Mcrae won NZ in his first season in 1993 with subaru.... so yes...
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Mcrae won NZ in his first season in 1993 with subaru.... so yes...
According to this http://www.ewrc-results.com/profile.php?p=456&sct=1, it looks like 1992 was first full WRC season for him.
Also, don't get me wrong, I don't think he as good as McRae, or Latvala.
his first full season was in 94.
Doesn't change the fact he was massively more experienced than Kubica at this stage.
http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/113356
sounds intresting:)
Hyundai:
Sordo #8 in Argentina, recce only for Hänninen. Juho´s next start Sardinia
As a Finn not happy about it, but have to be realistic, Juho was not performing very well in PortugalQuote:
Originally Posted by pantealex
This really annoys me, not because Sordo isn't quicker than Hanninen, but because teams are not giving new drivers any security during their progression.Quote:
Originally Posted by COD
Sordo is obviously going to be quicker than Hanninen at the moment, but if Juho doesn't get the experience he'll never get faster. Sordo has been around the block with many full season, how can anyone expect a guy who has done a handful of events in a works car at the top level (WRC in a WRC car) be quicker right now?
I can see Citroen replacing Meeke after a couple more offs, with a reliable guy like Sordo. They might pick up more points, but they'll never find someone to challenge Ogier, surely this is the priority?
Did you just try to compare Kubica to Mcrae and Latvala?Quote:
Originally Posted by N.O.T
did you just woke up ? follow the conversation from the start...Quote:
Originally Posted by rallyfun
Guys dont get confused.gronholm and makinen took their first championships in their first full season BUT they had BIG prior experince mainly from their domestic championships and from some wrc events.i just want to say that they had alot of racing km before their success.robert unfortunatelly hasnt.so lets be fair with him.
Kubica has no future in the sport... once the money ends he goes.
If you want to drive for official team there are two ways.either you are really good driver or you bring money to the team.robert is in the second case thats for sure and yes if he runs out of money he will go home but you must consider that all drivers run with sponsors money except very few.so robert is not the exception he is the rule.i also understand that sponsors grant the drivers for different reasons, talent is one of them ,popularity is another one and kubica belongs here.but i strongly believe that he will be evolved as a rally driver,of course not enough to deserve a factory seat(lets consider msport as a factory team).
Although not a Finn (but a big fan of Juho) I agree with You.Quote:
Originally Posted by COD
On the other hand I am a bit afraid of the Škoda way (I mean in their WRC years) of using different drivers for every second event. It didn't work at all.
I am big fan of Sordo and big fan of Hänninen, it is so difficult put the third car in Argentina?
In case of Argentina, yes. It was just too narrow time window logistically. Hyundai looked at getting third car to Argentina, but it wouldn't have made it in time. Also, the third car would have required personnel to run it, another logistical perspective to be taken into account.Quote:
Originally Posted by Andre Oliveira
I agree with COD and Mirek. Don't know how much it really affected, but Juho blamed the conditions in the recce for the reason of his "poor" result.
I too am a fan of both Sordo and Juho, I wish they both got a drive. But thinking about it from Hyundais perspective, Sordo crashes/breaks cars less and has performed well recently, so is the logical choice over Juho who seems to have had some bad luck lately as well as rather average stage times compared to Sordo. So given they can only run 2 cars there, they want the best chance of a good finish and a finish in general I imagine?
Hopefully Hyundai will run 3-4 cars for the rest of the season now?
I am quite disappointed in Juho this year. What do you guys blame for his lack of form?
Hyundai looking to introduce engine upgrades in the middle of the season:
http://www.wrc.com/en/wrc/news/april...0--12-12-.html
Once Hyundai gave Juho a seat they must put efforts on him, no matter what. Sordo, we all knew his abilities by the time Hyundai choose other guys before him. Now they step on other leg. It´s not so polite in my way of thinking strategies. Juho have done the job good so far and needs more driving, that all. So why don´t they let him??
If they were to be able to have a third car in Argentina Juho would have a seat there aswell, you have to understand Sordo has a lot more experience on Argentina, plus in a spanish speaking country having a spanish driver is alot more wise in marketing terms.
