[WRC] News & Rumours 2021

[EstWRC]

But tanak is just unpolite every interview, it's not entertaining at all.

It would be even more boring then if he would be as polite as others

[mknight]

https://dirtfish.com/rally/wrc/is-adamo-right-to-be-worried-about-2022/

Well I first heard rumors about Adamo maybe getting replaced from the time of ERC Barum.

But having a look on how this year has gone it's also hard to imagine how Hyundai rallying activities could get any worse:

WRC
- driver title is almost certainly gone
- there is a real risk of Toyota 1-2-3 in drivers
- manu title is definitely gone
- majority of this is due to "team failures" not drivers underperforming
- Loubet is a disaster (sure it's external money, but the car having technical issues every other rally surely isn't good PR)
- Breen who has been improving (on the few rallies he has started) likely leaving
- 2022 is seemingly delayed and being redesigned after Louriaux came from MSport and Puma development

WRC2/Rally2
- Redgrey (semi-) factory team basically disappeared, Veiby who was the only paying customer got banned, Gryazin left after last year and his performance massively improved
- driver title likely gone (Huttunen still has a chance)
- manu title gone
- new car was delayed, reliability disaster on debut rally
- performance of new car isn't massively impressive (yet?)
- afaik only championship where Hyundai is getting good results seems to be the Italian one

- Solberg's season is a disaster in both WRC and WRC2 except for Arctic


Adamo certainly brought more entertainment into WRC. But the atmosphere (and results) in Hyundai does seem to suffer, note Tanaks comments and behavior since Sardinia.

[satukata]

I don´t want to see more Adamo show. New boss please.

[Danny0405]

Difficult to make an evaluation of Adamo in the last 3 years.
He was appointed quite late before the 2019 season so he was not in charge when Hyundai hired Loeb over Paddon (from a strictly result-wise point of view, not a great move) and had few impact on the development of the car on that year as a lot was in the pipe (and Toyota was already taking the lead by end-2018).
And he was not the developer of the shared-car strategy as it was already used in 2018.
And on the last two years, complicated to focus on the development of the car with a new regulation to come + Covid whereas Toyota’s car was better since end 2018.

The Tanak move is not brilliant from a cost/benefit perspective so far, especially as it triggered Ogier’s hiring by Toyota (which wouldn’t have occurred without that). But, at least, Tanak was a strong contributor to Hyundai’s 2020 manufacturer title which was quite a miracle.

And for the Rally2 car, the debut rallye has been quite worrying but Citroen was nowhere when they launched the C3 R5. And the Polo had also reliability issue in its debut. We will really see by mid-2022 if this car has some potential.

So it’s difficult for me to evaluate him. On the one hand, Hyundai made back-to-back manufacturer titles whereas they didn’t win any title before but, on the other hand, they didn’t really improve against Toyota, the 2020 title was clearly a miracle and the 2019 title was deserved (thanks to the strategy) but clearly due to Latvala and Meeke’s failure (Meeke being the only Makinen’s bad choice maybe in his Toyota stint).
So, even if some can be «*seduced*» by his sharp style, he didn’t really bring solutions to Hyundai (but he might not be the only guilty of their current situation).

The only thing I know is that the 2022 season is crucial for Hyundai. Such a manufacturer dominated by VW, then M-Sport and then Toyota will not last forever. Yes, they clinched two titles but more by strategy than by quality. If the 2022 season is as bad as the current season, they will leave quite soon.

[mknight]

2020 manu title was entirely the result of fresh Rovanpera competing for points vs Loeb+Breen+Sordo with road position advantage. So it was Toyotas (Tommis?) mistake as well. One could argue that Toyota "sacrificed" one year for Rovanpera's development though.

Interesting view that hiring Tanak was a mistake. I'd say he was not only hired to bring results but also (mainly) to "hurt" Toyota by destroying the (at that time) fastest combination. I don't think Adamo thought that Ogier would switch from Citroen. Then the question is if Ogier+Toyota combination is actually more dangerous than Tanak+Toyota in terms of points and reliability even though stagetimes don't look as good.

