I wouldn't write off Camilli in the future yet, his rise through the ranks is remarkable and has earned the admiration of Malcolm, which is not a bad thing to have.
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I wouldn't write off Camilli in the future yet, his rise through the ranks is remarkable and has earned the admiration of Malcolm, which is not a bad thing to have.
Camilli has been testing with Volkswagen in the middle of this year, a nice manufacturer testing role. Quite surprising to see him in an M-Sport car again after that.Quote:
Originally Posted by steve.mandzij
He's a clear number two that backs up Ogier when needed with no arguements. He's not been quick this year, but has played the political game which could help him keep a seat.Quote:
Originally Posted by steve.mandzij
Actually he said he's focused on performance in order to win often and get titles; for that he obviously needs a winning car.Quote:
Originally Posted by mknight
Btw, I’ve been defending Citroen for a long time but I’m starting to lose my faith on them, making hard to imagine that Ogier would choose the weakest car and the most troubled team to end his career.
It may sound lunatic but I still believe there’s some anti-Ogier mood inside Citroen, perhaps to defend Loeb’s legacy and active presence at PSA; otherwise it’s beyond comprehension how they managed to fail hiring him after VW pull out or even last year.
Ogier is a driving force able to boost any team he joins and Citroen desperately needed his guidance in both occasions, just as they need it now. Will they succeed this time? I seriously doubt, but frankly I hope to be wrong.
For me, it hangs on the level of support he will get from teammates (clear number one driver), a commitment from Tavares that there is a significant development budget in place, the maximum level of testing allowed in appropriate locations and perhaps who is emplyed in the engineering team. I don't believe it's a question of wage for Ogier, if Citroen can provide those four things he can move and gain satisfaction from turning a team around.Quote:
Originally Posted by Rally Power
I believe there is at least just as much anti Citroën sentiment in ogier. And who can blame him? If i where him i wouldn't go back, i would let them lay in their misery. They did it to themself.Quote:
Originally Posted by Rally Power
this is a bit off topic, but why did kopecki never really made it to the WRC level? I remember him doing wrc with the fabia back in 2007 / 2008 (?) and then nothing and now he is back and winning quite a lot in wrc2 over the last few years... bit of strange career path.
Well he was driving wrc with Skoda in 2005-2007. Won some stages in Germany as well even though final result wasnt very good. On gravel he was always slower than his teammates though (Paasonen etc.). So when Skoda left WRC his performance wasnt anything that would make other teams pick him and he didnt have money to pay for the drive. So he stuck with Skoda for IRC and then R5 slowly going better on gravel. He is now decent on it, but decent means somewhere around 8-9 place in WRC given competitive car. On tarmac he could be around 4-5th depending on the rally. Was loosing quite a lot against Mikkelsen in same car last year on Monte and Corsica though (even without puncture), but was faster than Suninen.
Škoda WRC-s were rubbish, then came the period of paying drivers and two manuf. For sure there were other reasons also, but quite hard to get a competitive seat that time...
I'd like to correct You a little bit. He drove only one single gravel event for Škoda Motorsport when he was 21 years old (Wales 2003). It wasn't fast but that could be hardly expected with his experience. 2005 was the last season before the Škoda Motorsport department was dissolved and in these years he drove only few selected asphalt events.Quote:
Originally Posted by mknight
In 2006-2007 he drove privately run WRC car with no teammate. The team was run by his father and it actually somehow exists till today. They keep preparing Jan's car for Czech national events. Take into account that the development of the car was very limited despite Škoda actually granting homologation to number of improvements developed by the team. The main problem was pretty weak obsolete 20V engine of the Fabia WRC especially in terms of torque where it was lacking around 100-200 Nm against the competitors. He did only selected events and scored some good results considering he was a privateer (5th in Germany and Catalunya, 7th in Acropolis and Corsica, 8th in Finland, Monte Carlo and Norway).
In 2008 Škoda Motorsport was reborn and the development of the Fabia S2000 was ongoing. Jan was doing a lot of the job including collecting experience with other S2000 (207, Punto). He also drove the S2000 prototype on number of events. In 2009 Škoda entered IRC on Monte Carlo. IRC was very popular in that time and the competition was made largely of today's WRC drivers. If I'm not mistaken Jan finished 3x 2nd in the all season standings (behind Hänninen and Mikkelsen). He also drove in Italian championship for Škoda Italia. After that he was sent to win ERC which he did and to win APRC which he also did (fun fact - Lappi didn't manage that). And further You know it. He is taking mandatory Czech titles and drive what he is given in WRC2. He was very close to a WRC deal two years back but everything collapsed when VW stopped and its drivers got in the game. Now it's too late I would say. He won 4 major gravel events - 2x Sardinia in WRC2, Acores and Sibiu in IRC/ERC.
Like I said elsewhere, Hyundai should hire him as a tarmac specialist, since they seem to lack good tarmac drivers.
Yeah I forgot that he drove as privateer in 2006-2007. Was tough time to get in. IRC was indeed better competition than wrc at least for a few years before others(Peugeot) fell off and Skoda started to dominate.
Sordo and Neuville are not good tarmac drivers?Quote:
Originally Posted by AnttiL
Lol then nobody is
Verstuurd vanaf mijn SM-G935F met Tapatalk
Could almost think you are trolling?Quote:
Originally Posted by AnttiL
Neuville won his first WRC rally on tarmac and won Corsica last year.
Sordo won his only rally on tarmac and used to be the defition of tarmac specialist since Panizzi retired.
Mikkelsen also won his first WRC rally on tarmac (well ontarmac+gravel in Spain). As mentioned he also drove same car with Kopecky on Monte and Corsica and was clearly faster.
