WRC/ERC/Irish & British Rallying 2014 - News and Chat

h3000 · 21-06-2014 5:39pm

finnharpsboy wrote: »

spectator in Donegal hit by car, not life threatening thank god.

http://www.donegaldaily.com/2014/06/21/rally-fan-rushed-to-hospital-after-being-hit-by-car-during-race/

Ah ****. lets hope they will make a full recovery.

Both Puegout's out with mechanical issues in Ypres

finnharpsboy · 21-06-2014 7:15pm

just a broken leg for the spectator hit by manus kelly's escort on stage 12.

finnharpsboy · 22-06-2014 5:07pm

Declan Boyle wins the Donegal International Rally by 35 seconds from Sam Moffett, Gary Jennings 3rd 3 minutes and 18 seconds behind the winner.

Notch000 · 23-06-2014 1:00pm

how did Michael Dunlop get on with his 4 wheel debut in a Mk2 ???

finnharpsboy · 23-06-2014 3:35pm

Notch000 wrote: »

how did Michael Dunlop get on with his 4 wheel debut in a Mk2 ???

head gasket saw him out

Robbo · 01-08-2014 10:15am

Meeke's taken a stage win in Finland and is just behind Ogier in third.

Meanwhile, Toyota are building a Yaris WRC *and* there's talk of a GT86 in 4WD form.

h3000 · 03-08-2014 8:10am

Great rally so far. JML speed is incredible this weekend. Delighted for Meeke with how well he is doing.

Craig Breen has really being picking up his pace all rally. Unfortunately though, he has hurt his back on the first stage this morning after a very hard landing on one of the jumps. He is still stopped at the stage end with the medics. Looks like his rally is over but more importantly let's hope he will be okay.

h3000 · 03-08-2014 11:59am

Excellent excellent rally. I was following nearly every stage on WRC Live. Delighted for

JML .

liam7831 · 07-08-2014 9:36pm

Genie out next weekend in S14 should liven things up a bit

yknaa · 21-08-2014 12:21pm

From Craig Breen:

Craig Breen’s WRC Rallye Deutschland snatched away at the eleventh hour.
Following a stewards meeting yesterday evening in Trier where they received a report from the FIA Medical Delegate and the rally Chief Medical Officer against allowing Car No. 14 to take part in the event the stewards have decided that Peugeot Rally Academy driver Craig Breen and his co-driver Scott Martin will not be given permission to start WRC Rallye Deutschland 2014. The decision has been made on safety grounds in light of Craig’s recent back injury received after a heavy landing over a jump at WRC Rally Finland two weeks ago. Although given full clearance by his Specialist to compete on his third planned WRC event of 2014 the stewards have concerns that Craig would further damage his back by taking part in the rally. On receiving the news Craig said “I am bitterly disappointed by this decision, I have followed the correct procedure leading up to this event. I have medical clearance to compete, I feel great and I haven’t any pain even after our pre event test here this week. I must respect the stewards decision and move forward”

h3000 · 21-08-2014 12:38pm

yknaa wrote: »

From Craig Breen:

Craig Breen’s WRC Rallye Deutschland snatched away at the eleventh hour.
Following a stewards meeting yesterday evening in Trier where they received a report from the FIA Medical Delegate and the rally Chief Medical Officer against allowing Car No. 14 to take part in the event the stewards have decided that Peugeot Rally Academy driver Craig Breen and his co-driver Scott Martin will not be given permission to start WRC Rallye Deutschland 2014. The decision has been made on safety grounds in light of Craig’s recent back injury received after a heavy landing over a jump at WRC Rally Finland two weeks ago. Although given full clearance by his Specialist to compete on his third planned WRC event of 2014 the stewards have concerns that Craig would further damage his back by taking part in the rally. On receiving the news Craig said “I am bitterly disappointed by this decision, I have followed the correct procedure leading up to this event. I have medical clearance to compete, I feel great and I haven’t any pain even after our pre event test here this week. I must respect the stewards decision and move forward”

Seen that last night alright, really annoying.

