1337 replies to this topic

[ArnageWRC]

The time has come for Mads to lead the M-Sport team. Another sensible, quick and mature drive. His customer days should be well and truly over!!

[skywing]

The time has come for Mads to lead the M-Sport team. Another sensible, quick and mature drive. His customer days should be well and truly over!!

Reportedly he's negotiating with Citroen. Even better!

[kosmic33]

Breen looking good for the SWRC title - 1min9sec lead over PG and Paddons out.

Would be a great end to a tough year!

[Hans V]

Will Solberg ever win a rally again? I wish he could do it, but it's getting quite annoying. Something always happens to him.

And once again he hit a rock and damaged the front suspension. How many times has he done that this year? Is there a problem with the pace notes or co-driver since he consitently hits rocks that the others avoids?

[sergeym]

ALMRally reports Novikov was penalized for 10 minutes for excessive tyre wear, despite making it into service on all 4 wheels.

WTF? I do not remember anyone ever getting this penalty.

[tormave]

Another fatal rally accident in the Czech Republic. 4 spectators dead. Is it just me or has the rallying death toll been simply horrendous this year?

[tormave]

ALMRally reports Novikov was penalized for 10 minutes for excessive tyre wear, despite making it into service on all 4 wheels.

WTF? I do not remember anyone ever getting this penalty.

Novikov is 13 minutes behind in the wrc.com result sheet and there's no news of a penalty there or in other rally news sites I follow. 10 of those minutes are from crashing out on Friday's penultimate stage and continuing under rally 2 rules with 5 minutes per stage added. Maybe he crashed out due to worn tyres and a journo misunderstood it for a penalty.

EDIT: first stage done and Novikov is now 24 mins behind so it looks like he really got a further penalty. Reminds me of the British police stopping Grönholm from driving to the service with 3-wheel Peugeot. Policeman tells Marcus he can't drive further. Marcus replied that he CAN, but it's the policeman who won't let him :-).

Edited by tormave, 11 November 2012 - 07:19.

[kosmic33]

Latvala has been consistently beating Loeb today and has the gap down to 9.1 seconds with one stage to go!

Unfortunately its only a 4km stage......

[skywing]

And there is the end of the season. Spain top5: Loeb, Latvala, Hirvonen, Östberg and Nikara(!).

[Option1]

Another fatal rally accident in the Czech Republic. 4 spectators dead. Is it just me or has the rallying death toll been simply horrendous this year?

Wow. No, it's not just you, it really has been a terrible year.

It will have to lead to sterner measures being taken with spectators and where they can stand.

Neil

Edited by Option1, 11 November 2012 - 13:26.

[MrFondue]

Wow. No, it's not just you, it really has been a terrible year.

It will have to lead to sterner measures being taken with spectators and where they can stand.

Neil

I've attended a few local rallys this year and I always saw spectators standing at potentially deadly spots like exits or really tricky corners. The marshalls were either busy stuffing themselves or non existant, which is another serious issue.

[ArnageWRC]

Well done to Craig - it would be a fantastic achievement in a normal year, but after all he has been through - I'm not sure of the words to say. Marvellous!!

I hope all of Ireland is proud of him - he has a big future ahead of him.

[kosmic33]

Well done to Craig - it would be a fantastic achievement in a normal year, but after all he has been through - I'm not sure of the words to say. Marvellous!!

I hope all of Ireland is proud of him - he has a big future ahead of him.

And Wales!

[EightGear]

Hans Weijs was doing excellent. Had he not crashed with just 3 stages to go he would have finished 5th.

I'm glad this season is over. Hopefully 2013 will be more interesting.

[MadYarpen]

But the 2013 ERC calendar is out, and looking very good. ERC seems to be very exiting next year. Here is an interview with the IRC manager: http://www.spreaker.com/page#!/user/50...rancois_ribeiro

Also rumours are Kubica will do ERC in a Fiesta.

Was there anything more than a comment in Polish eurosport?
And if so, I guess he will do only tarmac rallies. Wonder what racing series will he be able to do besides rallying.

[artista]

Well done to Craig - it would be a fantastic achievement in a normal year, but after all he has been through - I'm not sure of the words to say. Marvellous!!

I hope all of Ireland is proud of him - he has a big future ahead of him.

Obviously, I'm not Irish (or Welsh) but, for me, it's been great to see him doing so amazingly well. Kudos to him.

[hotstickyslick]

So Petter actually managed to be beaten by Ostberg in the championship... not the kind of accomplishment I was expecting. What options does he have for next year now?

[EightGear]

Was there anything more than a comment in Polish eurosport?
And if so, I guess he will do only tarmac rallies. Wonder what racing series will he be able to do besides rallying.

Yes it was reported by someone who heared it from a reliable source.

[CrossF1]

Official: Sordo leaves Prodrive: https://www.facebook...550617521621436

[kosmic33]

Was there anything more than a comment in Polish eurosport?
And if so, I guess he will do only tarmac rallies. Wonder what racing series will he be able to do besides rallying.

Who cares?

He'll probably only rally.
F1, Karting and rallying are the only forms of motorsport he he's shown any interest in since he got to F1.
Regardless of all the fanciful BS i've read on internet forums, I doubt that'll change anytime soon

Proper motorsport for him next year!

