[WRC] News & rumours (part III)

[EstWRC]

That guy is so overrated. The finnish flag behind your name makes wonders sometimes.

[N.O.T]

The problem is that ERC is a ladies cup with no real competition and if you get stuck in there you end up like Hanninen...

[Hartusvuori]

The problem is that ERC is a ladies cup with no real competition and if you get stuck in there you end up like Hanninen...

Hänninen got stuck with Skoda, even if with Skoda he won everything. Hopefully the same won't happen to Lappi.

I'm biased in Lappi's case being a fellow Finn, but don't give up on him just yet. I realise he has made a lot of mistakes on tarmac, simple mistakes with similar pattern - for example crashes in Ypres 2014, Zlin 2013 and 2014, Corsica 2014, Germany 2015 and Catalunya 2015 were all on righthand corners �� He definitely should've shined on those moments when he hasn't, all whick Mirek mentioned.

But he still got the raw speed when all goes well. If he could transfer the speed and confidence in which he drove circles around his opponents in this year's Rally Finland to all events, he would turn out to be an unstoppable force. He was not apologizing for his performance in an unlikely Finnish manner, but full of positive confidence. That's how you win things. (Now you say it was in Finland. Sure he won all FRC events with Fiesta S2000 in 2012, but since then he has competed in Finland only 2013 with than inferior Fabia S2000 and now 2015 and as far as I recall, tested here with Skoda only on six days, of which two day already in 2013 with the first R5 test mule. Not too much of a homefield advantage apart from what comes from mother's milk.)

I think another year with an R5 does good for him, but he is on his way to WRC car sooner or later.

[French_Paulo]

The problem is that ERC is a ladies cup with no real competition and if you get stuck in there you end up like Hanninen...

A ladies cup... LOL ! So take the start of an ERC round and win it
Not the best championship, but a good training with some good drivers !

[WUff1]

With Lappi it´s a bit the same like with Lefebvre, both are not ready for WRC, even if Lefebvre in the meantime gets more and more opportunities to drive a WRC-car. At the moment I´d even rate Lappi faster than Lefebvre, but with more mistakes.

[Rallyper]

What they need is driving driving, and ... driving WRC cars in rallies. The only thing that makes you faster after your talent has reached maximum. Only way to make it to the top.

[HaCo]

What they need is driving driving, and ... driving WRC cars in rallies. The only thing that makes you faster after your talent has reached maximum. Only way to make it to the top.

That is why I think teams should be able to score with the 2 best results of all their cars. It becomes more interesting to have a third or fourth car, thus having more seats available for guys like Lappi or others...

[Mirek]

What they need is driving driving, and ... driving WRC cars in rallies. The only thing that makes you faster after your talent has reached maximum. Only way to make it to the top.

That's true but I would add "in WRC events". The issue with driving ERC is not that it would be some lady cup or whatever. In fact a lot of WRC drivers failed in their ERC starts - for example here in Zlín it was Mikkelsen, Neuville, Novikov or Tänak, some of them several times. In Ypres I can remember Grönholm, Sarrazin, Duval, Mikkelsen etc. The problem is that by driving in ERC You don't get experience with particular WRC events. That's the real issue why the drivers who are serious about WRC must go there as soon as possible. You can learn driving in ERC but that is not enough.

[Mirek]

I'm biased in Lappi's case being a fellow Finn, but don't give up on him just yet. I realise he has made a lot of mistakes on tarmac, simple mistakes with similar pattern - for example crashes in Ypres 2014, Zlin 2013 and 2014, Corsica 2014, Germany 2015 and Catalunya 2015 were all on righthand corners ��

That's very interesting thing, Teemu. I have never realized that. For sure it can not be accidental coincidence.

[AndyRAC]

That's true but I would add "in WRC events". The issue with driving ERC is not that it would be some lady cup or whatever. In fact a lot of WRC drivers failed in their ERC starts - for example here in Zlín it was Mikkelsen, Neuville, Novikov or Tänak, some of them several times. In Ypres I can remember Grönholm, Sarrazin, Duval, Mikkelsen etc. The problem is that by driving in ERC You don't get experience with particular WRC events. That's the real issue why the drivers who are serious about WRC must go there as soon as possible. You can learn driving in ERC but that is not enough.

This is it! Experience of WRC stages. Making your pace notes of WRC stages. Because the WRC mainly uses the same stages with slightly different layouts, the current WRC drivers have years of experience of these stages, and years of notes to go back to and improve. A newcomer to the WRC maybe talented, but has nothing else to go back up on.

Another reason I'd like to see events move around a lot more - instead of the same stages year after year.