Thierry Neuville had a massive roll in shakedown, people saying his rally could be over already. Let's hope they can get the car sorted in time for the start tomorrow.

yknaa · 21-08-2014 2:18pm

Confirmed that Neuville's car will be ready on Twitter.

h3000 · 23-08-2014 10:05am

Drama filled rally so far.

Ogier crashed out. .....................twice.
Meeke in 2nd Neuville up to third JML leading

Took a bit of a gamble on my Fantasy WRC team this weekend and it seems to have backfired so far

h3000 · 24-08-2014 7:59am

What a crazy rally :eek:

wobbles · 24-08-2014 10:04am

Latvala off, Meeke off the next stage, Hyundai now lead

mjhickeyie · 26-08-2014 10:43pm

Just watched the highlights from Germany. That was some drama.
Feel very bad for both Meeke & Latvala.
Ogier was lucky with his last off, could have been much worse.

It's great for the WRC to have a new manufacturer win an event.

h3000 · 27-08-2014 9:05pm

Mikko Hirvonen to retire at the end of the season according to reports online.

I for one will be really sad to see him go. Amazing fast driver on his day and if, I don't like ifs but if it wasn't for Loeb he would have taken a championship or two. He came the closest to beating Loeb at least.

He does in recent times seem to have lost the excitement or love for the sport and it has slowed him down. It may well be time for him to say goodbye. Hopefully we might see him take on the rallycross route or similar.

h3000 · 27-08-2014 9:37pm

Btw it looks like Tanak will take his place.

h3000 · 28-08-2014 2:26pm

h3000 wrote: »

Mikko Hirvonen to retire at the end of the season according to reports online.

I for one will be really sad to see him go. Amazing fast driver on his day and if, I don't like ifs but if it wasn't for Loeb he would have taken a championship or two. He came the closest to beating Loeb at least.

He does in recent times seem to have lost the excitement or love for the sport and it has slowed him down. It may well be time for him to say goodbye. Hopefully we might see him take on the rallycross route or similar.

Just rumours so far but it doesn't sound too good all the same.

Mikko Hirvonen wrote:

Damn… Lot of rumors and talks last night about my future !

Nothing has been decided yet but for sure, I’m considering all the possibilities. So, when I have made my decision, I will let you all know what I will do for coming years.

Thanks for your support !

Robbo · 29-08-2014 10:20am

The way Wilson was talking about Hirvonen in Germany, he has no future there. Unless he can produce an large sack of extra money, which will always change Wilson's mind.

I'd like to see Tanak in there. If Ford or Citroen were able to fund a second team there's so much talent out there. Lappi would be worth a punt. Chardonnet too although that would be hard to take given how close Cronin came to having that particular drive.

Don't think there's too much in the Solberg rumours. He's having too good a time in RX and I can't see him giving it up to go back to struggling to beat VWs.

wobbles · 29-08-2014 1:59pm

I cant see Solberg coming back for a full season. RX is getting a great reputation (and rightly so, the races are great to watch) and its a sport thats going to grow and grow. Solberg is winning races there. He wouldnt come back to the WRC to be beaten on a regular basis. He may do the odd event but thats it.

Heart says Lappi will get the seat, head says Chardonet will get it. Its been a few years now since they have had a French driver and that might ease the pressure coming from France for results

h3000 · 29-08-2014 2:20pm

Robbo wrote: »

The way Wilson was talking about Hirvonen in Germany, he has no future there. Unless he can produce an large sack of extra money, which will always change Wilson's mind.

I'd like to see Tanak in there. If Ford or Citroen were able to fund a second team there's so much talent out there. Lappi would be worth a punt. Chardonnet too although that would be hard to take given how close Cronin came to having that particular drive.

Don't think there's too much in the Solberg rumours. He's having too good a time in RX and I can't see him giving it up to go back to struggling to beat VWs.

I do think Mikko will retire at the end of the year, he really seems to be lacking enjoyment in the WRC at the moment.

I'd love to see Tanak back with M-Sport again but it's a big risk to be fair. Unless he is bringing a big bag of cash with him can Wilson afford the repair bills for Tanak? He is still bining it a bit too much.

