Exciting '11 drivers battle.

[tmx]

This is the first time I'm interested in watching WRC again since Hirvonen lost the championship in '09. Three championship contenders!

Will it be a case like Kimi in 07 where Mikko drives cool and takes the win while the two Citroen boys battle it out and makes mistakes?

Will Ogier follow teams order and support Loeb or go for glory?

If Loeb wins, what new motorsport discipline will be trying out?

Will this see an emergence of Mini capable of fighting for the victory and open up a wider battle for '12?

I must say this is good timing as F1 has been dull lately. I think Ogier should go for it, Citroen and Loeb won't be happy, but we'll get to see Loeb again in '12 if he doesn't win for the 8th time. Though I have my finger crossed for Hirvonen.

[focus206]

Loeb will be in WRC in 2012 and 2013 with Citroen, regardless if he wins the title or not.

[N.O.T]

stick to F1...

do not try and integrate the mentality those girls at F1 have with Rallying because the result is threads like this....

[Plan9]

I hope Ogier wins this year but also I am hoping Citroen does not intervene in his battle with Loeb

[bretddog]

Loeb got a real challenge now, it will be interesting to see how he will cope. In Spain he needs to at least get into next position behind Ogier;

If the Sebs are in adjacent positions at end of leg 3, team orders will put Loeb first, as he will have most points to beat Mikko. Ogier-Sordo-Loeb however, would be an interesting position. It would leave Ogier/Loeb with 218/211 points, where a swap will not be justified.

It's really a smack in the face to have a gravel day as first leg of a tarmac rally, with current starting orders.

[Mintexmemory]

Loeb got a real challenge now, it will be interesting to see how he will cope. In Spain he needs to at least get into next position behind Ogier;

If the Sebs are in adjacent positions at end of leg 3, team orders will put Loeb first, as he will have most points to beat Mikko. Ogier-Sordo-Loeb however, would be an interesting position. It would leave Ogier/Loeb with 218/211 points, where a swap will not be justified.

It's really a smack in the face to have a gravel day as first leg of a tarmac rally, with current starting orders.
I predict JML having to give Mikko a place again for the 3rd event running. Jari-Matti has shown he is extremely good at mixed surfaces on gravel tyres so I'd take him to be in the first 2 on Friday. After that Mikko will be driving for a finish and hope the Sebs knock each other out. I think he'll be disappointed

[N.O.T]

Latvala is very good when he has the braking points of the guys infront as a mark...when he has to create them he doesn;t cope well....we will see.

Catalunya is a very demanding event....i doubt it will go down to who is the fastest.

[dimviii]

Catalunya is a very demanding event....i doubt it will go down to who is the fastest.
I also don t think it,i expect Loeb to don t attack at maximum,be in front of Hirvonen,and if the gaps allow it, a swap with Ogier if he is in front of Loeb.
Now seems that Ogier have accept the no2 role ,is not difficult scenario.
Loeb just needs to finish both rallies,and to have a reliable car.There is no matter of speed against Mikko.
Big part in this game will be the weather in England.

[Doon]

I also don t think it,i expect Loeb to don t attack at maximum,be in front of Hirvonen,and if the gaps allow it, a swap with Ogier if he is in front of Loeb.
Now seems that Ogier have accept the no2 role ,is not difficult scenario.
Loeb just needs to finish both rallies,and to have a reliable car.There is no matter of speed against Mikko.
Big part in this game will be the weather in England.

Who cares about the weather in England? The Rally is in Wales ;) .....and no, the weather won't be the same in both!!

[dimviii]

Who cares about the weather in England? The Rally is in Wales ;) .....and no, the weather won't be the same in both!!

lol my bad Doon.That i d like to mention is that in muddy surface Mikko could be a threat to Loeb.

[N.O.T]

in 2009 it was very muddy....and Hirvonen had the advantage of opening the road on day 1...when he was running 2nd on day 2 he lost everything.

[dimviii]

in 2009 it was very muddy....and Hirvonen had the advantage of opening the road on day 1...when he was running 2nd on day 2 he lost everything.
Lets hope for a different Mikko this year,even if i doubt it.I d like a finale till the last stage,even power stage.

[N.O.T]

I think its hard for mikko to "turn on" now after a whole year of cruising and quitting..... I think if he tries to go flat out he most likely will be out of rythm and be even slower than he is now or it can end badly.

[306 Cosworth]

Stop talking such utter ****e.

[GINE]

Let's talk hypothetically: for 2112 Ogier is a Ford driver and Mikko a Citroen driver. Will Ogier slow down in the last rally to help Loeb if needed? If Mikko is out of contention in Wales will he help Loeb to beat Ogier if needed?

