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Ford also made a WRC edition of the focus, (last year? or 2008?) http://www.tuningnews.net/news/07061...ocus-wrc-s.jpg it doesnt matter if you win, you can still sell cars by competing. I remember when skoda was on WRC, they never won, but they were by far my favorites because of being the underdogs. Speaking of underdogs I was very close to buying an SX4 once.... silly me
Oh come on the Impreza was already all messed up before Martin tried to fix it, and considering the results for the S12b the S14 was a little bit betterQuote:
Originally Posted by MJW
This topic has gone off the road! :mad:
You´re not experts when you say MW doesn´t want to win. That is rubbish - nothing else.
We have a situation right now who is not good. But no one can really set the point why, except for N.O.T. and that is not enough to me.
For the time being, waiting for 2011 and 1,6T WRC cars we don´t know where the manufacturers put their efforts. My guess is that Fors (M-sport) already put most of their minds to the new Fiesta 1,6T and that the frogs take the chance and tune up the C4 a bit more - and you have the differnce in speed which makes the finn boys drive to the limit and sometimes over it, too.
You are right, he likes winning. there is no discussion there. But at the end of the day if he can choose between making money and coming third or spending all his money on development and a proper, expensive driver and coming first... well I am pretty sure we have already seen the tendency.Quote:
Originally Posted by Rallyper
Markko was hired specifically for S14 development - Petter and Chris didnt get to develop it, regardless it was a complete P.O.S!Quote:
Originally Posted by jonas_mcrae
I think there may be some proof in that Solberg picked a 2008 C4 over a 2009 Focus. If I recall correctly, both were available to him last autumn. But he might have just picked the C4 due to personal preference or for its tarmac performance.Quote:
Originally Posted by JFL
Yes, that is a good point.Quote:
Originally Posted by serial jeff
WT
I remember reading an interview about it where he (Petter) said that not only the car but the whole package with support and all that was taken in consideration when making the decision. It seems he simply got a better deal with Citroen.
But yeah, I can't help thinking that he wouldn't be able to fight at the level he is now in a Focus, sadly.
Ford plans WRC fight back in Bulgaria http://www.wrc.com/jsp/index.jsp?lnk...ck+in+Bulgaria
The biggest joke in WRC is the Citroën C4 cupp ! :o
The Americans should take over the spill and thank MW for the effort and titles.
Ford and their drivers deserve better than this lame no future daddy-slowson-cash and drive team.
Time is up. :up:
The biggest joke is your constant whinging about all things French! Cars, drivers and tyresQuote:
Originally Posted by Brother John
Oh come on Daniel it's the only reason Loeb wins all these events...special michelin tyre, special diffs, special Xsara.
Sadly our scandinavian friends can't accept he's simply better - more skill, better co-driver, better pace notes.
I agree with you and I think Ford would have already done that if they could have but they can't. It would cost too much.Quote:
Originally Posted by Karukera
The little worldwide publicity that M-Sport makes for them is there. No question, and they get it at very low price.
People would be surprised at how small is the FORD sponsoring for M-Sport. It is so low, in fact, that the FORD EUROPE execs have absolutely no say whatsoever in driver choice.
Normally FORD should be able to say to M-Sport : "hey in a couple years we want an english an a german driver in the car because that is where we sell cars so, Malcolm, please start taking care of that now..."
Instead the money has gone into putting two Finns!
One Finn would be ok if he is good and has charisma like Bosse, but why those two who are nowhere close to the star Bosse is ?
Look at Citroen, they develop and support young drivers who come from countries where they have important markets like france and Spain. Logical.
M-sport officially "develops and supports" young drivers who come from.....Finland which has a population half of Belgium. Why don't they develop a talented brit ? Some people know the answer to that.
The unofficial reason is that a manager, has been pumping millions of Euros into M Wilson's pocket to "secure and develop" these drivers who came from nothing straight in a top car in 2003. Now, 7 years later these two guys are still struggling to stay on the road while Ogier is already better after touching a WRC car for first time in end of 2008.
In marketting language, how can a car maker like FORD be content with such a driver lineup ? I would have demanded P SOLBERG immediately !!
Bottom line is M Wilson runs the ship, not FORD.
I can accept he's simply better. After six titles what else could I say. But is he the best rally driver ever, that is something not measured in titles.Quote:
Originally Posted by I am evil Homer
Reading this thread and others like this, Ford however seems to motivate people more. There are a lot of bashing but also hope and demand that Ford would up their game. Why isn't there any Citroen glorification threads? Okey - they can do it themselves. Or is this because rally fans in general likes underdogs (resemblance to their own lives perhaps...) and an odd win here and there is enough, or do we hope Ford to step up only to make the series more interesting.
Perhaps this forum doesn't portrait rally fans properly at all, we are the loud minority, and the way the audience behaves at the actual events keeps the teams happy. Why don't we make t-shirts or flags with familiar slogans from the forum like "Ford - what a joke!", "Hirvonen -wake the f*** up!", "So much for a 5-year plan, Malcolm!" and show up at the service area and see what they think. Instead of buying their merchandise.
One more thing about Loeb that bothers me right now. He's been to WRC for years, but I still don't know much of who he is. If someone could point me to in-depth interviews (English), I'd appreciate. All I've got to know from him is from his English interviews, and in spelling contests he doesn't take titles. Is there any profile dvd's made from him yet - French, but with English subtitles?
Quote:
Originally Posted by I am evil Homer
He isn't Scandinavian, fortunately, and it's easy to tell.
Scandinavian and Baltic members of this forum are million times marter than him and come with constructive posts, unlike him.
