[WRC] 86th Rallye Monte-Carlo 2018 (Jan 22-28)

[steve.mandzij]

Rumours about Bouffier in 3rd M-Sport car. Comeback to specialists days?

Pleeeease let the specialist days come back! I loved the diversity of having Rovanperä on one rally and Panizzi on the next.

I will ask though, who was Peugeot's tarmac specialist in 2004? I know that Panizzi was with them during the 206 days, but in 2004 he did some outings with the shitty Lancer. Was it Freddy Loix, or did he also share events with others like Cedric Robert?

Sent from my Pixel using Tapatalk

[Barreis]

I should say both, Loix and Robert. but Loix somehow didn't have confidence for that team...

[AnttiL]

The difference is that M-sport needs money from drivers, they're not really hiring specialists for certain events. If, say, Suninen doesn't have the budget for a whole season, the seat's open for anyone with a bag of cash on the remaining events.

[dimviii]

I should say both, Loix and Robert. but Loix somehow didn't have confidence for that team...

did he had in Mitsubishi days?

[Barreis]

did he had in Mitsubishi days?

no, but he was good in toyota days

[dimviii]

no, but he was good in toyota days

what did he achieved as he was ''confident'' at Toyota?

[Barreis]

well, he posted some good stage times and finished good on some rallies. that's why mitsu signed him, right?!

[dimviii]

well, he posted some good stage times and finished good on some rallies. that's why mitsu signed him, right?!

so he did nothing, while he was at several years at works teams with top championship winning cars at their era.

[macebig]

well, he posted some good stage times and finished good on some rallies. that's why mitsu signed him, right?!

Not really. Cowan signed him partly because he was coming with a very nice Marlboro sponsorship. He showed some flashes of speed with the Celica and the Corolla, but never kept on his early promises.

[tommeke_B]

so he did nothing, while he was at several years at works teams with top championship winning cars at their era.

Maybe you have to look to the archives to see what he did... He actually finished 2nd in his first WRC event with a 4WD car, and after that did more podiums with Toyota. Freddy is a driver with a lot of technical knowledge (that's why Skoda worked with him for the development of the Fabia S2000 and R5, or why he is still doing the testing-work for Michelin to develop their tires). But I think he can't perform well when not everything is to his liking, which was the case at Mitsubishi and Peugeot with the whale. Going to Mitsubishi was the biggest mistake in his career. Saying "he did nothing" is completely wrong, dimviii.