I'd love to see more three.four car teams, as you said there are a lot of fast drivers out there at the moment. I could see both VW and Citroen running four cars.

Petter is one of my favorite drivers and I'd love to see him back in the WRC but unless he gets a full factory seat I don't think he will come back and to be honest that's unlikely. Colin Clark seem to think he will be with Citroen but that might be wishful thinking.

On an ERC note Craig Breen has qualified 3rd in Barum Rally Zlín just one tenth off Lappi and Tarabus who set identical times. Robbie Barrable qualified in fifth 1.3 seconds behind Lappi.

mjhickeyie · 29-08-2014 6:36pm

Bjorn Waldegard died today.
Rally legend.
RIP

h3000 · 31-08-2014 12:52am

Both Breen and Lappi crashed out on SS4 today (yesterday technically). Breen made it to stage end but the car was too damaged to continue. Abbring stopped on the same stage with mechanical problems. Barrable burst the radiator on the same stage and had to retire on the road section.

afatbollix · 04-09-2014 1:22am

afatbollix wrote: »

Motorsport Ireland has lodged a complaint with the press ombudsman at 09:45 this morning.

I see they have put up video stills on the UK website after asking people for photos of the crash a hour after it happened. I emailed the pic editor and got no reply. Just trash journalism.

The Irish daily mail apologised a couple of weeks ago over the way they reported on the Jim Clark rally.

Robbo · 04-09-2014 2:48pm

afatbollix wrote: »

The Irish daily mail apologised a couple of weeks ago over the way they reported on the Jim Clark rally.

Good work.

I see Peugeot have given Breen an extra outing in Cyprus to see if he can catch Lappi in the championship.

Also of note is a proposal to ban in-car split times at WRC level. Totally behind this.

h3000 · 04-09-2014 2:59pm

Robbo wrote: »

Good work.

I see Peugeot have given Breen an extra outing in Cyprus to see if he can catch Lappi in the championship.

Also of note is a proposal to ban in-car split times at WRC level. Totally behind this.

Hopefully the car will be reliable and he can keep it on the road for the next three rallies. They have had nothing but bad luck for quite a while now.

Banning the incar splits could be interesting alright. Might make guys push harder for all stages. I wonder would that include bans on on stage communications from the team to the car too, with the obvious exception of emergency calls (stage stopped ect...)

afatbollix · 07-09-2014 1:07am

They would have guys at the side of the road with pit boards like the top guys have in the ERC.

Drummerboy08 · 15-09-2014 10:57pm

7 years ago today we lost one of the biggest names in World Rallying, and probably one of the biggest characters too.

RIP Colin Mcrae.

I think this image sums him up perfectly.

h3000 · 18-09-2014 9:02am

Seb Loeb to get back in a rally car and compete at Rallye du Var.

@SebastienLoeb wrote:

Very happy to announce that I will be at the "Rallye du Var" (27-30 November) Séverine will be my codriver this time :-) Looking forward !

https://twitter.com/SebastienLoeb/status/512497955820298240

Robbo · 28-09-2014 3:00pm

Petter Solberg has just clinched the World Rallycross Championship. There were rumours of him returning to the WRC but it's hard to see him giving up the RX.

h3000 · 01-10-2014 4:34pm

Francois Delecour will be competing in WRC Rallye France driving a Tuthill Porsche 911 RGT. He reckons he might be able to challenge the R5s too. should be interesting

Here is a bit of a mad interview from the man himself

:D

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ydF0RuBr0-4

h3000 · 03-10-2014 2:28pm

These last few rallies have been fairly dramatic anyway.

Meeke going quite well.

finnharpsboy · 18-10-2014 5:23pm

Hopefully nothing serious, rally stopped after car ends up in reservoir
http://www.bbc.com/news/uk-northern-ireland-29674664#?utm_source=twitterfeed&utm_medium=twitter&utm_campaign=BBC+NEWS+UK&utm_term=BBC+NEWS+UK

wobbles · 18-10-2014 5:43pm

Rumors doing the rounds unfortunately are not good.

finnharpsboy · 18-10-2014 6:10pm

Sad news confirmed now

IP freely · 18-10-2014 10:01pm

It has been a terrible year for raallying in general this year. Some serious questions need to be asked on how to improve the sport going forward to prevent accidents like this. As an avid rally photographer I now think twice before going to events.

