Shaping up the be a very exciting event with Ken Block, Seb Loeb and Petter Solberg all returning.
Can we expect 13x 2017 WRC car? 4x Ford, 3x Citroen Hyundai Toyota?
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Shaping up the be a very exciting event with Ken Block, Seb Loeb and Petter Solberg all returning.
Can we expect 13x 2017 WRC car? 4x Ford, 3x Citroen Hyundai Toyota?
Ostberg`s car is driven by Loeb, so 2x Citroen.
Loeb, Breen and Khalid Al Qassimi?
Nice to actually have any entry list with something unique and interesting for a change.
Ostberg with Citroen r5 I see in Twitter
The gravel stages have been reversed, Terra Alta for the first time, whereas the other two gravel stages are now same as 2014. Meanwhile the tarmac stages are almost identical to last year with just one Sunday stage dropped and one reversed. This way, the gravel percentage is higher than ever before at 44%. Also, they have brought back the Barcelona super special to join in the battle for the worst super special of the season with Germany, Turkey and Wales.
The return of the veterans
Petter Solberg To Make One-Off WRC Appearance For New VW Polo GTI R5 Debut
https://www.carscoops.com/2018/09/pe...o-gti-r5-debut
I've seen "one-off" reported in a few places, but is there a quote from Petter or VW that actually describes it as such? I haven't found anything so definitive, leaving the door open...?
Fantastic! Looking very much forward to see Petter and Loeb back in the same rally. They are pretty good friends now in WorldRX with even Loeb teaching his son Oliver the tricks of the trade. Cannot wait for this WRC spain to start :-)
Google Earth Map is online ► http://bit.ly/2sLV7z6
Antti when your route preview will be available?
I’m so excited already. This two and half weeks seems so long waiting
I am also excited! I will spend 3 days in front of my TV watching All live and scheduling my next visit to a WRC rally. :D 2017 was Germany, 2018 Turkey, 2019?
The battle is on!
Today. Just final proofreading needed :)Quote:
Originally Posted by EstWRC
Really looking forward to this event now. Had a look over the schedule at the weekend planning where to spectate.
Entry list should be out this week?
https://itgetsfasternow.wordpress.co...atalunya-2018/
Here we go.
- Most gravel stages are reversed with some route updates and thus renamed
- The Barcelona super special is back on Thursday
- The tarmac stages are almost completely the same as last year
Terra Alta stage is reversed this year and the name of the stage is La Fatarella( the village where the start is). Otherwise the order of the gravel stages is the same and this one is 3-rd and 6-th for the day.Quote:
Originally Posted by AnttiL
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hmm, maybe it changed between RG1 and RG2? Thanks for noticing, I need to fix that.Quote:
Originally Posted by rage82
EDIT: Yes, checked an older itinerary version and indeed the original plan was to start with La Fatarella aka Terra Alta. It's common problem for my blog that often RG2 and/or final itinerary / road book is released just weeks before the rally, when my route preview should already be published. Germany also changed over something in the Sunday stages.
Doesn’t look like this is happening now. Recce only for Ostberg.Quote:
Originally Posted by EstWRC
https://pbs.twimg.com/media/DpI7SDYX4AAW9CO.jpg
https://pbs.twimg.com/media/DpI7S-yWkAAgNKf.jpg
Like expected, Ken Block debuts in a Fiesta WRC.
Also expected was to see Kopecky on WRC2. Good also for Kalle Rovanperä to get more experience. Veiby and Lefebvre on Citroen. Also, Henning again with Skoda.
Wow. Petter vs. Henning once again. It will be great fight. Looking forward to see that. Plus looking forward to see how fast N5 cars are in comparison with R5 ;-)
I hope the weather will hold up during the rally!
Amazing WRC 2 list !!!!! Happy to see also Sylvain Michel taking part , would like to see what he can do against so strong competinion
No Östberg in R5, wasn't he rumoured to participate
He was, but ufortunately not to be it seems. Maybe Veiby took that car? :eek: :smash:Quote:
Originally Posted by BigWorm
But a very good R5 startlist, and a huge 208 R2 list!
Quote:
Originally Posted by BigWorm
Shortly after that rumors appeared some of our Norwegian forum members (SubaruNorway maybe?) wrote here that it was not true.Quote:
Originally Posted by Sulland
Are all the 208 r2 cup class doing the whole rally? They only did day 1 in Portugal
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I heard that they were hoping to at least run R5 earlier this year but i as far as i know It's been clear that they weren't going to since Finland at least.Quote:
Originally Posted by Mirek
Shame they aren't as it would have been easier for me to plan on going to Spain earlier than trying to find a way now, would be cool to see Petter again!
