hopefully they can give him a somewhat restricted version, otherwise it can be dangerous for him and most importantly the sport.Quote:
Originally Posted by Fast Eddie WRC
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hopefully they can give him a somewhat restricted version, otherwise it can be dangerous for him and most importantly the sport.Quote:
Originally Posted by Fast Eddie WRC
Paddon live video Q&A after each rally on Facebook, first one today.
To replace last year Q&A sessions, this year after each rally we will do a live Facebook video Q&A session where I will answer your posted comments/questions on the spot. Tune in here tonight at 9pm CET (9am NZT) for our first live Facebook session.
https://www.facebook.com/motorsporti...MELINE&fref=nf
Motorsport Island
1 hr ·
RUMORS: A Fiesta WRC'17 Mikkelsen ?? The rumors come from Sweden, where it is rumored that it is possible an agreement between Onebet Jipocar and entourage Mikkelsen. In the case of agreement the program will start from Corsica for all the European races, alongside Andreas Ostberg. Prokop engaged in wrc trophy!
Possible. M.Wilson has said they could have six 2017 Fiesta's running by mid-season.Quote:
Originally Posted by dimviii
Surely Prokop would defer his drive to Mikkelsen and hope to see one of his team cars fighting for a WRC win.
But will M-Sport allow that... ??
By the time there´s a lot of "private" 2017´s, MSport has way better parts almost on whole car.Quote:
Originally Posted by Fast Eddie WRC
Mikkelsen is a decent driver, but I don't think he deserves to replace:Quote:
Originally Posted by mknight
Hanninen - Involved in development and signed long before VW pulled out.
Breen - Involved in development and signed long before VW pulled out.
Lefebvre - Involved in development and signed long before VW pulled out.
Evans - Brings the DMACK sponsorship that likely pays for the drive and has a British link for a British team (many teams have followed this strategy in the past and continue to do so).
Absolutely...although for some reason people on this forum seem to write him off after a handful of events. It's not even like those events have been in the 'quickest' car.Quote:
Originally Posted by AL14
There we go:Quote:
Originally Posted by N.O.T
https://www.facebook.com/haydenpaddo...7130464989407/
Don't forget how many of Latvala's bad results last year were due to mechanical failures rather than driving mistakes. Sweden, Argentina, Portugal, Germany, GB were all mechanicals I think.Quote:
Originally Posted by dimviii
you got what I mean.Quote:
Originally Posted by GravelBen
it was not bad but typical pleb facebook people questions... favourite rally, first car, how can i be a rally pleb driver ? what you do on your spare time ?....Quote:
Originally Posted by AL14
http://i.imgur.com/vInZT3C.jpg
Did you ask a question? When I caught his previous Q&As he answered everything I asked. Top interaction, don't knock it.
no its great, but if he does it after every rally he should publish a list with FAQs in his page with answers to all the pleb questions he already answered so people don't ask over and over again the same things.Quote:
Originally Posted by dodge33cymru
Fair comment.
He needn't replace Breen and Lefebvre if Citroen took him on. The third C3 when it comes could go to Mikkelsen, with Breen and Lefebvre alternating in the other one. I just can't see that Citroen can afford to turn away Mikkelsen if they want to present any kind of Championship challenge (Driver or more likely Manufacturers) this year or even next year. Meeke, as much as I like him, can probably finish anywhere in the top four of a rally IF he can get to the end of a rally. Breen will probably finish somewhere between forth and eighth, getting it to the end consistently. Lefebvre could often be seventh or lower, with or without Rally 2, if he can avoid DNFs... You can't mount a Championship challenge on those terms. If Mikkelsen could carry the form he had at VW into Citroen you'd have a guy that could consistently finish at least in the top 5.Quote:
Originally Posted by MrJan
With Mikkelsen taking good consistent points regularly, Meeke getting good points or nothing semi regularly and Breen or Lefebvre being there to pick up a few points for the team when Mikkelsen or Meeke DNF, Citroen could present more of a challenge to the Manufacturers title. As things stand without Mikkelsen, Citroen to me have the weakest driver line up. Unless they're just there to take Meeke to occasional wins/podiums and otherwise make up the numbers...
