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  1. #11
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    Quote Originally Posted by jonas_mcrae
    And yes, stop feeding money into Matthew, is a ridiculous situation now, even more with Ogier winning his first rally in his first full season.
    Ogier did a full season last year already, but that's no excuse. Seeing Hirvonen and Latvala behind Sordo, Ogier and Solberg on gravel rallies they say they like makes one think that C4 for is really a lot better than Focus right now. And by that I don't mean those three mentioned Citroen drivers wouldn't be on top of their game right now, perhaps not Sordo though.

    I know cars are remade pretty much after each event, but can they tire down? It was said that Latvala drove chassis that was used for 11th time for a WRC event (same one which Hirvonen used to win Poland and Greece last year). Hirvonen had same chassis he used to win Finland and Australia last year.
    Photos: rallirinki.kuvat.fi | Twitter: @HartusvuoriWRC

  2. #12
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    Quote Originally Posted by Maui J.
    I think we can write this year off for Ford. I don't want to voice a personal call on the Ford drivers, but will say the Focus isn't on the same level as the C4.

    Malcolm will now be thinking ahead to the new 1.6T WRC car for 2011 and beyond. Hopefully we will see the Fiesta WRCar developed enough to challenge Citroen again on a level playing field.

    Also if Citroen is going to play with 3 drivers next year in the DS3, then I feel Ford need to as well so they can put the best combination together for points scoring purposes on the different events.

    Of course this once again comes down to money, and who knows what the budget is employing a new driver, co-driver, mechanics, flights, hotels, testing etc.
    In may be difficult without the big sponsors digging deep.
    I think you have summed it up pretty well. Next year is a new car and if we look back to the failures of the Honda F1 car during its final season and look what came out the following year as a new car built to new regs and called a Brawn then maybe Ford could be going down a similar path of not wasting resources on an obsolete formula but doing just enough to meet committments meanwhile thowing their considerable weight and all their efforts in behind the car of the future
    “It’s what you learn after you know it all that counts”

  3. #13
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    Quote Originally Posted by Josti
    Daniel, I think Colin and Carlos became too expensive back in 2002, thus giving younger talents a chance (plus I think Märtin was a pretty damn capable driver, and Duval certaintly had the potential back then).

    Of course and I know this is why Wilson got rid of them but had Wilson kept just one of them on he'd have had the drivers title easily. It seems that Malcolm's interest is always in the slightly distant future and never on making things right for NOW.
    Rule 1 of the forum, always accuse anyone who disagrees with you of bias.I would say that though.

  4. #14
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    Fundamental Difference

    There is a fundamental difference which explains what all of you are saying !

    M-Sport is in this to make money, period.
    Citroen racing is in this to perform and win, period.

    As long as Jouhki keeps pumping in the money everytime LATVALA tosses a car and HIRVONEN keeps his mouth shut and says amen to Wilson everything will be fine.

    Ahhh, Bosse, how much we miss you...

  5. #15
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    Quote Originally Posted by jonas_mcrae
    I thought Daniel was banned... but anyways this is a good thread. Im a ford fan, but this year has just been terrible. The C4 is just up there in every rally and not only the works guys, also Petter and Ogier are making a fantastic job with machinery that in theory is at the same level as the Focus.

    I think Malcom already is trying to leave this season behind and focus on the fiesta.

    He needs to do something if he wants to rescue the manu title, the good thing is that Ogier is not scoring for Citroen Works. Malcom should bring Duval in place of Latvala to do all the tarmac rallies and give PG a Stobart drive for the rest of the year.

    And yes, stop feeding money into Matthew, is a ridiculous situation now, even more with Ogier winning his first rally in his first full season.
    I was, I got banned for speaking out against a guy who was going around and lying in the F1 forum.

    You are right that Malcolm has to give up on this year, but he has to really put everything into next year because it's not like other teams aren't going to. All he ever seems to do is give up on one year but then next year things are the same.

    Malcolm needs to cut one or both of his top drivers loose, Hirvonen has reached his dismal peak and Latvala is just too damn unpredictable and fragile.

    Bazza, of course it's his own money BUT if Malcolm wants to win he needs to make better use of that money.
    Rule 1 of the forum, always accuse anyone who disagrees with you of bias.I would say that though.

  6. #16
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    I think Ford's problem is twofold - the C4 really does seem to have the edge now but also Citroen's drivers have made a step forward too (particularly Ogier but also Solberg now that he is in a more up to date car)

    I think it's time to forget this year and start a fresh with the Fiesta next year.

    What I would really like is if WRC adopted a more IRC style system for it's manufacturer points scoring. That way Citroen would be rewarded properly for it's current excellent performances and Ford might be encouraged to put better drivers in the supporting roles. How much more interesting could this year be for example with Ketomaa and PGA in 'Stobart' instead of Matthew and Henning.

    Regarding Matthew, maybe time to give him a different role at M-Sport, maybe encompassing some endurance testing and promotional driving, but nothing more...

  7. #17
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    Everything is wrong at ford at the moment from driver choice, future driver choice and development plan, they keep wilslow wasting away sposnor money for his tourist cravings with bringing nothing back apart from public ridicule.

    changing the rules will not change much, maybe at the start the cars are somehow equal but again as time passes the citroen team will again dominate.

  8. #18
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    Every expert here on this topic have a point.

    To sum up:

    Ford is done this year. MW is building up a team that, with the new Fiesta, might challenge the DS3: s next year.

    We don´t know what will happen to PG and Ford. Just that he´s gonna do Bulgaria. (And that gives him more tarmac experience - without any pressure on him)

    PG is best value for MW. Fast driver, hungry for full time job in WRC. Maybe not paying but not so much sallary either.

    Let´s hope the Fiesta 1,6T is as good as the S2000 version.
    "Reis vas pät pat kaar vas kut"
    Tommi Mäkinen, back in the years...

  9. #19
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    ketomaa is a better choice although i think both are for the moment not that close to sordo, let alone Loeb, ogier, solberg, latvala as speed s concerned

    Also PG is crashing a lot....which is not normal after all these years of experience.

  10. #20
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    and its not about driver, its about the whole planning of the team....Wilson has a team in the verge of being worse than the M2 team of their rivals and he keeps his son driving for no reason, its a disgrace to him, to his team and to the whole rally community.

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