2021 Rallying Thread (WRC, ERC and national rally)
Discussion
Skylinecrazy said:
Suninen? Well, according to rumours he won’t be driving for M-Sport again...
Care to elaborate? Is it down to making a mistake on SS1 or did something else happen?I really like the first few minutes of the coverage today, watching the cars go through the snow into slippy ice was really exciting, then it was ruined by the constant interviews.
I timed in with my phone, they stayed on the non racing action for around 2 minutes each time, then spent around 1:50 on the racing action. Bloody disgraceful
Edited by confucuis on Sunday 24th January 21:19
Skylinecrazy said:
Taka had a good run imo. He made little to no mistakes, and showed good pace when he had a bit of confidence. Easily won ‘Division 2’ of WRC and will be a dark horse for a top 5 on the next round as he’s driven the Toyota lots on snow.
Seb is so much better than anyone else, he even had time for a puncture and a spin, before making up all that time. I honestly cannot see anyone beating him over a full season. (whatever that may be this year..)
Elfyn has to be happy with second and is probably the only other drive who can challenge Ogier this year. Kalle was also impressive and is definitely a future champion.
Hyundai really struggled this event and Ott still doesn’t seem to have gelled with the I20. Cant see him ever challenging for another title whilst he’s driving for Hyundai. Thierry needs to win the inter team battle this year otherwise I can see him being dropped to facilitate a young Oliver Solberg.
Loubet made too many mistakes yet again, and I don’t understand Hyundai’s plans with him. Surely they’re not lining him up for a drive in the parent team in 22?
Another who had a dismal rally was Greensmith. He seriously needs to up his game next round, as a ‘lead’ driver for M-Sport, it’s an embarrassment to finish behind a WRC2 car in the overall standings and he is better than the performance he showed.
Suninen? Well, according to rumours he won’t be driving for M-Sport again...
WRC2 - Mikkelson was superb, and in my opinion was driver of the rally. He came to Monte to dominate, and he did just that. Formaux’s drive was good yes, but he still needs to put a complete performance together for me as he would have finished comfortably behind Camilli if his French compatriot had a little more seat time. Expected a little more of Sean Johnston as he was absolutely miles off the pace and should have spent a year in WRC3, as WRC2 finally makes sense with some quality entries.
I alluded to Solberg earlier, and a future WRC drive with Hyundai. I still think he needs to prove himself, as he makes a LOT of mistakes. Yes he has the speed, but there’s a lot more to rallying than outright pace. Another retirement at the top level, and luckily didn’t choose Monte as a points scoring event.
I am in two minds about Greensmiths performance. on the one hand yes you are right, hes behind a car with significantly less power, but on the other hand, hes a paying driver and on ability doesnt deserve to be there. so is top ten not a good result. I mean he hasnt cost them/his dad any money by putting it in the hedge like his team mate. Seb is so much better than anyone else, he even had time for a puncture and a spin, before making up all that time. I honestly cannot see anyone beating him over a full season. (whatever that may be this year..)
Elfyn has to be happy with second and is probably the only other drive who can challenge Ogier this year. Kalle was also impressive and is definitely a future champion.
Hyundai really struggled this event and Ott still doesn’t seem to have gelled with the I20. Cant see him ever challenging for another title whilst he’s driving for Hyundai. Thierry needs to win the inter team battle this year otherwise I can see him being dropped to facilitate a young Oliver Solberg.
Loubet made too many mistakes yet again, and I don’t understand Hyundai’s plans with him. Surely they’re not lining him up for a drive in the parent team in 22?
Another who had a dismal rally was Greensmith. He seriously needs to up his game next round, as a ‘lead’ driver for M-Sport, it’s an embarrassment to finish behind a WRC2 car in the overall standings and he is better than the performance he showed.
Suninen? Well, according to rumours he won’t be driving for M-Sport again...