He does not do it for the answers, he does it to attract fans. When the average spectator feels he can reach him and the driver pays some attention answering, it creates a connection. This should be done by more rally drivers though. Just one hour a month won't kill them.Quote:
Originally Posted by N.O.T
I think we the teams need two more rallies before we see possible changes.
Mikkelsen has several options, but only 3 in WRC
- Citroen
- Toyota
- Private Ford
Other
- ERC/WRC 2/BRC in R5
- RX Supercar
- GT Racing and tester for Oreca R4 kit
Sure. That should end up Mikkelsen in a Citroen for Portugal and one more of my predictions in Crystal Ball 2017 comes home. :)Quote:
Originally Posted by Sulland
Meeke really not happy with the C3:
http://www.autosport.com/news/report...ke-and-citroen
"Not happy" is an understatement. It looks like they totally f*cked up either the diff settings or the whole car. Just one month wait to know the truth.
That article is just loads of warm airQuote:
Originally Posted by Fast Eddie WRC
Not having seen the onboard, this piece clarifies how angry he was.Quote:
Originally Posted by Franky
The video with his off on SS14 posted here, had a bit of that frustration.After the C3 beaches and Meeke and Nagle get out of the car,Paul goes directly across the road for help and warnings, while Kris spends around a minute wandering aimlessly around the car shaking his head and hands.Probably a lot of french came out of his mouth during that moments.
If there are problems with the way the car is driving, isn't that Meeke's fault considering he's spent so much time developing it? That's maybe why he's so annoyed, with himself.
On the TV highlights they said his problem was the tyres had lost their grip (studs) ...
Couldnt just be that to make him so frustrated surely.
who is the main development driver at citroen?
who had one year time, missed most races in 2016 to concentrate on development??
WHO is responsible for this result???
Kris himself is the one to blame, he had all resources (time and money) to build HIS car arround him....and this is the result...
Same come to my mind as well.Quote:
Originally Posted by Doon
I think it's more than that, people don't build a car to their settings that's so drastically unpredictable, I don't care how good or bad people think a driver is. At the heart of it would appear to be that the cars are naturally a bit dodgy, Latvala said as much on Friday about the Yaris causing him problems.Quote:
Originally Posted by WRC1
Incidentally, does anyone know the ballpark amount of testing that each manufacturer got done? Seemed to me that Citroen and Toyota were the ones with the most, M-Sport with the least...but I only had a passing interesting in testing.
At the end of the day we are only 2 rallies into the new season and both those rallies are classed as specialised events. I was expecting more from Meeke especially after how much praise he gave the car during testing last year but I see no reason to write him off yet. Im sure we shall see the true performance of Kris and the C3 over the next few rallies.
I find it strange but glad at the same time that there hasn't been the same levels of negativity aimed in Thieryy Neuville' direction either given the fact he was in a comfortable lead in both rallies before making a silly mistake and throwing it all away. I think Thierry will also get it all together over the next few events so expect some impressive performances from Kris and Thierry over the next few rallies.
Jesus WRC1: you’re being prosecutor, judge and executor all at the same time…poor Meeke!Quote:
Originally Posted by WRC1
I've (tried to) said it in another thread: rally is a team sport and even if some mistakes or achievements are more visible than others it’s the whole team that looses or wins. That’s way it doesn’t make sense to see Meeke fans blaming Citroen or other drivers fans pointing at him.
Like Davies ahead and some other guys before, I also believe the car will be a winner on gravel and on tarmac, but somehow they’ve miss to get the right setup for the snow/ice mixture of MC and Sweden. Fingers crossed!
Autosport’s journo is a blood sucking creature. Last year he wrote several pieces suggesting troubles in the Yaris development, now it looks the C3 will be his new drama topic...Quote:
Originally Posted by Fast Eddie WRC
+1Quote:
Originally Posted by Rally Power
It's extra tough to judge the Meeke/C3 combo given his own errors on the two rallies. He might have been on the podium on either event if he'd made no mistakes... IF.
I don't know if someone sees it also but in Monte, Meeke said after some stage(WRC+ onboard between stage end and TC) that "that car is undrivable" and Sweden in SS17 after spin, he says that "i don't want to drive this f...ing car...". So my opinion is that there is some real problems with that car... I really hope that those problems are just setting things. If the problem are some where else, then they are in deep shit...