[cali]

Just to end some confusion about speed and dominance etc
Ogier is just outsmarting everyone. Again.

https://www.juwra.com/season_2021_stats_stage_wins.html

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[EstWRC]

Just to end some confusion about speed and dominance etc
Ogier is just outsmarting everyone. Again.

https://www.juwra.com/season_2021_stats_stage_wins.html

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That + I think he hasn’t had any technical/mechanical glitches this year compared to his rivals ?

At least nothing comes to my mind.

[AnttiL]

We can't address Toyota losing manufacturer title in 2020 only to Toyota hiring Rovanperä. For example Evans going off in Monza, Ogier's engine blowing in Turkey or Ogier losing 2nd place to Neuville by one second in Sardinia. Any of these three would have gone differently and Toyota could have won. And we can add to this the weird punctures for Evans and Rovanperä in Estonia. Of course Rovanperä also went off in Sardegna where Hyundai's third driver won the event and they took a minute penalty in Estonia (otherwise would have been 2nd instead of 5th), but other than that he did a solid job.

[mknight]

Just to end some confusion about speed and dominance etc
Ogier is just outsmarting everyone. Again.

https://www.juwra.com/season_2021_stats_stage_wins.html

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There is no confiusion. Ogier is dominating by combination of speed and brains.

Stagewins most of the rally after you crash out with own mistake on second stage are worth exactly nothing.

One would think that after his last 4 (likely) titles Ogier has shown everyone how you win WRC.

[mknight]

Of course Rovanperä also went off in Sardegna where Hyundai's third driver won the event and they took a minute penalty in Estonia (otherwise would have been 2nd instead of 5th), but other than that he did a solid job.

He did a great job for first year, but IMO he had an impossible task vs Loeb+Sordo+Breen.

[cali]

There is no confiusion. Ogier is dominating by combination of speed and brains.

Stagewins most of the rally after you crash out with own mistake on second stage are worth exactly nothing.

One would think that after his last 4 (likely) titles Ogier has shown everyone how you win WRC.

1. Agreed. Ogier is doing steady job of cleaning the roads with very good pace and then controlling his own rhythm to get the best points finish possible.

2. You need more than one rally to get to 23 stage wins. Considering that Tänak was nowhere in Croatia and Monte, has been retiring or using SuperRally at least in 4 occasions, it's even more impressive. In Estonia he missed 6 stages after his retirement alone. By no means he would've won them all but it would have been close fight with Kalle. It shows exactly that the speed is there. How much have they sacrificed reliability to get to the speed is yet fully unknown but one could guess just by looking at the results that they have compromised too much. Speed alone doesn't win titles and that's where they have failed as a team.
Maybe for it's not worth much and pointswise it's also true, you can't deny that the speed has been up there.

3. Agreed.

[focus206]

Just to end some confusion about speed and dominance etc
Ogier is just outsmarting everyone. Again.

https://www.juwra.com/season_2021_stats_stage_wins.html

Sent from my ONEPLUS A6003 using Tapatalk

I don't see Ogier "outsmarting" everyone this season. He performed overall better than Evans, while in retrospect Neuville and Tanak had close to 0 chances due to Hyundai falling apart constantly. Even if Hyundai drivers were "smarter", hardly anything would have changed.
Ogier made one mistake this season (Arctic), the same as Neuville (Portugal), but look at the difference in the standings. Ogier was most of the times a bit faster and the Yaris was perfect. And he somehow managed to win Croatia after the huge road section problems.

[cali]

I don't see Ogier "outsmarting" everyone this season. He performed overall better than Evans, while in retrospect Neuville and Tanak had close to 0 chances due to Hyundai falling apart constantly. Even if Hyundai drivers were "smarter", hardly anything would have changed.
Ogier made one mistake this season (Arctic), the same as Neuville (Portugal), but look at the difference in the standings. Ogier was most of the times a bit faster and the Yaris was perfect. And he somehow managed to win Croatia after the huge road section problems.Outsmarting in the sense of when to push and when to play it safe. Others have failed in this.

