WRC 2013 & ERC 2013- News & Chat

h3000

So the start of Monte Carlo is just 9 weeks away today and there are going to be a few changes. Sébastien Loeb is on a reduced program 3 to 5 rallies no one really seems to know. We will see him in Monte though. Ford have pulled out as a main manufacturer team but M-Sport plan to continue. VW will be starting their full program in WRC. How quick will they be?

This is how the teams/drivers look so far.
Manufacturer Teams
Constructor . Car Team Driver Co-driver
Citroën Citroën DS3 WRC Citroën Junior World Rally Team . Thierry Neuville TBA
Citroën Citroën DS3 WRC Citroën World Rally Team Mikko Hirvonen Jarmo Lehtinen
Citroën Citroën DS3 WRC Citroën World Rally Team Dani Sordo Carlos del Barrio
Citroën Citroën DS3 WRC Citroën World Rally Team Khalid Al Qassimi TBA
Hyundai Hyundai i20 WRC TBA TBA TBA
Hyundai Hyundai i20 WRC TBA TBA TBA
Volkswagen Volkswagen Polo R WRC . Volkswagen Motorsport Jari-Matti Latvala Miikka Anttila
Volkswagen Volkswagen Polo R WRC Volkswagen Motorsport Sébastien Ogier Julien Ingrassia

Non Manufacturer Teams
Constructor . Car Team Driver Co-driver
Citroën Citroën DS3 WRC Sébastien Loeb Sébastien Loeb Daniel Elena
Ford Ford Fiesta RS WRC M-Sport Ford World Rally Team . TBA TBA
Ford Ford Fiesta RS WRC M-Sport Ford World Rally Team TBA TBA
Mini Mini John Cooper Works WRC . Prodrive WRC Team TBA TBA
Mini Mini John Cooper Works WRC Prodrive WRC Team TBA TBA

Hyundai have gone very quite about their WRC campaign next year since their announcement. I wonder will it even happen. I heard a rumour the other day that M-Sport might be interested in running the Hyundai program.

Andreas Mikkelsen is rumored to have some sort of drive with VW too.
Will we see Craig Breen in a WRC car? Malcolm Wilson says he is ready for one but needs to get the funding. Speaking about his drive in Spain he said he done a really professional drive where others made a lot of mistakes. Could we possibly see him in a M-Sport Fiesta?

Mads Ostberg is confident enough of competing next year even though he missed out on the Citroen seat.

“For me now,” said Ostberg, “it’s a decision between Ford and MINI for next year. It is not a disaster that I didn’t get the Citroen drive. I absolutely still have options and I’m looking at those options right now. I will make a decision in the next week or two.
http://www.wrc.com/news/ostberg-ive-got-options-for-2013/?fid=17958

I really hope we will see Tanak and Novikov back next year too.

afatbollix

Craig has been paying Wilson for the past 3 or 4 years of coarse he will praise Breen.

My bets is a Peaugeot 208 drive in the ERC for Breen.


Word is Henning has backing for all the WRC next year. Prob a M sport car. Petter maybe about to throw in the towel?

And last I'd say Meeke for the Skoda UK drive in the WRC.

h3000

afatbollix wrote: »

Craig has been paying Wilson for the past 3 or 4 years of coarse he will praise Breen.

That's true alright :D

afatbollix wrote: »

My bets is a Peaugeot 208 drive in the ERC for Breen.

Now that could be a good call. It might do him good too for a season or two before a full WRC drive.

afatbollix wrote: »

Word is Henning has backing for all the WRC next year. Prob a M sport car. Petter maybe about to throw in the towel?

Would love to see Henning back but I would hate to see Petter go.

afatbollix wrote: »

And last I'd say Meeke for the Skoda UK drive in the WRC.

He really does deserve a good drive.

recyclebin

I was going to create a 2013 WRC thread but it looks like h3000 got there before me. Let's try keep this thread active throughout the season.

Red Bull Are the promoters for next year. I hope they can get the WRC on one of the bigger TV channels. Motors TV didn't do a good job this season and the picture quality was pretty poor. I would love to see it on a HD channel next season.

With Loeb semi-retiring it should blow the championship wide open. I would probably make Hirvonen as favourite. I'm not sure how good VW will be but I hope Latvala can be more consistent and has learned not to make so many mistakes.

