WRC - ERC - National Rallying 2015 News and chat thread

Robbo · 23-01-2015 4:44pm

Well that's me putting the hex on Citroen then.

beauf · 24-01-2015 1:49am

How are ye watching it. Is BT Sport a Premium Channel on UPC? Can you just sign up for this month to the WRC website for the monte?

h3000 · 24-01-2015 8:42am

beauf wrote: »

How are ye watching it. Is BT Sport a Premium Channel on UPC? Can you just sign up for this month to the WRC website for the monte?

BT is available as part of the Setanta Sports package. I'm not 100 percent sure how it works with UPC.

You can sign up for WRC+ for €4.99 per month or right now there is a promotion to sign up for a year for €39.99.

MotorsTV is another option, they show highlights each evening of the rally. It's part of the standard Sky package but again I'm not too sure how it works with UPC

h3000 · 24-01-2015 9:20am

I know it's very early in the season but I think Jari-Matti could push Ogier for the title this year. He seems to have his head screwed on well this year, he is not pushing too hard where he knows it doesn't often work too well for him, I think he might keep it between the ditches more this year.

Robbo · 24-01-2015 12:13pm

So far I'm impressed with WRC+.

As H300 said, there's a promo code at the moment (WRC2015) that brings the full year subscription down to €40.

Kubica this morning. 33 seconds up on everyone. I'll be looking forward to the in-car from that one.

finnharpsboy · 25-01-2015 12:48pm

Power stage win for Meeke 0.2 quicker than Loeb.

h3000 · 25-01-2015 1:00pm

Breen finishes 2nd in rally Monte Carlo WRC2. Started slow but got much fastest over the weekend. A bit of bad luck for two guys in front of him but they all have that.

twincamman · 26-01-2015 8:27pm

good pace from meeke and nagle..just one little mistake but lots of positives.

good to see breen get a good turn of luck for once

and Daniel mckeena showed he has the pace for jwrc..

Robbo · 27-01-2015 10:33am

Rumours going aroud that Toyota are to make an announcement on Friday.

h3000 · 27-01-2015 11:14am

Robbo wrote: »

Rumours going aroud that Toyota are to make an announcement on Friday.

It seems like it's going to happen alright which would be great http://english.kyodonews.jp/news/2015/01/333478.html .

I do wonder how long more Citroen will stick around though

Robbo · 27-01-2015 11:50am

h3000 wrote: »

It seems like it's going to happen alright which would be great http://english.kyodonews.jp/news/2015/01/333478.html .

I do wonder how long more Citroen will stick around though

I was wondering about Citroen the last day and then I saw that what they've done in the last 4 years is largely based around what Ford were doing in terms of customer cars. Whether or not they're running this at a sustainable level though is anyone's guess.

The R3s/WRC deal is a nice cash cow and they've sold a reasonable amount of the R5s now which is obviously nowhere near as many as the Fiestas but a major step. Moreover they seem to be allowing more full WRCs of current or near current spec to be run by the likes of PH Sport.

Of course if Abu Dhabi decide that it's time to go, that's the rug pulled from under everything.

h3000 · 27-01-2015 12:53pm

Robbo wrote: »

I was wondering about Citroen the last day and then I saw that what they've done in the last 4 years is largely based around what Ford were doing in terms of customer cars. Whether or not they're running this at a sustainable level though is anyone's guess.

The R3s/WRC deal is a nice cash cow and they've sold a reasonable amount of the R5s now which is obviously nowhere near as many as the Fiestas but a major step. Moreover they seem to be allowing more full WRCs of current or near current spec to be run by the likes of PH Sport.

Of course if Abu Dhabi decide that it's time to go, that's the rug pulled from under everything.

