WRC 2006 who was hot and who was not

[COD]

Stohl was probably the most positive surprise of the season, shows what a full season does to a driver. Also Pons upped his performance at the end of the season and matched wonderboy Sordo and that should not be forgotten. Also note Gardes brilliant performances on every round he did. Mikko should have been closer to Grönholm, for him I think next season will be "do or die".

Also positive was Peugeot overall. Stohl really sidelined Henning. Next year Henning will surely want a worst teammate, othervise he will look really bad..

[Brother John]

I am no deviner whom can look in the future!

[N.O.T]

Overall it was an ok year....it started good but ended in a dull way...

Loeb - 10....no explaining really he outclassed marcus on Tarmac by a mile and he also managed to be faster than him gravel.

Gronholm - 9 Very close on Loeb and the focus helped him to be competitive on tarmac this year

Hirvonen - 7 Showed great adaptation to the requirements of a top team and also showed that he is developing fast

Sordo - 7 winning pace on tarmac..still to work on gravel

Stohl - 5 the best of the rest

The best rally of the season for me was Japan....where Loeb gave a rally driving lesson.

I didn't like Cyprus, Acropolis and Turkey.

The subaru team was a dissapointment also...they were both ureliable and uncompetitive.

I was happy for ford finally winning the title after all these years of dedication to the sport....

I didn't like the Sponsor bike boy superstar antics...but i enjoyed seeing him being ridiculed in a true mans sport.

I didn't like the gap in the speed between Loeb-Gronholm and the others....it shows the sport need to focus more on bringing drivers with talent than drivers with sponsors....but that was an issue before this year as well.

[Tom206wrc]

Also positive was Peugeot overall. Stohl really sidelined Henning. Next year Henning will surely want a worst teammate, othervise he will look really bad..

Don't forget to mention Gigi Galli(especially in Argentina and Finland), Toni gardemeister(in Monte-Carlo), and Alexandre Bengué(especially in Spain) in your "privateer whales" chapter !!!

[A.F.F.]

Sebastien Loeb: 9,5 because I'm going to reward anyone with 10

Marcus Grönholm: 8,5 what can you say? Made a record nobody is interested. Really fast through out the year but those frigging mistakes

Mikko Hirvonen: 8 LOL. And this forum was ready to bury him a little over year ago. Jeez...

Wonderboy Sordo: 7 I dunno what heck happened. Seemed like a Loeb-copy but after Finland lost his self confidence. Anyways, it'll be interesting to see him next year. I bet he is going to be fast and most likely will score his maiden win on tarmac.

Xavier Pons: 7 I was ready to bury him but when Sordo sunk, Pons rised up like a Feenix. Well, not like a Feenix but was surprisingly fast and pretty consistent, I mean, compering to his team mate Sordo.

Petter Solberg: 7 Did what he could. Fell in to easy mistakes but only because tried so hard. I feel sorry for him because even Grönholm never faced that much bad luck and poor machinery. I really hope Petter is right up there on the top where he belongs next year.

Chris Atkinson: 6,5 Not a mark of his Young Gun-membership. Fast at moments but I for instance NEVER put him to my pickems and didn't lose much with that gamble. That ought to tell something

Mandfred Stohl: 8 Very positive, especially towards the end of the season. He seem a very nice guy too. Remind me a much of Gardemeister. Too bad either one of them isn't a winning guy.

Henning Solberg: 7,5 When I saw Henning live in Finland pushing that 307 he became a hero of mine Most of the score I gave him is because of his positive attitude. I like the guy.

Harri Rovanperä: 4 I know RBSkoda sucked. Everybody knows that but I can't help but thinking Harri didn't eve try much Disappointed.

Franqois Duval: 7 Best of Skoda drivers. I feel he still has a future in WRC.

Andreas Aigner: 5 Was better than Harri and think about how much less experience he has. Not sure he'll ever became a rally driver thou...


Matthew Wilson: 4 Well, this young lad got at least experience. But what do you expect. His daddy was never a winning guy either. I don't mind him rallying thou, because I also feel he provides important team seats for others.

[Wim_Impreza]

Sébastien Loeb: 9,5 - 8 wins and 4 second places in 12 rallies, it says enough

Marcus Grönholm: 9 - 7 wins with a new car is great, he made some mistakes but it was overall a good year for him.

Toni Gardemeister: 8,5 - Excellent performance in Monte-Carlo with 307 and then again very good with a 2002 Xsara

Manfred Stohl: 8 - Very good year for him, he finished all the rallies at that in a 307. He is also a very nice guy.

