The 2017 Rallying thread
Discussion
bananachips said:
Sounds as though Breen and Meeke are not at ease with their C3, Kris spun and Craig saying he struggled 'a little bit lost'. The mystery of the C3 handling continues.
Hmm, the end of stage interview with Kris "We have a lot of work to do..." Does not sound too good. Have they spent a year testing & developing, and gone down the wrong direction? Whenever the car is on screen, it just doesn't look planted. Driving it at rally competitive speeds means it will bite them; not good, and no good for their confidence. Which is reflected in fastest stage times; the C3 is behind all the other cars. They need to sort it, and quick or the Championship will quickly be out of sight.
Just think if Neuville had one the first two rounds. He would be in a great position instead of having two terrible weekends.
Neuville is trying to play it down but the Hyundai team manager is clearly not happy with a driver making such a mistake on a super special stage.
Perhaps Neuville's mind was on Sunday rather than the job at hand. Real shame to be fair as he has been fantastic 90% of the time.
Great not having Ogier just romping away with the Championship. Saying that he is starting first on the road which does harm his first day charge.
Amazing job by Latvala to win on the second appearance for the new Toyota. Yes it took a retirement but we could say the same about Ogier at the Monte.
Not much you can say about Citroen
The car just does not look great in both looks and stability. Just looks too big compared to the rest of the field. Actually reminds me of the Mini WRC for some reason.
What must be a worry for everyone is how good Neuville is if he could just finish a rally.
Neuville is trying to play it down but the Hyundai team manager is clearly not happy with a driver making such a mistake on a super special stage.
Perhaps Neuville's mind was on Sunday rather than the job at hand. Real shame to be fair as he has been fantastic 90% of the time.
Great not having Ogier just romping away with the Championship. Saying that he is starting first on the road which does harm his first day charge.
Amazing job by Latvala to win on the second appearance for the new Toyota. Yes it took a retirement but we could say the same about Ogier at the Monte.
Not much you can say about Citroen
The car just does not look great in both looks and stability. Just looks too big compared to the rest of the field. Actually reminds me of the Mini WRC for some reason.
What must be a worry for everyone is how good Neuville is if he could just finish a rally.
Edited by anonymous-user on Sunday 12th February 15:12
Edited by anonymous-user on Sunday 12th February 15:14
What a result for Toyota and Jarri-Matti! Let's hope this will give him confidence to trust his own abilities instead of letting Ogier get in his head. I know Rally drivers are a little bit mental, but Ott Tanak just seems that little bit more crazy, surely that win is coming?
The Yaris actually reminds me a bit of the Group B Metro 6r4 and the Peugeot 205 in looks and stature and they were pretty handy
.
Citroën just looks difficult to drive, doesn't seem to like bumps and clearly Meeke and Breen don't trust it to do what they want. I bet it will be mega-quick on the tarmac rallies though.
The Yaris actually reminds me a bit of the Group B Metro 6r4 and the Peugeot 205 in looks and stature and they were pretty handy
.Citroën just looks difficult to drive, doesn't seem to like bumps and clearly Meeke and Breen don't trust it to do what they want. I bet it will be mega-quick on the tarmac rallies though.
Can any one tell me can they have the splits in the car this year. Also what a great start of the year so far I my self wouldn't right off kirs meek yet as we all have seen the cars far from spot on but on the loose stuff in mexico let's hope all that changes well done to elvin too good job again.
Alex Langheck said:
Hmm, the end of stage interview with Kris "We have a lot of work to do..."
Does not sound too good. Have they spent a year testing & developing, and gone down the wrong direction? Whenever the car is on screen, it just doesn't look planted. Driving it at rally competitive speeds means it will bite them; not good, and no good for their confidence. Which is reflected in fastest stage times; the C3 is behind all the other cars. They need to sort it, and quick or the Championship will quickly be out of sight.
