RE: WRC 2013: preview

Wednesday 16th January 2013

WRC 2013: preview

Only one thing is certain: Loeb won't be champion at the end of it



If a sport thrives on competition, it’s a wonder we have a World Rally Championship in 2013. For far too many years the series has posed no new questions and its fans have grown weary of the familiar old answers. Owing to a single development, however, the forthcoming season has thrown up a raft of new questions to which we currently have no answers.

Loeb's retirement means Hirvonen's favourite
Loeb's retirement means Hirvonen's favourite
Sebastien Loeb’s partial retirement means the WRC will crown a new champion this year and, at long last, there isn’t one competitor standing out as the favourite. Loeb – winner of 15 per cent of all WRC rallies ever held – will contest four rounds of the 2013 season with Citroen as he eases into retirement. That won’t be enough to give him the 2013 title, though, and there are no fewer than five names in the running to take on his mantle.

Mikko Hirvonen has the best record of any of the 2013 full-timers having finished as runner-up to Loeb four times, but with just four rally wins to his credit over the past three years one does wonder if he still has the sheer speed to challenge for the title. Competing as Citroen’s lead driver in the DS3 WRC might just rekindle the motivation that appears to have waned since the Finn lost out on the 2009 title by a single point, and his Mr Consistency reputation will count for more – among a field of fiery young chargers – than ever before.

Latvala and Ogier should provide fireworks
Latvala and Ogier should provide fireworks
Former team-mate Jari-Matti Latvala switches to the debutant VW team for 2013 having competed in M-Sport Ford machinery since 2007. Legendary rally car designer Christian Loriaux considers 27-year-old Latvala as the fastest rally driver he’s ever seen; if the seven-time rally winner can finally harness that pace and resist his characteristic mistakes, he could be unbeatable.

Questions remain over the competitiveness of the Polo WRC, which hasn’t yet run against the stopwatch, but the most comprehensive testing and development programme of recent years surely means that VW’s challenger will be on the pace in no time. The Jost Capito-led outfit is modestly targeting podiums in 2013 – publicly, at least – but expect rally wins as a minimum.

Latvala will partner Sebastien Ogier this season, forming the most incendiary driver line-up for a generation. The young Frenchman isn’t one to embark upon any competitive pursuit with anything less than the total humiliation of his rivals as his goal, so don’t expect him to treat this season as a learning and development year. Make no mistake, he’ll want that first title.

Sordo will switch from Mini back to Citroen
Sordo will switch from Mini back to Citroen
Spaniard Dani Sordo returns to the Citroen outfit, with which he secured 28 podium results between 2006 and 2010, after an ultimately disappointing stint with Prodrive’s Mini World Rally Team. Although Sordo hasn’t yet won a round of the series, he must be considered a contender for his considerable experience and blinding sealed-surface pace.

The final name in the frame is a contentious one; Mads Ostberg. The 25-year-old Norwegian is a WRC rally winner having prevailed in the extraordinary 2012 Rallye de Portugal. Some commentators insist that he’ll challenge for the title in 2013, but he hasn’t yet shown the outright pace on a sufficiently regular basis to sway this commentator. Still, every great driver has a breakthrough year in which he discredits his doubters; this could be his.

Ostberg will lead M-Sport’s campaign this year, which does without the official backing of Ford for the first time. The team is instead funded by the Middle Eastern state Qatar, as Citroen now takes much of its backing from Abu Dhabi. Time will tell if such arrangements can prove a match for the might of VW’s unprecedented factory campaign, and one now fears for the state of the series should the oil money ever dry up.

M-Sport team will be backed by Qatar this year
M-Sport team will be backed by Qatar this year
The Qatar M-Sport World Rally Team is one of future promise, for alongside Ostberg will run Belgian Thierry Neuville and Russian Evgeny Novikov. All three Fiesta WRC drivers will upset their more experienced rivals on occasion this year. We’ll discuss their names in the manner that we currently do Ogier, Hirvonen and Latvala in years to come.

Andreas Mikkelsen, 23, is another one to watch in 2013, for he’ll compete in a works Polo WRC from Rallye de Portugal onwards. Twice a champion of the now defunct Intercontinental Rally Challenge, the Norwegian will likely score podiums this year.