All going well it works for them and they will stick around, it would be great to have 4 or 5 manufacturers in the championship.

twincamman · 27-01-2015 6:44pm

pity its not 2016 Toyota return..hopefully vw.msport,hyundai,citreon, will still be there in 2017

wobbles · 27-01-2015 8:32pm

You get the feeling from Citroen that the are not willing to pump the money into WRC that they once did. If the rally team can fund itself then Citroen are happy to leave them keep going. I think they will stay going until the end of 2016 and then bow out for the 2017 season when the new regulations come in. It may also be the end of M-Sport as we know it, with no money from Ford, they may partner up with another manufacturer. It all depends on the regulations for 2017 onwards.

h3000 · 30-01-2015 10:03am

Robbo wrote: »

Rumours going aroud that Toyota are to make an announcement on Friday.

Toyota confirmed today that it will return to the FIA World Rally Championship with a Yaris World Rally Car in 2017.

wrc.com wrote:

http://www.wrc.com/en/wrc/news/january-2015/toyota-return/page/2142--12-12-.html

Toyota Motor Corporation president Akio Toyoda ended months of speculation when he made the announcement during a press conference in Tokyo, at which the Yaris WRC made its public debut in a launch livery.

The programme will be handled by Toyota Motorsport (TMG) in Cologne, Germany, which has already completed a preliminary test programme in Europe with the Yaris WRC on asphalt and gravel.

Frenchman Eric Camilli, who drove a Ford Fiesta R5 in WRC 2 at Rallye Monte-Carlo, has been selected as the first member of Toyota’s junior driver development scheme.

The 27-year-old will carry out the test programme alongside former Subaru driver Stéphane Sarrazin, now a racer in Toyota’s FIA World Endurance Championship squad, and eight-time Finnish champion Sebastian Lindholm.

Toyoda said his visit to last season’s Neste Oil Rally Finland impressed him.
The Yaris WRC has already started testing

“During my time there many rally fans asked me when Toyota would come back to WRC. People talked about Toyota’s history in WRC, and I was filled with surprise and gratitude that so many people remembered.

“Last time we competed was in 1999. That makes me think we are not announcing a return, but perhaps a start. We must begin again from scratch and carefully prepare both team and cars," he said.

The current Yaris WRC complies with existing regulations, but changes are expected when updated technical rules are introduced to WRC in 2017.

Toyota won four drivers’ and three manufacturers’ world titles in the 1990s with legendary drivers such as Carlos Sainz and Juha Kankkunen.

Toyota’s return was welcomed by WRC Promoter’s managing director, Oliver Ciesla.

“Toyota has a long and distinguished history in motorsport, particularly in world rallying, and we’re delighted to welcome one of the automobile industry’s giants back to WRC,” he said.

http://www.wrc.com/en/wrc/news/january-2015/toyota-return/page/2142--12-12-.html

h3000 · 02-02-2015 4:49pm

Kevin Abbring will do a least four rounds in the WRC with Hyundai this season. He is a very quick guy, it will be very interesting to see him in a WRC spec machine.

mjhickeyie · 05-02-2015 10:36pm

Dani Sordo is out of Swedan after breaking two ribs in a mountain bike accident.
Paddon moves into 2nd Hyundai and Kevin Abbring to take up the 3rd Hyundai seat.

mjhickeyie · 07-02-2015 2:15pm

Craig Breen Is having a good start to latest ERC round in Latvia. Leading by 21 seconds after 3 stages.

Robbo · 07-02-2015 8:11pm

mjhickeyie wrote: »

Craig Breen Is having a good start to latest ERC round in Latvia. Leading by 21 seconds after 3 stages.

Katjenowicz rolled so he leads overnight by 1m23s. He should pick up a good haul of points here with the ERC's scoring system.

h3000 · 07-02-2015 8:34pm

All going well he will get the result. He could do with a confidence boost too.

h3000 · 08-02-2015 1:43pm

Breen takes the win. WooHoo

mjhickeyie · 08-02-2015 2:26pm

h3000 wrote: »

Breen takes the win. WooHoo

Great news!

finnharpsboy · 12-02-2015 8:50pm

WRC Sweden Stage 1 live on BT now

h3000 · 16-02-2015 11:20am

Really exciting Rally Sweden this weekend. I'm absolutely gutted for Mikkelsen.

mjhickeyie · 16-02-2015 2:02pm

h3000 wrote: »

Really exciting Rally Sweden this weekend. I'm absolutely gutted for Mikkelsen.