I think it's the re-introduction of electric centre diffs with YAW control, Paddon was having similar problems as well but no where near as bad as the C3s. Julian Porter on the WRC coverage said how the parameters of Hayden's YAW g-sensor were raised by his engineer so it wasn't really triggered as much in corners, in turn unsettling his accustomed balance of the car. Does not sound too good. Have they spent a year testing & developing, and gone down the wrong direction? Whenever the car is on screen, it just doesn't look planted. Driving it at rally competitive speeds means it will bite them; not good, and no good for their confidence. Which is reflected in fastest stage times; the C3 is behind all the other cars. They need to sort it, and quick or the Championship will quickly be out of sight.
Anyway but what do I know.
Have just watched the whole event in three parts. Credit where credit is due to Tommi, the team and Jari. A pretty much perfect weekend. Though after the Monte I was chatting to a mate who knows Tommi, he said he was surprised that when Juo Hanninen approached him, he (Tommi) didn't offer Juo £1m to drive ...
for someone else
As I said on the Monte, it's a real pleasure to see the rejuvenated JM-L, just as Mikko Hirvonen found at Citroen, living in the shadow of a multiple World Champion is neither good for the confidence or the soul.
Most on here will know I'm an Ogier fan, but this was a very lacklustre weekend for the man from Gap. Whilst I loved seeing him win on the Monte, even I'd have to admit it was a win gifted by Neuville's ill-fortune and the same for Tanak.
And whilst Tanak appears to revel in the new Fiesta (diff settings ? aside on Sweden) I'm left wondering if Seb O is struggling to get the Fiesta set up to his liking ? There's no doubting its speed, a look at Evans and Tanaks times speak volumes, but Ogier loves Sweden, so his result there is "worrying".
What to say about Neuville ? As I've said on here previously, I had a wobble on Neuville when he appeared to have lost the plot. But his handling of the 2017 car both on the Monte and in Sweden, were pretty awe inspiring, he made a lot of the other top flight drivers (Sordo and Paddon for starters) look ordinary on both events. Yes they were silly mistakes that cost him what he was making look easy victories on the last two events, but hopefully with them out of the way, his challenge proper can start in Mexico. Let's hope the Hyundai management nurture him rather than kick him when he's down.
Meeke, car not right, or just Kris up to his usual tricks ? (silly offs that cost him any chance of a win) We'll have to give him the benefit of the doubt for a couple more rounds, but the jury's out currently.......
Breen, Sordo and Evans. All classy drives.
Jari's drive was just superb, clearly the Yaris suits him far better than the Polo ever did, though that's not a surprise when a car is designed and set up around one individual who takes it to four consecutive WRC Championships, why would the team want to change it to suit what most likely appeared to them to be an inferior driver ? JM-L may have the last laugh this year, and it certainly appears he loves the atmosphere in the new team. Great that he has Tommi to mentor him too. If Sweden and Monte were anything to go by, Ogier may have a real fight on his hands this years with Neuville and Jari.
Good to see the FIA responding so positively to the stage times set by the new, faster cars they sanctioned. Idiots
for someone else
As I said on the Monte, it's a real pleasure to see the rejuvenated JM-L, just as Mikko Hirvonen found at Citroen, living in the shadow of a multiple World Champion is neither good for the confidence or the soul.
Most on here will know I'm an Ogier fan, but this was a very lacklustre weekend for the man from Gap. Whilst I loved seeing him win on the Monte, even I'd have to admit it was a win gifted by Neuville's ill-fortune and the same for Tanak.
And whilst Tanak appears to revel in the new Fiesta (diff settings ? aside on Sweden) I'm left wondering if Seb O is struggling to get the Fiesta set up to his liking ? There's no doubting its speed, a look at Evans and Tanaks times speak volumes, but Ogier loves Sweden, so his result there is "worrying".
What to say about Neuville ? As I've said on here previously, I had a wobble on Neuville when he appeared to have lost the plot. But his handling of the 2017 car both on the Monte and in Sweden, were pretty awe inspiring, he made a lot of the other top flight drivers (Sordo and Paddon for starters) look ordinary on both events. Yes they were silly mistakes that cost him what he was making look easy victories on the last two events, but hopefully with them out of the way, his challenge proper can start in Mexico. Let's hope the Hyundai management nurture him rather than kick him when he's down.
Meeke, car not right, or just Kris up to his usual tricks ? (silly offs that cost him any chance of a win) We'll have to give him the benefit of the doubt for a couple more rounds, but the jury's out currently.......