WRC2 - Mikkelson was superb, and in my opinion was driver of the rally. He came to Monte to dominate, and he did just that. Formaux’s drive was good yes, but he still needs to put a complete performance together for me as he would have finished comfortably behind Camilli if his French compatriot had a little more seat time. Expected a little more of Sean Johnston as he was absolutely miles off the pace and should have spent a year in WRC3, as WRC2 finally makes sense with some quality entries.
I alluded to Solberg earlier, and a future WRC drive with Hyundai. I still think he needs to prove himself, as he makes a LOT of mistakes. Yes he has the speed, but there’s a lot more to rallying than outright pace. Another retirement at the top level, and luckily didn’t choose Monte as a points scoring event.
rastapasta said:
I am in two minds about Greensmiths performance. on the one hand yes you are right, hes behind a car with significantly less power, but on the other hand, hes a paying driver and on ability doesnt deserve to be there. so is top ten not a good result. I mean he hasnt cost them/his dad any money by putting it in the hedge like his team mate.
Hmm, he was fifth in Turkey had showed split wise that he isn’t a million miles off the pace of the top 6.He was losing 1 minute + a stage at one point!
confucuis said:
Care to elaborate? Is it down to making a mistake on SS1 or did something else happen?
I really like the first few minutes of the coverage today, watching the cars go through the snow into slippy ice was really exciting, then it was ruined by the constant interviews.
I timed in with my phone, they stayed on the non racing action for around 2 minutes each time, then spent around 1:50 on the racing action. Bloody disgraceful
Facebook rumours that M-Sport have asked Suninen to fix the car himself or not drive for them again. I really like the first few minutes of the coverage today, watching the cars go through the snow into slippy ice was really exciting, then it was ruined by the constant interviews.
I timed in with my phone, they stayed on the non racing action for around 2 minutes each time, then spent around 1:50 on the racing action. Bloody disgraceful
Edited by confucuis on Sunday 24th January 21:19
Skylinecrazy said:
Facebook rumours that M-Sport have asked Suninen to fix the car himself or not drive for them again.
Yep, that'll work. Not. Even at discounted "mates rates" for labour and parts there's a huge amount of money involved in repairing the damaged car. Judging by the images I've seen, it'll most likely be needing a shell, if not, the shell and cage will need many hours of work to repair.
It's lose, lose for Temmu, fix the car, keep your drive, but he's hardly be going to be able to showcase his talents with the Sword of Democles hanging over him on every event should he damage the car.
If I were Malcom I'd be expending all my energy finding a sponsor/sponsors before doing any further rounds, though I guess MSport are contractually bound by the FIA to enter all of the rounds ?
Slippydiff said:
Skylinecrazy said:
Facebook rumours that M-Sport have asked Suninen to fix the car himself or not drive for them again.
Yep, that'll work. Not. Even at discounted "mates rates" for labour and parts there's a huge amount of money involved in repairing the damaged car. Judging by the images I've seen, it'll most likely be needing a shell, if not, the shell and cage will need many hours of work to repair.
It's lose, lose for Temmu, fix the car, keep your drive, but he's hardly be going to be able to showcase his talents with the Sword of Democles hanging over him on every event should he damage the car.
If I were Malcom I'd be expending all my energy finding a sponsor/sponsors before doing any further rounds, though I guess MSport are contractually bound by the FIA to enter all of the rounds ?
Just caught up on the highlights on the official WRC YouTube channel. It amazes me that they can compress a whole event into less than 10 minutes worth of footage!!!
Ogier showing again that he is the class of the field, hopefully not a sign of things to come for the rest of the season.
Any idea why Mikkelsen has failed to secure a permanent seat at a top team this year? He clearly has the skill, dominated the WRC2 class, and with his Red Bull backing you would think he would be able to bring sponsorship.
Ogier showing again that he is the class of the field, hopefully not a sign of things to come for the rest of the season.