As already said I would also like to see Ostberg, Tanak and Novikov back next year. I see one of these three being a world chmapion in the future.

h3000

recyclebin wrote: »

Red Bull Are the promoters for next year. I hope they can get the WRC on one of the bigger TV channels. Motors TV didn't do a good job this season and the picture quality was pretty poor. I would love to see it on a HD channel next season.

Forgot to mention the Red Bull bit .

I really hope we get to see more TV coverage. I'd love to see more live stages. To be honest I'd even be to pay some sort of subscription to make streaming video available on wrc.com and the likes. It's going to take Red bull a while to turn the WRC back around and get it's popularity (hence TV coverage) back to what it was.

Robbo

h3000 wrote: »

Forgot to mention the Red Bull bit .

I really hope we get to see more TV coverage. I'd love to see more live stages. To be honest I'd even be to pay some sort of subscription to make streaming video available on wrc.com and the likes. It's going to take Red bull a while to turn the WRC back around and get it's popularity (hence TV coverage) back to what it was.

They need to step it up with their web efforts. They've been left way behind the posse in terms of their social media offerings.

For example, last weekend I was sitting in Landsdowne waiting for kickoff, following iRally on Twitter and watching the times roll in as drivers cross the line. Wait 15 minutes and you get a ****e update from the official WRC twitter. Their website is just all kinds of wrong with automatically opening videos and rally radio and don't get me started on the "How the action unfolded" purple prose.

h3000

Robbo wrote: »

They need to step it up with their web efforts. They've been left way behind the posse in terms of their social media offerings.

For example, last weekend I was sitting in Landsdowne waiting for kickoff, following iRally on Twitter and watching the times roll in as drivers cross the line. Wait 15 minutes and you get a ****e update from the official WRC twitter. Their website is just all kinds of wrong with automatically opening videos and rally radio and don't get me started on the "How the action unfolded" purple prose.

I do like WRC Rally Radio. I really like Colin & Julian at the stage ends. Bec's is really good in the studio/service park and normally gets good interviews. George Donaldson annoys me a bit, he is a bit monotone but seems quite knowledgeable.
I really enjoyed Rally France this year. There was live streaming of most stages on some French site and I also had WRC Live on for the commentary.
I normally like to use the WRC site for the times because I like to keep an eye on the split times, a feature the iRally app is missing.

wobbles

Im really hoping Red Bull turn it around. They know how to put on a show whatever sport they are in. Am hoping for some kind of live stream as well, even subscription based, i dont mind. So long as its not sold to some obscure channel.

Breen doesnt have the funding to go the M-Sport route into the WRC. His best hope is the 208 in the ERC

overshoot

Robbo wrote: »

They need to step it up with their web efforts. They've been left way behind the posse in terms of their social media offerings.

For example, last weekend I was sitting in Landsdowne waiting for kickoff, following iRally on Twitter and watching the times roll in as drivers cross the line. Wait 15 minutes and you get a ****e update from the official WRC twitter. Their website is just all kinds of wrong with automatically opening videos and rally radio and don't get me started on the "How the action unfolded" purple prose.

iv a free wrc live app on the phone and found it good so far but i havent been in a place where iv been sitting waiting from them to come in so far (work weekends so its quick checks and off... also mew to the smartphone world so only had 2 rallies to try it with). get preview, live split times as well as the stage times, news feed tapped into various things, features as the rally goes on. quite good in fairness

h3000

There is a rumor doing the rounds at the moment that M-Sport might be running Tanak & Kubica in the ERC.

kksaints

http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/104607

Looks like there will be a ford team for next year. Ostberg is rumoured to be one of the drivers.

recyclebin

I don't know if M-sport have confirmed a full season yet. The article on wrc.com seems to say they only have agreed on the rallies for Nasser Al-Attiyah. I think they still have to iron out the details for the other two cars.