The season gets underway this week at the most celebrated rally of them all: Rallye Monte Carlo. As one of Loeb’s selected outings in settled conditions, it’s difficult to imagine the Frenchman not racking up a seventh Monte win. The forecast, however, is for snow. Loeb wasn’t at his best on this rally’s snowy stages last year and it’s an effective leveller. Advantages in car performance will count for much less than correct tyre choice, and with no restarts for any driver who crashes out, there simply isn’t any margin for error.

Will a switch to Citroen reinvigorate Hirvonen?
Will a switch to Citroen reinvigorate Hirvonen?
Snow could swing the rally in favour of the Northern European drivers. In that instance, do also keep an eye on Juho Hanninen. The Finn is the fastest driver in the world outside of the WRC regulars. With a two-rally deal with M-Sport in his pocket, Hanninen has an opportunity to prove that he’s worthy of a full-time WRC ride.

As it stands, the outcome of Rallye Monte Carlo and the entire 2013 season is fiendishly difficult to predict and that hasn’t been true for close to a decade. British interest in the series is still marginal, though, for there’ll not be a single home-grown talent competing in the top flight and television coverage on these shores will be limited to the Welsh-language channel S4C.

WRC has been trading on promises for far too long. Interested stakeholders continue to tell us that the new promoter, Red Bull Media House, has the know-how to turn the series around, but for those of us who adore the sport as enthusiasts the championship’s credit rating has defaulted. Until it proves to be a series on the up with innovative promotion and broadcasting, expanding manufacturer interest and genuinely exciting competition, we shouldn’t extend the WRC the courtesy of considering it anything other than a championship in decline. At least the foundations are now in place.

Author
Discussion

chrisgtx

Original Poster:

1,195 posts

209 months

Wednesday 16th January 2013
quotequote all
Is it going to be on the television this year?,it was on motors tv but that is like watchin it with glaucoma.

JaguarsportXJR

235 posts

142 months

Wednesday 16th January 2013
quotequote all
I miss rallying from when it used to be exciting.frown

JaguarsportXJR

235 posts

142 months

Wednesday 16th January 2013
quotequote all
chrisgtx said:
Is it going to be on the television this year?,it was on motors tv but that is like watchin it with glaucoma.
"... television coverage on these shores will be limited to the Welsh-language channel S4C."

Not sure if that's still available on terrestrial television or not though.

Greg_D

6,542 posts

245 months

Wednesday 16th January 2013
quotequote all
as the cars bear merely a passing resemblance to their road going cousins, why don't they just give them another 100hp, rwd only and no traction/stability control - BOOM, interesting to watch once more.

DanielSan

18,747 posts

166 months

Wednesday 16th January 2013
quotequote all
The first year in a long time the WRC has a good chance of being interesting and no decent TV channel has coverage.

BBS-LM

3,972 posts

223 months

Wednesday 16th January 2013
quotequote all
Bloody Hell, is the WRC still going. sleep

RX7

258 posts

243 months

Wednesday 16th January 2013
quotequote all
Greg_D said:
as the cars bear merely a passing resemblance to their road going cousins, why don't they just give them another 100hp, rwd only and no traction/stability control - BOOM, interesting to watch once more.
I think as others have mentioned, its more to the point of where to watch it, even if the cars heralded back to the days of Escorts/Delats/Celicas/205's or Imprezzas/Evos etc it wont do any good if the coverage is shocking!

chrisgtx

Original Poster:

1,195 posts

209 months

Wednesday 16th January 2013
quotequote all
I actually like the cars,small,good looking,very fast,sound great in the flesh.
The problem is with lack of manfacturers(although i believe Hyundai are going to return),and poor coverage.The FIA ony seem interested in F1.

