Results 1 to 10 of 33
-
31st October 2017, 15:22 #1
International Rally Driver of the Year - 2017
So, Autsport have released their list of nominated drivers for the award. They include:
- Elfyn Evans
- Jari-Matti Latvala
- Kris Meeke
- Thierry Neuville
- Sébastien Ogier
- Ott Tänak
Who's your pick and why?
Tough to pick between the M-Sport boys in my opinion. Ott and Elfyn have delivered the demands of them taking the next step this season in great fashion, while Ogier was incredibly consistent this year. Ogier clinches my vote, but only just. I would be fine with one of the M-Sport drivers getting the award.
Surprised to see Meeke nominated. I think he has done nothing different in 2017, won some and crashed some more, things we already know he was capable of.
-
31st October 2017, 15:51 #2
- Join Date
- Oct 2015
- Location
- Lithuania
- Posts
- 386
- Like
- 803
- Liked 248 Times in 125 Posts
I personally would pick Tanak - he's fast, quite reliable, breakthrough year for him - win on gravel and tarmac, few podiums also, he is podium contender on every rally, and can fight for win in most of rallies. But Ogier is champion, so probably he'll win it.
- Likes: rallye-vid (31st October 2017)
-
31st October 2017, 16:17 #3
- Join Date
- Jul 2003
- Location
- Estonia
- Posts
- 2,556
- Like
- 10,751
- Liked 1,544 Times in 663 Posts
Must be Ogier. Tänak did mistakes that cost him the real chance to fight for the championship, Neuville most of the time blindingly fast and then we saw mysterious drop of speed in the summer + really stupid mistakes. Both guys very fast but still inconsistent. Seb O. was clever and of course all champs need a tiny bit of luck as well
Sent from my ONEPLUS A3003 using Tapatalk
- Likes: WRC1 (31st October 2017)
-
31st October 2017, 16:28 #4
- Join Date
- Nov 2013
- Location
- Scotland
- Posts
- 3,238
- Like
- 2,598
- Liked 2,276 Times in 1,070 Posts
Ogier obviously
Sent from my SM-G920F using Tapatalk
-
31st October 2017, 16:46 #5
- Join Date
- May 2005
- Posts
- 5,805
- Like
- 337
- Liked 3,795 Times in 1,982 Posts
Ogier - involuntarily new team and car, immediately wins first rally and then the title due to both speed and consistency
The others in just about this order:
Tanak - sure he put himself on the map with 2 wins, but he also was involved with the fiesta from the very start and didn't win the title, now probably also lost 2nd (should have done the award after australia), so barely behind Ogier in my eyes.
Neuville - fastest driver of the year and a real title contender, but showed he still needs some more consistency (Sweden stands out the most)
Latvala - after disastrous 2016 and declining form he was actually both fast and stable in an new car, good job. But he has been driving and winning rallies on this level for quite a while, so nothing totally new.
Evans - really impossible to judge performance both ways, say if DMACK was 0.5s faster in Wales that would mean that on equal tires he could have ended 7th. Similarly maybe DMACK was 0.5 slower on tarmac or other gravel rallies and he had rally winning speed... pretty impossible to judge with only 1 driver on those tires.
Meeke -bad joke from brit. journalists? The only real positive is winning in Spain after crashing/mistakes in 5 consecutive rallies. But as mentioned here he has done that many times before, win something after crashing a lot. Considering he was pointed as main title candidate before the start of the year I can't see how this qualifies for any award. Also Finland and Germany have shown that others can also drive the C3 faster than him.Last edited by mknight; 31st October 2017 at 16:54.
- Likes: BigWorm (31st October 2017)
-
31st October 2017, 17:16 #6
- Join Date
- Jun 2007
- Location
- Prague / Eastern Bohemia
- Posts
- 22,505
- Like
- 7,833
- Liked 11,152 Times in 4,427 Posts
Ogier or Tänak for me.
Stupid is as stupid does. Forrest Gump
-
31st October 2017, 17:20 #7
Latvala, Tanak or Ogier all good for me.
-
31st October 2017, 18:43 #8
- Join Date
- Jul 2017
- Posts
- 44
- Like
- 0
- Liked 36 Times in 17 Posts
Im a huge Meeke fan but how the hell is he nominated? Evans has had a great year, but I'd have to say Ogier. IMHO I think this seasons title has taken him above Loeb.
-
31st October 2017, 19:46 #9
- Likes: Adler (31st October 2017),AnttiL (1st November 2017),cali (1st November 2017),dimviii (31st October 2017),gorganl2000 (3rd November 2017),pantealex (1st November 2017)
-
31st October 2017, 20:05 #10
- Join Date
- Nov 2005
- Posts
- 1,873
- Like
- 4
- Liked 27 Times in 15 Posts
You mean Ogier comes into a new team who's car is not builded for him. And if it is not enough gamble, M-Sport is a half private team with less financial resources.
Ogier is champion with two teams. We saw Makkinen struggle after the switch from Mitsubishi to Subaru. Loeb hasn't make a switch. He stays with the French PSA family.
Number facts about how fast Loeb was are right. The switch to this team make him Champion in the first year at M-sport makes Ogier 'great'. For me he is.
Chinese Grand Prix: More competitive race for Williams. The 2024 Chinese GP would see the Williams Racing Team again come away with another failure to score points but this race would see a more...
2024 Formula 1 Preview &...