The 2014 WRC Thread

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Discussion

Allyc85

Original Poster:

7,225 posts

185 months

Friday 3rd October 2014
quotequote all
Delecour 18th at the moment, 40 seconds off of Dumas in another Porsche 911. Fingers crossed this Gt class really takes off as it is exactly the kind of thing fans want to see and hear!

As for WRC France its been a bit of a nightmre for Ogier with gearbox sensor issues, and his co-driver booking him into a stage 4 minutes early! He can only hope for Powerstage points now he is around 8m 50 off.

Latvala leads with Mikkelsen going well close behind. Meeke is 3rd, and Evans would be 4th if it wasn't for a 1.40 time penalty, with car issues meaning pushing it into regroup. Great pace from the young lad though!

Most of the rally is live on French TV so its worth digging around for a link. I will post any thing I find smile

Leg 1 - 2014 WRC Rallye de France - Best-of-RallyLive.com

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kAgt9PQUorY

Edited by Allyc85 on Friday 3rd October 18:32

Allyc85

Original Poster:

7,225 posts

185 months

Slippydiff

14,742 posts

222 months

Friday 3rd October 2014
quotequote all
Allyc85 said:
Some things never change .......

Meanwhile a cracking video of Neuville earning his keep in Germany earlier this year :

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sq6nDsO8dCk

eek

Allyc85

Original Poster:

7,225 posts

185 months

Saturday 4th October 2014
quotequote all
^on it!

Stage 11 stream here..

http://hdfree.tv/espn-uk-live-stream.html

GravelBen

15,654 posts

229 months

Saturday 4th October 2014
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thumbup

Ta, watching now smile

Allyc85

Original Poster:

7,225 posts

185 months

Saturday 4th October 2014
quotequote all
And stage 12 in French here..

http://www.direct-foot.info/?page=live&id=527&...



Edited by Allyc85 on Saturday 4th October 12:45

Allyc85

Original Poster:

7,225 posts

185 months

Sunday 5th October 2014
quotequote all
Slippydiff said:
Allyc85 said:
Some things never change .......

Meanwhile a cracking video of Neuville earning his keep in Germany earlier this year :

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sq6nDsO8dCk

eek
And Kubica crashes out on the last stage!!

Brilliant performance from the brits this weekend, with Meeke the best of the non VW drivers, and Evans would have been 4th without his time penalty. He was also second on the powerstage!

Alex Langheck

835 posts

128 months

Sunday 5th October 2014
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So another 1-2 for VW, and would likely be a 1-2-3 if Ogier had no problems. Meeke is now a definite 'best of the rest' but the Citroen isn't good enough to challenge the VW. He has surely got the drive for next year? And young Elfyn is showing more excellent promise.

As for the event; time for Corsica to return for Rallye de France; Alsace is virtually another Rallye Deutschland, no need for another similar event.

And one final thought; the Tour de France stages in Alsace had more competitive distance than the WRC event.

Allyc85

Original Poster:

7,225 posts

185 months

Monday 6th October 2014
quotequote all
Agreed with the above, you would think Corsica would be a perfect, compact route to keep the FIA happy too!

Mikkelsen was on it at the weekend. After some average performances he seems to now be picking up the pace!

http://youtu.be/0eytDhBFtJ0

sanf

673 posts

171 months

Monday 6th October 2014
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Really good weekend action again this week. If Latvala hadn't binned it in Germany he could even be favourite at this stage!!

Evans had a cracking event, as did Meeke, both starting to look fantastic. Really looking forward to being out watching on GB. Kubica really does have some great potential - looking forward to seeing what he can do next season - to see what he has learnt from this year. His speed really is great - just needs to stop crashing!!

Will be interesting to see if the FIA have the balls too stick to their guns on the future of the WRC. Emails sent to both the FIA & VW - here's hoping the daft shootout idea is finally killed off - not overly hopefully though.

SAGTAFF

595 posts

213 months

Tuesday 7th October 2014
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sanf said:
Will be interesting to see if the FIA have the balls too stick to their guns on the future of the WRC. Emails sent to both the FIA & VW - here's hoping the daft shootout idea is finally killed off - not overly hopefully though.
Totally agree. Was thinking the same on Sunday - imagine if the final shoot out was in place. Latvala was clearly the number 1 all weekend but lets say he had a 10 second spin on the final stage and then Mikkelsson beat him if the new shoot out thing applied. I think even Mikkelson would admit it would be a hollow victory.

