Good choice from every point of view.Quote:
Originally Posted by Motorsportfun
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Good choice from every point of view.Quote:
Originally Posted by Motorsportfun
I said Meeke was good on tarmac........ :confused: I will decide if he is brilliant on tarmac if he gets more chances in wrc next year. My bet is on the black stuff he would beat mads, mikko, novikov, mikklesen, and possibly fight with latvala and neuville but thats just my opinion.Quote:
Originally Posted by AndyRAC
I imagine this response will attract emotions from the internet trolls.Quote:
Originally Posted by wrc45
It is a reasonable question but hard to answer. The money has appeared to dry up in recent years.
WRC does not have the same profile as F1 and WRC drivers do not affect manufacturers sales as much as F1. For instance, from the moment Mark Webber signed for Renault (and despite his form) the manufacturer sales in Australia Renault Sport soared to the point where Australia became the second largest world market for RS. So obviously Webber make a few bucks out of that.
Neuville was reported at 1 million Euro for Hyundai. (who knows the real number). If that is true, he is the hottest thing in the WRC other than Ogier, which given his unbeatable form this year and very rich team, would suggest he would be 4 or 5 million Euros.
MSport was reported at suggesting to Solberg he would have to pay to drive. Drivers like Mads have to find private money to keep them in a car.
So other than a Citroen, VW and Hyundai, few would get paid at all. Mikko was probably lucky to sign when he did and probably did ok financially.
Why do you rate Meeke so highly? When was the last time he finished an international rally without an accident? He wasn't that fast this year and he crashed in both rallies he entered. In one rally of them even twice. Meeke wasn't fast in 2011 with the factory Mini and he crashed again a lot. He had his chances and he blew it.Quote:
Originally Posted by er88
What planet are you from? If his pace in Finland and Australia was not good, what do you expect from somebody making a comeback after being out of (proper) competition for 2 years?!Quote:
Originally Posted by Wim_Impreza
Meeke has yet to do a full WRC season in a WRCar.....A few events here and there is no good to any driver.
Exactly, Neuville is a good example. A bit unreliable in year one but look at him in year two..
I thought Meeke's pace in Finland and Australia was excellent.
Meeke's pace last year was great considering he had not driven competitively for aroung 2yrs. In australia- with no test before the rally and his first time at the event, he was running faster than novikov, mikklesen, ostberg and latvala. He was ahead of neuville too untill his stall and just behing mikko. I couldn't believe his pace tbh and he won the qualifying stage. Granted he crashed out, but what would people rather see? Someone setting pace like that showing what they could possibly achieve or someone who gets a drive and shows no pace whatsoever but finishes the rally behind prokop. Im not saying meeke is the best thing since sliced bread but he has raw pace and with a full season he wouldn't be under as much pressure so wouldnt crash out in every rally like some of you suggest. Meeke is citroens best option for next year hands down. Better than ostberg, better than duval and better than kubica so i just hope he finally gets what he deserves- a full season in the WRC.
http://digital.motorsportmonday.com//la ... bff5ed6a26
Go to page 66 for more details on the new proposed class system
Talking about pace and nothing else, why not mention PG Andersson then? He´s got pace, but almost never reach the finish for different reasons (not only going off...)
PG Andersson has never shown pace like meeke did in australia, or even shown the pace meeke did in finland for that matter- but i admit i might be mistaken and just forgotten. So please remind me when PG showed good pace in his rallies in wrc car? :confused:Quote:
Originally Posted by Rallyper
Sweden 2011 for example. Except some stays in the snow he was bloody fast. He won several stages (3 of 6 six in leg 1) and was leading the rally initially.
Those few events in the Fiesta didn't do his career any good though unfortunately.
Thank You !Quote:
Originally Posted by litifeta
Thats all i needed to know.
[quote=tommeke_B]What planet are you from? If his pace in Finland and Australia was not good, what do you expect from somebody making a comeback after being out of (proper) competition for 2 years?![/quote:1a88ogu5]Quote:
Originally Posted by "Wim_Impreza":1a88ogu5
and he crashed 3 times in 2 rallies...no coment
As for Meeke resent autumn. I hold PG for even faster than Meeke, but every expert talks their heads off for Meeke, and I don´t know why he should be the best choice for Citroen?Quote:
Originally Posted by EightGear
Maybe Tidemand has a better chance to get a seat?Quote:
Originally Posted by Rallyper
What about Sweden WRT project?
Exactly. And exactly the problem with rallying today. Turned into a sprint on known roads.Quote:
Originally Posted by Rallyper
One strategy: drive your vehicle at the maximum speed for as long as you have the nerve. NASCAR on dirt.
For sure. But he won the JWRC this year and I believe he´s going for WRC2 next year. We have to wait for 2015 until he´s in a WRC car.Quote:
Originally Posted by Sulland
That is brave of you to say that after this year.Quote:
Originally Posted by Rallyper
Swede fast in Sweden is nothing revolutionary, but there are 12 other rounds in the championship...
