[WRC] Rallye Monte Carlo 2022

[becher]

Nope. For 4 years ( 2009-2012) there were 2 teams. Out of these Loeb's teammates were basically not allowed to fight him. (Sordo Spain, Ogier etc..).

Personally I think Loeb could achieve same type of results like Ogier, it's just that there was no opportunity.

Beating a mentally broken Latvala and a still developing Mikkelsen for four years is hardly any more impressive.

[focus206]

For me Ogier has better results (with 3 different manus and complete domination over everyone including Latvala in VW).
Loeb could have possibly gotten as good results, but "sadly" for him the competition was rather thin during some of his career and he never had to change teams.

I don't agree. "Beating Latvala in VW", as if Latvala has ever been in the fight for any title except for 2014, but still at a distance. Hirvonen, who everyone underestimates, was leagues above Latvala in terms of being a complete driver and a threat for the title, he was way more consistent.
Gronholm, Solberg, Hirvonen, Sainz and the others made up for a very good competition, especially at the beginning of Loeb's career.
Then we had 2009-2010, with only 2 manufacturers and Hirvonen being the only real threat (as Latvala was crashing too often anyway), before winning the 2011 title against Hirvonen and Ogier, and again in 2012 with Hirvonen as teammate.
On the other hand Ogier had a very thin competition during his VW days, with other cars unable to compete and teammates who never fought for championships.
I agree that Ogier has the plus of winning titles with different manufacturers, but to me it doesn't go much further than that.

[dimviii]

This is funny, a bit try hard aren't you?

The best argument is that Ogier didn't beat any world champions, kinda hard when the guy that took previous 9 left.

the funny is that YOU said that Ogier had better competition.
Explain to us how Latvala,Mikkelsen,Breen,Neuville etc is ''bigger competition'' against Sainz,Kankunnen,Mc Rae,Gronholm etc.

[doubled1978]

+1
Also throughout the first stages, Isabelle was quite off the pace with her notes, first stage too fast, second often late. You could hear the direct feedback towards her at the end of the stages. It's not surprising given her limited experience with fast cars and drivers, that there was a bit of a struggle to start with. He never mentioned any of it in the stage-end interviews even while it visibly frustrated him. There is a lot many people can learn from Loeb, not just rally drivers.

That is because he was looking to help her, to help him, rather than use her as an excuse why he didn’t achieve XYZ.
And it worked, she got herself in rhythm and off they went.
Let’s be honest, she was probably extremely nervous as well….

[Danny0405]

Great job for M-Sport and Loeb who catches the oldest winner record.

On a more global basis, difficult to make a clear evaluation on this one because Monte is a special rally + maybe some test days not adapted (Hyundai?) and also the car development is not fully finished (Hyundai again?)

However, if we make a short-term evaluation:

- the 2 Sebs still prove to be the greatest. I must admit I’m not a huge fan of the situation of seeing them (especially Ogier as he is the incumbent WC) making stints in their favorite rallies or with favorable road positions because it lowers the credit given to the future champion, all the more than the others cannot take the same level of risk (except Evans ). But, okay, I can understand the 2 Sebs enjoy to make WRC rallies.

- as in 2017, Ford has a very good car from the start of the season; the main difference is that they do not have an identified (full-time) top-class driver as Ogier and also the high-potential drivers behind the leader are still too soft. I think it will be really complicated for the manufacturer championship against Toyota, even with Loeb in 2 or 3 additional rallies. The question mark is to know if Breen can make a skyrocketing progression such as Tanak to be in the game for WDC; first day was not really good compared with his colleagues but, in the end, he has reached the best result he could hope, considering he has not driven here for a while (+ his test crash).
Greensmith proves he is not only a paying driver; deserved top-5 (even far) after all the troubles with some good times and consistency in the 1st day, a little more average after. He should deliver some good results through the year but probably a little short for the manufacturer championship (all the more if he is reliable so he would not benefit from very good road positions)
Fourmaux already under pressure with a new mistake. He will have to be really cautious in the next 2-3 rallies.
Maybe a little question mark about reliability also with the troubles underwent by Greensmith + a little for Loeb (but not a big concern compared with Hyundai).

- Toyota, maybe the best car now or close with Ford and a proven good bunch of drivers with almost no reliability issues.
For the manufacturer championship, I could be wrong but they confirm to be favorite by far even if behind Ford in championship standings right now: the car is good, the Lappi/Ogier duo may be terrific whereas Hyundai will have to solve reliability issues (and a questionable 3rd car) and M-Sport lacks big drivers.
Would be a little more worried on the WDC; Evans made a new blockhead decision which is not the best thing for your main championship contender; Rovanperä had a lackluster first day as he has sometimes even if he was really solid for the rest with a good result overall. In the end, not much lose but still to be analyzed.
New mistake by Katsuta who gives 2 additional points to Hyundai and which does not end his negative strike since half of last year even if he finishes 8th overall. I personally think that Toyota is too permissive with him.

