The WRC Rally Japan Thread 2010 ***SPOILERS***

[Emeye]

Ah Well, I thought I'd give this a go.....

I'm hoping the rule changes and added interest from new manufacturers will give WRC the kick up the arse it deserves next years, but why not start the ball rolling now and see what interest there is on Pistonheads.

Not sure how this will work due to the time difference and the lack of live TV, but lets try to keep it positive and not moan about how much better it was back in't old days......


WRC Japan seems to have got off to a great start for Petter Solberg, even though he is suffering from a virus, he's leading by 10 secs. Loeb is a minute behind so it should be an exciting day tomos watching if he can make a comeback.

Personally I would love Solberg to win.

[Allyc85]

Same here id love to see Petter win, its been far too long!

Pos Driver Car Time/Gap
1. Petter Solberg Citroen 1h13m31.2s
2. Mikko Hirvonen Ford + 9.4s
3. Sebastien Ogier Citroen + 21.3s
4. Jari-Matti Latvala Ford + 22.4s
5. Dani Sordo Citroen + 36.5s
6. Sebastien Loeb Citroen + 54.5s
7. Henning Solberg Ford + 1m22.2s
8. Matthew Wilson Ford + 3m16.9s
9. Federico Villagra Ford + 3m46.5s
10. Kimi Raikkonen Citroen + 4m03.1s

No huge surprises in the top 10 at the moment! I only caught a couple minutes of Motors coverage earlier but one of the stages looked massively narrow and barely wide enough for the cars which I thought was great, make them drivers work!

[thepawbroon]

I'm hoping the Petter can take the win here - backing the underdog!

I've not watched any and I'm not familiar with the surface - is this one of the places where Loeb running further back will be a big advantage? Some events he's been 20 or 30 secs back after day 1 and blitzed day 2.

It does look all set for a cracking battle

[rhysenna]

Emeye, could you give us a quick rundown of the rule changes that are coming up in the WRC? Used to be a big fan and lost interest a few years back but would be interested in what's going to be happening next year and so on. Cheers.

[Allyc85]

thepawbroon said:

I'm hoping the Petter can take the win here - backing the underdog!

I've not watched any and I'm not familiar with the surface - is this one of the places where Loeb running further back will be a big advantage? Some events he's been 20 or 30 secs back after day 1 and blitzed day 2.

It does look all set for a cracking battle

From what ive read the stages are massively rutted from the 2008 Rally Japan so there should be little or no advantage from running further down the order like on other gravel rallys. But with Loeb you never know and TBH he has no need to push with the advantage he has in the championship.

[Emeye]

rhysenna, her is a basic breakdown of the 2011 changes:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2011_World_Rally_Cham...

Have a look at http://www.wrc.com too.

There are rumours that VW are interested in the new WRC championship, along with Suzuki and some other manufacturers.

Is anyone using the official WRC Android or iPhone app? I've tried using the Android one but don't seem to be able to get the live updates to work.

Someone mentioned the 2008 Japan stages, but the rally is being run in a different area this year.

I can't wait until I get Sky installed on Sunday, then I won't have to wait until Sunday night to get my rally action on Dave. Is it on every night of the rallies on Motors TV?

[rhysenna]

Emeye said:

rhysenna, her is a basic breakdown of the 2011 changes:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2011_World_Rally_Cham...

Have a look at http://www.wrc.com too.

There are rumours that VW are interested in the new WRC championship, along with Suzuki and some other manufacturers.

Is anyone using the official WRC Android or iPhone app? I've tried using the Android one but don't seem to be able to get the live updates to work.

Someone mentioned the 2008 Japan stages, but the rally is being run in a different area this year.

I can't wait until I get Sky installed on Sunday, then I won't have to wait until Sunday night to get my rally action on Dave. Is it on every night of the rallies on Motors TV?

Cheers for that. More manufacturers can only be a good thing.

[Allyc85]

Latvala leads after Solberg was given a penalty for jumping the start by one tenth of a second and drops to third place.

The top 5 is very close so it looks like we are in for a huge battle tomorrow

Pos Driver Car Time/Gap
1. Jari-Matti Latvala Ford 1h50m13.1s
2. Sebastien Ogier Citroen + 1.6s
3. Petter Solberg Citroen + 4.1s
4. Mikko Hirvonen Ford + 5.7s
5. Dani Sordo Citroen + 14.2s
6. Sebastien Loeb Citroen + 34.3s
7. Henning Solberg Ford + 1m29.1s
8. Kimi Raikkonen Citroen + 5m22.3s
9. Federico Villagra Ford + 5m30.1s
10. Jari Ketomaa Ford + 8m26.6s

Also I havnt read about Kimi having any crashes yet... or have I just jinxed him lol

Emeye said:

I can't wait until I get Sky installed on Sunday, then I won't have to wait until Sunday night to get my rally action on Dave. Is it on every night of the rallies on Motors TV?

Yea every day of the rally and gets repeated a couple times in between too

[Allyc85]

Latvala down to 5th with a broken drive shaft, not the first Ford have had in recent rallys.

Pos Driver Car Time/Gap
1. Petter Solberg Citroen 2h28m46.1s
2. Mikko Hirvonen Ford + 3.7s
3. Sebastien Ogier Citroen + 5.4s
4. Dani Sordo Citroen + 15.3s
5. Jari-Matti Latvala Ford + 30.7s
6. Sebastien Loeb Citroen + 37.9s
7. Henning Solberg Ford + 2m07.2s
8. Kimi Raikkonen Citroen + 7m01.3s
9. Federico Villagra Ford + 7m42.1s
10. Jari Ketomaa Ford + 11m33.3s

[Emeye]

Really great to see Petter back on form!

Also with Ford doing well it only makes things more exciting.

I do think Loeb is not bothered about winning this weekend as he wants to take the title in France.

[caz4213]

Gutted for Solberg that he couldn't get the win. Although there is a slim chance of Ogier keeping Loeb from his title for perhaps a little bit longer. Since I'm off to rally Spain I hope the championship is still alive there, but can't really see anything other than a 7 time world champion being crowned next time out in France.