[N.O.T]

Let's talk hypothetically: for 2112 Ogier is a Ford driver and Mikko a Citroen driver. Will Ogier slow down in the last rally to help Loeb if needed? If Mikko is out of contention in Wales will he help Loeb to beat Ogier if needed?

well for Ogier the answer is easy he will do what the team says, no matter what, i think when you get payed millions you act as a professional, otherwise Ogier could cheat on Loeb in Australia as well...

Hirvonen on the other hand will be more free to do what he wants since Ford will not have any benefit since they will ot win anything from it.... maybe they have a small benefit if Ogier wins since they can brag they got a world champion in their ranks...but i think thats a bit far fetched.

[N.O.T]

Stop talking such utter ****e.

no need to get upset....use the ignore function....its the quitters way, and very popular also.

[dimviii]

Let's talk hypothetically: for 2112 Ogier is a Ford driver and Mikko a Citroen driver. Will Ogier slow down in the last rally to help Loeb if needed? If Mikko is out of contention in Wales will he help Loeb to beat Ogier if needed?

In case of Ogier i dont think so.The first reason is that you are a Citroen employ with a contract,and that is not proffesional,and second may this beget to big problems as he would like to broke his contract,which ends at 2012.
Of course never say never..

[GINE]

In case of Ogier i dont think so.The first reason is that you are a Citroen employ with a contract,and that is not proffesional,and second may this beget to big problems as he would like to broke his contract,which ends at 2012.
Of course never say never..

But what if Ogier has already signed with Ford?

[tfp]

If it comes down to the wire with the three drivers battling in GB with similar points(like winner takes all, like in 2009). Why would Ogier slow down (if it comes to that) to let Loeb win? Its obvious that Ogier has rightly so-lost all respect for Loeb, that much is clear, he will probably move to Ford next year (anyone who disagrees with this, watch the post rally interview with the drivers and managers, and watch the colour drain from Quesnels face when he is grilled with questions) so why should Ogier care if his soon to be ex-boss is giving him orders to slow down, and gift his team mate with another drivers championship?

Good luck Seb Ogier....

Its time there was a new champion. :champion:

[dimviii]

But what if Ogier has already signed with Ford?
How he can drive for Citroen while he has signed with ford.I don t think that is possible.


edit I don t think that he can broke his contract and signed with ford before the end of championship.

[N.O.T]

But what if Ogier has already signed with Ford?

even if he did so his season starts in 2012...until then he is citroen employee

[GINE]

It is very common to have a new contract before the end of the year. I think that ogier has already signed and mikko is in talks with citroen. That is why I am wondering what will happen if the battle goes to the last rally

[dimviii]

It is very common to have a new contract before the end of the year. I think that ogier has already signed and mikko is in talks with citroen. That is why I am wondering what will happen if the battle goes to the last rally

Lambros it is not so easy to boycott your team, specially if Citroen have a suspect of such a situation,after last service(and while he don t obey at their orders) maybe Ogiers ds3 lost some power,frozen Loebs splits, and 1000 other malfunctions in his car.They can boycott him also.

[tfp]

Lambros it is not so easy to boycott your team, specially if Citroen have a suspect of such a situation,after last service(and while he don t obey at their orders) maybe Ogiers ds3 lost some power,frozen Loebs splits, and 1000 other malfunctions in his car.They can boycott him also.

Or maybe his car will suddenly become 4kg lighter :laugh:

[Bobcat]

tfp :laugh: ...or maybe a mistake when building his engine. :D

[306 Cosworth]

maybe Ogiers ds3 lost some power,frozen Loebs splits, and 1000 other malfunctions in his car.They can boycott him also.

You have no idea how close to the truth you are there!

[tfp]

tfp :laugh: ...or maybe a mistake when building his engine. :D

Or....Maybe his oil pump will pack in :rotflmao:

[Gregor-y]

But what if Ogier has already signed with Ford?
Simple; he'll get "Rohrl'd" by Citroen before the event starts. ;)

[Mintexmemory]

Ingrassia is a 'company man', any hint of disobeying team orders and he's empowered to operate the ejector seat!!! - Payback for the public humiliation he suffered at Ogier's hands ;-)

[Plan9]

Ingrassia is a 'company man', any hint of disobeying team orders and he's empowered to operate the ejector seat!!! - Payback for the public humiliation he suffered at Ogier's hands ;-)
What humiliation is this you speak of?

[Mintexmemory]

In 09 (iirc) SO, annoyed with an error by Julien Ingrassia, got out of the car and harangued him, finishing off with a cuffing (not in the Gigi class though) -Can someone remind me where that happened

[bluuford]

Well, for us here in forum we know that Mikko and Ford does not look favorite to take the title and probably Citroen is going to favor Mr Loeb.

But for the normal public, wider audience, it looks interesting that there are three drivers able to win the title only 2 events before the end of season. It is even interesting for me too.