h3000

Mads confirmed for all 13 rounds with Qatar M-Sport

h3000

[Updated]
This is how the teams/drivers look so far.
Manufacturer Teams
Constructor . Car Team Driver Co-driver
Citroën Citroën DS3 WRC Citroën Junior World Rally Team . Thierry Neuville TBA
Citroën Citroën DS3 WRC Citroën World Rally Team Mikko Hirvonen Jarmo Lehtinen
Citroën Citroën DS3 WRC Citroën World Rally Team Dani Sordo Carlos del Barrio
Citroën Citroën DS3 WRC Citroën World Rally Team Khalid Al Qassimi TBA
Ford Ford Fiesta RS WRC Qatar M-Sport Ford World Rally Team . Nasser Al-Attiyah Giovanni Bernacchini
Ford Ford Fiesta RS WRC Qatar M-Sport Ford World Rally Team Mads Østberg Jonas Andersson
Ford Ford Fiesta RS WRC Qatar M-Sport Ford World Rally Team TBA TBA
Hyundai Hyundai i20 WRC TBA TBA TBA
Hyundai Hyundai i20 WRC TBA TBA TBA
Volkswagen Volkswagen Polo R WRC . Volkswagen Motorsport Jari-Matti Latvala Miikka Anttila
Volkswagen Volkswagen Polo R WRC Volkswagen Motorsport Sébastien Ogier Julien Ingrassia

Non Manufacturer Teams
Constructor . Car Team Driver Co-driver
Citroën Citroën DS3 WRC Sébastien Loeb Sébastien Loeb Daniel Elena
Mini Mini John Cooper Works WRC . Prodrive WRC Team TBA TBA
Mini Mini John Cooper Works WRC Prodrive WRC Team TBA TBA

Robbo

Meanwhile, Petter's sounding a bit desperate.

h3000

LIGHTNING wrote: »

Sad that a WRC champion cant get a drive

I'm a huge fan of Petter. His passion for the WRC unchallenged and it would be a huge loss if he is not competing next season.

In saying that though he made a lot of silly mistakes this year and threw away a lot of really good results if not wins. Mistakes someone of his experience should not be making. As much as it kills me I'm not too surprised he is having trouble finding a drive.

liam7831

Guys from what i remember he has not won a rally in seven years. Its time for him to move on. He always has had machinery capable of winning so he has had plenty of chances.

De Hipster

liam7831 wrote: »

Guys from what i remember he has not won a rally in seven years. Its time for him to move on. He always has had machinery capable of winning so he has had plenty of chances.

that's a bit harsh in fairness - barely anyone barring Loeb has won anything during his complete dominance of the sport.

liam7831

Ya fair enough, but he cant say he didnt have a good chance this year to stake a claim for a paid drive next year.

Robbo

Petter gone and Haninnen in a Ford of some description next year.

I get the feeling that if Solberg hadn't made so many mistakes this year desperately looking for a win, he'd have been in a better position.

h3000

Robbo wrote: »

Petter gone and Haninnen in a Ford of some description next year.

I get the feeling that if Solberg hadn't made so many mistakes this year desperately looking for a win, he'd have been in a better position.

Balls

Robbo

According to Ken Rees, expect an announcement from M-Sport for a new project, possibly with Solberg involved.

Two things this could be: Solberg in the Rallycross car M-Sport are building or Hyundai?

h3000

LIGHTNING wrote: »

Balls of the highest order, WRC isn't the same without him. He is a gentleman and a quality driver. Big loss for the WRC

It really will not be the same without him. I can't think of one other driver that has the sheer passion and excitement for the WRC than he does.

Robbo wrote: »

According to Ken Rees, expect an announcement from M-Sport for a new project, possibly with Solberg involved.

Two things this could be: Solberg in the Rallycross car M-Sport are building or Hyundai?

There is a bit of talk about the Hyundai thing alright. He would be a great development driver. Might even get a comeback in 2014 .

liam7831

VW Launch

http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.403081826434577.65335866.191866290889466&type=1

gerbear1

Has anybody gone to a WRC event? Looking at going to the Swedish rally and wondering how exactly it works, as in you can't really just go to one spot and stay there all day. Do you need a car to get around?

liam7831

Ya iv been to rally spain a few times, you would prob need a car alright, otherwise try these guys, they used the same hotel i was in for spain and they seen pretty professional

http://www.rallytravel.com/?page=event&idno=16

afatbollix

For WRC events you stay in the one spot all day.. Traffic is mental at all WRC events you cant chase cars like Ireland.

Rent a car, look up the maps and find a hotel near the stages.. Make sure you stay by the stages and not the HQ or service. They can be miles away from the stages these days. Some events you need a pass but they are not that expensive. you can get them on events website before the start of the event.

