[WRC] News & rumours (part IV) 2016

Some news about Rally Sweden.

• Service area/Rally centre will likely remain in Karlstad for 2017 due to problems with hotels/accommodation in Northern Värmland.*
• Rally will stay in Värmland for 2017 due to shortage in time to create a whole new rally somewhere else, uncertain for 2018 and 2019.
• The aim is to present something in June. It is all about finding snow safe areas and at the same time have guaranteed accommodation.
• Rally will be held at week 5,6 or 7. RS organizers prefer week 6. Promoter wants week 5 or 7.

* Rally Sweden's Glenn Olsson have been in contact with hotels and other accommodation providers in Northern Värmland but he is disappointed
with the answers he have received. He wants to have control over accommodation in Nothern Värmland for the next three years to be able to guarantee
a large enough availability volume that is also reasonable priced. They were considering to move the rally and service park from Karlstad
to Torsby so that they could have a more northerly route of stages but due to the answers Glenn have received, the rally HQ and
service park is likely to remain in Karlstad for 2017.

So to summarize it, the accommodation problem in northern Värmland is the main problem that needs to be solved.

http://www.vf.se/sport/bilsport/rall...m-ar-inte-lost

But the areas of Falun/Borlänge for hosting and stages further north in Dalarna/Värmland could be a combination. Week 7 is probably more safe, maybe.

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Originally Posted by Simmi

Yeah I think you're correct in your assessment and I agree with you Ben that Latvala is the perfect number two driver. He's not consistent enough to threaten Ogier over a season, but he is the next best in terms of raw pace. Enough so that if you're VW you wouldn't want him going to a rival.

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I agree as well, I think up to now the VW trio was the best possible mix of drivers a team can hope for. However I do hope Meeke or Paddon can mix it up a bit in the future.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by GravelBen

I was counting Monte as driver error.

Sweden was driveshaft failure leaving him with 2wd, followed by suspension failure later that day - whether he hit something to cause that suspension failure (while trying to keep a 2wd WRC car on the road without losing too much time) or if it was mechanically due to the driveshaft I don't know.

Mexico he won.

Argentina was (dramatic) suspension failure while leading.

I think most people would consider him the current second best driver in WRC, VW also have the current best driver so they don't need Latvala to win everything - in fact they're probably quite happy for him to be further back in the points and not put pressure on Ogier as long they keep a comfortable lead in the manufacturers championship. I'd say his seat is safer than most.

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the thing is, those suspension don't just break without a reason. if there suddenly is a hole in the bonnet, that usually means you've hit something you weren't supposed to hit.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by denkimi

the thing is, those suspension don't just break without a reason. if there suddenly is a hole in the bonnet, that usually means you've hit something you weren't supposed to hit.

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Maybe he hit something prior or maybe there was an undiscovered material weakness prior to the event but plenty of drivers hit the same stone and nothing happened.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by itix

Maybe he hit something prior or maybe there was an undiscovered material weakness prior to the event but plenty of drivers hit the same stone and nothing happened.

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i've heard that story before, but i find it hard to believe.
i doubt many drivers actually have hit that stone. it was not on the line, you could only hit it if you cut there.
perhaps it was bad luck, but if he would have stayed on the most used racing line, his damper most likely wouldn't have come through the bonnet.


if anybody has footage of other drivers on that same corner, feel free to share.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by denkimi

i've heard that story before, but i find it hard to believe.
i doubt many drivers actually have hit that stone. it was not on the line, you could only hit it if you cut there.
perhaps it was bad luck, but if he would have stayed on the most used racing line, his damper most likely wouldn't have come through the bonnet.

if anybody has footage of other drivers on that same corner, feel free to share.

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I watched several in-car videos at the time as well as a few different outside angles - it wasn't 'a stone', it was bedrock on the line which had been exposed by previous cars. Most drivers were on the same line, some had a bang or clunk as they went over it but nobody elses suspension broke.

Latvala certainly didn't think it should have been enough to break the suspension!

Quote:

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Originally Posted by denkimi

i've heard that story before, but i find it hard to believe.
i doubt many drivers actually have hit that stone. it was not on the line, you could only hit it if you cut there.
perhaps it was bad luck, but if he would have stayed on the most used racing line, his damper most likely wouldn't have come through the bonnet.


if anybody has footage of other drivers on that same corner, feel free to share.

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From these pics everybody can judge by themselves.

Teemu / Rallirinki ‏@HartusvuoriWRC Apr 24
The differences in driving lines for Latvala (top), Mikkelsen and Paddon on SS14 on corner after which JML crashed.

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/CgzEr0uWYAAlVT4.jpg

Quote:

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Originally Posted by OldF

From these pics everybody can judge by themselves.

Teemu / Rallirinki ‏@HartusvuoriWRC Apr 24
The differences in driving lines for Latvala (top), Mikkelsen and Paddon on SS14 on corner after which JML crashed.

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/CgzEr0uWYAAlVT4.jpg

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I understand that, but the thing I keep coming back to is how rarely that ever happened to Loeb, and how rarely it happens to Ogier, and how frequently it happens to the more wildstyle drivers, especially Latvala. Maybe this is an explanation for an individual incident or two, but Latvala has 10 years career to look at now right? The man finds and hits stones, even those "in the road", consistently more often that some other drivers.

Even in this case, the lines are different. It could be that cutting harder as Paddon did, and Mikkelson seems to be farther right as well, helped them avoid the biggest impact. Maybe they were able to react to the changed road condition, or spot the bump coming in time, or whatever, and Latvala didn't. Or this could be the exception, but the rule is there in his long term results.

That said I agree that he's a very fast driver and deserves his place, but he's had a very long time to learn to improve his consistency so it's disappointing to see.

I think it got debated a lot at the time of the accident but Latvala has to be considered unlucky. I do agree that the Loebs of this world do seem to float over stuff. And that wasn't down to chance - but still Latvala would have expected more from the Polo there.