Any idea why Mikkelsen has failed to secure a permanent seat at a top team this year? He clearly has the skill, dominated the WRC2 class, and with his Red Bull backing you would think he would be able to bring sponsorship.
rastapasta said:
yeah i agree. but isnt there that question over all of the drivers. i mean its all about credit in the bank in this regard but wasnt Kris Meeke given a similar ultimatum when at Citroen and his driving style was a bit tempered at Toyota as a result. Now the other side to this is if a Manufacturer doesnt have the cash to repair a car they should really be in the sport full stop. And this would apply to quasi manufacturers like M Sport I would imagine.
It’s an incredibly harsh perspective, but I fear you’ve hit the nail on the head, right there.This is the premier class, and if you can’t afford the worst case scenario, that being Gus AND Teemu writing both cars off on the same event, you probably shouldn’t be there.
Unfortunately M-Sport has to stand on their own feet, with limited (if any real) support from Ford. They had to make significant redundancies in 2020, so the lead driver writing off the car before the end of the first stage at the first event of the year would have gone down extremely badly (and that's being polite). WRC badly needs their involvement and I hope they can field competitive cars for the rest of the year.
df76 said:
Unfortunately M-Sport has to stand on their own feet, with limited (if any real) support from Ford. They had to make significant redundancies in 2020, so the lead driver writing off the car before the end of the first stage at the first event of the year would have gone down extremely badly (and that's being polite). WRC badly needs their involvement and I hope they can field competitive cars for the rest of the year.
LukeBrown66 said:
They also lost the Bentley gig and the Fpace thing for Formula E has been delayed, while at teh same time spending millions expanding the facility, building a test track and pretty much doubling in size
It does not look good right now
Unfortunately these are the very harsh realities many are experiencing in the private commercial sector right now. It does not look good right now
No doubt MSport's order book for new privateer/customer cars dried up last year, and doubtless there were a large amount of cancelled orders in there too.
Add in the lost revenue from WRC parts sales and maintenance, both the cars and their engines/transmissions etc, and with the expansion mentioned above, you have all the ingredients for the worst case scenario.
The Monte is a lottery, where even the best get it wrong, it just happened to be Teemu this year, but it could just have as easily been Evans in exactly the same spot (which begs the question, do most realise what a massive save Evans pulled off on the same corner Teemu crashed on ??)
Tanak did it properly last year and Ogier did it properly in a Skoda many years ago. It goes with the territory in the WRC, and the stakes are even higher on the Monte IMO. Add in the parlous financial situation at MSport, and one really does have to question the decision to field cars for two drivers this year.
LukeBrown66 said:
They also lost the Bentley gig and the Fpace thing for Formula E has been delayed, while at teh same time spending millions expanding the facility, building a test track and pretty much doubling in size
It does not look good right now
They have however won the contract for BTCC hybrid units, so there’s one plus! It does not look good right now
Slippydiff said:
Skylinecrazy said:
Facebook rumours that M-Sport have asked Suninen to fix the car himself or not drive for them again.
Yep, that'll work. Not. Even at discounted "mates rates" for labour and parts there's a huge amount of money involved in repairing the damaged car. Judging by the images I've seen, it'll most likely be needing a shell, if not, the shell and cage will need many hours of work to repair.
It's lose, lose for Temmu, fix the car, keep your drive, but he's hardly be going to be able to showcase his talents with the Sword of Democles hanging over him on every event should he damage the car.
If I were Malcom I'd be expending all my energy finding a sponsor/sponsors before doing any further rounds, though I guess MSport are contractually bound by the FIA to enter all of the rounds ?
Slippydiff said:
Unfortunately these are the very harsh realities many are experiencing in the private commercial sector right now.
No doubt MSport's order book for new privateer/customer cars dried up last year, and doubtless there were a large amount of cancelled orders in there too.
Add in the lost revenue from WRC parts sales and maintenance, both the cars and their engines/transmissions etc, and with the expansion mentioned above, you have all the ingredients for the worst case scenario.