How long is this bad luck going to continue for Citroen? I just noticed that Loeb has won only one rally in last 4.5 months, it has not happened very frequently.
Is it true that Loeb´s engine failure was purely just because of human error? Or Quensel says to everybody that we have major problem with engine design and we have to run Ogier in Spain with much safer engine mapping and both our drivers in GB as well? Remember, it is allowed to use only two engines for last 9 rallies in 2011. So, we never know all the details... and that is exciting too :-)

Another thing is manufacturers title race. There was possibility to crab the title in Australia already, didn't happened. Good possibility to do it here, didn't happened either. They have third chance in Spain. Ford has to finish 1,2 in Spain and then they have managed to bring the title race to GB, final round. All those things aound quite exciting to me too :-)

Meanwhile we can all earn some safe money while betting on one German guy who likes to go round and round and round.. the circle.

[Wim_Impreza]

...
Ford has to finish 1,2 in Spain and then they have managed to bring the title race to GB, final round. All those things aound quite exciting to me too :-)

Do you really believe your own words?

[bluuford]

Do you really believe your own words?

No.. of course!

Did you believed that Ford wins in Australia and Ford collects 33 points in France. I didn't!
That is the most interesting thing that most unbelievable things happen unbelievably often ;-)

[tfp]

What humiliation is this you speak of?

Also last year in jordan(If I remember right) Ogier threw a big strop at his co driver for not calling the target time at the end of a leg, which mean he had to sweep the gravel for the next day...He did it right in front of the press aswel,which probably wasnt the best idea he has ever had :D


Well, for us here in forum we know that Mikko and Ford does not look favorite to take the title and probably Citroen is going to favor Mr Loeb.

But for the normal public, wider audience, it looks interesting that there are three drivers able to win the title only 2 events before the end of season. It is even interesting for me too.

How long is this bad luck going to continue for Citroen? I just noticed that Loeb has won only one rally in last 4.5 months, it has not happened very frequently.
Is it true that Loeb´s engine failure was purely just because of human error? Or Quensel says to everybody that we have major problem with engine design and we have to run Ogier in Spain with much safer engine mapping and both our drivers in GB as well? Remember, it is allowed to use only two engines for last 9 rallies in 2011. So, we never know all the details... and that is exciting too :-)

Another thing is manufacturers title race. There was possibility to crab the title in Australia already, didn't happened. Good possibility to do it here, didn't happened either. They have third chance in Spain. Ford has to finish 1,2 in Spain and then they have managed to bring the title race to GB, final round. All those things aound quite exciting to me too :-)

Meanwhile we can all earn some safe money while betting on one German guy who likes to go round and round and round.. the circle.

I agree, how much better is this than last year? Its not the same watching the rallys when the drivers are fighting for second place on the last few rallys after the title has already been clinched early! :)
But the german guy? You've lost me there!

[bluuford]

This German guy is called Vettel. You can bet on his win the same sum for each race and at the end of season you discover that you have quite stable income..

[tfp]

This German guy is called Vettel. You can bet on his win the same sum for each race and at the end of season you discover that you have quite stable income..

Ahh, I understand now! :)

[A.F.F.]

The moral champion is Loeb... or Ogier ?

I hope Mikko won't take the title as he has not deserved it.

Citroen favors Loeb but what if karma steps in between like it has and Ogier gets the title, by supporting Loeb? :)

[Juha_Koo]

Citroen favors Loeb but what if karma steps in between like it has and Ogier gets the title, by supporting Loeb? :)

Then we - or actually Ogier - can say.......There's justice in the sport.

;)

[Hartusvuori]

There's justice in the sport. ;)

To take is on my most favourite philosophical level, there's no need for justice in sports. Sports are required for exactly the opposite. If there were justice, which I consider equality, in sportJ the whole foundation of sports would crumble. Justice and laws are needed to keep order in everyday life, please remember that, but sports are a vent to live out more primary needs so that we should live well all the other days of weeks bind with the laws. Perhaps I sense a little Loeb antipathy thing here, but he didn't play any role in Marcus' mistakes in Australia 2006 or Ireland 2007, if that's it. Then again for sure, if Ogier could go unleashed to the last two rallies of the season, that would be justified. Then again, we are at our spare time, he is at work.

[Juha_Koo]

To take is on my most favourite philosophical level, there's no need for justice in sports. Sports are required for exactly the opposite. If there were justice, which I consider equality, in sportJ the whole foundation of sports would crumble. Justice and laws are needed to keep order in everyday life, please remember that, but sports are a vent to live out more primary needs so that we should live well all the other days of weeks bind with the laws. Perhaps I sense a little Loeb antipathy thing here, but he didn't play any role in Marcus' mistakes in Australia 2006 or Ireland 2007, if that's it. Then again for sure, if Ogier could go unleashed to the last two rallies of the season, that would be justified. Then again, we are at our spare time, he is at work.

Haha, yeah. ;) I just wondered will Ogier say his famous words from Germany if he wins the championship. But I have to say, that was an excellent post. :up: