[WRC] News & Rumours (part V) 2017

[Jasper]

Monte was the other driver's best chance to beat Ogier (late seat swap, new team, new car, little testing)... but he STILL won.

This doesn't bode well for when he has fully settled-in...

Everybody (exept breen) was in a new car no?
Don't exaggarate please. It's Ogier, he settles in quit quick (remember the first rally's with the VW, first drive in Peugeot 207 S2000 => victory, first drive in DS3 WRC => victory).
We will see.

[Duvel]

Just keep telling yourself that, Thierry. Who knows, you may end up believing it!

Still i think Thierry will be a real contender for victory on nearly every rally this year. Although he made a (what i read little) mistake in the Monte, i got the feeling he was very confortable in the car up to that point, and fast! Also his powerstage win says something.

[jparker]

Still i think Thierry will be a real contender for victory on nearly every rally this year. Although he made a (what i read little) mistake in the Monte, i got the feeling he was very confortable in the car up to that point, and fast! Also his powerstage win says something.

I agree with this, except for the powerstage. It doesn't say much because Ogier was nursing the win.
But yes, if we don't take into account Ogier's off, up until Thierry's mistake, they both had almost the same times.
Yes, another title for Ogier is possible, but he must deploy all of his skills and work a lot harder to get it. Ford surprised me (I have to admit), but still think Huyndai have a better car for 2017.

[EightGear]

Still i think Thierry will be a real contender for victory on nearly every rally this year. Although he made a (what i read little) mistake in the Monte, i got the feeling he was very confortable in the car up to that point, and fast! Also his powerstage win says something.

I tend to agree except for the Power Stage, because that meant nothing with the changing conditions.

[wia5958]

Everybody (exept breen) was in a new car no?
Don't exaggarate please. It's Ogier, he settles in quit quick (remember the first rally's with the VW, first drive in Peugeot 207 S2000 => victory, first drive in DS3 WRC => victory).
We will see.

He didn have a victory in his first event in the ds3

[Fast Eddie WRC]

Everybody (exept breen) was in a new car no?
Don't exaggarate please. It's Ogier, he settles in quit quick (remember the first rally's with the VW, first drive in Peugeot 207 S2000 => victory, first drive in DS3 WRC => victory).
We will see.

New car, yes, new car !!

All had new WRC cars but had thoroughly tested in them... but not Mr Ogier !

He had been testing the 2017 Polo for the last year... not the Fiesta !

[Andre Oliveira]

Jari-Matti Latvala denies falling out with Sebastien Ogier at VW


Jari-Matti Latvala has denied reports of disharmony with Sebastien Ogier in the Volkswagen World Rally Championship team last season.

Latvala was reportedly critical of both the German manufacturer and Ogier over their time together, but the Finn says he was misquoted.

"These words were not mine," Latvala told Autosport. "I didn't say Seb refused to talk after tests. The words were a bad translation.

"I was really upset about this, it's not my style to talk about a team and a driver in this way and I would like to apologise to both Seb and the team for any upset caused.

"But they know me well enough to know this isn't me."

Last week's Monte Carlo Rally runner-up was talking about life at Volkswagen alongside Ogier and how different it was to his experience with Mikko Hirvonen at Ford.

Jari-Matti Latvala Toyota WRC 2017

"When I was at Ford," Latvala explained, "Sebastien Loeb was so dominant.

"Mikko and I had to work together to try to beat him, we couldn't do it on our own.

"When I went to Volkswagen, it was different. There was nobody there to help me try to beat this new Sebastien.

"When you are in the same team as a four-time world champion, you are alone and I had to fight against him in a different way with a different philosophy.

"This was what I was saying."

Latvala admitted the way of working at Toyota was more reminiscent of Ford, adding: "Now I am back working with Juho [Hanninen] and the two of us are working to try to beat Ogier. It's more like Ford again."

[Rally Power]

First result after MC rally in 2016 vs 2017 wrc cars - 0.6 secs/km faster for 2017 cars.

Yep, 0.64s/km was the actual final difference, but it doesn’t seem to be a very accurate number. For instance: it takes the 43s that Ogier spent on SS3 ditch. Without that time the difference immediately rise to 0.76. Some interesting data came from the dry SS13, 14 and 15. In those, Breen lost 0.72 (to Evans), 0.85 (Sordo) and 0.7 (Lefebvre), at a time he was trying to keep 4th place. Even considering eventual slightly different tyre choices, these are probably the more reliable numbers on the current time difference between ’16 and ’17 cars. Btw, at the end of all those stages Breen comment was always the same: ‘the most the stage is dry, the harder is to keep new cars pace’.

[steve.mandzij]

Jari-Matti Latvala denies falling out with Sebastien Ogier at VW


Jari-Matti Latvala has denied reports of disharmony with Sebastien Ogier in the Volkswagen World Rally Championship team last season.

Latvala was reportedly critical of both the German manufacturer and Ogier over their time together, but the Finn says he was misquoted.

"These words were not mine," Latvala told Autosport. "I didn't say Seb refused to talk after tests. The words were a bad translation.

"I was really upset about this, it's not my style to talk about a team and a driver in this way and I would like to apologise to both Seb and the team for any upset caused.

"But they know me well enough to know this isn't me."

Last week's Monte Carlo Rally runner-up was talking about life at Volkswagen alongside Ogier and how different it was to his experience with Mikko Hirvonen at Ford.

Jari-Matti Latvala Toyota WRC 2017

"When I was at Ford," Latvala explained, "Sebastien Loeb was so dominant.

"Mikko and I had to work together to try to beat him, we couldn't do it on our own.

"When I went to Volkswagen, it was different. There was nobody there to help me try to beat this new Sebastien.

"When you are in the same team as a four-time world champion, you are alone and I had to fight against him in a different way with a different philosophy.

"This was what I was saying."

Latvala admitted the way of working at Toyota was more reminiscent of Ford, adding: "Now I am back working with Juho [Hanninen] and the two of us are working to try to beat Ogier. It's more like Ford again."

Hoping there's Finnish chemistry to back him up like with Mikko

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[stefanvv]

Yep, 0.64s/km was the actual final difference, but it doesn’t seem to be a very accurate number. For instance: it takes the 43s that Ogier spent on SS3 ditch. Without that time the difference immediately rise to 0.76. Some interesting data came from the dry SS13, 14 and 15. In those, Breen lost 0.72 (to Evans), 0.85 (Sordo) and 0.7 (Lefebvre), at a time he was trying to keep 4th place. Even considering eventual slightly different tyre choices, these are probably the more reliable numbers on the current time difference between ’16 and ’17 cars. Btw, at the end of all those stages Breen comment was always the same: ‘the most the stage is dry, the harder is to keep new cars pace’.

You exaggerate, it is even less than 0.6 s/km, but rounded is closer to 0.6 than 0.59. Anyway don't take Ogier's loss and Evans performance very seriously, Breen is nowhere near their experience in WRC.