Problems between members in team as well?? Could it make impact on his driving I mean.
Per, do you mean:Quote:
Originally Posted by Rallyper
1)team problems between driver and management
2)team problems between driver and co-driver
or
3)team problems between the drivers
Maybe 1) but in Kris's case I'd be very surprised if it was 2) or 3)
My view is that Matton had it easy when Loeb was in the team but hasn't exactly demonstrated much brilliance since the favoured one's retirement.
Matton was not the boss when Loeb was there. But certainly, he is not a stong as Quesnel at the time. It seems to me as if the drivers know what they want, but the team is unable to deliver. If the car is undrivable to a point where its the main contributing factor is going off (both Meeke and Breen agreed, but Meeke obviously alot more vocal), then there is some serious setup issues, or maybe under certain conditions the car simply doesnt work. It looks as if is more than just one problems, but a combination of diffs, shocks and a general direction from engineering, which doesnt give any driver, no matter who they are the confidence to deliver results, and leads or over driving. The onboards i think confirm that.
Scuse me - It was Matton who replaced Quesnel when Loeb threw his doll out of the pram regarding Ogier. Wiki quote - Yves Matton was appointed Citroën Racing Team Principal on 5 January 2012,taking over from Olivier Quesnel. He was tasked by Frédéric Banzet, CEO of the Citroën Brand, with preparing effectively for the post-Sébastien Loeb era. Whilst the French ace contested his last full WRC season, plans to compete in the World Touring Car Championship (WTCC) were considered.Quote:
Originally Posted by wrc2017
Rumors of Quesnel’s departure persisted from the summer onward, with suggestions that Loeb’s decision to extend his Citroën deal came with the proviso that the team replace Quesnel
So keep Loeb happy and find us a new team of drivers - Ultimately he's been a failure
My mistake, but you or me could have stepped in at that stage and run the team with the same results with Loeb driving.
i don't want to be too quick to cast an opinion on the whole C3 car at the moment. i suspect we will have to wait and see how it works on the upcoming rallies. However, the team (drivers, co-drivers, engineers, workshop, management, etc) would have been working on this car since last year, testing, collecting data, analyzing, etc. There are 3 test driver units that would have been giving their input to assist with the C3's continued development, plus Kris would have had plenty of experience being a test driver from other projects. They all seemed happy when speaking of the C3 in prior interviews (unless it was just for positive publicity and it did not represent what they actually felt??)..Therefore, how can all of a sudden the same car be undriveable when it supposedly should have been built around all that initial input, especially from the drivers?---did the engineers, ignore this information?? They would have tested this car against the proven DS3 for comparative purposes on the same test locations too, giving some indications of noted improvements and areas to be improved.
so as some have suggested, may be the C3 wasn't set up for Monte Carlo and/or Sweden , but then only Kris did both events and Breen/Lefebvre did one a piece. So, let's see what the other events show up on the more familiar surfaces. Citroen has been making championship winning rally cars for a long time (plus having a top driver helped), so in theory the car should be "fixable" and driveable.
As much as we like drivers to speak their minds and have a personality during interviews, they still work for a company and may need to sometimes choose their words carefully to avoid any issues with management/PR---especially when new to the team or not having substantial results. So, flaming the car in public will not do you any favors when you also don't get the car to the end of a rally via driver induced mistakes. When the car is not at its best and you blame the car, then you may have a justifiable reason and gather support that should hopefully lead to improvements. However, depending on your management hierarchy/personality, when the car is deemed to be better/best and you make mistakes/crash, then there is no justifiable reason, and some top officials tend to have long memories, so its a road to tread cautiously.
i really wish its an easy fix and wish Kris, Breen, Lefebvre and the Citroen team the best,,,,as this can only make the season better with all the manufacturers being on some level competitive.
How Citroen lost both Ogier and Neuville by hanging on Loeb for too long has never been properly documented.Quote:
Originally Posted by Mintexmemory
We're used to that ;)Quote:
Originally Posted by Arwel Davies
Joking aside, I actually made a comment to my Dad during Monte that Neuville was super quick but it was only a matter of time before he binned it. He was going too quick for things to be that smooth for the whole event!