2022 Rallying Thread (WRC, ERC and national rally)
Discussion
Spoiler tagged in case anyone hasn't caught up with WRC results yet...
Well Kalle has done it, well deserved. Might have been a closer championship battle if he and Tanak were both in Toyotas?
Neuville lucky to finish after quite a few spins and close calls, and then beaten by young Solberg on the powerstage to rub it in.
Rotten weekend for M-sport, it says something when their top finisher is Bertelli as a gentleman driver. Some decent pace from Breen and Greensmith, but let down by mistakes.
Solid drive from Paddon, dominant WRC2 victory and 6th overall (but not much hype as most people just expected that from him).
SVG well and truly proving to any doubters that his driving talent translates to gravel as well as tarmac, and was obviously loving it all weekend.
Tricky conditions all weekend really, not quite what was expected but spring weather here is often erratic. Had clear blue skies and sunshine all weekend down my end of NZ!
Well Kalle has done it, well deserved. Might have been a closer championship battle if he and Tanak were both in Toyotas?
Neuville lucky to finish after quite a few spins and close calls, and then beaten by young Solberg on the powerstage to rub it in.
Rotten weekend for M-sport, it says something when their top finisher is Bertelli as a gentleman driver. Some decent pace from Breen and Greensmith, but let down by mistakes.
Solid drive from Paddon, dominant WRC2 victory and 6th overall (but not much hype as most people just expected that from him).
SVG well and truly proving to any doubters that his driving talent translates to gravel as well as tarmac, and was obviously loving it all weekend.
Tricky conditions all weekend really, not quite what was expected but spring weather here is often erratic. Had clear blue skies and sunshine all weekend down my end of NZ!
ArnageWRC said:
Away from the headline result, more proof that SvG is in the Top5 race drivers in the world. Quick in everything, and after so few rallies, gets a result in WRC2; and if not for a puncture, could have got 2nd.
Absolutely. He’s something special isn’t he. V8s, GT3, LMP2, WRC2. He’s quick in everything.
Paul Nagle has announced his retirement from WRC, the Spanish round will be his last alongside Craig Breen.
https://kerrymotorsportnews.com/2022/10/05/breakin...
https://kerrymotorsportnews.com/2022/10/05/breakin...
Drumroll said:
There are questions being asked about continuing to use "yumps" in rallying. Whilst yumps are great for the spectator they are not very good for crews spines.
Those questions have been asked for a few years now IIRC, especially with regards to big artificial jumps (which tend to kick cars higher in the air than jumps from crests in the road). Doesn't seem to have changed anything yet though!Excluding the big TV jumps, I'm not sure how bad the impacts actually are. Everyone I know who has been in a WRC has commented on just how well they absorb the hits (which makes sense from a performance point of view). The crashes however....
Odd to see Nagle leave before the end of the season though, I guess it gives Breen some scope to test a replacement before Monte next year.
Odd to see Nagle leave before the end of the season though, I guess it gives Breen some scope to test a replacement before Monte next year.
egomeister said:
Odd to see Nagle leave before the end of the season though, I guess it gives Breen some scope to test a replacement before Monte next year.
If we're making predictions for the new co-driver... Seb Marshall seems most likely, he has plenty of WRC experience having co-driven for Paddon and Meeke before.
Another possibility is Malcolm Read, a young Kiwi who has co-driven a lot of NZ, Aus and APRC (with Mike Young and Molly Taylor). And just happens to have been working at M-Sport spannering on WRC cars this season...
I'm sure there are other co-drivers around looking for a WRC seat too though!
Oliver Solberg has been dropped from his Hyundai drive....
Neuville's comments yesterday about drivers needing time is immensely prescient don't you think.
having said that I don't rate Sloberg. He come's across as a wet lettuce and is too in thrall to his father. Needs to break the ties and toughen up.
Still M Sport might have him.
Neuville's comments yesterday about drivers needing time is immensely prescient don't you think.
having said that I don't rate Sloberg. He come's across as a wet lettuce and is too in thrall to his father. Needs to break the ties and toughen up.
Still M Sport might have him.
Dynion Araf Uchaf said:
Oliver Solberg has been dropped from his Hyundai drive....