The Monte is a lottery, where even the best get it wrong, it just happened to be Teemu this year, but it could just have as easily been Evans in exactly the same spot (which begs the question, do most realise what a massive save Evans pulled off on the same corner Teemu crashed on ??)
Tanak did it properly last year and Ogier did it properly in a Skoda many years ago. It goes with the territory in the WRC, and the stakes are even higher on the Monte IMO. Add in the parlous financial situation at MSport, and one really does have to question the decision to field cars for two drivers this year.
Evans’ crash was the St Leger Melezes stage, just after the ski resort where I’ve stayed for the past two years No doubt MSport's order book for new privateer/customer cars dried up last year, and doubtless there were a large amount of cancelled orders in there too.
Add in the lost revenue from WRC parts sales and maintenance, both the cars and their engines/transmissions etc, and with the expansion mentioned above, you have all the ingredients for the worst case scenario.
The Monte is a lottery, where even the best get it wrong, it just happened to be Teemu this year, but it could just have as easily been Evans in exactly the same spot (which begs the question, do most realise what a massive save Evans pulled off on the same corner Teemu crashed on ??)
Tanak did it properly last year and Ogier did it properly in a Skoda many years ago. It goes with the territory in the WRC, and the stakes are even higher on the Monte IMO. Add in the parlous financial situation at MSport, and one really does have to question the decision to field cars for two drivers this year.
I agree many have done it in a big way. But on stage 1 when they barely made the event? Last thing he was told before going to stage one was ‘finish the event’. The stages Thursday were probably the most predictable with no ice, just lots of standing water.
Skylinecrazy said:
Evans’ crash was the St Leger Melezes stage, just after the ski resort where I’ve stayed for the past two years
I agree many have done it in a big way. But on stage 1 when they barely made the event? Last thing he was told before going to stage one was ‘finish the event’. The stages Thursday were probably the most predictable with no ice, just lots of standing water.
I was referring to Elfyn's moment when things got squirrelly under braking on the approach to Teemu's corner. I imagine he must've fleetingly been feeling some horrendous deja vu after Monza last year ...I agree many have done it in a big way. But on stage 1 when they barely made the event? Last thing he was told before going to stage one was ‘finish the event’. The stages Thursday were probably the most predictable with no ice, just lots of standing water.
https://youtu.be/FiiMvIb97eg?t=42
As you'll know, Teemu's splits indicated he was fastest through that first stage until it all went horribly wrong ...
My guess is that for all the testing the drivers did pre Monte, the Pirellis were somewhat (very ?) different in the conditions they experienced on the event itself.
Julian Porter's cohort said immediately after Teemu's crash that it looked like the car aquaplaned, whereas Julian Porter put the blame firmly on the white line. It'd be interesting hear Elfyn's take on it, as he clearly had a problem.
None of the above excuses Teemu, but the life of a WRC driver is strewn with hazards, and there's more of them on the Monte than most events !!
Edited by Slippydiff on Monday 25th January 18:58
Interestingly a few years ago I went to Msport for a disaster of a work trial, mainly due to house prices up there being insanely cheap, it went badly, people were horrible so I would not have worked there.
But a guy I went with for the same type of trial deal worked down here for a BTCC engine builder, and now.... funny that.
But a guy I went with for the same type of trial deal worked down here for a BTCC engine builder, and now.... funny that.
Bit of a mixed bag of news from the last few days.
Starting with the negative, they have cancelled the Irish Tarmac championship for 2021, but on the positive Forestry England are allowing rallying to continue in their forests. This following on from Natural Resource Wales announcing a 3 year extension recently.
Starting with the negative, they have cancelled the Irish Tarmac championship for 2021, but on the positive Forestry England are allowing rallying to continue in their forests. This following on from Natural Resource Wales announcing a 3 year extension recently.
Gassing Station | General Motorsport | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff