WRC 2005 Finale... where to next year?
Discussion
What an exciting weekend for Australian motorsport! There was the V8 Supercars race in Tasmania, and the WRC final round in Perth!
Loeb is obviously the drivers' champion this year, with a tie for 2nd place between Gronholm and Solberg. A surprising finish for Duval, who was fired from Citroen earlier in the year, but he proved he has the talent by winning Rally Australia.
So where to next year, with Citroen and Peugeot pulling out? Loeb goes to a privateer outfit, but what about Duval, Gronholm, and Martin? Harri Rovanpera looks like he's staying with Mitsubishi. Will McRae stay with a half-privateer-half-factory Skoda team? And how will the reduction of electronic driver aids (ie. no active diffs, ABS, etc.) influence the driver lineup next year?
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I think McRae has shown he still has what it takes to be competitive at the top level, and if Skoda wants any decent chance at the manufacturer's championship, they're going to need drivers of McRae's calibre. If he wants to, I think McRae definitely has more than enough leverage to drive for Skoda next year -- and if they're willing to pay a big enough salary.
Mitsubishi will most probably stick with the Rovanpera-Galli duo, although poor Rov is showing his age, and Galli is inconsistent.
Atkinson will be Subaru's #2 driver, with Sarazin appearing for some tarmac events. I don't see Sarazin making any serious career move into gravel rallying, given his poor performance on loose surfaces.
As for the new-spec cars for '06, Ford certainly has a slight head start with running of the 06-spec Focus in Rally Australia. Mitsubishi ran part of the season with no active centre diff, so they have some relatively fresh experience to pull from next year. The lack of traction aids will likly benefit the older-school drivers, such as Rovanpera, Gronholm, etc., and the newly-recruited drivers from Group-N ranks, such as Atkinson and Galli.
>> Edited by Jungles on Sunday 13th November 23:56
>> Edited by Jungles on Sunday 13th November 23:57
Loeb is obviously the drivers' champion this year, with a tie for 2nd place between Gronholm and Solberg. A surprising finish for Duval, who was fired from Citroen earlier in the year, but he proved he has the talent by winning Rally Australia.
So where to next year, with Citroen and Peugeot pulling out? Loeb goes to a privateer outfit, but what about Duval, Gronholm, and Martin? Harri Rovanpera looks like he's staying with Mitsubishi. Will McRae stay with a half-privateer-half-factory Skoda team? And how will the reduction of electronic driver aids (ie. no active diffs, ABS, etc.) influence the driver lineup next year?
---------------------------------------------------
I think McRae has shown he still has what it takes to be competitive at the top level, and if Skoda wants any decent chance at the manufacturer's championship, they're going to need drivers of McRae's calibre. If he wants to, I think McRae definitely has more than enough leverage to drive for Skoda next year -- and if they're willing to pay a big enough salary.
Mitsubishi will most probably stick with the Rovanpera-Galli duo, although poor Rov is showing his age, and Galli is inconsistent.
Atkinson will be Subaru's #2 driver, with Sarazin appearing for some tarmac events. I don't see Sarazin making any serious career move into gravel rallying, given his poor performance on loose surfaces.
As for the new-spec cars for '06, Ford certainly has a slight head start with running of the 06-spec Focus in Rally Australia. Mitsubishi ran part of the season with no active centre diff, so they have some relatively fresh experience to pull from next year. The lack of traction aids will likly benefit the older-school drivers, such as Rovanpera, Gronholm, etc., and the newly-recruited drivers from Group-N ranks, such as Atkinson and Galli.
>> Edited by Jungles on Sunday 13th November 23:56
>> Edited by Jungles on Sunday 13th November 23:57
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