2020 Rallying thread (WRC, ERC, other series)

Fords getting destroyed by leaves wow

That was quite disastrous and most surprising.

Wondering what they will do to the car concept now?

Stage-end girl asking Ostberg (in a R5) where he lost the time compared to the others...completely clueless 

That was quite disastrous and most surprising.
 
Wondering what they will do to the car concept now?

Bam ! Go go go Thierry

Edited by Danyy, 24 January 2020 - 08:27.

Monster stage from Evans, shattered Neuville’s lead! Ogier not too bad and Tanak also close. It’s turning into a 4 way battle

Wow lol
https://twitter.com/...6526354432?s=21

What did I just see? 

I have no doubt that's easily done, but it still looks pretty embarrassing all the same.

Because it looks so slow. But the road looks extremely slippery

Tanak is out

Tänak crash was huge.

https://twitter.com/...6482793472?s=20

Edited by Jvr, 24 January 2020 - 09:19.

Monster crash for Tanak!

https://www.youtube....h?v=rxCkTjrTeqQ

wow

Very relieved to hear the crew are okay. To be honest, it probably wasn't a bad thing that the car just kept going and going; at least it wasn't immediately stopped by a tree.

Wow lol
https://twitter.com/...6526354432?s=21

Sweet Jesus...   Thanks for that! Most invigorating.

https://twitter.com/...639658293563392

Glad they are OK 

Edited by Danyy, 24 January 2020 - 10:12.

Checked the location from live map and searched the same place from Google Maps.

That was quite a drop down to the road below. Really glad the crew is ok.

https://twitter.com/...639658293563392

Looks like the car bottomed out and there was nothing to do.

Nary a bigger off you'll see someone walk away from. Unbelievable. Reminds me of that car over the side of Pikes Peak for an eternity. 

Checked the location from live map and searched the same place from Google Maps.

 

That was quite a drop down to the road below. Really glad the crew is ok.

 

This has to be the craziest shunt since that one time Latvala rolled forever almost from the mountains to the sea here in Portugal.

Where are the WRC events shown these days? 

From InfoRallyes:

https://twitter.com/...638811950141440

Can’t see how they won’t be forced to redesign it, it’s basically a leaf magnet.

Improvised front grill they now are using.

Where are the WRC events shown these days? 

WRC - All Live Stream

WRC - TV Guide

WRC - All Live Stream

WRC - TV Guide

Thanks. Behind a paywall, with very limited highlights somewhere on BT sport, and very limited highlights on the WRC Youtube channel. Not a recipe for getting new viewers interested, but such is way these days. 

Where are the WRC events shown these days?

Monster crash for Tanak!

https://www.youtube....h?v=rxCkTjrTeqQ

Edited by Amz964, 24 January 2020 - 11:51.

Jesus H...just another reminder that rally drivers are fearlessly bonkers. Glad they're alright.

Thanks. Behind a paywall, with very limited highlights somewhere on BT sport, and very limited highlights on the WRC Youtube channel. Not a recipe for getting new viewers interested, but such is way these days. 

Try Red Bull TV for free nightly highlights, plus 1 live stage on a Saturday afternoon. If you have BT Sport, then you should be fine, as they have the All Live coverage.

But I do take your point; as good as the All Live coverage is, it's behind a paywall; whilst plenty of other series are free. Not easy getting sponsors for teams/ drivers when coverage is mostly hidden.....

Ogi full throttle now

They'll stay in hospital for observation until tomorrow:

 https://www.autohebd...ain-208466.html (en français)

Edited by Danyy, 25 January 2020 - 00:17.

It didn't take long for the Tanak bubble to burst.  And Evans leads in his old car.  Maybe Ott had a bit of a car advantage last year?  Too early to say, but i just did....

Ogi First! Yeah baby

The rally has already been awesome with so many drivers in unfamiliar cars. Hat off to Ogier and Evans for getting acclimatized so quickly. I was afraid, that one make dropping off would make the series worse, but so far it's been bloody brilliant.

My only complaint so far is that WRC+ broke bluetooth headset support in their new version. I reported the bug, and they already replied back, that they are working on fix.

It didn't take long for the Tanak bubble to burst.  And Evans leads in his old car.  Maybe Ott had a bit of a car advantage last year?  Too early to say, but i just did....

Jesus. It's been one rally. If the Toyota was so good last year then why did Latvala have his worst ever season in factory rides? Meeke hardly impressed either. 