Neuville's comments yesterday about drivers needing time is immensely prescient don't you think.
having said that I don't rate Sloberg. He come's across as a wet lettuce and is too in thrall to his father. Needs to break the ties and toughen up.
Still M Sport might have him.
The way that Hyundai team works, he might have been dropped because he beat Neuville on the NZ powerstage! Neuville's comments yesterday about drivers needing time is immensely prescient don't you think.
having said that I don't rate Sloberg. He come's across as a wet lettuce and is too in thrall to his father. Needs to break the ties and toughen up.
Still M Sport might have him.
I agree though, he needs more experience and growing up time before he is ready for WRC, other drivers are more deserving of the seat at the moment. A full season of WRC2 would do him good.It will be interesting to see the Hyundai lineup for next year - they are so Neuville-centric I can't see them getting rid of him, and the comments from recent rallies make it seem less likely that Tanak will stay - he obviously isn't happy with the team management and doesn't feel like he has support from them (despite outperforming Neuville pretty consistently).
I think they would do better if they made Tanak their no.1 driver and developed the car to his feedback instead of Neuville's, practically nobody else (and often not even Neuville himself) seems to be comfortable with the handling of cars he has been the lead driver developing. I know a lot is down to engineers not test drivers, but testing feedback has to be a big factor.
Sordo won't do a full season, just part time if that. So who else - Paddon, Mikkelsen, Meeke, Breen (if he doesn't stay with M-sport?) would all be contenders. Paddon has fairly firm plans for running a full WRC2 season with his NZ team next year, but I suspect he would reconsider that if a WRC1 drive was on the table again. And he is very good at car development too.
There are a few permutations of potential driver movement to see play out over the next few months - if Tanak goes back to Toyota, does he take the Lappi/Ogier shared car or does Evans get bumped? Does one of them go to Hyundai then? Would Princess Thierry's ego cope with having Ogier in the team even part time?
Just some idle speculation to fill in time between rallies...
Did Tanank not go to Hy and dry for money? Why else would he have left his winning team, a team he could easily have moulded around him, now successfully done by Kalle at Toyota.
Maybe Tanak thought he could do the same at Hyundai?
Solberg I have no sympathy with, he was pushed into there far too early by his parents, and has proved too early, a shame but maybe the hype was too much.
WRC teams are not known for taking too many risks, witness Sordo!!
Maybe Tanak thought he could do the same at Hyundai?
Solberg I have no sympathy with, he was pushed into there far too early by his parents, and has proved too early, a shame but maybe the hype was too much.
WRC teams are not known for taking too many risks, witness Sordo!!
LukeBrown66 said:
Did Tanank not go to Hy and dry for money? Why else would he have left his winning team, a team he could easily have moulded around him, now successfully done by Kalle at Toyota.
Maybe Tanak thought he could do the same at Hyundai?
The rumour was that part of the deal was Tanak and Markko Martin's Estonian team getting a significant contract to run the Hyundai WRC2 program, which they weren't going to get from Toyota.Maybe Tanak thought he could do the same at Hyundai?
Also rumoured was some personality clash between Tanak and Makinen (and maybe between Martin and Makinen, IIRC Martin was/is Tanak's manager), with Tanak not feeling valued as an Estonian in a predominantly Finnish team. Presumably that personality clash wouldn't be an issue now that Makinen is gone and Latvala is team principal, and Latvala seems very good at supporting his drivers.
Edited by GravelBen on Thursday 6th October 12:28
If he has any sense he takes it on he chin, takes a pay cut and goes to Ford, Malc would welcome him with open arms, and then you hope they can build a team round him, he basically did all his early career there, proved himself there with Ogier as a team mate, but we all know Malc has neither the money nor budget to pay for him!
He didn't really have the budget for Ogier, but as VW pulled out he was no doubt compensated by them to take him aswell as Red Bull for his two years, Tanak would surely be worth the punt, the car is clearly good enough to compete at the top level, but the driving talent is lacking
He didn't really have the budget for Ogier, but as VW pulled out he was no doubt compensated by them to take him aswell as Red Bull for his two years, Tanak would surely be worth the punt, the car is clearly good enough to compete at the top level, but the driving talent is lacking
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