[kosmic33]

So Petter actually managed to be beaten by Ostberg in the championship... not the kind of accomplishment I was expecting. What options does he have for next year now?

Back to making a large contribution towards running his car next year, instead of the small contribution he had to make this year.

[MadYarpen]

Who cares?

He'll probably only rally.
F1, Karting and rallying are the only forms of motorsport he he's shown any interest in since he got to F1.
Regardless of all the fanciful BS i've read on internet forums, I doubt that'll change anytime soon

Proper motorsport for him next year!

his plan is to mix rallying with racing of some kind, so that's where question comes from. And his fans probably care what will he do, me among them. It is just interesting, you know.

[skywing]

Official: Sordo leaves Prodrive: https://www.facebook...550617521621436

So that probably means Sordo to Citroen.

[kosmic33]

So that probably means Sordo to Citroen.

I cant see Citroen wasting that seat on Sordo.
Its for gravel rallies only, and Sordo, to my recollection anyway,has never ever show any speed on gravel.

Its more likely that he's leaving Prodrive because he only did a handful of events this year, he's not getting paid, and they're not looking like getting a sponsor for next year either......

[skywing]

http://www.citroen-w...citroen-racing/

[Myrvold]

So, in Norway there has been some news. Petter said that he thinks hi career is over now. Because of the last three rallies. He did have a contract with Citroën, but they pulled out due to the crashes.

[artista]

http://www.citroen-w...citroen-racing/

Me happy

So, in Norway there has been some news. Petter said that he thinks hi career is over now. Because of the last three rallies. He did have a contract with Citroën, but they pulled out due to the crashes.

There is an article about that in today's Printed edition of Autosport and they basically say the same thing. It doesn't look good for Petter at the moment.

[skywing]

So, in Norway there has been some news. Petter said that he thinks hi career is over now. Because of the last three rallies. He did have a contract with Citroën, but they pulled out due to the crashes.

Really? But to be honest, it hasn't been that great for Petter this year. So Östberg and someone else(Tänak?) to Ford?

[Myrvold]

Just thought about one thing, Petter also said that he had a couple of offers from others outside rallying, I will guess some LMS and RX. However, wouldn't RX, coupled with a Hyundai-contract make some sense?

[sergeym]

Really? But to be honest, it hasn't been that great for Petter this year. So Östberg and someone else(Tänak?) to Ford?

Maybe Novikov?

[kosmic33]

http://www.citroen-w...citroen-racing/

Like I said, a waste.

Heard a rumour that Hyundai have signed Meeke which would make sense - he's by far the best available development driver.
But as we see with Citroen, just because it makes sense doesn't mean it will happen.....

[skywing]

Like I said, a waste.

Heard a rumour that Hyundai have signed Meeke which would make sense - he's by far the best available development driver.
But as we see with Citroen, just because it makes sense doesn't mean it will happen.....

If I was Hyundai I would indeed take Meeke and pair him with Hänninen. Those two guys have a lot of experience.

[ArnageWRC]

Like I said, a waste.

Heard a rumour that Hyundai have signed Meeke which would make sense - he's by far the best available development driver.
But as we see with Citroen, just because it makes sense doesn't mean it will happen.....

Spain is a massive market for Citroen......so from that perspective I can understand it. What happens to Ostberg now? He has said he no longer wants to pay for a drive....

[sergeym]

Spain is a massive market for Citroen......so from that perspective I can understand it. What happens to Ostberg now? He has said he no longer wants to pay for a drive....

Probably he will be M-Sport 1st driver in pair with Tanak or Novikov.

[EightGear]

Like I said, a waste.

Heard a rumour that Hyundai have signed Meeke which would make sense - he's by far the best available development driver.
But as we see with Citroen, just because it makes sense doesn't mean it will happen.....

Who says Sordo won't be on all rounds? Yves Matton wanted to let Sordo do the whole championship. If that will be the case is the question of course.

Meanwhile, Ostberg said he doesn't want a pay drive anymore and will go to Prodrive instead if he won't get the M-Sport seat. Novikov the same, but he will go with a Citroen instead.
Rumours are Tanak needs to bring 1 million or he won't get a Fiesta.

Edited by EightGear, 15 November 2012 - 15:40.

[artista]

Spain is a massive market for Citroen......so from that perspective I can understand it. What happens to Ostberg now? He has said he no longer wants to pay for a drive....

If Spain is one of Citroën's main markets, they are in big, big trouble, because they are not going to sell cars here. Car sellings in Spain, regardless of the trade mark, are in a historical low at the moment. With a 26% of unemployment, hundred of thousands of families losing their houses, a million of people depending on the food bank for eating and so on, having a car is one of the last things too many people are looking at; it's much more important to get a roof and some food for your family.
I've read in twitter people accusing Dani of getting seat because he speaks Spanish, but frankly...

[kosmic33]

Spain is a massive market for Citroen......so from that perspective I can understand it. What happens to Ostberg now? He has said he no longer wants to pay for a drive....

I questioned one of their engineers about this (in a pub!) and he said that at no stage were Citroen ever influenced by the fact that Sordo is Spanish (I was trying to find out why he was chosen over the considerably faster/more crash prone Meeke in 2006).

I doubt thats changed since

Edited by kosmic33, 15 November 2012 - 16:20.

[skywing]

Östberg to lead M-Sport. http://www.autosport...t.php/id/104612