De Hipster

afatbollix wrote: »

For WRC events you stay in the one spot all day.. Traffic is mental at all WRC events you cant chase cars like Ireland.

Rent a car, look up the maps and find a hotel near the stages.. Make sure you stay by the stages and not the HQ or service. They can be miles away from the stages these days. Some events you need a pass but they are not that expensive. you can get them on events website before the start of the event.

I've been to a few WRC events; mainly Spain, GB & Ireland - all of which allow for catching a few stages per day with some pre-planning of route & times.

I have no affiliation to & no problem recommending Rally Travel for events like Spain - especially if it's your first WRC. They were extremely helpful, providing a pack which includes roadbooks & maps (from your landing in the airport, to hotel, to local guides & the rally of course) with previews of junctions and viewing spots. This approach is good for your first event, they will meet & answer any questions & provide a link to other fans at the event.

Likely heading to a few events next year again, currently looking at one or more of the following;

• Finland - expensive but have been assured that it is well worth it for the weekend.
• Spain - been a few times & really enjoyed this event, plenty of fellow Paddies if you fancy 'the craic'. Also try to stay for the Sunday night if you fancy beers while bumping into some of the more approachable competitors.
• Sardinia - hot, hot, hot - but have always fancied this one (particularly now in the absence of Corsica).
• GB - always a good one to go to, lots of driving & uphill mud-drenched hikes but the action is always good & the weather usually testing.
• Mexico - again have always fancied coupling the holiday with the added benefit of top-notch WRC action.

Robbo

No Circuit in the ERC next year. They couldn't get the cash together, sign of the times.

h3000

Robbo wrote: »

No Circuit in the ERC next year. They couldn't get the cash together, sign of the times.

I heard that last night alright. It's really fuuping annoying

kartincolin

Devastated that the Circuit lost ERC status, was really looking forward to seeing Kubica in a RRC Fiesta!

liam7831

Next years line up so far..............

Citroën

Sébastien Loeb - part timer - RMC, Sweden, Argentina and France
Mikko Hirvonen - full season
Dani Sordo - at least 11 rounds, likely to increase
Khalid Al Qassimi - 7 maybe 8 rounds (in addition to MERC)

Volkswagen

Sébastien Ogier - full season
Jari-Matti Latvala - full season
Andreas Mikkelsen - from Rally Portugal onwards

Qatar M-Sport

Mads Østberg - full season
Evgeny Novikov - full season
Thierry Neuville - full season
Nasser Al Attiyah - 7 events

Juho Hänninen - RMC and Sweden, hoping to secure budget for more

Private- Prokop (Fiesta) all European WRC rounds

Prodrive Mini

Hopes & Dreams

kartincolin

A very depleted looking line up for next year, hopefully some people like Kubica and (god forbid) Ken Block do a few rounds next year to fill up spaces on the entry list.

Robbo

You can have Loeb at 22/1 for the championship. Seb Jnr seems worthy of a punt at 5/1

liam7831

Robbo wrote: »

You can have Loeb at 22/1 for the championship. Seb Jnr seems worthy of a punt at 5/1

He is only doing four rallys this year so he aint worth a bet at any odds

wobbles

liam7831 wrote: »

He is only doing four rallys this year so he aint worth a bet at any odds

Dont know about that. I think its a very good bet actually.

If Loeb does 4, has a big battle against the VWs, i can see him doing many more than 4. Loeb loves a challenge and VW are are his biggest challenge since Gronholm left

Robbo

liam7831 wrote: »

He is only doing four rallys this year so he aint worth a bet at any odds

His calendar includes 3 of the first 5 rounds of the championship. Add in that he's basically guaranteed the win in France, and will definitely be in the hunt on the Monte, he could be sitting pretty in May. Who knows what decision might be reached then?

BUBBLE WRAP

When and what channel is the WRC on telly?

h3000

wobbles wrote: »

Dont know about that. I think its a very good bet actually.

If Loeb does 4, has a big battle against the VWs, i can see him doing many more than 4. Loeb loves a challenge and VW are are his biggest challenge since Gronholm left

Robbo wrote: »

His calendar includes 3 of the first 5 rounds of the championship. Add in that he's basically guaranteed the win in France, and will definitely be in the hunt on the Monte, he could be sitting pretty in May. Who knows what decision might be reached then?