Greg_D

6,542 posts

245 months

Wednesday 16th January 2013
quotequote all
RX7 said:
Greg_D said:
as the cars bear merely a passing resemblance to their road going cousins, why don't they just give them another 100hp, rwd only and no traction/stability control - BOOM, interesting to watch once more.
I think as others have mentioned, its more to the point of where to watch it, even if the cars heralded back to the days of Escorts/Delats/Celicas/205's or Imprezzas/Evos etc it wont do any good if the coverage is shocking!
Sure, but i'm sure if there was a radical shakeup like that, then the big channels are more likely to pick it back up and get some cameras out in the woods.

breakfan

223 posts

145 months

Wednesday 16th January 2013
quotequote all
The best place to follow the action is online, at http://www.wrc.com/. Its disapointing that there's no proper TV coverage, but the website provides video highlights with commentary.

Here's to hoping the sport gets back on track in the coming years.

rwindmill

429 posts

157 months

Wednesday 16th January 2013
quotequote all
The report says that Loeb cant win the title, as he is only doing 4 of the rounds.
I am actually tempted to put money on him winning again, especially now that you cant rejoin a rally if you crash out.

As for the WRC, that was lost to me a long time ago. I dont blame Loeb, its not his fault that he is so much better than the current opposition.

I will stick with my boxset of WRC rally reviews 1990 to 1999 that i got for christmas. Those were the years when rallying was worth watching

Uncle John

4,270 posts

190 months

Wednesday 16th January 2013
quotequote all
Why get my hopes up when there is no decent TV coverage???

And without this the series will continue to diminish.

OlberJ

14,101 posts

232 months

Wednesday 16th January 2013
quotequote all
I'm actually quite excited about this.

Twincam16

27,646 posts

257 months

Wednesday 16th January 2013
quotequote all
And if anyone fancies watching some more sideways action there's always http://www.racrallychamp.org/ - this year with its own YouTube channel and highlights on Motors TV. Proper stages too, like Grizedale and Kielder.

EDLT

15,421 posts

205 months

Wednesday 16th January 2013
quotequote all
Greg_D said:
as the cars bear merely a passing resemblance to their road going cousins, why don't they just give them another 100hp, rwd only and no traction/stability control - BOOM, top drivers get beaten by an amateur in a five year old Evo.
EFA.

vertastic

81 posts

221 months

Wednesday 16th January 2013
quotequote all
rwindmill said:
I will stick with my boxset of WRC rally reviews 1990 to 1999 that i got for christmas. Those were the years when rallying was worth watching
The 90's certainly was a good decade for rallying but not as exciting IMO as the Group B days of the 80's nor the Escorts of the 70's.

OlberJ

14,101 posts

232 months

Wednesday 16th January 2013
quotequote all
Twincam16 said:
And if anyone fancies watching some more sideways action there's always http://www.racrallychamp.org/ - this year with its own YouTube channel and highlights on Motors TV. Proper stages too, like Grizedale and Kielder.
Good call!

Allblackdup

3,312 posts

207 months

Wednesday 16th January 2013
quotequote all
It's a shame Loeb has to semi retire to give anyone else a chance at the title, though plenty tried to get close to him.

I've followed the WRC for many years and always in the hope that we would get some sort of TV coverage to at least watch the inevitable Loeb win at the end of the year. This year, it's good to see VW come into it and with no restarts after retirement it does make this years quite exciting. I can at least try S4C as i can get this channel but whether the coverage is any good even with subtitles is another thing.

MCBrowncoat

864 posts

145 months

Wednesday 16th January 2013
quotequote all
The only thing that would make me watch this, if I could, was if they went back to the spirit of Group B. Not necessarily in terms of power, as I don't think people would be able to discern the difference in outright speed, but in terms of it being homologated specialised cars. It's not a viable business though I guess?

The fact that the all conquering Citroens of the past few years didn't translate their rally success into road models doesn't help

Twincam16

27,646 posts

257 months

Wednesday 16th January 2013
quotequote all
Allblackdup said:
It's a shame Loeb has to semi retire to give anyone else a chance at the title, though plenty tried to get close to him.

I've followed the WRC for many years and always in the hope that we would get some sort of TV coverage to at least watch the inevitable Loeb win at the end of the year. This year, it's good to see VW come into it and with no restarts after retirement it does make this years quite exciting. I can at least try S4C as i can get this channel but whether the coverage is any good even with subtitles is another thing.
IIRC not absolutely everything on S4C is in Welsh.