When a trio of tarmac drivers like this finished as last 3 wrcs on 2stages in Germany behind Suninen in his first tarmac rally and behind Řstberg who didnt drive on tarmac in 2 years and was never good on it, it certainly stays more about the car than the drivers.
Thanks, much appreciated sharing your knowledge. Maybe the skoda was not the fastest but i quite liked the look of it when i saw him at Monte Carlo 2007 (I think or 2006)Quote:
Originally Posted by Mirek
Sorry, should have explained my idea better. Of course I didn't mean that Neuville would be a bad tarmac driver, or Sordo...but Sordo seems to have trouble finishing tarmac rallies as of late. Crashed in Deutschland 2017 and 2018, Catalunya 2017 and Monte 2018. They won't win manufacturers championship if Neuville's the only one who scores tarmac points.
So maybe they need to have Neuville, Sordo-Paddon and Kopecky-Mikkelsen :D
https://twitter.com/KiwiWRCfan/statu...49592224063489
Quote:
Oliver Ciesla confirms by video link agreement made with Rally Japan to return to #WRC "from 2019 for probably 4 years"
Ciesla expects this to be ratified by FIA's World Motorsport Council's next meeting.
(Not stated but would need to be subject to successful candidate event)
Funny enough despite his 'useless on tarmac' reputation Paddon was actually bringing in fairly consistent points on tarmac in 2016/17 - obviously not challenging for podiums and wins like he has on gravel, but often 5th or 6th which is still useful points.Quote:
Originally Posted by AnttiL
Strong and reliable project built in Japan. This morning last official press conference suggested three dates for WRC JAPAN 2019 to promoter : full details ► http://bit.ly/2wehuPm
You mean...like Mikkelsen this year?Quote:
Originally Posted by GravelBen
https://www.is.fi/ralli/art-2000005799338.html
According to Finnish media Ilta-Sanomat Citroen is trying to sign Lappi for next year. In the article Erik T. Veiby confirms that Citroen is interested in Lappi, saying: "Citroen has told us that Esapekka is one of the drivers the team would like to have next year". Veiby also says that they have started negotiations with Toyota as well regarding next season.
Smells like Citroen are trying to sign every free agent, without much success so far. (early days)
And Autosport's take on the matter: https://www.autosport.com/wrc/news/1...ahead-from-wrcQuote:
Originally Posted by jbmarcus21
Interesting point for me is that they are now saying three possible dates for Rally Japan. Back on the 7th, the 'leaked' calendar had it as first week of November. As the overriding factor in drafting a WRC Calendar is shipping logistics, I can only conclude that the three dates indicate there are at least two draft calendars on the table, one with the Chile (or German) round and one without it.Quote:
Originally Posted by AnttiL
Though not a WRC problem, holding Rally Japan in September would create a huge headache for APRC as Rally Hokkaido couldn't be run in November or, say, July for seasonal reasons (snow & agriculture, respectively). Even holding two international rallies within 6 weeks of each other will create sizable problems for local officials and teams.
Apparently Abu Dhabi may leave Citroen if the team fails to guarantee wining chances for next year; it’s in the free section of L’Equipe site. Anyone read the full article? https://www.lequipe.fr/Rallye/Articl...n-ogier/932379
Would they move to back up, say, M-Sport, or leave the sport altogether?
With their financial backing I think the other teams would be all over them for a deal, if, as you say, they're interested in staying in the sport.Quote:
Originally Posted by AnttiL
I don't think Toyota would be thoughQuote:
Originally Posted by BigWorm
Well Al Attiyah was supposed to have talks about running a full 2019 program with a Toyota Yaris which was backed by Qatar and Red Bull. Not sure if this is still in the works... so we could have a few different scenarios if Abu Dhabi pulls out.
As Anttil said they may head back to M-Sport since they have already worked with their group. I'm sure Malcom would take them in with open arms.
As far as Citroen goes, they are in deep turds unless they make a serious change. People like Mads and Breen should know they could easily be booted if Citroen was to get someone like Lappi, Loeb or Latvala.
maybe a silly season in terms of driver and main sponsors ;)
I read this this as "winning chances" = winning driver ~ Ogier, Neuville or maybe Latvala.Quote:
Originally Posted by Rally Power
https://www.rallit.fi/esapekka-lappi...e-olla-tyoton/
Lappi responds to Citroen rumors.
The most important quotes:
I won't be unemployed next year, even if it turns out that I'm not getting a contract from Toyota.
We have pretty good situation at Toyota. It's a winning car and it's easy to be in a Finnish team. I don't have any huge interest to leave Toyota, but at the moment I don't have a contract for next season. Let's wait.
By the end of next month I should know (about next year). That leaves enough time to prepare for next year and possible changes - if such are to happen.
cmon Lappi, dont be stupid
maybe trying to maximize his salary
Or maybe Toyota just keeping one seat free, just in case...
Well if Toyota don't give him contract at the table already then they are pretty much stupid. I bet it's Latvala who kiss their asses all the time... And if they will not be interested in him then he don't have other choices.
I'm not sure whether it's better to be No.3 driver in a better team than possibly No.1 driver in a worse one, tough choice.
The Japanese people at Toyota supposedly like Latvala. Jouhki is also probably a stronger manager than Veiby.Quote:
Originally Posted by ESTR
Indeed.Quote:
Originally Posted by Mirek
Lappi is the most promising of the "new" drivers (including Paddon). Latvala hard to say, last year I though he was back but this year he made lots of mistakes even when he didn't have technical issues and was typically the slowest Toyota.
It is likely that Lappi's current contract wasn't very good (he was unproven), so he has all the reasons to try to get a better deal.
"Autosport understands the Tour of Corisca was the prime candidate, but speculation has now suggested the French island event could remain next season, possibly at the expense of Rally Germany."
What was wrong with Germany?