Gianluigi Galli: 8 - Good times in Monte-Carlo and a good fight with Carlsson in Sweden with Mitsubishi Lancer WRC, he was especially very strong in Argentina and Finland with 307

Mikko Hirvonen: 8 - Not a good start of the year for him, but in the second part of the season, he made strong results. In the last 10 rallies, he made 8 podium places.

Daniel Sordo: 7 - Good begin of the season with points in his first World Rally Car drive and 4th in Mexico. He was the best opponent for Loeb at tarmac. After his crash in Finland, he made that stupid mistake in Cyprus by the round about.

Henning Solberg: 7 - He has to much ups and downs. His speed in Sweden was very disappointed and he made to much mistakes. His drive in Finland and his first 3th place were highlights.

François Duval: 7 - He made some interesting times and in the end of the season, he made not so much mistakes. Good speed and only 26 years, he can again improve in the future.

Jan Kopecký: 7 - He made 3 best stage times and has much more experience than a year ago. I hope he can set next year again good times. I support this guy.

Alexandre Bengué: 7 - Good in tarmac rallies.

Jari-Matti Latvala: 7- Very much mistakes in the begin of the season. In the last 3 rallies, he really shows his talent. Great 4th place in Wales.

Daniel Carlsson: 7 – He had a great fight with Galli in Sweden, but his performance in Finland was not that good.

Petter Solberg: 6,5 - Terrible car and Solberg self wasn't so good this season. He made a couple of mistakes. Very disappointing season for him and Subaru.

Xavier Pons: 6,5 - Bad in the begin of the season, but in the end he had the speed and made in the last 4 rallies a top-5 finish.

Jussi Välimäki: 6,5 – Good performance for him this year.

Kosti Katajamäki: 6 - He did it very well in Turkey, but his pace in Sweden was a bit disappointed.

Andreas Aigner: 6 – I remember his excellent result in Germany and some good times in Turkey. He has the talent and was quicker than Rovanperä.

Gilles Panizzi: 6 – 4th after day 1 in Monte-Carlo was good, but than...

Kristian Sohlberg: 6 – He shows some good times in a ‘old’ Impreza WRC.

Luís Pérez-Companc: 6 – He has done a good job for a gentlemen-driver. Mostly quicker than Matthew Wilson too.

Stéphane Sarrazin: 5 - Disappointed season for him with to much mistakes.

Gareth MacHale: 5 – He was lucky with his 3 points in Mexico, only his second WRC event ever.

Janne Tuohino: 4 – I expected more from him in Sweden and Finland with a Xsara WRC.

Matthew Wilson: 4 – It was a disaster.

[Roy]

Hot:
Loeb. Champion without drive the last rally's
Focus. First Year very quick.

Not:
Subaru. 2005 was a worst car. This year again. No, worser.

Suprise:
Stohl. Finshed good.
Aigner. Was growing!

Doubt:
Henning Solberg. How many crashes?
Wilson. He is young. I give him some years.

I look forward to 2007.
Many Ford teams
Fight between Citroen and (many) Ford drivers.

[J4MIE]

The most impressive part of the season for me was Loeb coming back in Monte. Awesome!!

Otherwise I agree with the averages. They are about right, everyone knows how they performed overall.

[jens]

P. Solberg's season was a disaster, but I think that in driving ability he should be able to match Loeb and Grönholm, although due to an unsuccessful season you are rating him clearly lower.

After them I would name Gardemeister, Galli (both really shone, when they got a chance), Sordo (rookie of the year), Stohl and Hirvonen (in terms of speed probably not the best ones, but ibid pretty consistent and bring their cars to finish) and also I won't rule out Atkinson (same stuff as Solberg).

Latvala has progressed at the end of the season, the same about Pons. Duval - drove too little to give an accurate opinion. H. Solberg - had his moments as well, but generally a bit weaker than Stohl.

Don't know, how to rate the rookies like Aigner and Wilson. Maybe next year gives us a better answer.

As the cars were very unequal this season, then it is really tough to rate anyone's level accurately.

[Luckin]

+ Loeb vs. Gronholm - nice battles, usually very tight (remember Japan)
+ OMV Peugeot Norway - reliable cars, good drivers
+ Eye in the Sky - makes even boring rally pretty good experience

- Subaru - lot of work during Christmas maybe?
- wrc.com - ridiculous (despite being slightly better than last year)
- too few WRC cars on most events