Abbring said in the Acropolis Rally that his next rally was supposed to be Finland. No Finland for him though. :(
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Abbring said in the Acropolis Rally that his next rally was supposed to be Finland. No Finland for him though. :(
Also for a fact now is that Juho Hänninen misses his home event.
In general I'm very happy about the entry list. All the top driver except Sordo + few nice surpises.
No real works MINI´s and very disappointed that Juho Hänninen is not on the entry list. It seems that he was not allowed to drive any other car than Skoda, so no World Rally Car for Juho. Also VW Motorsport has decided that Skoda Motorsport is not allowed to compete in the same event. Why on earth? There would not have been better place to compare Ogier, Mikkelsen and Hänninen behind the wheel of the Fabia Super 2000. It must be that Hänninen´s road to the Volkswagen has finally closed (he said already that he has to look some other teams) and of course they is no room if JML is really coming...
In the SWRC it is unfair to Mikko Pajunen compete the R4 Subaru against the Super 2000 cars (maybe he can still change the car inside the class 2).
Very sad that there is no enough financial support for Jarkko Nikara. Once again only the old Mitsubishi Evo 9. There is so much hype about Esapekka Lappi (Fiesta S2000) winning the every round of the Finnish Championship this year (he is fast and very talented without the doubt), but Nikara driving the Evo 9 was almost able to beat him in Lapua (only 1,8 seconds separeted). Now would have been the time to drive the S2000 car again (only once in 2010) or already World Rally Car...
Glad that Chris Atkinson will get the chance to drive the DS3 WRC and Matti Rantanen is once again back after one year complete silence. The 51-year-old Sebastian Lindholm´s entry has to be the same tradition like Kankkunen, Alen, Salonen and Vatanen have done earlier. When you are at least 50-year-old Finnish rally driver you have to compete in Rally Finland...
Lindholm in ford after more then ten years and escort wrc entry.
Quote:
Originally Posted by tolis
Yes I find this very strange as well....
Yes, Finland was a 'definitly' for Abbring whilst Germany a 'maybe'. I expect him in Germany now, but I honestly think Finland would've been better for him.Quote:
Originally Posted by tolis
Pity about Hänninen too, likely no WRC appaerance for him this year...
So Abbring is the opposite case than finnish drivers only competing in Finland? Only home events on tarmac, no competition on gravel? Am I wrong or is it economical or what?
VW's choice I guess...
Yes, since the start of the season it looks like no direct fight between VW and Škoda Motorsport is allowed. I heard Juho stays with Škoda for next year but I don't know if it's true. His starts in ERC anyway makes sense if he is supposed to beat new works Peugeots 208 R5...Quote:
Originally Posted by rp
Such a shame about no Juho Hänninen, I Think he's really fast and deserves a drive. I guess VW have decided on Andreas since he's probably just as fast, while being a bit younger. Breen would be a surprise given the recent events, will be interesting to see the pace of Hayden Paddon.
Nice to see Atkinson in an event again, not sure how he will go, but he will be able to compare the Ford and Citroen performance this year. Disappointing not to see Dani Sordo, hope for a miracle and full envolvement for two Prodrive minis someday.
30 WRC and s2000 entries, makes me wish I was coming over again this year. Next year will have to do :)