Although now isn't the time for discussion, I feel the discussion needs to be had maybe over the winter.

It mightnt mean much but mine and I'm sure the whole of the rallying communities thoughts and prayers go out to the family of the poor lad and also to the brave volunteers whom attended today's tragic accident.

liam7831 · 18-10-2014 11:26pm

IP freely wrote: »

It has been a terrible year for raallying in general this year. Some serious questions need to be asked on how to improve the sport going forward to prevent accidents like this. As an avid rally photographer I now think twice before going to events.

Although now isn't the time for discussion, I feel the discussion needs to be had maybe over the winter.

It mightnt mean much but mine and I'm sure the whole of the rallying communities thoughts and prayers go out to the family of the poor lad and also to the brave volunteers whom attended today's tragic accident.

Why do you think twice about going to events?

wobbles · 20-10-2014 5:38pm

Its been a poor couple of years for rallying. So many deaths or close shaves that i cant remember having a period of time as bad as this as been. In saying that, this was a freak accident. All the planning in the world could be done and accidents will still happen, its a dangerous sport and you cant plan for every eventuality.

I feel the problem we have in this country is there are too many rallies that all require experienced marshals and that demands too much from these volunteers. Theres only so many rallies that each can attend and with so many rallies they are thin on the ground. We rely on rounding up people to don a bib on a sunday morning but what training do they generally have. Do they know what to do if theres a serious crash at their junction, do they know how to manage a situation where some spectators wont move, do they know how to stop a stage etc. Almost all major junctions will have a head marshal but Im talking about the smaller places that still need to be marshalled and controlled. The experienced guys are so thin on the ground you will end up with someone with not so experience left on there own. And I speak from experience here.

Dont get me wrong, I think its great that we have people to turn up on a Sunday and do there bit for the sport, but what we need to see happening is more marshal training courses by Motorsport Ireland. Even online courses to show what to do in certain situations would be great. Anyone looking to renew their licence for the following year must show they marshalled X number of events the previous year. Who better to know the dangers of the sport than the drivers themselves. You cant, and will never be able to stop every accident from happening but at least if each marshal has the experience to handle a situation its a great way to avoid incidents/injuries/deaths

barney 20v · 31-10-2014 4:24pm

Hi all,
Just thought i'd share a link to a new Marshals club that i'm a Founding member of based in Wexford but consisting of members from all across the Southeast.
We consist of many different levels of marshals and officials as well as having many competitors in our group.

https://www.facebook.com/pages/Five-Countys-Marshals-Club/569150469773653?ref=bookmarks#!/pages/Five-Countys-Marshals-Club/569150469773653?fref=ts

We are the only Motorsport Ireland affiliated Marshals Club in the Country, we are always looking for new members and we cover events from Kerry/Cork to as far as Donegal and most Rallies inbetween !

Especially in light of the many tragic losses suffered by the Rallying community recently we are trying our best to improve safety at events all the while safeguarding the future of the sport .
We have provided over 560 marshals to clubs all across the island so far this year and we plan to do much more in 2015.

If ANY of ye are interested in getting involved please feel free to contact the club for further info, we pride ourselves on being friendly and accomodating to any person regardless their experience level etc.

Ps on a personal level- the future of the sport is in huge jeprody due to the tragic events of the last few years, if you love rallying and want to see it flourish into the future then please get involved and help out in any way you can, i believe we do rallying better than most nations and i'd hate to see it disappear.

So ,whether you are a current competitor or you have plans on taking the sport up in the future, now is the time your needed most!

Robbo · 06-11-2014 11:49am

Hirvonen to retire. It struck me this morning that he's been the Jimmy White of the WRC and missing out in 2009 basically broke him.

As the driver market stands:

VW: Ogier, Latvala, Mikkelsen
Hyundai: Neuville, Sordo (calendar TBC)
Hyundai 2: probably Paddon, ???
Ford: probably Evans, ???
Citroen: probably Meeke, ???