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[focus206]

Outsmarting in the sense of when to push and when to play it safe. Others have failed in this.

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I don't think that Tanak and Neuville were "not smart" this season, since Hyundai keeps breaking down. Vast majority of their problems came from car reliability.
Ogier has always been a fast, consistent and smart driver, but I didn't see him "outsmarting" his opponents this year. The biggest factor was car reliability in my opinion.

[mknight]

Instances of not beeing smart from the top of my head:
- Tanak taking 5 tires for just about every section at the start of the year even when everyone else took 6. Resulted in retirement in Monte
- Neuville Portugal crash
(- Safari punctures on Friday, both Tanak and Neuville with multiple punctures but others ok)
- Tanak Estonia (starting from jumping half car off the road on first run of SD, then self-inflicted puncture, followed by self-inflicted roll)

[Tom K]

Loubet absence

https://twitter.com/PL_Loubet/status/1445300456125763586

[meh]

Loubet absence

https://twitter.com/PL_Loubet/status/1445300456125763586

Will it increase Suninen's (or someone else's) chance for WRC drive for last rounds this year?

[doubled1978]

Will it increase Suninen's (or someone else's) chance for WRC drive for last rounds this year?

It would be nice to him get a go at Monza, but I guess depends if Adamo would give him the chance, or if someone else will pay.

[mknight]

Well maybe Hyundai has some spareparts they might want to use as they will become close to useless soon. Especially those for an older-spec car like Loubet was using.

[Andre Oliveira]

Solans in Hyundai i20 Coupe WRC at Catalunya

https://scontent.fopo4-1.fna.fbcdn.net/v/t39.30808-6/fr/cp0/e15/q65/244755579_4970519719644082_4943145543427924783_n.j pg?_nc_cat=109&ccb=1-5&_nc_sid=ca434c&efg=eyJpIjoidCJ9&_nc_ohc=bHh6nbournIAX8D7ESx&_nc_ht=scontent.fopo4-1.fna&oh=d84ba36cc8cecaf9a1c790d2c47f9879&oe=6163C510

[mknight]

Well Hyundai has unused car and parts from Loubet that will become (almost) useless in a month so why not.
Only negative is that it most likely will be the "hybrid" older spec.

[BigWorm]

Solans in Hyundai i20 Coupe WRC at Catalunya

https://scontent.fopo4-1.fna.fbcdn.net/v/t39.30808-6/fr/cp0/e15/q65/244755579_4970519719644082_4943145543427924783_n.j pg?_nc_cat=109&ccb=1-5&_nc_sid=ca434c&efg=eyJpIjoidCJ9&_nc_ohc=bHh6nbournIAX8D7ESx&_nc_ht=scontent.fopo4-1.fna&oh=d84ba36cc8cecaf9a1c790d2c47f9879&oe=6163C510

Nice!! I thought he looked pretty quick in Catalunya 2019, will be interesting how he would handle a WRC car there

[Maui J.]

Rally New Zealand 2022? This article took me a bit by surprise.

https://talkmotorsport.co.nz/rally/nzs-return-getting-closer-by-the-day/

[Rally Hokkaido]

Rally New Zealand 2022? This article took me a bit by surprise.

https://talkmotorsport.co.nz/rally/nzs-return-getting-closer-by-the-day/
Thanks for the news.
I was actually told about this last week, but cautioned not to spread it around. The news about Australia not bidding until 2023 was announced by their ASN a couple of days ago.

[Eli]

Rally New Zealand 2022? This article took me a bit by surprise.

https://talkmotorsport.co.nz/rally/nzs-return-getting-closer-by-the-day/

Wasn't there a rumor already a few months ago that mentioned Australia wouldn't come back until 2023, and that NZ will try to take next year's spot? Anyhow, hope it happens this time and we get more than one round outside Europe, fingers crossed!

[AnttiL]

https://as.com/motor/2021/10/13/mas_motor/1634112486_725447.html

Sordo saying next season is his last

[cali]

https://as.com/motor/2021/10/13/mas_motor/1634112486_725447.html

Sordo saying next season is his lastIt has been a great career in my books. Not the top of the top driver but a very solid one who could be relied upon.

