So he is driving an R5 not a WRC ?
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So he is driving an R5 not a WRC ?
As for Ypres 2019, we don't know yet.Quote:
Originally Posted by Fast Eddie WRC
We know it. They have made special category for him...Quote:
Originally Posted by AnttiL
I have the same opinion.Quote:
Originally Posted by JUF
Why?Quote:
Originally Posted by PLuto
I mean, competition wise it's stupid to have a single WRC car whose times cannot be compared to anyone, but it's a nice attraction for spectators. Or does it take away glory of the overall win from the local R5 drivers although they would get the highest points?
If it helps teams sell WRC's then it's good for a team like M-Sport.
And what about all the pre-2017 WRC's ? They should have somewhere to drive.
Yes we had East Belgian Rally some years ago when Neuville started with WRC and the organisor told me some People didn't opt to sent entry because of that.Quote:
Originally Posted by AnttiL
And this is indeed made for Neuville to start with his WRC. Such things are for Eifel Festival not for Ypres. Really don't care about it.
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Yes, you have wrote some of the reasons. With this car, nobody can fight against you as these cars are so much better than others, so competition is smaller. Especially when the cars and their running is crazy expensive, so not big chance to have more cars. And in this case it is only about money, nothing else. It also take away glory of the other competitors/competition, which is usually more important on the events. Another reason is that this WRC cars are so much powerful, so they are destroying the roads very quickly...Quote:
Originally Posted by AnttiL
Breen staying match-fit for WRC...
https://www.wrc.com/en/wrc/news/apri...8--12-12-.html
That's one year ago. Everyone's improving, and there's the new VW Polo R5, while the Hyundai i20 R5 hasn't had any development anymore... And since they're going to let Thierry drive the WRC car in some own made-up event, it's clear Hyundai completely gave up on R5..Quote:
Originally Posted by denkimi
Someone is driving a car that is 3 times more expensive, much more powerful and way faster than all other competitors. Can it even be called sport?Quote:
Originally Posted by AnttiL
+1. With R5 we see much stronger competition in all countries, 20 R5 cars in national events are not exceptions anymore. Many of those can sell these projects to sponsors because they can fight for wins/podiums. Add a few WRC cars and many of those would disappear. Just watch the results of national events in mid-2000s, where in most places WRC cars were allowed, but too expensive to run in big numbers...
Remember that Finland and France have announced that WRC cars can't score points for the championships. Ypres is even arranging a separate competition for them.
https://www.autosport.com/wrc/news/1...ute-for-return
First time I've seen this mentioned, but alongside what we know about Mouton's opinion, a quote from "a source close to the event" that the rally will be around 500km. Presumably/hopefully that means 500km of SS, which would be good news! Still only going to use private estate roads though, which I fear will be different in character to the old Safari roads... I understand why though.
Was there always a National rally attached to the International Ypres rally? So long as he's not entered in the 'International' main event I don't see the issue. And if this attached 'Masters' National rally is new, nothing has been lost. It's essentially just a show event tacked on, the result of which will be irrelevant.
20 R5s in one event is not a rule, far from it i`d say. Look at a bigger picture (entrylists from ewrc for example) and the picture is a lot different. WRC is a sight to see on small events, for local spectators and it is a good thing. For sure, when Mr. Loeb drives a 2019 WRC in his homeland, he is quite a big attraction, how could it be bad? Same applies for Neuville in Ypres...and Tänak in Rally Estonia. They are one-offs, good for those fans who can`t allow themselves travelling around the world and see them in WRC action.
Other than that, you can talk about glory being taken away...or also talk about Oliver Solberg beating a 2017 Fiesta WRC with his Polo R5...
The Irish Tarmac Championship has always allowed WRC cars to enter its events, although the Championship points have only been for R5's since 2016.
There were/are many WRC cars in Ireland from the previous years and they didnt want them to become redundant overnight.
A good article on the aero development of the current WRC cars. Autosport Plus but at least right now free to read.
https://www.autosport.com/engineerin...formed-the-wrc
Interesting since the rules only changed for this year to limit the maximum length from 500 to 350Quote:
Originally Posted by the sniper
If anyone's interested, here's an hour of onboards from the 2018 event https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qbWa0dhVqhw
Just as well as if 2 or more are driving cars with same attributes.Quote:
Originally Posted by Jarek Z
What I somewhat fail to understand here is that it's not like we're getting these market disruptors on each national championship. The 2017 machinery is anyway so expensive and so restricted for bunch of reasons, that it just won't happen. Instead, we're treated with likes of Neuville and Loeb doing the odd outing here and there, giving the events more exposure and bringing more fans than they'd normally draw. I.e. no-one's definitely losing here.
https://www.rallies.info/webentry/20...ies.php?type=uQuote:
Originally Posted by tommeke_B
Regarding to the i20 R5 project, entrant no. 29 clearly shows otherwise.
It was the same in Wrc2 also, i believe. Point is, by whom he is registered...
In WRC2 it was a Sarrazin Motorsport car and according to Huttunen things didn't work so well...
I meant, it was a service bought by HMSG, not done by theirselves, not counting other factory support and development.
