[WRC] News & rumours (part II)

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Originally Posted by N.O.T

I also agree that Solberg would have won either way that year in GB, but If Loeb was pushing him then he could also have an accident..."what ifs" do not create champions though...

The fact that they have the same age and how they evolved after that year shows the difference between a true rally legend and a true rally champion...

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Petter was let down a lot by Subaru dont forget, the car realy wasnt competitive in their later years. Then a lack of manufacturers meant he couldnt get a factory drive. All the while, PSA worked tirelessly to improve the Citoren Total team, and Sebastien Loeb flourished.

Loebs talent is undoubtable, but his career has been so much smoother than Petters. If only Subaru had been bothered to build a better car, Loeb might not have been an 8(?) time world champion!

And if Petter would bother to improve his skills maybe a team would pick him up instead of someone else.....

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Originally Posted by N.O.T

And if Petter would bother to improve his skills maybe a team would pick him up instead of someone else.....

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Maybe its who the teams were developing at the time.
It probably would have worked out badly if he went to citroen a few years ago (But was there anyone on this forum, honestly, expecting Ogier to be as good as he has been?), but I dont know why they diddnt give him a seat back when Subaru left and he started expressing an interest as a private driver.

At the end of 2008 I think most people lost any faith in Solberg. He was consistently lacking winning pace since middle 2005 and in quite a few rallies in the later years Atkinson was ahead of him. It has to be said that these were rallies where the Subarus couldn't do better than 5-6 place.

Really wonder how Atkinson would have done in 2006-2008 in a different car. Solberg would have been fighting with Loeb and Gronholm for rally wins.

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Originally Posted by ridder

At the end of 2008 I think most people lost any faith in Solberg. He was consistently lacking winning pace since middle 2005 and in quite a few rallies in the later years Atkinson was ahead of him. It has to be said that these were rallies where the Subarus couldn't do better than 5-6 place.

Really wonder how Atkinson would have done in 2006-2008 in a different car. Solberg would have been fighting with Loeb and Gronholm for rally wins.

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+1 I am one of these people. My appreciation of Solberg reached its peak in 2004-5 when he put up a valiant challenge to Loeb. Around 2005 he was offered the second Citroen seat that later went to Pons & Sordo. I can understand why he turned it down; his career would have been rooted!! Even if he took it I don't think he would have been allowed to fight for wins with Loeb and Gronholm unfortunately.

Maybe Chris learned to live within the limits of the later Imprezas while Petter pushed way to hard.

I am not sure anyone has a clear idea of why Subaru and Mitsubishi went downhill so fast in the last part of the naughties; but it was quite pathetic how bad the last 2 Impreza WRC were, don't even mention the Evos....

I have a feeling that Chris will probably never drive full time in the WRC again as its all about the Benjamins now. The closes indication we have of his current WRC speed is Ireland 2009.

I would also like to add:
I think that if Petter goes to VW he could possibly still struggle to get wins, how can VW guarantee that the Polo will be everything that people have talked it up to be? It remains to be seen if VW can replicate its Dakar successes in the WRC or if they will be a bit disappointing like the BMW and Mercedes F1 efforts.
Thanks.

We would just have to be patient with VW and their drivers, whoever they are. I don't think many people expected the MINI to be as good as it is already, either, even for a car that's still not finished. VW's not supposed to be serious until 2013 so it's interesting we get to see it at all next year, unlike the C4 and DS3 development.

I didn't expect this:
http://translate.google.com/translat....ewrc.cz/ewrc/

I would really like a WRC Rallye du Valais :D

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Originally Posted by tfp

(But was there anyone on this forum, honestly, expecting Ogier to be as good as he has been?)

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Yes, I did, you can look at the posts from the past, especially those before season 2010.

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Originally Posted by Tomi

Yes, I did, you can look at the posts from the past, especially those before season 2010.

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Me too, I was an Ogier fan since 2008 Mexico