Evans is just underrated. Won't be surprised to see him nipping on Ogier's heels this year. 

Edited by noriaki, 24 January 2020 - 17:09.

Evans is just underrated. 

Agreed.  But is Tanak OVER-rated?

I think the Toyota was definitely the best car last year.  The Citroen had a major handling issue that has dogged them for several years.  The Ford just wasn't developed enough due to lack of cash and resources.  The Hyundai was quick but weak so unreliable and prone to breakages.

As for Latvala and Meeke, I think they were finally found out last year.

Agreed.  But is Tanak OVER-rated?

 

I think the Toyota was definitely the best car last year.  The Citroen had a major handling issue that has dogged them for several years.  The Ford just wasn't developed enough due to lack of cash and resources.  The Hyundai was quick but weak so unreliable and prone to breakages.

 

As for Latvala and Meeke, I think they were finally found out last year.

If Ogier says he had a slower car he has a case, but the Hyundai was more or less as good as the Toyota. Remember the Toyota would also break down pretty often (Corsica, Turkey, UK), which was the precise reason why Tanak left the team.

Ott is a 100% worthy World Champion and easily amongst top 3 rally drivers at the moment, if you still think otherwise you are kidding yourself. 

To give Greensmith some comfort, he was not the only one to have moments at that corner, even though he bottled it completely.

Tänak, Neuville, Ogier, and many others "enjoyed" that place. 

Edited by Jvr, 24 January 2020 - 18:46.

which was the precise reason why Tanak left the team.

Ehhh. I mean, sure. But, I think there's something to the rumours about Tanak/Märtin not being happy that they wouldn't be able to run Toyotas R5 effort. I know they pretty decisively refuted those rumours. However, it is the renamed MM Motorsport that runs the Hyundai R5's for Gryazin and Veiby...

Anyway, it's only been one (half) rally. Which is well known for being a bit of a lottery sometimes.

Ah, one of the most often used Monte cliches, particularly by the 'media experts'  - but the proof is that its untrue. An event which has been recently dominated by Loeb, and then Ogier - with only Hirvonen & Bouffier the interlopers

Ah, one of the most often used Monte cliches, particularly by the 'media experts'  - but the proof is that its untrue. An event which has been recently dominated by Loeb, and then Ogier - with only Hirvonen & Bouffier the interlopers

Fair enough, but let me rephrase that then. A rally in which a bad tyre choice can cost you a minute more easily than other rallies, and in which it's perhaps a little easier to make rally-ending mistakes as well. That list of winners is completely dominated by French drivers - well the whole WRC is in recent times too, but perhaps the local advantage is important to overcome the banana skins that are particular to the Monte?

Don't get me wrong this is 2020, we're long past the days in which drivers were expected and accepted to have "favourite surfaces" and local advantage was a huge thing, these days if you want to fight for the title you need to be world class in gravel, tarmac and snow, every event, and this also applies to Tanak. But it seems to me that the Monte is a place where those old facts still apply to a limited extent and you could be slightly more lenient to him. I can't see the times right now because wrc.com is glitching out for me, but I believe he was only slightly behind Neuville at the time of the crash, whilst for example Ogier was... also behind Evans. Just seems harsh to already claim Tanak is "overrated" on the basis of this and 1 mistake on his first rally for a new manufacturer on an event that's slightly unfavourable. And I speak as someone who still rates Ogier higher than Tanak...

My take on 2019 car advantage: Hyundai was the car to have in in slower, narrower, more technical sections, and when it didn't break on its own. As the corners got faster, the performance scales tipped towards Toyota. Citroen was a great tool on flowing gravel roads, but pretty unpredictable on tarmac. Ford was kind of okay everywhere, but never felt like it was the fastest thing. In Monte last year for instance Ford was absolutely nowhere despite Evans typically exceeding expectations there. The differences in cars were however small enough, that differences in driver commitment and/or start position played a more important role. The only driver who could be counted on to deliver from rally start to finish in the Toyota was Tanak - Latvala and Meeke both usually got in their own way despite flashes of brilliance in between.

The fact that almost despite the surface after day 2 you usually had Neuville, Ogier and Tanak as the top three speaks volumes as these guys as drivers. I had a feeling that Evans could get up there as well in a better car. I think those 4 will be fighting for the wins this year, and it'll be an interesting dynamic that there's two team mate pairs now rather than three number #1 drivers. It's pretty astonishing, that 3/4 of them are in new (for them) cars in 2020.