Yeah, maybe they made that clear when hiring Juho (and Sordo). Relating to Juho´s performance in Portugal might be a rash conclution.Quote:
Originally Posted by Francis44
I don't if this is the rightnplace (and I don't know if I could start a new thread): Rally Argentina will also count as the second roumd of FIA Codasur Championship and second round of Argentine Championship.
Both events will only run on the first loop of Friday's and Saturday's stages, around 30 minutes after the last WRC2 competitor.
Julian Porter @The_Rally_Guru
For those of you who didn't see Portugal on ITV4 & hear what Kris Meeke said, here it is - "That's my career over Paul." So hope he's wrong.
There has been some crashes for the newcomers, but I think too that they all deserve to drive a whole season before we judge. MAybe even two.
Citroen seem to have a soft spot for Kris (he is on the entry list for Argentina after all). He has done reasonably well for someone who did not know the last 2 events. When I went the the Australian event last year the whole service park was awash with rumors that Kris was done for after he had 2 rolls. But that did not prove to be the case. As with Rallyper I also think the newcomers need a season or 2 to get more experience.
Dont forget that Citroëns WRC team is a part of the marketing department. Kris Meeke is a VERY likable caracter, always with good quotes in the stage end interviews, and creating headlines with his spectacular offs. I think there also is a marketing apsect also in keeping him in the team.Quote:
Originally Posted by Plan9
Bouffier (1 event) have more points that Meeke, Prokop too... I like Meeke but the season are starting bad :(
I think there is too much drama about this. Of course he will drive the whole season, he is Citroen's 1st driver fater all. I don't know his aims for the season though and he seems very dissapointed now, but wasn't Nagle sick or something in Portugal and that might turned things bad?
So far his carrer in WRC is not so successful, but he has hardly full season (12-13 Rallies) for several years, right?
And yet there comes a point where that stops being a defence and starts sounding like an excuse. How many times does he have to make a mistake before Citroen pull the plug? Everyone says he really is talented and that his results don't show it. I could perhaps understand that if he was being let down by reliability, but he's constantly making errors of his own. In that case, his results *do* reflect his talent.
The only problem facing Citroen is that he is the best of a bad bunch. If they let him go, then there isn't really any ready replacement, unless they want to take Novikov or Tanak for the rest of the season and see who might have potential in the WRC-2 or -3 for a 2015 drive.
A "champion" wouldn't need neither of them. If Meeke feels himself like such (at least I didn't noticed him making those), he must continue his way, if it is WRC crown his higher ambition, then probably some things can be polished with proper direction. WRC is not only Citroen after all, supposing they are so dissapointed, but same goes for any other driver after Loeb, except Ogier.Quote:
Originally Posted by Prisoner Monkeys
The in-car footage of Kris Meeke going off the road in Portugal was very interesting.
Kris may have told Paul Nagle, as he went off the road, that his career was over, but I do not think Kris fully understands the strength of his position. He is the number one driver in Citroen's team, and Citroen are contracted through their championship registration to run Kris on ten of the thirteen rounds of the WRC this year. It is Mads Ostberg that can be freely replaced ... Citroen cannot just "sack" Kris!
I think the biggest question here is will Citroen stay after the end of this year?!
Kris must show some consistency aswell if he wants to continue in the championship, Otsberg can easily be picked up since he is fast and consistent and that makes a great number 2 for any team, Meeke on the other hand must be aware that this season may be his only chance to estabilish himself as a worthy official driver.
It also depends aswell on how things will be next year, will Ford come back, will citroen stay?
Do you realise that by "career" most people consider something a bit more than a year ???Quote:
Originally Posted by semsem
Pace notes problem on second loop, hmm doesn't make much sense to me. If they've corrected it, there is something wrong with that correction. Anyway bad 3 of 4 Rallies is not reason for despair, Ogier is going to be champion again anyway.
It would be Khalid's decision not Citroen'sQuote:
Originally Posted by semsem
Are there spare Citroen WRCs to try Bouffier (or someone else) on a few events?
So I thought too, but here is an excerpt from current rules:Quote:
Originally Posted by semsem
7.2.6 Must inform the FIA of the names of the drivers entered to score points in each rally before the closing date of entries of the rally concerned. At least one driver must be nominated for a minimum of 10 rallies in any championship year.
So, no requirement to name the driver (that will do the 10 events) beforehand. They can sack Meeke and run Ostberg for ten rallies to satisfy the rules (no replacement can as there is only nine rounds left).