[WRC] Rallye Monte Carlo 2021

[Myrvold]

The sad thing is that there are so few WRC cars in this era that Greensmith is a gentleman driver and after a slow stage time is still 7th overall...

Nothing new really. Matthew Wilson had some 7th places overall in seasons where he got a lot of 5th and 6th places in rallies.

And was it not in 2006 where Manfred Stohl got 4th in the championship with the privateer-run 307? All respect to him, he is a PWRC World Champ after all, but it wasn't exactly a sign of the strength of the WRC-field in 06!

[focus206]

Nothing new really. Matthew Wilson had some 7th places overall in seasons where he got a lot of 5th and 6th places in rallies.

And was it not in 2006 where Manfred Stohl got 4th in the championship with the privateer-run 307? All respect to him, he is a PWRC World Champ after all, but it wasn't exactly a sign of the strength of the WRC-field in 06!

I don't consider Stohl anywhere close a gentleman driver nor a slow driver... he was doing great also in the Kronos Xsara in 2005 against 6 works team. And Wilson achieved few 5th places in what, 6 full seasons? But I do remember Rautenbach getting a 4th place in Argentina in 2008, so I guess you need to go back to early 2000s to have really strong fields, which is a long time ago.

[Myrvold]

I don't consider Stohl anywhere close a gentleman driver nor a slow driver... he was doing great also in the Kronos Xsara in 2005 against 6 works team. And Wilson achieved few 5th places in what, 6 full seasons? But I do remember Rautenbach getting a 4th place in Argentina in 2008, so I guess you need to go back to early 2000s to have really strong fields, which is a long time ago.

The Krono Xsara was a better car than the 307 though. His absolute top results in 05 came in Cyprus or Acropolis (one of those abrasive, rallies) and the Australia where all top guys retired, Duval won and Rovanperä in the Lancer was 2nd. In 07 Stohl was back to that pace again.
If you look at Wilson and Greensmith, the results are quite similar, 7th, 8th, 9th, random 5th and so on.

Obviously the huge difference is that Wilson was just an added driver who didn't really take the seat from anyone at all. A bit like Katsuta in the 4th Toyota.

Anyway, my point was, that while the quality overall is a bit "meh" in 2021. It's not that much different from some of the late-mid 00's.

[TWRC]

The Krono Xsara was a better car than the 307 though. His absolute top results in 05 came in Cyprus or Acropolis (one of those abrasive, rallies) and the Australia where all top guys retired, Duval won and Rovanperä in the Lancer was 2nd. In 07 Stohl was back to that pace again.
If you look at Wilson and Greensmith, the results are quite similar, 7th, 8th, 9th, random 5th and so on.

Obviously the huge difference is that Wilson was just an added driver who didn't really take the seat from anyone at all. A bit like Katsuta in the 4th Toyota.

Anyway, my point was, that while the quality overall is a bit "meh" in 2021. It's not that much different from some of the late-mid 00's.

Was it better for Manfred though? He loves swinging the car around, and the oversteery 307 matched that style exactly, and was a match for the works cars during almost the entire season. I think he struggled for pace much more with the Xsara, especially in 2007, when he crashed a lot (Catalunya, Finland comes to my mind instantly).

[Eli]

The Krono Xsara was a better car than the 307 though. His absolute top results in 05 came in Cyprus or Acropolis (one of those abrasive, rallies) and the Australia where all top guys retired, Duval won and Rovanperä in the Lancer was 2nd. In 07 Stohl was back to that pace again.
If you look at Wilson and Greensmith, the results are quite similar, 7th, 8th, 9th, random 5th and so on.

Obviously the huge difference is that Wilson was just an added driver who didn't really take the seat from anyone at all. A bit like Katsuta in the 4th Toyota.

Anyway, my point was, that while the quality overall is a bit "meh" in 2021. It's not that much different from some of the late-mid 00's.

Well it's difficult when the championship only runs 2 & a half manufacturers, the FIA should really get a move on...but I wouldn't trust they'd make the right decisions as they have up to this point.

[jparker]

Nothing new really. Matthew Wilson had some 7th places overall in seasons where he got a lot of 5th and 6th places in rallies.

From what I remember, Wilson's pace wasn't that far from top. Greensmith much slower, I think.

[focus206]

From what I remember, Wilson's pace wasn't that far from top. Greensmith much slower, I think.

You quoted me, but I didn't say that

[Myrvold]

From what I remember, Wilson's pace wasn't that far from top. Greensmith much slower, I think.

I was of the impression that he was. So having no life these days, I went through all his WRC point finishes:
3.26 behind in NZ 2010, 3.53 behind in Finland 2011, 4.17 behind in Poland 2009 and 4.20 behind in Turkey 2008. Those are the only rallies where Wilson was within 5 minutes of the winner. Usually he was 7-9 minutes off.
Even when he got 4th, the top three was separated by 45 seconds, he was 8 min behind 3rd.

He was a safe pair of hands though. Not much mistakes by him.

[jparker]

I was of the impression that he was. So having no life these days, I went through all his WRC point finishes:
3.26 behind in NZ 2010, 3.53 behind in Finland 2011, 4.17 behind in Poland 2009 and 4.20 behind in Turkey 2008. Those are the only rallies where Wilson was within 5 minutes of the winner. Usually he was 7-9 minutes off.
Even when he got 4th, the top three was separated by 45 seconds, he was 8 min behind 3rd.

He was a safe pair of hands though. Not much mistakes by him.

Well, wait for the rally to finish. Greensmith ~1.5 min away from top time after 2 stages.