I think the organisers do need to address the final day procession - maybe bonus points for all last day stages?



Alex Langheck

835 posts

128 months

Tuesday 7th October 2014
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Why does Motorsport think every event has to come down to a close ‘blockbuster’ finish? A lot of sporting events don’t; trying to artificially engineer one just cheapens the sport.
It might help if events were all different – instead of the ‘generic’ WRC event that RedBull want. Have short, sprint 2 day events – then a few 4 day, endurance events.

Rallying is meant to be an endurance sport – nobody complains about the final hours of Sportscar races/ Le Mans being a procession; this is the nature of endurance events.

It wouldn't bother me if VW walked away – they knew what the sport was about when they joined; if they don’t like it, go to WorldRX.


Edited by Alex Langheck on Tuesday 7th October 14:47

Slippydiff

14,742 posts

222 months

Tuesday 7th October 2014
quotequote all
Allyc85 said:
Agreed with the above, you would think Corsica would be a perfect, compact route to keep the FIA happy too!

Mikkelsen was on it at the weekend. After some average performances he seems to now be picking up the pace!

http://youtu.be/0eytDhBFtJ0
Corsica is a great venue (have been there twice) though the second time in 2007 was a shadow of the event I spectated on in '95. Alsace is a lot easier to get to though ! !
I liked the look of last weekend's stages, most looked better than the Baumholder stages used on rally Germany.

I couldn't help notice that last Sundays stage mileage totaled 36 miles. The FIA are always banging on about reducing costs, how can making the event three days long yet only having 36 miles be deemed economical ?

I agree the WRC needs to become far more of an endurance event, perhaps run night stages all through Saturday night and finish on Sunday lunchtime ? (any concerns over the poor drivers being "too tired", could be countered by saying the event would be finished half way through day three)

Not only was the stage mileage on Sunday ridiculously low, but the length of the stages overall looked short too ?
some 30-35 mile marathons needed me thinks.



epom

11,396 posts

160 months

Wednesday 8th October 2014
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Renault also now testing a WRC prototype smile are things looking up at last ??

Allyc85

Original Poster:

7,225 posts

185 months

Wednesday 8th October 2014
quotequote all
I dont want to jinx it, but there are some glimmers of hope.

Hyundai have given their 2015 I20 WRC its first run.

http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/116214

Slippydiff

14,742 posts

222 months

Wednesday 8th October 2014
quotequote all
Allyc85 said:
I dont want to jinx it, but there are some glimmers of hope.

Hyundai have given their 2015 I20 WRC its first run.

http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/116214
Excellent news (likewise Renault possibly rejoining the fold)
I believe flappy paddles are due to make a comeback next year too smile

GravelBen

15,654 posts

229 months

Thursday 9th October 2014
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Slippydiff said:
Excellent news (likewise Renault possibly rejoining the fold)
I believe flappy paddles are due to make a comeback next year too smile
More competitors is a good sign smile

Pity about flappy paddles though, I prefer when drivers have to take a hand off the wheel to change gear - requires a bit more from them.

Slippydiff

14,742 posts

222 months

Thursday 9th October 2014
quotequote all
GravelBen said:
Pity about flappy paddles though, I prefer when drivers have to take a hand off the wheel to change gear - requires a bit more from them.
True, but the WRC cars should really be the pinnacle when it comes to technology, when they use a sequential 'box imo it all looks a bit amateur when all the other pinnacle formulas use flappy paddles.

Was the mooted horsepower increase ratified ?

Allyc85

Original Poster:

7,225 posts

185 months

Thursday 9th October 2014
quotequote all
Agreed with the above really!

As for the power increase I only really ever saw it reported on forums and nothing in the media, but as with anyone would love to see it happen!

Alex Langheck

835 posts

128 months

Thursday 9th October 2014
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http://www.maxrally.com/2014/10/08/the-new-world-o...

Hmm, oh dear. Just what are they doing? Trying to keep in the promoters good books?