Breen, Sordo and Evans. All classy drives.
Jari's drive was just superb, clearly the Yaris suits him far better than the Polo ever did, though that's not a surprise when a car is designed and set up around one individual who takes it to four consecutive WRC Championships, why would the team want to change it to suit what most likely appeared to them to be an inferior driver ? JM-L may have the last laugh this year, and it certainly appears he loves the atmosphere in the new team. Great that he has Tommi to mentor him too. If Sweden and Monte were anything to go by, Ogier may have a real fight on his hands this years with Neuville and Jari.
Good to see the FIA responding so positively to the stage times set by the new, faster cars they sanctioned. Idiots
Slippydiff said:
Jari's drive was just superb, clearly the Yaris suits him far better than the Polo ever did, though that's not a surprise when a car is designed and set up around one individual who takes it to four consecutive WRC Championships, why would the team want to change it to suit what most likely appeared to them to be an inferior driver ? JM-L may have the last laugh this year, and it certainly appears he loves the atmosphere in the new team. Great that he has Tommi to mentor him too. If Sweden and Monte were anything to go by, Ogier may have a real fi
We all thought that JML's problems were in his head. I reckon they are in his bum. Seat time that is. The amoutn of time in the car he has had has really helped him, and Tommi is using Finland base to get even more testing KM's on board as they are allowed to do. Back testing Wednesday apparently.Also Ogier may have shot himself in the foot a bit by delaying his signing to Ford. JML got to Toyota early enough to use his VW experience to influence diff and gear ratios for homologation. Ogier may have arrived a touch too late for Ford to react and do the same.
I can't understand how Citroen appear to have the worst car. What were they doing in testing last year? I guess not having a VW driver on the books hasn't helped? And that is said as a Kris Meeke fan.
Jerry Can said:
We all thought that JML's problems were in his head. I reckon they are in his bum. Seat time that is. The amoutn of time in the car he has had has really helped him, and Tommi is using Finland base to get even more testing KM's on board as they are allowed to do. Back testing Wednesday apparently.
Also Ogier may have shot himself in the foot a bit by delaying his signing to Ford. JML got to Toyota early enough to use his VW experience to influence diff and gear ratios for homologation. Ogier may have arrived a touch too late for Ford to react and do the same.
I can't understand how Citroen appear to have the worst car. What were they doing in testing last year? I guess not having a VW driver on the books hasn't helped? And that is said as a Kris Meeke fan.
It looks very softly sprung (perhaps to increase grip and make it less tail happy/snappy) but also the rear looks waaaay too soft, it seems to be squatting down at the rear permanently. Breen clearly wasn't impressed ....Also Ogier may have shot himself in the foot a bit by delaying his signing to Ford. JML got to Toyota early enough to use his VW experience to influence diff and gear ratios for homologation. Ogier may have arrived a touch too late for Ford to react and do the same.
I can't understand how Citroen appear to have the worst car. What were they doing in testing last year? I guess not having a VW driver on the books hasn't helped? And that is said as a Kris Meeke fan.
But yes, it does leave one wondering what the hell they spend 2016 doing
Rest assured, from the YT videos of the 2017 Polo testing, it would've spanked the Citroen had it made to the start line in Monte/Sweden.Anyone else starting to think that VW disappearing might actually be a net positive for the series? It has to make for more interest when one team is not running away with things (see F1).
I can certainly say my engagement has been higher this year and it'll be great to get to Mexico with the event basically wide open...
I can certainly say my engagement has been higher this year and it'll be great to get to Mexico with the event basically wide open...
greeny12 said:
Anyone else starting to think that VW disappearing might actually be a net positive for the series? It has to make for more interest when one team is not running away with things (see F1).
I can certainly say my engagement has been higher this year and it'll be great to get to Mexico with the event basically wide open...
yes!I can certainly say my engagement has been higher this year and it'll be great to get to Mexico with the event basically wide open...
has balanced the playing field considerably so may end up being more of a battle this year. Pleased for toyota, help them forget about last years Le Mans !!
Gassing Station | General Motorsport | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff