2019 Rallying Thread (WRC, ERC and all other)!
Discussion
Sad to hear, RIP 
Better weekend here at Rally South Canterbury, over 200km of gravel stages in one day is good value. Nice to be out watching with my dad and brother on some of the roads I learnt to drive on too. Dominated by Hayden Paddon as expected (but you won't see him listed in championship results because he isn't contesting the title this year), here is an in-car of one stage with him:
https://www.facebook.com/haydenpaddonwrc/videos/47...
New co-driver in training was a bit hesitant at times in there, but she is young and it is a fair step up in pace from the Mk2 Escort she usually co-drives so I expect she will adjust well with a bit more time.
And some event highlights: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bjpY0LT_Ook
Better weekend here at Rally South Canterbury, over 200km of gravel stages in one day is good value. Nice to be out watching with my dad and brother on some of the roads I learnt to drive on too. Dominated by Hayden Paddon as expected (but you won't see him listed in championship results because he isn't contesting the title this year), here is an in-car of one stage with him:
https://www.facebook.com/haydenpaddonwrc/videos/47...
New co-driver in training was a bit hesitant at times in there, but she is young and it is a fair step up in pace from the Mk2 Escort she usually co-drives so I expect she will adjust well with a bit more time.
And some event highlights: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bjpY0LT_Ook
Edited by GravelBen on Monday 24th June 11:43
All the news reports on Hyundai's driver line up have stated that he isn't interested in one off drives, but from what he has tweeted today that might not have been the case!
I don't think there is much between Breen and Paddon Tbh and either would have been a good choice.
Edit: I've had a reply from Hayden's Twitter account, he says he was never offered the drive!!
I don't think there is much between Breen and Paddon Tbh and either would have been a good choice.
Edit: I've had a reply from Hayden's Twitter account, he says he was never offered the drive!!
Edited by Allyc85 on Tuesday 25th June 21:29
Great news for Craig & Paul;
Sounds as though Hayden has been treated pretty shabbily, not a great reflection on the man management of Hyundai.
And, it seems that even in 2019, were you are from has a massive impact on whether you can get/ keep a drive. Shouldn't still be like this.
Coming from NZ hasn't stopped talents like Dixon, Bamber, Hartley and others. Maybe circuit racing is a bit more forward thinking than the smaller world of rallying.
Sounds as though Hayden has been treated pretty shabbily, not a great reflection on the man management of Hyundai.
And, it seems that even in 2019, were you are from has a massive impact on whether you can get/ keep a drive. Shouldn't still be like this.
Coming from NZ hasn't stopped talents like Dixon, Bamber, Hartley and others. Maybe circuit racing is a bit more forward thinking than the smaller world of rallying.
A FM Langheck said:
Great news for Craig & Paul;
Sounds as though Hayden has been treated pretty shabbily, not a great reflection on the man management of Hyundai.
And, it seems that even in 2019, were you are from has a massive impact on whether you can get/ keep a drive. Shouldn't still be like this.
Coming from NZ hasn't stopped talents like Dixon, Bamber, Hartley and others. Maybe circuit racing is a bit more forward thinking than the smaller world of rallying.
I don't think there's very much to chose between Breen and Paddon, perhaps Paddon is as good as he's going to get, having had 3 more years in WRC than Breen,who might be still improving? Perhaps Hyundai know all they need to know about Paddon, and are testing Breen out before making driver choices for 2020?Sounds as though Hayden has been treated pretty shabbily, not a great reflection on the man management of Hyundai.
And, it seems that even in 2019, were you are from has a massive impact on whether you can get/ keep a drive. Shouldn't still be like this.
Coming from NZ hasn't stopped talents like Dixon, Bamber, Hartley and others. Maybe circuit racing is a bit more forward thinking than the smaller world of rallying.
A FM Langheck said:
Great news for Craig & Paul;
Sounds as though Hayden has been treated pretty shabbily, not a great reflection on the man management of Hyundai.
And, it seems that even in 2019, were you are from has a massive impact on whether you can get/ keep a drive. Shouldn't still be like this.
Coming from NZ hasn't stopped talents like Dixon, Bamber, Hartley and others. Maybe circuit racing is a bit more forward thinking than the smaller world of rallying.
Im not sure there has or have been too many more Irish WRC drivers as Kiwi's. If it comes down to car sales, from the sounds of it Paddon and Hyundai are joined at the hip domestically. Someone else here made the point that Paddon has been in the WRC alot longer than Breen maybe the thinking is that Paddon is as good as he's ever going to be. Either way this is going to be a big weekend for Breen. Sounds as though Hayden has been treated pretty shabbily, not a great reflection on the man management of Hyundai.
And, it seems that even in 2019, were you are from has a massive impact on whether you can get/ keep a drive. Shouldn't still be like this.
Coming from NZ hasn't stopped talents like Dixon, Bamber, Hartley and others. Maybe circuit racing is a bit more forward thinking than the smaller world of rallying.
Rovenpara to Toyota? Im guessing it will be Meeke getting the chop considering his age and the fact that he seems to have gone backwards after presumably been told to keep the panel beater bills to a minimum this year.
Slippydiff said:
Why would Tanak even contemplate moving back to MSport ?? 
Because the Yaris keeps on letting him down?I was lucky enough to have a tour of the Toyota service area in Sardinia, and our guide admitted the car was designed for speed for outright speed, and they don’t carry spares to save weight!
df76 said:
And Toyota management has made it clear that they’re not happy with latvala or Meeke.. pressure on. Japanese driver coming in for a couple of WRC events.
It looks like Takamoto Katsuta will do 2-3 WRC events this year, plus Japan (which I think is a candidate event this year, ready for next year), and then potentially a full season in the WRC car next year, but run separate from the main team - as Hanninen was at the last event. So potentially 4 Yaris out on events next year. I can't believe Tanak is really thinking about moving to M-Sport unless Ford have offered some serious reassurances about the future, M-Sport seem to be on a yearly existence, and especially as Tanak seems to be settled and going so well in the Toyota.
Apart from Ogier & Neuville (and Loeb) I think all other drivers have contracts up - but with Tanak being the main man the market could revolve around, him and could see loads of moves or none at all!! Hyundai are an example - rumours of Evans possibly joining them.....or they stay exactly the same!!
Looking forward to seeing Kalle Rovanperä in a Toyota - think it should be really interesting.
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