[WRC] News & Rumours 2021

[MartijnS]

No mercy for aero in WRC cars

Attachment 2037

Where did you find this? I saw one other post somewhere but can’t remember where.

[Tom K]

Facebook of Mr Anwar Sidi, who is tagged on the photo. Seems he will publish all (?) stages. He posted the service park area and Shakedown (which when you look at google street view could raise more concerns about wildlife, noticed by Sal the 2nd) pictures.

[AnttiL]

All the recce videos from last year's Safari were public. Some of the stages barely resembled a road.

[dimviii]

"I cycled competitively when I was 15 or 16 but I quickly noticed that I didn't have too much talent. Today I practice it for pleasure and it is a good training for my job as a co-driver. When I ride, it allows me to decompress after a rally. Here in Oudenaarde it is a cycling region, there are many professionals who live and train in the area. With the Old Kwarmont and the Koppenberg there is something to do to train "

How did you get into motorsport?

"I followed my brother who dropped the bike for the rally, he was a co-driver. I liked it straight away, I was impressed. I wanted to become a co-driver, you have responsibilities and I like that aspect sport. I never wanted to become a driver, I did not have enough talent for that. I did my first rallies in 2012 in the Fiesta Trophy before racing on the world championship heats in 2013. C ' It is also at this time that I met Freddy Loix who offered to accompany him in test for Michelin and Skoda. I progressed quickly and in 2015 I was doing my first full season in the world "

What was your reaction when Thierry Neuville contacted you?

"For me it was a real surprise, I really did not expect Thierry to call me to do Monte Carlo. He is the best Belgian rider of the moment and to be by his side is a dream that He called me on Thursday morning to leave on Saturday. I worked day and night to prepare myself as well as possible, I copied notes, I watched as many videos as possible to get used to the system of Thierry. When I arrived on the rally, the entire Hyundai team and Thierry's entourage protected me, I could concentrate 100% on my job. In the race, the most difficult for me was to give the good rhythm to Thierry, I didn't have time to prepare much and his system was not familiar to me, I had no experience with his openers either, it was not easy "


How is it working with Thierry Neuville?

"It's really nice! I'm a square and professional person and Thierry works the same way. We both want to be world champions. For Thierry, after 10 years spent with Nicolas, the situation was also complicated, it's not easy to adapt to a new voice. He helped me all the time, he was relaxed, it allowed me to progress special after special. Teacher, big brother, manager, he was a bit of all that during the rally. Of course I had already met him but I had never worked with him and I really have a lot of respect for his approach, he is very professional and it's great to collaborate with a pilot like him "

Your qualities and your faults?

"I am a real hard worker, when I want something, I will do everything for. If I am here today it is because for 10 years I have been working every day to succeed. I am a motivated, calm person in all circumstances, these are my qualities. As for the fault, it is my Dutch accent… I work with a speech therapist to improve myself, there is still a lot of work but I am sure that I will succeed. Thierry is German speaking, I'm Flemish, we speak French in the car, it's typically Belgian, it's nice and it shows that when you want something, anything is possible. I am aware of having a great opportunity, I want to give everything and I hope it will be ok "

Your image of Monte Carlo?

"There are two. The first is when Thierry gives me his hand at the finish of the first special, he told me it's Martijn. After a week of preparation, a particular context, j I was happy to arrive at the end of the first lap with a positive feeling, it gave me confidence for the whole rally. The other image is the arrival in Monaco. Being on the podium for my first rally with Thierry it's already a dream and then Ogier and Evans who sprinkle me with champagne, I will never forget, the young Martijn was accepted by the whole world of wrc "

Martijn Wydaeghe's dream?

"It's clear, it's to be world champion co-driver and why not already this year"

https://www.rtbf.be/sport/moteurs/ra...he?id=10686941

[M3 Jambo]

https://dirtfish.com/rally/wrc/mikke...o-be-for-2022/

Taken from the article: 'Mikkelsen added that he would be happy to work on the development of the 2022-specification Puma which will replace the Fiesta for next season.'

Can anyone confirm this? I remember they said a while back they're continuing with the Fiesta so....Typo or..is it true and they'll use the Puma???

I think I'm correct in saying the Fiesta is no longer sold in America whether that has a bearing or not.

[dimviii]

Where did you find this? I saw one other post somewhere but can’t remember where.

https://twitter.com/AnwarSidi

[Andre Oliveira]

I think I'm correct in saying the Fiesta is no longer sold in America whether that has a bearing or not.

Neither Puma.

[mknight]

In the past the cars were relatively extensively modified for Safari, anyone seen any plans for allowing that in this years rules?

[AnttiL]

In the past the cars were relatively extensively modified for Safari, anyone seen any plans for allowing that in this years rules?

The current cars have a lot of suspension travel anyway, and additional lights are not needed anymore since they don’t rally within public traffic. Also no nees for larger fuel tanks. Maybe snorkels and extra front bumpers?

[Co-driven]

The current cars have a lot of suspension travel anyway, and additional lights are not needed anymore since they don’t rally within public traffic. Also no nees for larger fuel tanks. Maybe snorkels and extra front bumpers?

Article 261 of Appendix J (for Group Rally2 cars) has some changes on the Bodyshell article, allowing modifications on bonnet and also front impact protections.

For a few years, they use this kind of modifications during Transchaco Rally in Paraguay. Now, if I understand correctly, it's fully compliant with FIA regulations.