Breen leading in ITRC:
With 9 stages done at the #EasterStagesRally, we hold an 18.8-second lead. The weather is great, the stages are fantastic and the @cjjmotorsports Ford Fiesta is working brilliantly! ✅ #ITRC https://t.co/u008aPhOQp
EDIT
@Craig_Breen and @paulnagle1 have completed stage 15 and have provisionally won the UAC Easter Stages Rally.
Quotes on the Toyota wheel issue:
"Tanak was frustrated by a puncture which took him out of the TDC victory battle.
Toyota team boss Tommi Makinen admitted the issue was the by-product of a rim-suspension set-up which was sending too much stress through the tyre.
The Puppolla-based team suffered the same issues in Monte Carlo, when it ran lightweight rims.
Makinen was quick to stress the fault didn't lie with long-time WRC wheel supplier OZ Racing.
"It's something in the set-up," Makinen told Autosport.
"We need to find a way to give the suspension more space and take away some of the stress from the rim.
"It's not fair to call this a puncture because we are losing the air in a strange way."
So Kruuda was right then.
About what?Quote:
Originally Posted by EstWRC
/I'm a little bit away, so out of context
It's an Irish sourced car with support from Hyundai Motorsport.Quote:
Originally Posted by Sal the 2nd
Huttunen says the Pirelli Rally outing is a single race and does not mean he is returning to Hyundai's services https://www.rallit.fi/rallilupaus-ja...ndai-huhuille/
So is he entered by Hyundai Motorsport or not? :confused:Quote:
Originally Posted by AnttiL
Yes
https://i.stuff.co.nz/sport/motorspo...-event-in-2020
Not sure about the validity of this but I really hope so!
I haven't seen it mentioned before but Hyundai announced their lineup for Portugal (Neuville, Mikkelsen, Sordo):
https://twitter.com/HMSGOfficial/sta...24324233412608
Loeb also won't be in Sardinia as he is doing the french rally at the same time. The original news were that he was signed for 6 rallies in 2019. With Chile it only leaves 2 for the rest of the season.
Would expect that Loeb wants one more tarmac rally (prbly Germany as Sordo has quite bad recent record there), but might also drive both replacing Mikkelsen either only in Spain or on both. Other clear candidate for Loeb is GB where Sordo was never fast. Still looks very open for someone else to drive in Finland.
For sure things can change, but at the same time Loeb wasn't very keen on doing more rallies (talking about how much time it takes with travel, recce etc.).
There is a Kiwi lurking between NZ and Europe at the moment who is pretty handy on fast roads especially if he gets a chance to set a car up to suit him rather than to suit someone else. Scuttlebutt has it that a few of the Hyundai mechanics would like him onboard for this event too.Quote:
Originally Posted by mknight
they need a rally driver... not someone to run their social media account.Quote:
Originally Posted by Mk2 RS2000
Seeing how ruthless Adamo is, I'd guess/presume Mikkelsen will now be out of Germany and Spain (unless Loeb actively doesn't want to do one of those events for whatever reason).
https://www.rallit.fi/wrc-huoltoalue...oppuun-saakka/
Speculation (in Finnish) about the upcoming Rally Argentina and more interestingly about Latvala's situation at TGR. According to Heinonen and Hietavala (the two doing the talking on the video) there's been rumor around the service park whether JML will remain in the TGR squad till the end of the season if he doesn't start to deliver. And as we're already approaching Argentina, he better do it sooner than later.
Ofcourse it's nothing more than pure speculation at the moment, but as both of these guys are actively involved in Finnish WRC gossip, it's interesting to hear nevertheless. What was the saying again about the smoke and fire...
Sure Paddon is the best pick in Finland, but he reportedly said no to that in December. We will see if that no is still valid if they don't get anyone else. On the other hand it's not very good situation for Paddon to drive in Finland either. He is not likely to fight for the win or even podium there unless Hyundai does some miracle upgrade (very unlikely, they have 0 podiums from that rally for a reason). If he finishes 4th-5th it will just be "normal" and doesn't increase his chances for a seat in any way, anything else, for example worse than 5th, worse than any of the other two Hyndais or a crash will hurt him a lot.Quote:
Originally Posted by Mk2 RS2000
So I do understand why he is not so keen to join just for one rally.
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Adamo being extremely "realistic" is exactly why I don't think that Loeb automatically drives both rallies and that Sordo drives Germany.Quote:
Originally Posted by er88
In Corsica Loeb crashed in first stage, crashed 2 times in the rally in total (when did that ever happen before?), didn't have good pace, finished worse than Mikkelsen the year before and brought 0 points to the team. Hard to do worse than that. (btw. I don't think it's down to Loeb as a driver). Sordo crashing out of Germany the last two years was mentioned.
Imo Mikkelsen will drive in Germany as the "safe" choice, just like Sordo drove on Corsica. So will Loeb (if he wants/has time) as the "risky" choice and Spain will be decided depending on their results.
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While Latvala obviously does not have good season so far I really don't see him getting replaced before the end of the year. The only somewhat "safe" choices are Paddon, Østberg and Breen, out of these only Breen seems completely free. In any case nothing is going to happen on that front until after Finland.Quote:
Originally Posted by Allez Andruet