François Duval in Germany

[Priorat]

Not really surprising at all

I think Duval is a perfect example of the tarmac specialist. A role which sadly died out in the WRC when the 3rd driver rule was dumped

I think the WRC was far more interesting when teams brought in specialist drivers for tarmac and certain gravel events

I would not be surprised to see Duval in the rest of tarmac rallys doing this role. And could be with Citroën or Ford.

[Daniel]

Agreed

I think he was quite fast on gravel and he was getting faster -
.... just those errors

Sad thing about the rally today is that the stages are mostly dull one (maximum two) man show while there are superfast drivers fishing or dogwalking somewhere.

Bring back all Gigis and Dudus

The problem is that the Gigi's and Dudu's don't actually end up scoring the points in the end. Duval was shown up king Carlosin 2005 who came in and scored points when all Duval was doing was racking up DNF's.

Galli. Why do we always hear this name around? Sure he was a flamboyant driver but flamboyance doesn't necessarily get you championships.

In 2005 Carlos drove 2 rallies and got 11 points. Gigi did 16 and got 14 points. Are you starting to get the picture here? Even Duval managed 47 points. While it's somewhat unfair to compare a Mitsu driver against a Xsara driver it still illustrates the point.

[Daniel]

I would not be surprised to see Duval in the rest of tarmac rallys doing this role. And could be with Citroën or Ford.

It's almost certain Citroen are merely getting Duval to drive the Xsara to lessen the amount of points Gronholm gets. I somehow doubt that Ford would get Duval in a Ford. He would merely be taking points off Gronholm in the process. Employing a specialist driver only works if you know your driver is going to be finishing in front of who you want the specialist to take points from.

[Daniel]

I do very much think that Duval and Mikko could decide this championship.

If he can get in front of Gronholm in each tarmac rally which is perfectly possible and Loeb wins each rally than Loeb will take at least 4 points more than Gronholm. Considering there are 3 more tarmac rallies left that's 12 points that Loeb potentially has in his pocket and Gronholm only has an 8 point lead. But on the other hand the same could happen on the gravel rallies with Mikko but I wouldn't bet on it because the performance difference between the C4 and Focus on gravel isn't as big as the one on tarmac

[Priorat]

I do very much think that Duval and Mikko could decide this championship.

If he can get in front of Gronholm in each tarmac rally which is perfectly possible and Loeb wins each rally than Loeb will take at least 4 points more than Gronholm. Considering there are 3 more tarmac rallies left that's 12 points that Loeb potentially has in his pocket and Gronholm only has an 8 point lead. But on the other hand the same could happen on the gravel rallies with Mikko but I wouldn't bet on it because the performance difference between the C4 and Focus on gravel isn't as big as the one on tarmac

Well, in fact Marcus was just a cow apart of beating Duval.
Where the rally is held in Catalunya, there are no cows.
There are in Corse (ask Mäkinen) but Duval could drive a Suzuki.
And don't know about Ireland (perhaps more sheep than cows).

Seriously, Sordo will be more of a danger for Marcus than Duval and don't think Loeb have to worry about Hirvonen on gravel yet.

[DonJippo]

don't think Loeb have to worry about Hirvonen on gravel yet.

Results from NORF 2007 tell something different...

[MikeD]

What Citroen must hope for - for at least one tarmac rally - is that both Sordo and Duval will get in front of Gronholm.

The gravel events can go to both Loeb and Gronholm, but I doubt that Mikko will be able to take points from Loeb in those events.

And then, of course there is the question of possible DNF's. Gronholm hasn't had a single DNF this year, and as it looks now he will most likely have to avoid that to win the title. On the other hand, if Loeb gets a DNF it's game over for him.

It for sure is a thriller season.

[Priorat]

Results from NORF 2007 tell something different...

Results from all gravel rallys but NORF 2007 says Loeb is faster

[kubiczech]

The problem is that the Gigi's and Dudu's don't actually end up scoring the points in the end.

I know what you mean and agree with you. They are (were?) not able to avoid mistakes, but the picture and drama of the rally is far more interesting with more driver able to keep top pace.

The bad thing i want to say is the sport got SO expensive, drivers have so few chances to get experience. Yes, Giggi crashes a lot, but how long Petter was crashing before his title season? and what did we all think about Mikkos season at Subaru?

[White Sauron]

Results from all gravel rallys but NORF 2007 says Loeb is faster

I wonder when people start to beleive in Mikko, even after he beat Loeb square and fair in Norway and Finalnd??