Tanak, Hanninen, Chardonnet and Ostberg should all be in the mix for what remains.

kksaints · 06-11-2014 11:57am

Robbo wrote: »

Hirvonen to retire. It struck me this morning that he's been the Jimmy White of the WRC and missing out in 2009 basically broke him.

As the driver market stands:

VW: Ogier, Latvala, Mikkelsen
Hyundai: Neuville, Sordo (calendar TBC)
Hyundai 2: probably Paddon, ???
Ford: probably Evans, ???
Citroen: probably Meeke, ???

Tanak, Hanninen, Chardonnet and Ostberg should all be in the mix for what remains.

Hirvonen was always a favourite driver of mine. The team of him and Gronholm in 2006 and 2007 was a fantastic team. Was unlucky not to win the championship in 2009 but just lacked that final bit of pace to beat Loeb.

Mad Bull · 06-11-2014 6:43pm

Robbo wrote: »

Hirvonen to retire. It struck me this morning that he's been the Jimmy White of the WRC and missing out in 2009 basically broke him.

As the driver market stands:

VW: Ogier, Latvala, Mikkelsen
Hyundai: Neuville, Sordo (calendar TBC)
Hyundai 2: probably Paddon, ???
Ford: probably Evans, ???
Citroen: probably Meeke, ???

Tanak, Hanninen, Chardonnet and Ostberg should all be in the mix for what remains.

Would Breen or Lappi be in the mix?

liam7831 · 06-11-2014 10:37pm

barney 20v wrote: »

Hi all,
Just thought i'd share a link to a new Marshals club that i'm a Founding member of based in Wexford but consisting of members from all across the Southeast.
We consist of many different levels of marshals and officials as well as having many competitors in our group.

https://www.facebook.com/pages/Five-Countys-Marshals-Club/569150469773653?ref=bookmarks#!/pages/Five-Countys-Marshals-Club/569150469773653?fref=ts

We are the only Motorsport Ireland affiliated Marshals Club in the Country, we are always looking for new members and we cover events from Kerry/Cork to as far as Donegal and most Rallies inbetween !

Especially in light of the many tragic losses suffered by the Rallying community recently we are trying our best to improve safety at events all the while safeguarding the future of the sport .
We have provided over 560 marshals to clubs all across the island so far this year and we plan to do much more in 2015.

If ANY of ye are interested in getting involved please feel free to contact the club for further info, we pride ourselves on being friendly and accomodating to any person regardless their experience level etc.

Ps on a personal level- the future of the sport is in huge jeprody due to the tragic events of the last few years, if you love rallying and want to see it flourish into the future then please get involved and help out in any way you can, i believe we do rallying better than most nations and i'd hate to see it disappear.

So ,whether you are a current competitor or you have plans on taking the sport up in the future, now is the time your needed most!

Any twitter page, not on fb

MillField · 06-11-2014 10:58pm

Shame to see Hirvonen retire at a relatively young age. As mentioned he was unlucky to have peaked during the Loeb era. Still, he can be proud of his contribution to rallying and had a solid WRC career by any standards.

liam7831 · 06-11-2014 11:17pm

Might be back after a year id say

hunting001 · 08-11-2014 10:41pm

Would be good to see breen in a wrc car but might be a year or two before we do

afatbollix · 11-11-2014 10:05pm

Leave another year in the ERC before getting into the WRC hes still young. They peak too early these days.

h3000 · 11-11-2014 11:56pm

afatbollix wrote: »

Leave another year in the ERC before getting into the WRC hes still young. They peak too early these days.

Definitely, though I don't think he has a deal secured for the ERC either. Hopefully he will sort something out. He had very hard luck this year, if the car was more reliable he and Abbring would have had a very good fight for the title. He is a quick driver and is getting quicker. Let's hope he gets a decent drive next year.

kksaints · 17-11-2014 12:02am

Ogier won the last round of the WRC in Wales today. Delighted to see Hirvonen get second place on his final full time rally.

WRC/ERC/Irish & British Rallying 2014 - News and Chat

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