WRC Testing

I can't see how the best rally driver in history would say yes to Citroen asking him to come back if he didn't think he could be competitive... He isn't stupid.

And Monte is one of those rallies where luck with weather and tyres is very important, which Loeb has a rather uncanny knack of getting right, almost everytime. I think a podium or a DNF is the only realistic result. And his stats speak for themselves, almost never DNFs. Ogier when pushed however... Gonna be a great start to the season regardless the outcome!

Good to see Chardonnet getting to experience Loeb, I hope he took his team mates out too as I imagine they could also learn a thing or two from him, especially Mads.

Mads
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CEhBhmXWDBM

in my opinion, loeb looks pretty good for a guy that has been away from fulltime wrc for an extended period ( i'm not speaking of the odd event with his wife and demo shows). in the vids i've seen where the conditions are better he looks good. In the more treacherous conditions where caution is warranted he looks reasonably good too. i'm sure he's a bit rusty, but that is what testing will help with and hopefully he finds the limits during testing so as to avoid an exit during the rally itself. And the two "offs" i saw were soft offs with no damage
i saw a vid posted earlier where lavala went off trying to find some limits during testing also in tricky conditions, granted it was a bit more damage done

based on a lot of the vids i've watched of the various teams monte carlo testing over the last month i'd have to say its good for citroen that they did there testing late as the conditions have been very varied and tend to be more representative of monte carlo - dry, wet, snow, ice, slush, etc. this is good for the drivers, especially loeb who has been away as he's been thrown in at the deep end somewhat.

i hope he and elena have a good rally, has some fun, set some good times and keep it on the road

Quote:

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Originally Posted by litifeta

Loeb has the look of the gentleman racer now. The focus is gone, he is sloppy. I hope he manages a top 10 finish.

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that sums up the average Oz rally fan...

some nice photos
http://www.rallye-magazin.de/typo3te..._54b264c67.jpg
http://www.rallye-magazin.de/typo3te..._54b264c55.jpg
http://www.rallye-magazin.de/typo3te..._54b264f47.jpg
http://www.rallye-magazin.de/typo3te..._54b264f25.jpg

http://www.rallye-magazin.de/index.p...3e8f39de93955e

Quote:

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Originally Posted by tommeke_B

What a stupid assumption. Latvala crashed twice last year, and Mikkelsen also proved to become a very consistent driver. By the way, both reached the finish in Monte last year... ;)

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loeb won 7 times. latvala or mikkelsen never had a podium.

remember, there's no super rally in monte.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by denkimi

remember, there's no super rally in monte.

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There is now SupeRally now. ;) Latvala and Mikkelsen never had a podium but remember that Monte was in IRC for a big part of their WRC career. ;) Also last year both drivers managed to become very consistent.

Mikkelsen once tried in IRC too ;)

Loeb
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b08KBPNw1aY#t=14

Quote:

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Originally Posted by tommeke_B

There is now SupeRally now. ;) Latvala and Mikkelsen never had a podium but remember that Monte was in IRC for a big part of their WRC career. ;) Also last year both drivers managed to become very consistent.

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It's been in the WRC for the last 3 years, which is the years where they have both improved... Yet Latvala only finished one out of those years and finished behind Ostberg, who is hardly a Monte expert... Mikklesen did it for the first time in a number of years last year and was a mile off the pace, infact he was behind Evans. So I wouldn't say either of them has the experience/ability to have a serious impact.