[WRC] News & rumours (part IV) 2016

[AndyRAC]

Drivers voices should be listened to - as safety is an important issue.

What I don't want to see are threat of boycotts if conditions are tougher than usual. Modern era WRC is watered down as it is - when organisers try to add something different, I dont want to see complaints.

[PLuto]

i agree. For years it seems to me that the organizers and FIA doesnt want to listen to drivers. Same in F1 and im sure also in other classes. i remember many drivers being very mad at australia last year.

There is FIA, promoter and teams. Nobody is interested in opinion of organisers or drivers...

[EstWRC]

ok you know it better because are inside these thing or something ...but yeah the message is same, they dont listen.

[AL14]

Drivers should be heard but they cannot decide themself boycotting stages.
I hope that the boycotting ideas are due to the fact they are not listened, and not to the fact they had to drive there. What I mean is, ok, they should be on meeting but they have to accept the outcome of that meeting no matter if they agree or not.

[nafpaktos]

@AL14 Driver's perception about how dangerous a ss could be under some specific conditions is closer to the true than the opinion of each rally organization.

[dimviii]

M-Sport ‏@MSportLtd

Today we surprised the boss with a little Birthday celebration... 60 years young and still going strong!





Happy birthday Malcolm.

[dimviii]

Internal competition is scheduled to Citroën from Rally of Portugal among the drivers competing with DS3 R5 in WRC2 is taking shape. In addition the winner will contest the Catalunya Rally of Wales and a Citroen DS3 WRC, already they revealed some of the names that will participate in this kind of unofficial one-make trophy that will perform the signing of the two chevrons. Including the return of an old acquaintance.
Along with Quentin Gilbert, Yoann Bonato, Karl Krudda and Sébastien Chardonnet, also is the return of Evgeny Novikov, who has two seasons away from the World Rally Championship after running in 2013 as a pilot of M-Sport. After two years away from the stages of the World Cup, in which he has even made the work of co-pilot in Russia, Novikov seems determined to go back and choose to drive a DS3 WRC against protected Citroen (Chardonnet and Gilbert) seems a good first step.
The Russian, 25 also have been tempted by Tommi Mäkinen (as reported in the paper edition of the French AUTOhebdo) to try one of the Toyota Yaris WRC for next season. If anyone missed Evgeny Novikov, it seems to be back.

http://www.diariomotor.com/competici...s-con-citroen/

[denkimi]

on the one hand, the drivers should be able to give input and should be listened to.

on the other hand, they should stop whining. it's not the fia or the promotor who's pushing the gas pedal, if they believe they're going too fast to keep it on the road they should slow down.

"Nobody understands that when you drive on these tyres with no studs, it's a bit of a nightmare. The speeds we're doing here, you just can't do it.

i just don't understand this. you could drive on slicks if you wanted to. of course you wouldn't be able to go 110km/u on average, but that doesn't mean it can't be done.
to me it seems they think driving in anything but the very best conditions with the very best material is not worth it.

[tommeke_B]

@AL14 Driver's perception about how dangerous a ss could be under some specific conditions is closer to the true than the opinion of each rally organization.

To be honest, I think the drivers comments in Australia last year were much more justified than in Sweden this year. Then there was dust, which made the competition unfair. In Sweden it was just about being on the wrong tyres. Isn't it a great aspect of our sport too, seeing drivers in conditions that aren't ideal? It's a part of our sport, that drivers have to get out of their comfort zone. The speed would be lower than in optimal conditions (which drivers prefer), so normally the consequences of a crash should be smaller as well... In Monte it happened so much that drivers were on wrong tyres, even on much more dangerous stages (for both drivers and spectators), and nobody ever complained...

[lewalcindor]

Internal competition is scheduled to Citroën from Rally of Portugal among the drivers competing with DS3 R5 in WRC2 is taking shape. In addition the winner will contest the Catalunya Rally of Wales and a Citroen DS3 WRC, already they revealed some of the names that will participate in this kind of unofficial one-make trophy that will perform the signing of the two chevrons. Including the return of an old acquaintance.
Along with Quentin Gilbert, Yoann Bonato, Karl Krudda and Sébastien Chardonnet, also is the return of Evgeny Novikov, who has two seasons away from the World Rally Championship after running in 2013 as a pilot of M-Sport. After two years away from the stages of the World Cup, in which he has even made the work of co-pilot in Russia, Novikov seems determined to go back and choose to drive a DS3 WRC against protected Citroen (Chardonnet and Gilbert) seems a good first step.
The Russian, 25 also have been tempted by Tommi Mäkinen (as reported in the paper edition of the French AUTOhebdo) to try one of the Toyota Yaris WRC for next season. If anyone missed Evgeny Novikov, it seems to be back.

http://www.diariomotor.com/competici...s-con-citroen/

What's the deal with Novikov? He was last in the championship the year before I followed WRC. He seemed to produce decent results and was fairly young, but completely disappeared from the WRC landcape.

The only things I remember about him are (i) he uses English pacenotes with co-driver Ilka Minor, and (ii) his bonnet flew up and blocked his windscreen one year at NORF, and he decided to continue driving instead of stopping to fix it, "oblivious" to the fact that Kris Meeke was literally right behind him for a few kms.