[WRC] News & rumours (part III)

[EstWRC]

This time there are Jaanus Ree's photos, next time Lavadinhos but i agree that the choice is poor, Ree has much more interesting and beautiful photos.

[AL14]

You have to know on which rally and stages the driver was pushing and not. If you just look at the stage times then it may look that the driver was slow. You could say that Meeke and Paddon were also slow on many rallies. Meeke in Poland for example but we know that he wasnt even trying there.

i would say Tänak was really pushing in Poland, Finland (1st and 2nd stage, hit a rock on second stage and that was it), Australia (Friday, Saturday), Spain (Day one on gravel), Portugal (Day one, made a wrong tyre choice for second day and settled in for 5th place after that).

if he would be slow then he wouldnt be in WRC

Est you know I like Tanak as a driver and I'm a bit fan of him. But you also confirmed what I said earlier. You mentioned 5 rallys out of 13 where he was very much fast and only some stages (or only one day) of them. I said he has sparks of speed but he's not (or not yet) a [completely] fast driver.

And of course when I say "slow" I mean in comparison to WRC drivers, not in general.

[MrJan]

if he would be slow then he wouldnt be in WRC

I think it's implied that it's comparative. "slow for a WRC driver", not "slow driver".

I think Tanak is quite quick, but I believe Meeke is quicker

[Mk2 RS2000]

A recent interview with John Kennard

http://www.stuff.co.nz/sport/motorsp...y-heights.html

[Andre Oliveira]

FIA World Rally Championship

From 2016, WRC Organisers will be obliged to undertake the environmental certification process provided by the FIA before the event visa is delivered.

The 2016 WRC calendar was also confirmed:

22-24 January Monte Carlo

12-14 February Sweden

4-6 March Mexico

22-24 April Argentina

20-22 May Portugal

10-12 June Italy

1-3 July Poland

29-31 July Finland

19-21 August Germany

9-11 September China

30 September – 2 October France

14-16 October Spain

28-30 October Great Britain

18-20 November Australia

[Andre Oliveira]

FIA Rally Commission

The World Motor Sport Council approved the implementation of a one-hour penalty for any missed stage except for super special stages, where a seven-minute penalty will apply. This is to ensure that competitors running in all stages will always be classified of those that miss a stage.

The format of the FIA European Rally Trophy (ERT) has been amended with the main category being for R5/S2000 cars, ERT 2 for NR4 cars, ERT 3 for two-wheel drive cars, and a Junior Trophy for drivers born on or after 1 January 1989. The ERT will be organised in eight European area trophy competitions. The three highest scoring competitors in each area, and category, will compete in a Final that will be hosted by a different country each year. The winners of the Trophy Finals will be the winners of their respective ERT category.

[EightGear]

FIA Rally Commission

The World Motor Sport Council approved the implementation of a one-hour penalty for any missed stage except for super special stages, where a seven-minute penalty will apply. This is to ensure that competitors running in all stages will always be classified of those that miss a stage.

You'd almost think they're reading this forum. Nice decision.

[Simmi]

Interesting so that basically puts any end to anyone scoring driver championship points after an off.

Seems like the biggest motivators for drivers returning are manufacturer points and gaining experience - so I don't think it changes too much.

[AndyRAC]

In truth, they really didn't need to do this - it should have been 'miss a stage and you automatically finish behind all those who completed the event'. But it seems as if common sense has broken out.

[MrJan]

FIA World Rally Championship....

Always seems wrong to me if the season doesn't start in Monte and end with GB. Without the miserable weather GB just becomes a quite tame gravel event and offers none of the challenge that it should. Also doesn't seem right that the great stages of New Zealand and the car testing stages of Greece are left out, but I suppose it gives the chance for new countries to be included.