty of co-drivers (Elliott Edmondson, Chris Patterson and Jonas Andersson) in the past few years and his results didn't get better too. But I don't recall Gus pointing fingers, just explaining he wanted a more experienced co-driver etc.
I don't know what happened with Loubet, he was decent in 2022 with Landais, same car same team and now this year he was all over the place. Reminds of Breen's year in MSport. Maybe he just wanted a refresh, maybe they didn't sync well, maybe he is looking for a scapegoat, I guess we'll see how he does going forward.
Well, most of the asphalt events.. there is too little spectacle on tarmac. I have watch all the events, all the stages in live, since 2018 in service park and I have to agree.. yes, cars look nice, but often that is all. For me and for most of the people, regular asphalt rally is not the way to go, especially on TV. I like special asphalt events like Monte where you have mixture with snow, salt, dry asphalt, rain. I liked Spain when it was mixed event, starting on gravel, then moving to asphalt. Japan is also quite interesting with high variability of different asphalts, some small gravel sections, some very muddy sections, huge amounts of leaves. I like ERC Barum rally with its bumpy stages. Some Croatian stages are also nice. That is all. The amount of nice footages you can get on gravel and fast gravel is much higher compared to regular asphalt event. On-site experience is slightly different, but this is only for small amount of people... I think the balance this year has been quite good, I would just swap between Croatia and Argentina, haven't seen Central Europe yet.
Asfalt can be spectacular to IMO, Irish narrow roads, the vinyards on wrc germany,..
I hope CER wil have some good autum conditions,. Falling treeleafs, and maybe some wet conditions..
i think it is a very personal question...but we can all agree that variety, also inside the same event, is the key.
2024 calendar
https://pbs.twimg.com/media/F8z-PH-W...pg&name=medium
from other angle - we could have 7 gravel events where 'cleaning effect' could be massive (presume all events are dry, not like this year some of them...), so leader starts... then drops a few places... other event - same story... could be fun reshuffle :) and for desert two tarmac events, where starting order is important also - I look forward for next year with optimistic glasses ON :)
Fourmaux is back in Rally1 for Japan.
M-Sport
Quote:
..and we look forward to seeing how they can perform back in Rally1 machinery.
This extended break will allow Pierre to concentrate fully on getting everything needed in place to ensure that he lines up in Monte Carlo for the start of the 2024 season.
So Fourmaux and Loubet it is for 2024 like expected
I doubt Loubet in rally1 next season..
He would rather benefit from ,,Fourmaux like'' wrc2 season in 2024..
Maybe there's room in the budget for Loeb again for a few rallies.
I don't understand (exept of money) why M-sport dont hire Mikkelsen, solberg or some of the other wrc2 drivers that is good drivers.
Have both in the rally2, and rest of the races in a wrc1.
Fourmaux in full season, car 2 shared between 2 drivers that also fight for the WRC2 championship, cant see Mikkelsen is that expensive if he get the opportunity.
He also bring RB money i presume, and is probably the best non-wrc1 driver in the mix.
Loeb is good, and fun to watch, but he is getting older, how long is he fairly fast?
And is it right to give old WDC's parttime seats instead of use them on som talents?
I'm not shure, if we look long-term for the sport.
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