I really cannot see Loeb doing anymore than the four rounds. He has other projects he is concentrating on now and really has nothing left to prove in WRC.

h3000

BUBBLE WRAP wrote: »

When and what channel is the WRC on telly?

Ralio+ on Welsh channel S4C have got the rights (it's on Sky)

MotorsTV should have it too but I haven't seen confirmation just yet.

Monte is starting on the 16th, I'd imagine there should be shows most evenings on MotorsTV, I think Ralio+ show it on the following Monday or Tuesday but will have to check the 2013 schedule.

recyclebin

Looks like we will have at least one mini for the whole season:

From wrc.com: "Polish driver Michal Kosciuszko will keep the MINI name in top flight WRC competition this year, after announcing a full 13-round programme in a MINI John Cooper Works Countryman"

I can't say much about the driver as I've never really followed the PWRC. How would you guys rate his chances of getting regular points?

recyclebin

First fround starts next week in Monte Carlo. 13 WRC cars have been entered.

Itineray, Maps and Entry list can be found here:
http://www.acm.mc/page-tab.php?id_menu=4&id_sousmenu=23
http://www.acm.mc/documents/4/LISTE_DES_ENGAGES_2013.pdf

Robbo

h3000 wrote: »

I really cannot see Loeb doing anymore than the four rounds. He has other projects he is concentrating on now and really has nothing left to prove in WRC.

I can see with no clear frontrunner amongst the rest, the points getting more evenly distributed than in most previous years and 10 Championships is a nice round number...

liam7831

Robbo wrote: »

His calendar includes 3 of the first 5 rounds of the championship. Add in that he's basically guaranteed the win in France, and will definitely be in the hunt on the Monte, he could be sitting pretty in May. Who knows what decision might be reached then?

He is doing Monte, France, Finland & Argentina.
The rest of the time he is doing the GT World Series in a Mclaren

recyclebin

No sign of WRC on MotorsTV schedule up to the 25th of January.
http://www.motorstv.com/tv-guide-uk?d=2013-01-17&h=4

No mention of it on S4C up to 18th either.
http://www.s4c.co.uk/e_listings.shtml?dt=2013-01-18&service=s4cd

I wonder will they show it all?

h3000

recyclebin wrote: »

No sign of WRC on MotorsTV schedule up to the 25th of January.
http://www.motorstv.com/tv-guide-uk?d=2013-01-17&h=4

No mention of it on S4C up to 18th either.
http://www.s4c.co.uk/e_listings.shtml?dt=2013-01-18&service=s4cd

I wonder will they show it all?

One of the presenters from S4C confirmed they had the coverage a week or so back, but they were yet to confirm the schedules.

afatbollix

Red bull media have a working relationship with UK TV aka Dave and word on the street was that it will be on Dave again. But who knows the owner of UKTV is none other than BBC world wide. Lets just keep our fingers crossed.

kartincolin

afatbollix wrote: »

Red bull media have a working relationship with UK TV aka Dave and word on the street was that it will be on Dave again. But who knows the owner of UKTV is none other than BBC world wide. Lets just keep our fingers crossed.

I would get on my knees and pray for the coverage to return to Dave. Proper coverage with a brilliant presenter (Neil Cole), a great commentator (Paul King), and proper High Definition coverage!

Tea 1000

kartincolin wrote: »

I would get on my knees and pray for the coverage to return to Dave. Proper coverage with a brilliant presenter (Neil Cole), a great commentator (Paul King), and proper High Definition coverage!

I agree, Dave coverage was excellent.

h3000

Well MotorsTV are defiantly not showing it and won't say why. They are saying you can pick it up on S4C. Colin Clark was saying on Twitter that there should be an announcement today or tomorrow, a deal is nearly complete.

recyclebin

h3000 wrote: »

Well MotorsTV are defiantly not showing it and won't say why. They are saying you can pick it up on S4C. Colin Clark was saying on Twitter that there should be an announcement today or tomorrow, a deal is nearly complete.

Someone should tell WRC to update the website so. The website should be the first thing that the promoters should look at redesigning and updating.

http://www.wrc.com/fanzone/wrc-tv-guide/

I don't think Eurosport or Motors TV will be showing it on any of their UK or European versions of their channels.