Fact is he's flemish from Belgium. Draw your own conclusions...
I just ignore him and skip his silly messages.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Kaffi
Fully agree what you wrote. I hope MW feels the pressure and make a step forward in driver line up and hopefully not think that Fiesta will solve all the problems netx year. First step good - PG in Focus but don't know if it is between Henning and PG or something done by MW also in this story.
Clearly the Stobart manufacturer team running the second string Focus are not going to be any help to the main Ford team in preventing Citroen and Citroen Junior taking 1st and 2nd in the manufacturers championship. Better then that Henning gets used to Fiesta handling and someone worth developing gets some top of the field experience. However, young MW better look out if it happens as this will throw a spotlight on the level of his development :cool: Of course, this assumes that a farsighted strategist can recover some use from a season that is rapidly going down the crapperQuote:
Originally Posted by amilk
I can see the advantages for Ford - don't put a lot of cash in, but if successful you reap the benefits. Big smiles all around, especially from the top brass. However, if they don't win, they haven't invested huge sums, so it's not a disaster.
Maybe if the were 'properly' funded by Ford, they may be able to have drivers who don't pay- and I include Stobart in this.
I think MW reads this forum. We have for sometime mentioned PG as the complement Ford urgently need.
“It’ll be interesting to see what he makes of it,” said Wilson. “I think a few people have been watching him for a while. We’ve certainly always been aware of him.”
MW will put some pressure on PG to see what he can do on tarmac. Exciting.
And I am swede and think Loeb is one of the best WRC drivers. But there have been many more of his class during the years. Apart from that he has had a good team behind him and wouldn´t have won in an SX4 for example...
and what did the so many others achieved ? last time i checked some of the many others where in citorens as well as Loeb and in teams with good/winning carsQuote:
Originally Posted by Rallyper
another bitter boy with Loebs/citroens success...
yes he wouldn;t be a winner riding a bicycle as well....
There was always going to be a messy year when the engine/car formula was changing.
With new cars coming in 2011 the amount of expenditure/investment in 2010 was always going to diminish.
Citroen went into 2010 with a better car/driver/team package and nothing will change in 2010.
What 2011 will bring will be uncertain until we get to see some of the cars.
M Sport will be looking to sell WRC cars into a market that may not exist so that they can fund their 2011 and 2012 campaigns.
On that basis look for some special deals and special cars in the market place.
Every previous formula change has had similar results until equilibrium is found again.
http://www.radcollector.com/news/wp-...B_FIESTA_2.jpg Subaru owns rally i love Subaru but this is a sick fiesta KEN BLOCK
i love Subaru but this is an awesome fiesta :eek: http://www.radcollector.com/news/wp-...B_FIESTA_2.jpg
the point about jouhki pumping millions into MW's back pocket makes sense when you think about it! if money wasnt the priority for m sport, i'd love to see P Solberg and Kris Meeke in the works team next year,with PG and Ketomaa (?) for Stobart..give those pesky frogs something to worry about :L
seriously though, its sad when a manufacturer like ford (whose commitment to participating in the WRC is second to none) has a 'meh' attitude towards results,or so it would seem... I miss rallying
...better, better, simply better... and their better cash and their better French FIA. :mark:Quote:
Originally Posted by I am evil Homer
http://www.motorline.cc/rallye/index...en_Piloten.htm
Quote:
Lässt sich abschätzen wie weit die Entwicklung bei Citroen ist?
Nun, die haben sehr früh mit dem Programm gestartet, noch im Vorjahr wo noch nicht einmal die Eckdaten des Reglements gestanden sind, die haben einfach riskiert. Und Citroen testet unglaublich viel, zwei Wochen pro Monat.
Dort gibt es einfach mehr Geld, mehr Ressourcen und so weiter. Dafür sind wir als kleinere Firma deutlich flexibler und auch schneller in der Umsetzung. Wir haben mit dem neuen Focus auf Anhieb die WM gewonnen, Citroen hat den C4 drei Jahre lang entwickelt bevor er gelauncht wurde.
Subaru is the king of rally but I don't mind Ford I love some of the rally fiestas the are awesome
The only bad thing about Ford is Matthew Wilslow, he is a discrace and he knows it, Wilson Snr knows it, Ford knows it, in fact everybody knows what a discrace he is, a true future useless nobody....
He has all the gear but NO IDEA
I don;t think it will be long before his dad kicks him out of the team....
Wait, you can't say that yet... wait until the 5 year plan is over... :DQuote:
Originally Posted by Langdale Forest
I think you are right about him being kicked out soon. Although perhaps it will done in a very gentle way, kinda of out of the small door around the back kind of way.
Noticed how his usual propaganda press releases talking about the learning etc.. have diminished recently ?
You know what they say: no news, good news ! :rolleyes:
Dont know if you're going far in this forum with that nickname my friend...Quote:
Originally Posted by BLOCKROCKS43
Quote:
Originally Posted by jonas_mcrae
Come on he's maybe 12 or 14, give him a break.
He's just nominated Blockie-boys co-driver Alex Gemsomino to the Rally Hall of Fame on that other thread....
Rememeber in the USA people are told all the time that the "sharp end of the stick" drivers are as fast as any in the world elite,
Seriously, people believe the guys in the little 20-23 entry "Rally America Championship", where the difference on single stages is measured in many minutes, are as good as WRC elite...*
They see it on the Intra-webz, so it must be true.
*and if you point out the fact that Blockie-boy has flipped on either SS1, SS2 or SS 4 now, or that Pat Richard from canada was massively mid-pack of all GpN enteries in his ill-fated season, then you're called a "Hater".