Only first leg.Quote:
Originally Posted by Nelly
In two weeks the Rally of Spain Catalonia will take place and there will be important improvements for Hyundai. The team of Michel Nandan will use one of its development jokers to release a new suspension and central differential. These developments will be crucial for Thierry Neuville, who will have to face a demanding first day in which he will open the way during the stage on the ground. The championship leader had suffered a lot of understeer in Wales and that was the area to solve for Spain.
"We did not get the results we expected at the last rally, which was not conducive to our title ambitions," said Nandan in the German medium Rallye Magazin. The director of Hyundai Motorsport expects his team to make the most of these new improvements. "Now we only have two more events to fight, especially in the manufacturers' championship. We know it will not be easy. We will have to do everything in our power to win. "
The truth is that the date of Wales was a real headache for Neuville. Already from the first section on Friday the Belgian had reported a marked tendency to understeer. According to the leader of the championship, the vehicle did not respond correctly to correct its lines on the road and suffered from serious problems to find a good level of grip. In fact, the Hyundai driver was forced to make a complete change of springs and suspension springs during the service park that day.
With this change, the car improved slightly, although it maintained other inconveniences in the hardness of the suspension. The problem affected him on Saturday, as he had to battle to find a good level of stability in the Hyundai i20 WRC. The real and concrete is that this sum of altercations made him lose seconds repeatedly. Therefore, Neuville was unable to fight for the victory, especially since he ended up stuck for a few seconds after an exit from the road.
In order to correct all these disadvantages, Hyundai invested a development joker that allowed them to obtain improvements in the central differential and the suspension geometry of the front axle. This should help solve the instability and the understeer trend that was continuously reported in the previous Wales date.
The Rally of Catalonia will again be a difficult mission for the championship leader, since it will have to sweep the roads when opening the route in the first stage of the land. While this will mean a loss of time, the Belgian will have the opportunity to move to the first starting places when the start order is reversed for the two days on asphalt. The cleanliness and speed of these roads could bring an advantage to the Hyundai driver, who would be able to compensate for Friday's limitations.
For now, the South Korean brand is testing throughout this week in Spain. Andreas Mikkelsen was the first to turn on asphalt roads. After the Norwegian, it will be the turn of Thierry Neuville and Dani Sordo.
http://motorboxradio.com.ar/2018/10/...dai-en-espana/
Not really sure who got this messed up.
Hyundais understeer issues are on tarmac and have been there since Spain last year. The joker changes mentioned were planned for since before Germany. Yet this sounds like it's all about Wales gravel. If that was the case it would be pretty epic for Hyundai to develop and have ready suspension changes 2 days after GB ended.
Anyone who's already done some planning: do you think it's feasible to do 4 passes on Friday (SS2, SS4, SS5, SS7)?
I think it's doable. I'm planing to watch near the start of SS2 the first 10 - 15 cars depending on the starting intervals and after that to go near the finish of ss4. Same for the afternoon.Quote:
Originally Posted by dodge33cymru
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Yeah you will more than likely have 3 min intervals which makes it harder. The finish of stage 2 is poor viewing also. Watched from there a few years ago.Quote:
Originally Posted by rage82
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Have to say I am really surprised how little faith people have in Loeb in the pickems...
Faith in Loeb or faith in Citroen...?Quote:
Originally Posted by mknight
Are the Peugeot Cup cars only "national" entries to this rally, or is there some historic cars driving this year? I remember few years ago that there were some historic cars driving too (not normal rally, but as some show driving), some of those drive fast and some of those just driving sunday drive through stages :)
Yes.Quote:
Originally Posted by dodge33cymru
Loeb's gotten older and doesn't compete regularly and Citroen's had a few terrible seasons.
Let's see how Ogier and company fare next year before passing any judgement on the maker. Loeb's a legend already and expecting him to keep coming back and winning isn't realistic. Not even Muhammad Ali could do it forever. Ogier winning a championship with a third manufacturer will be a huge boost to his own legacy even if he doesn't equal Loeb's title count.
With the speed Loeb has shown in both Mexico and Corsica he is a clear top 3 favorite. Specially with the road position advantage.
People will be overlooking Loeb because of rust due to not competing regularly, the fact he's made mistakes in Mexico and Corsica trying to keep up with the pace/get the best out the c3, and the fact the pace at the top of the championship battle is incredible.
I still think he's got a great chance though.
The fact is, Loeb has competeted in WRX and that should be the formula for speed, imho.
Probably that is also for Petter.
But having said that, it is hard competition out there.