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Thread: Citroen WRT
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3rd November 2017, 12:07 #881
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https://www.facebook.com/mwmsports/p...91829974349942
Citroën-hopes were crushed when the team was forced to run only two factory cars in 2018 and one under PH-Sport.
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3rd November 2017, 13:29 #882
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It sounds like Meeke wasn't listened to during the testing and development phase as much as he should've been (obviously that doesn't excuse some of his crashes). Matton has already admitted they took some big risks in engineering and development (maybe things they learned from their wtcc time?), and it has now backfired (his words). Meeke has also spoken about how he wanted another experienced driver alongside him during the testing program but that didn't happen either, and it took them until Andreas came in to reinforce how undrivable the car was, before they finally made some much needed changes (changes that Meeke said he'd been pushing for since before the season started).
It's like they were being so tight with the budget and didn't want to make changes to the car until they were sure the car needed it, hence finally hiring Mikkelsen for a few rallies (despite the fact he should've been in the team over Lefebrve anyway). Or they just didn't trust Meeke at all, and if that's the case, why let him be main test driver? They should've just let Loeb do the majority of that work if they didn't have faith in what Meeke was telling them. It's hard to tell if it's complete arrogance from Matton that his way and only his way is correct (so much so he ignores drivers feedback and his own eyes), or if his hands have been tied massively with the budget and the risks taken in engineering and development were made to save money (and not necessarily to try and find that extra bit of performance).
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3rd November 2017, 13:38 #883
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If true that's depressing. A year of that and then they'll be leaving in 2019. You have to question why they'd leave wtcc where they were dominating, and return to the WRC and piss about with this half arsed approach? This is/was the greatest team in WRC history but they have certainly tried hard since their return to look the exact opposite.
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3rd November 2017, 15:31 #884
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I can't make much sense of that blog tbh.
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6th November 2017, 13:32 #885
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If we believe that in every rumour there’s a bit of truth, eventually this PH Sport story may not be the confirmation of Citroen’s debacle (like the Finn journo suggests) but quite the opposite.
At same point of this ‘novel’, the clash between Abu Dhabi and red Bull come out; apparently there’s a RB partial ban in the Emirates and to get the third C3 under PH Sport assistance (basically only using PHS name) could make everybody happy: Ogier and Meeke on the Citroen/RB main cars and Al Qassimi/Breen sharing the Abu Dhabi one.
Btw, a similar arrangement was done on Al Qassimi cross country runs (including the Dakar): he got a 2008 from Peugeot but it was run under a PH Sport entry.
This may sound as silly wishfully thinking, but Citroen needs Ogier and the WRC needs Citroen so, fingers crossed!Rally addict since 1982
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15th November 2017, 13:05 #886
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L’Equipe says Citroen didn’t offer enough money to Ogier but Matton has simply said the “demanded resources” weren’t fulfilled and talks have ended some days ago (Autohebdo).
Probably we’ll never know what went wrong but it’s hard to believe that money was the real issue; Citroen Racing is part of Europe’s second largest car group and they know pretty well how much it takes to win at WRC level.
Maybe Ogier was asking for too many changes in Citroen Racing structure; maybe the Red Bull/Abu Dhabi clash was impossible to fix (although it won’t prevent Al Qassimi to enter next Dakar on a last spec Peugeot); maybe Loeb’s sudden reappearance didn’t make Ogier happy; one thing is sure: Citroen missed their best change to get back to a winning path. That’s a shame.Rally addict since 1982
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15th November 2017, 13:34 #887
Citroën critical mistake was not stay with Mikkelsen.
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15th November 2017, 13:59 #888
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15th November 2017, 14:19 #889
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I predict that 2018 will be the last year of Citroën in the WRC...
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15th November 2017, 14:19 #890
Almost all Finn's since Paavo Nurmi who are fast in their sport have been called "Flying", particularly the 1960's rally drivers, but I was actually thinking of "Flying Finnish" - the timing line at...
What's the first thing to come to...