[WRC] News & Rumours 2020

[djip]

For every other driver and all teams there things that they will for sure think about improving.

I think the biggest disapointment must be Neuville. He is blindlghtly quick on his stay by seems to be goig backwards since a few years. And his constant excuses (never his fault) are really annoying. Other than that it was pretty uch as expected. :

Toyota : Toyota : Ogier is the king when the pressure mounts, Although I rooted for Evans I was 100% certain he would clinch in Monza. Evans did make a big step forward (or was it the Ford thazt did not do him justice in the past ?), but is not quite there yet. Rovapanera is learning fast but give him some time - this is a game where you must be 100% perfect day-in, day-out. Katsuta did not show much (a stage win in a mickey mouse stage isn't much to be proud of ...).

Huyndai : It took Tanak some time to settle in, as expected, and he was rather unlucky on a number of second half events. Loeb has been disappointing and father time may have finally caught up. Breen has too small of a sample to be judged but did earn another crack next year which is as must as he could have hoped for. And yes, sordo is the positive surprize. He seems to have improved with time, amazing, isn't it ? Finally Loubet did pretty well for a first year in an old-spec car, but nothing that could let us believe he would become the next big thing...

Ford: How can we give justice to the drivers knowing that it was a survival year ? Yet I am disappointed by Sunninen who seems to have reached his peak. Lappi i think derserved better but he seems to loose his mojo when sings get difficult / sour. Happened at toyota, happened again this year. It's a tough game, you need to be mentally strong (ion addition to quick) and he seems to have a lack there ... Greensmith ... well, better not say anything, aside from we're happy and thankfull to have him around. As was said multiple times, he is not taking someone's seat and this is one more RC1 car to watch.

[djip]

and what about RC5 drivers ? Forget about WRC2/WRC3 split which is total nonsense, taking away whatever could be left of battles for win, when the WRC2 leader just cruises to the finish because there were only 5 starters out of which 4 had issues. Oh boy, those FIA guys are smoking grass ....

Yet these drivers are working hard and we need to give them justice.
- Ostberg : Had a good, yet unflashy (see above) year. And seems to have gelled well at Citroen. He must be ackowledged (together with Bonato) from making the C3 R5 a good (best ?) car, when it started total shite a few years ago
- Tidemand : Disappointing, given the hype that surrounded him a few years back. He almost won on consistency, not speed.
- Huttunen : Talk about a resurection. Would need to be gauged against real opposition though (aka WRC2). He may be the one with the biggest upside, though. And his 2 years of struggles may have done him good (mentally-wise), a bit as Tanak in his days.
- Fourmeaux : Did much better than expected and showed glimpses of hope. Need one more year for a proper assesment, but he may become a regular if he continues to improve
- Gryazin : hugely disappointing. Did not show anything positive
- Veiby : The same, plus crashing prone. impossible to judge his top class outing given the terrible weather conditions.
- Mikkelsen : Came in late and starred - same as 2018. Can it be that he is the ultimate R5 driver, but cannot really handle the new top class ? Give him the benefit of the doubt and a second chance. He must go back to top machinery, even at MSport. If he beats his team mate fair and square he'll re-establish hisq reputation.
-O.Solberg : impressive speed and pretty good for a first year (and considering his age). Need one more year to know if he is the "next big thing", or just a good driver with ample support, help and opportunities (same as, let's say Lance Stroll in F1)

Am i forgetting aznyone ? Bonato, Camilli, Kajetanowicz,, Lindholm,Bulacia, ... Not much to report from me (neither impressed nor disappointed)

[AnttiL]

and what about RC5 drivers ? Forget about WRC2/WRC3 split which is total nonsense, taking away whatever could be left of battles for win, when the WRC2 leader just cruises to the finish because there were only 5 starters out of which 4 had issues. Oh boy, those FIA guys are smoking grass ....

It's RC2, not RC5 but maybe this table which I made tells something. It gives the points as they would have been without the WRC2/3 split

[Jarek Z]

It's RC2, not RC5 but maybe this table which I made tells something. It gives the points as they would have been without the WRC2/3 split

Come on AntiiL, Tidemand shoud never be in the first position in your table. He has 6 rallies, while Huttunen has only 4. That's not fair!

[AnttiL]

Come on AntiiL, Tidemand shoud never be in the first position in your table. He has 6 rallies, while Huttunen has only 4. That's not fair!

Yeah, if you apply the rule that only 5 best events count, then Tidemand drops 6 points, and Huttunen is the winner. That's basically the only channge for the table, all others who have done 6 events have 0 results that will drop.

[djip]

It's RC2, not RC5 but maybe this table which I made tells something. It gives the points as they would have been without the WRC2/3 split

Yes i saw this one - good work and the only meaningful result. As far as number of events, given it is an "amateur" championship i don't mind if the winner has one more round - Good for him making the trip to Mexico ! Of course I also agree that once the number of events is factored in, Huttunen really stands out ...

[mknight]

Remember Sweden 2019?

In Finland 2017 the Fiestas still had pace (Evans was second, Suninen fighting for podium, Tänak with good stage times) but already in 2018 they were off the pace of the Toyotas (thanks to lack of aero development and the unbalanced aero on Ogier's car?) and it's just gone worse since.

Suninen is actually surprisingly good on technical gravel rallies, his podiums are Portugal, Sardegna and Mexico, and he has shown good pace in Sardegna in all years he's done with the WRC car

I admit I actually forgot Sweden 2019. Was thinking mostly about 2018 Sweden, 2019 Finland and Sweden this year. Sure MSport has been falling behind lately but that doesn't fully explain that he is top 2/3 on speed in Sweden 2019 while far behind both before and after on similar rallies. Especially compared with Lappi in Sweden 2020 it was rather huge difference.

[AnttiL]

I admit I actually forgot Sweden 2019. Was thinking mostly about 2018 Sweden, 2019 Finland and Sweden this year. Sure MSport has been falling behind lately but that doesn't fully explain that he is top 2/3 on speed in Sweden 2019 while far behind both before and after on similar rallies. Especially compared with Lappi in Sweden 2020 it was rather huge difference.

I think Suninen's confidence went in this year's Sweden with the shakedown accident

[dimviii]

Tor Andre Børresen
@TorAndreBorrese
·
13m
Why is It being hidden by the media and @TGR_WRC
that @ElfynEvans
has Covid19? With the amount of people they have seen at Monza and been in contact with that did not know that's very wrong. Full transparency in F1 but not in WRC when It's possible to be hidden?

[Tom K]

We will see if he do a test with Toyota. Seems that Kalle jumped in.