I suggest to You to go for example Ouninpohja and good luck in trying to memorize it. Besides that it's not like the rallies would not change their route when they keep same name...Quote:
Originally Posted by litifeta
What car?Quote:
Originally Posted by Rallyper
Fiesta R5
Well he was second in WRC2 in 2012 in Proton... When was Meeke ashieving that?Quote:
Originally Posted by RS
What has that got to do with the price of fish?Quote:
Originally Posted by Rallyper
Rally Norway 2009 in Fabia.Quote:
Originally Posted by er88
Latvala start the Monte Test
https://twitter.com/planetemarcus/statu ... 56/photo/1
and new aero for Polo ?
https://twitter.com/planetemarcus/statu ... 88/photo/1
I'd say PG is perhaps the most over-rated driver of recent times. Never shown any decent pace against decent opposition yet people always get excited about the chance of him in a WRC car. Thankfully people are starting to realise how average this guy is - hopefully he won't get in a WRC car again unless it's out his own pocket. If Sweden want a local driver then Tidemand is a much, much better option - at least there's a chance he'll be good one day.
Thanks. Looks like there will be more interesting WRC2 season than this year.Quote:
Originally Posted by Andre Oliveira
Meeke is IRC champion. That is definitely bigger achievement than to win WRC2 , not speaking about being 2nd in WRC2. Watch this year, Al Kuwari was 2nd in WRC2. Besides that Meeke could not win a championship which he never took part in...Quote:
Originally Posted by Rallyper
Also Meeke is one of the only three drivers who managed to win Ypres on first attempts in it's long history (Toivinen, Rossetti, Meeke). Many tried and failed (Grönholm, Kankkunen...).
Well, to be honest Mirek, you know what PG has done. But that wasn´t my point.
Me too, think he´s fast but not anymore an option for any team, unless he´s got testing time and so on, so on...
I was just comparing to all the guys pledging for Meeke and the comparison was just spot on. Meeke = PG (unfortenatly)
You were downplaying Meeke by an invalid argument so I reacted. I have never said anything against PG (as You can see in my previous posts). I actually like him, he is one of the most spectacular drivers around (so is Meeke) and he is also nice guy to talk with but the fact he was 2nd in WRC2 means almost nothing when speaking about possible factory seat. The two JWRC titles in the years of really strong competition mean much more but it's sooo long time a go...
Not even close - Meeke has shown great pace on his rare chances in a WRC car. PG hasn't - solid at best, mediocre more realistically. Neither are consistent, but if you had to pick one or the other then Meeke is simply the only option.Quote:
Originally Posted by Rallyper
Hey, You are biased opposite way. PG was leading WRC rally overall and was winning stages overall when he had a proper car.Quote:
Originally Posted by pettersolberg29
Maybe I'm missing something, and am happy to bow to superior - but never has PG properly threatened near the top really. Meeke has, and has that extra bit of pace that very few others do. Winning the qualifying stage last season was incredible - PG could never show such pace in my view. Not even on snow.Quote:
Originally Posted by Mirek
Guys..have you seen PG driving in Rally Sweden.. totally crazy..bounching from one snow pile to another, cutting, doing all kind of spectacular things. But from the outside view you could almost bet that with such a style, it is not possible to cover the whole rally distance. Have you noticed that his cars do not last quite often? There is always a reason;-)
Meeke is fast, he started to crash with 207 when the car was slower than Fabia and he had to overdrive it to be competitive. Mini was mostly the one that gave up. He was not crashing too much with Mini I think.
Citroen realised that they cannot go on like this, so, they have to make very radical changes. I guess that Hirvonen and Kubica are lost to Ford already, Sordo to Hyundai. So, I have been thinking about it and found a solution.
As they do not need to think about championships in 2014 (they already stated), then they have to go in a radical way.
I would suggest to go like this:
1. Meeke
2. Tänak (this is not because I am Estonian)
1.Meeke is fast and he needs stability. Remember how many crashes Ogier had when he knew that he has only half season with WRC? Even two crashes in one stage in Cyprus (if I am not wrong). With longer contract, Meeke would surprise us.
2. Tänak-Citroen has been described as a car that is difficult to drive (by Sordo, Hirvonen, etc.) have you seen what Tänak did in Estonian and Latvian rallies in 2013? he was driving a bit old Subaru that was described by most of the drivers as a car that is very difficult to drive or non-driveable. and he just blew all the competition away with this car. Ott often said that he won because of better car:-)
So, whit proper testing (one of the big mproblems for Ott in 2012 was nearly 0km of testing) and stable contracts..these two would be the best options for Citroen in 2014.
Thanks forgot about that :). I loved watching PG in scotland in 2011, he was spectacular to watch out on the stages untill the protons reliability curse hit again :rolleyes: Love his driving style. However, in WRC his pace in most of his outings havent been quick enough. My point is just i cant see how PG at this moment in their careers can be considered a better option than meeke - who was super impressive pace wise this year all things considered.Quote:
Originally Posted by Mirek
holy cow. you do have a point there my friend. pretty true. even Ogier was a crash freak during his early years him and conrad. its not easy to drive a WRC car agains people who have experience with it, i think Meeke needs a chance. same as KubicaQuote:
Originally Posted by er88
Apart from that I don't think they "lost" Hirvonen to Ford you've hit the nail on the head. There is nobody out there available right now who can beat VW to the titles next year so they may as well try something radical and different.Quote:
Originally Posted by bluuford
Are we sure Kubica is going to Ford? I thought that he and Meeke could have fitted the plan nicely. But I can see maybe Ostberg will end up at Citroen if he is paying.
Tanak is a nice idea but he doesn't seem to be in the radar of anyone right now. He needs to get back to active competition, whether that is a couple of rounds in a good WRCar or a proper bid for ERC or maybe WRC2. I am sure he is trying for that :)