- really difficult for Hyundai. Bad testing conditions affect the 1st day; the rythm was not bad during the Friday (but not better than the others) and a lot of reliability issues ... and reliability is not easy to solve within a season (Toyota had to wait 2018 to solve most of their reliability issues). And already a lot of manufacturer points lost with no 2nd car at the finish.
Really worried for Tanak, I’m not sure this new regulation suits his driving style and if the car is far, it might be a terrible year all the more if he adds bad decisions (1 spare tyre).
The only positive for them is that they have probably the best full-time driver with Neuville: he makes less blockhead choices than Evans (in the last years at least), he is more polyvalent than Rovanperä, more experienced than Breen and he has shown last year that he is more tenacious than Tanak with a bad car. And Neuville did not lose too much ground against Rovanperä and Breen. So if Hyundai’s car has the best improvement margin (which would sound logical), he is not out of the game for the WDC and the big series of gravel rally may help them.
I Don’t know what to say about Solberg because the smoke thing seems to be a big constraint, let’s hope Sweden will be more relevant.

- in WRC-2, Citroen clearly matches Skoda now for the level of the car. Still, even if he has been contested, Mikkelsen’s win here against a bunch of Citroen French drivers is a big hit. Only Rossel saves the minimum but still, it’s a lot of points lost for the championship.
The young Skoda-affiliated bunch (Bulacia, Gryazin, Ingram and we can add Lindholm) is probably a little soft to be sure to clinch the title against Rossel, Suninen, Huttunen and maybe Ostberg. So Toksport will probably use Mikkelsen for a full 7-rally program (only MC was in the deal until now) and he will be difficult to beat with his Ogier-approach.
Big result from Cais for his 1st Monte, clearly a high prospect to follow.

[mknight]

the funny is that YOU said that Ogier had better competition.
Explain to us how Latvala,Mikkelsen,Breen,Neuville etc is ''bigger competition'' against Sainz,Kankunnen,Mc Rae,Gronholm etc.

Kankunnen did many seasons vs Loeb? McRae? Sainz did two and was basically same age as Loeb is now.
Skip over Tanak and mention Breen that never won a rally vs Ogier....jeez.

Yes I think that Ogier had better competition and rules (2 day gravel clearing) and other issues (VW exit, "semi works" MSport ) against him so that I rate his results higher. But think that Loeb could have achieved same results if he was in same situation.

As a person I like Loeb better.

Yet you two malakas have to go full retard...

[NOT]

entry list monte 2004

https://www.ewrc-results.com/entries...te-carlo-2004/

entry list monte 2013

https://www.ewrc-results.com/entries...te-carlo-2013/

LOL

but yeah... ogier beat a driver with mental issues that retired at 30 and a driver that lost a cghampionship by crashing on super specials... and he lost to a driver that made mcrae look consistent....

[René]

https://twitter.com/CSainz_oficial/s...501594634?s=20

https://twitter.com/F1MikaHakkinen/s...929851399?s=20

[NOT]

https://twitter.com/CSainz_oficial/s...501594634?s=20

https://twitter.com/F1MikaHakkinen/s...929851399?s=20

can you imagine anyone apart from that butthurt colin clark (who was never man enough anyways and he did not make a single comment regarding Loebs win) nobody referring to Ogier as legend ?

the sick dog will be forgotten in no time...

[djip]

in WRC-2, Citroen clearly matches Skoda now for the level of the car. Still, even if he has been contested, Mikkelsen’s win here against a bunch of Citroen French drivers is a big hit. Only Rossel saves the minimum but still, it’s a lot of points lost for the championship.
The young Skoda-affiliated bunch (Bulacia, Gryazin, Ingram and we can add Lindholm) is probably a little soft to be sure to clinch the title against Rossel, Suninen, Huttunen and maybe Ostberg. So Toksport will probably use Mikkelsen for a full 7-rally program (only MC was in the deal until now) and he will be difficult to beat with his Ogier-approach.
Big result from Cais for his 1st Monte, clearly a high prospect to follow.

Mikkelsen did a good job and starts his season proper (even if he was less dominant than last year, and even less then the year before where he was stellar)

The most impressive must have been Rossel : for his first "big league" rally, he could have won save for a few last day mistakes. This young fella has a bright future given that he probably still has a lot of upside. He is also no slouch on gravel, as demonstrated last year (Acropolis), wich is unsual for a french driver.

Amongst the "Skoda-affiliated bunch", Gryazin has been pretty impressive. He was one of the fastest WRC2 following his first day technical issue (brakes) who cost him 3min ... less than the final gap to Mikkelsen. For someone who has been so crash-prone, he drove a fast and sensible rally. Don't discard him for the title.

I was pretty impressed also by the speed of the Citroen folks (Camilli, Lefebvre) although both crashed. Don't discard them on tarmac rallies to come. Lesser expectatins on gravel - They missed a golden opportunity for the title here...