In my books really great driver and I will miss him for sure.

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[doubled1978]

It has been a great career in my books. Not the top of the top driver but a very solid one who could be relied upon.

In my books really great driver and I will miss him for sure.

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Absolutely, as a number 2 or 3 driver he has been excellent over the years. Not quite at the number 1 level, but he has had a great career and contributed greatly to the teams he’s represented.

[Danny0405]

Yeah, quite a strange career but always at the service of his team and his tarmac level gives him the opportunity to have an even more lengthy career as a part-time driver (maybe a little longer than deserved on his career compared with other drivers that had to step back but he proved he deserved it in 2019 and 2020).
Only 3 wins, not a number 1 driver but useful many times for his team: doing the job on tarmac to help Loeb in close title fights in the 2007-2009 period and Citroen to secure manufacturer titles and a clear actor of Hyundai’s back-to-back manufacturer titles.
The most strange is that, even with not that regular results, he succeeded in making 17 seasons in WRC official teams with at least a half-time program and without paying.

Good thing that he is retiring after next year I think, he begins to drop a little, has nothing more to prove since his last two wins and the driver market is difficult for drivers currently so it could give an opportunity to another driver (even if I don’t see a good tarmac specialist in the drivers without a good drive and with or close to the WRC level except Fourmaux) or to give a full-season to a younger one. Let’s hope he can do some podiums and one win to end well.
End of an era with Ogier and Sordo soon to retire (after Latvala) even if Tanak and Neuville had made their WRC first full season against Loeb in 2012.

Not sure we will see a Spanish driver at this level for a while: the Solans brothers have not really stepped up so far, Pepe Lopez may be a little short and I see no other driver coming.

[AnttiL]

https://www.rallit.fi/teemu-suninen-sai-kaskyn-wrc-tallin-pomolta-kai-tasta-joutuu-sitten-ylitoihin/

This article says Suninen has been asked to do testing for Hyundai and will get a car for Monza (I presume Rally2)

[dimviii]

Sébastien Ogier
@SebOgier
·
4h
After two days in the simulator, I can't wait to drive the Toyota GR010 HYBRID Hypercar on track very soon! See you in Bahrain for the @FIAWEC
rookie test

[Andre Oliveira]

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/FCpHJZdWEAQm0Bu?format=jpg&name=medium

[Fast Eddie WRC]

Northern Ireland bid for 2022 event handed Commons boost:

https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/motorsport/59065606

[cali]

Seems like TGR is getting more serious about young japanese talent.

https://twitter.com/KurskiRacing/status/1454052330580631554?t=ETUeuZsKVgpMj2xUqqgVOw&s=19

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[Eli]

https://dirtfish.com/rally/wrc/opel-would-pursue-rally2-if-category-goes-hybrid/

Was more hoping they'd say they're interested in Rally1 category.

[Andre Oliveira]

https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/help-me-ecover-my-stolen-photo-equipment

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/FDIrzyIWUAAzj_6?format=jpg&name=medium
https://pbs.twimg.com/media/FDIrzx_XEAYZKyy?format=jpg&name=large

[MartijnS]

Second time he got his gear stolen I think? Or it was friend of him

[ictus]

Second time he got his gear stolen I think? Or it was friend of him

his friend... also in Spain

[Fast Eddie WRC]

Why wont his insurance pay for this ?

[AnttiL]

Why wont his insurance pay for this ?

Some insurances don't cover when your stuff is stolen from a car. Also some basic insurances don't cover damage/theft to your stuff which happens abroad.

But I don't know more details about this incident.

[Maui J.]

Why wont his insurance pay for this ?

He may have had personal belonging insurance but his photographic gear may have needed to be insured under business insurance since he makes money from it.

[Fast Eddie WRC]

He may have had personal belonging insurance but his photographic gear may have needed to be insured under business insurance since he makes money from it.

All the more reason to have it insured when it's your living...