[WRC] News & rumours (part II)

IRC Intercontinental Rally Challenge

Mikkelsen in IRC 2012

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Originally Posted by ridder

Tanak has done one season of Pirreli SD finishing 4th and one season of SWRC finishing 2nd (against basically just 1 real competitor)... and one WRC rally in WRC car finishing 6th.

Østberg has been driving in WRCs on WRC rallies since 2006 in much more crowded field and during this season got 2 second places.

The only time they drove same rally in similar car was this last WRC rally, where not surprisingly Tanak was far behind.

How can Tanak be more ready than Ostberg to run as a factory number 2 is beyond me. I don't think Ostberg is ready either, but Tanak? To run most rallies as non-factory driver is best both for him and the team.

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You forget the tires as Tänak was running on DMack's, so you cannot really have adequate comparison. But I also think that maybe it's too early for Tänak to run in a A team

Suggestions Tanak's not "ready" for a full WRC drive are nonsense. The kid's as ready as he's ever going to be. If there weren't such a limit on opportunities we'd all be rooting for him. What's the worst that he could do, crash more cars than McRae? Not possible.

Speaking for myself I would be very disappointed if he didn't live up to the hype. I think the current kiwi competitor could also be at risk of this.

As an example I would site Bruno Senna in F1. His last name gives everyone (who likes F1)a buzz but his recent results damped it down so much.

At the end of the day, the likes of Tanak, Paddon, Ostberg and all of the other candidates are where they are presently because they have fought off the competition wherever they have respectively been battling.

In the case of Paddon, his competition which he has ably beaten to 2 national titles and a brace of APRC round wins, not to mention his PWRC crown, is generally vastly more experienced. Yet he has disposed of them at will not only on events and surfaces he knows well but at those which are new to him also.
I do not know much of Tanak's history but would be surpised if it were much different, in this respect.

What's lacking is time in the car, and we do know that the WRC cars of the previous era were reputedly difficult for a novice to step into, but there time to sort this.

Rumours at the moment , but the talk is that Ford have pulled out of the WRC. This apparently leaves `M`Sport on their own to keep the brand alive. There will be lots to discuss at Daventry Hall!!!

Se you prefer him as second driver over Petter Solberg?

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Originally Posted by sollitt

Suggestions Tanak's not "ready" for a full WRC drive are nonsense. The kid's as ready as he's ever going to be. If there weren't such a limit on opportunities we'd all be rooting for him. What's the worst that he could do, crash more cars than McRae? Not possible.

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Se you prefer him as second driver over Petter Solberg?

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Originally Posted by bassist

Rumours at the moment , but the talk is that Ford have pulled out of the WRC. This apparently leaves `M`Sport on their own to keep the brand alive. There will be lots to discuss at Daventry Hall!!!

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So disappointing, just when the championship was starting to get better

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Originally Posted by bassist

Rumours at the moment , but the talk is that Ford have pulled out of the WRC. This apparently leaves `M`Sport on their own to keep the brand alive. There will be lots to discuss at Daventry Hall!!!

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Is it not Dovenby Hall?