I listened to the last stage on rally radio and it was great stuff.

I'm gutted for Mikkelsen too. Would have been great to see him hold on.

What do you think of Ogier? No doubt, he is the best driver there but I think his attitude to the other drivers stinks at times.
He may have had legitimate complaints about the running order but I think the way he spoke about deserving victory lacks respect.

Maybe its just me..

kksaints · 16-02-2015 2:16pm

mjhickeyie wrote: »

I listened to the last stage on rally radio and it was great stuff.

I'm gutted for Mikkelsen too. Would have been great to see him hold on.

What do you think of Ogier? No doubt, he is the best driver there but I think his attitude to the other drivers stinks at times.
He may have had legitimate complaints about the running order but I think the way he spoke about deserving victory lacks respect.

Maybe its just me..

Not a huge fan of Ogier myself, great driver but seems very arrogant at times.

Im a big fan of Latvala but he must be one of the must frustrating drivers ever. After such a controlled performance at Monaco, to crash the way he did this weekend on a rally which represents one of his best chances of beating Ogier is very annoying. He sadly makes just too many mistakes in a season to be World Champion I feel.

leoch · 16-02-2015 2:23pm

the tv coverage it awful paddon had a great finish on his first time on snow and it hardly showed him at all its all about the vw,s and there is far to much talking in it no need to interview them at the end of every stage it just wastes air time when they could be showing a few more cars over colins crest or something likr that rally fans like to see cars in action

mjhickeyie · 16-02-2015 2:37pm

kksaints wrote: »

Im a big fan of Latvala but he must be one of the must frustrating drivers ever. After such a controlled performance at Monaco, to crash the way he did this weekend on a rally which represents one of his best chances of beating Ogier is very annoying. He sadly makes just too many mistakes in a season to be World Champion I feel.

Ya, would love to see Latvala really challenge Ogier this year.
I thought last season might have been a turning point for him but it was just the same old story this weekend. Frustrating in definitely the word.

mjhickeyie · 16-02-2015 2:39pm

leoch wrote: »

the tv coverage it awful paddon had a great finish on his first time on snow and it hardly showed him at all its all about the vw,s and there is far to much talking in it no need to interview them at the end of every stage it just wastes air time when they could be showing a few more cars over colins crest or something likr that rally fans like to see cars in action

I think Dave got it about right a few years ago with a balance of interviews and stage footage.

h3000 · 16-02-2015 4:02pm

mjhickeyie wrote: »

What do you think of Ogier? No doubt, he is the best driver there but I think his attitude to the other drivers stinks at times.
He may have had legitimate complaints about the running order but I think the way he spoke about deserving victory lacks respect.

Sometimes I like him other times he annoys me. I think he is just a bit moody tbh. He needs to get over the road position though, he wouldn't be there if he was not winning rallies. That said I do think the qualifying stage was the best solution.

kksaints wrote: »

Im a big fan of Latvala but he must be one of the must frustrating drivers ever. After such a controlled performance at Monaco, to crash the way he did this weekend on a rally which represents one of his best chances of beating Ogier is very annoying. He sadly makes just too many mistakes in a season to be World Champion I feel.

I'm a big Latvala fan myself. I think he will do well this year, I think he was just really unlucky this weekend.

leoch wrote: »

the tv coverage it awful paddon had a great finish on his first time on snow and it hardly showed him at all its all about the vw,s and there is far to much talking in it no need to interview them at the end of every stage it just wastes air time when they could be showing a few more cars over colins crest or something likr that rally fans like to see cars in action

The TV coverage could be a bit better alright but I do like the stage end interviews. I'd like to see it for all the top drivers but it really should be screen in screen so we do not miss any of the on stage action either. Jon Desborough for a guy that has been around rallying for a long time makes an awful lot of mistakes/wrong facts.

mjhickeyie wrote: »

I think Dave got it about right a few years ago with a balance of interviews and stage footage.

I used to really enjoy Dave's WRC magazine shows.

WRC - ERC - National Rallying 2015 News and chat thread

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