Rally Monte Carlo 2015

Been looking forward to this rally for a while now with so much Irish interest. Kris Meeke and Paul Nagle start at number 3 and hopefully will go well if the VWs falter. Breens is also in the event in the 208 and I think will struggle against the other WRC2 cars, mainly because of the car. Daniel McKenna in his DS3 starts his campaign in the WRC3 class this year. It will be interesting to see how he gets on compared to the rest of the class. I think he will be on the pace by the end of the weekend. Eamon Boland is also back competing in Monte Carlo this year again, this time he has the new JRM built saloon impreza.

Certainly looking forward to see how they all go. Loeb is also back in a DS3 for this event. Dont think he will get anywhere near the VWs either, hes been out of the game for a while now so pace wise I think Meeke might have him, of course Loebs the master at choosing the right tyres so he will have the edge there

Good luck to them allllllllllllllllllll

I reckon on an Ogier/Loeb 1-2 - just not sure what order. I still reckon the old boy has the edge, its just the VW is clearer the car to be in.

hoping for consistency from meeke throughout the year, he has undeniable pace........would settle for a load of podiums and at least one win.....

bmd wrote:hoping for consistency from meeke throughout the year, he has undeniable pace........would settle for a load of podiums and at least one win.....

Same thought here Billy

reeft1 wrote:I reckon on an Ogier/Loeb 1-2 - just not sure what order. I still reckon the old boy has the edge, its just the VW is clearer the car to be in.

You maybe right Paul but even though i'm not a Loeb fan i would love to see him win it just to show the others up

hey brian, what about a thread just for events..................???

sorry m8 just being a smart_ss!!! I guess I shouldn't slag the boss, might get excommunicated!!!!

What are you talking about Billy. It was always in the rally news and events section

(slyly moves thread without anyone looking)

Haha thought I had always had it there.

lol! sorry m8 couldn't resist !! (every forum needs a pedantic ocd head!!)

If Loeb was to win, having spent a year out in Touring Cars, what would that say about the rest??

Chris

Playing devils advocate Chris, if Loeb wins, the rest will be sure to claim they are thinking of the points in the championship, you can be guaranteed that's the line they are practising already. I hope the two Seb's do go for it and we get a good close fight. 

Will anyone else join in, its hard to say and depends on how much snow there is I suppose. It would be nice if Jari-Mati showed some of the pace he had on Tarmac last year. 

Will the Hyundai's show further increase in pace, they have to have got further development, they don't strike me as a team that are going to rest on their laurels....

Hopefully Citroen have developed the DS3 and Kris can be there or there abouts as well, here's hoping!

Main thing is we get some competition and not a VW train.....

Niall

Absolutely, can Loeb draw Ogier into a fight to try and break him. That's what Citroen want but can VW resist the fight for the win?

As you say there are a few drivers that really need to get themselves together Latvala, Meeke and Kubica.

Definitely needs someone to step and break the VW train

Dark horse...Bryan Bouffier a past winner and knows the event well enough.

Chris

I would love to Loeb win just to see vw boss capitol throw all his toys out his pram

Picture of Bolands new car from Mick Morrisseys face book page

CDMDark horse...Bryan Bouffier a past winner and knows the event well enough. wrote:
Chris

You are so bang on about Bouffier, he is one dangerous boy and definitely one not to be under estimated on roads he knows so well. He could spice things up even further....

Great to be looking forward to the season starting again!

Latvala for the win Would love him to put one over the Frogs when everyone is building it up to be a battle of the Sebs!

that would be nice, though obviously not as nice as meeke for the win lol!! not a big fan of ogier tbh so yeah lattvala would be ok...... see kubica has said hes back 'cos he has 'unfinished business with the WRC'......trying to resist commenting on that....

Still bits of the world's scenery he hast made contact with...

lol chris.........!!! how;d you read my mind from away over there??!!?!?

Looking forward to the event too.  How much is going to be televised on Motors TV, though?  I've been impressed with the coverage of various motoring events on that channel, even managed to see some of the American Global Rallycross action at the weekend.  (Any form of rallycross on TV is good for me!!).

I'm going to predict the finishers being a certain S Ogier winning, followed by M. Loeb and Mr Meeke!    

A more certain of is for Mr Kubica to end up removing scenery from his car before the car is removed from the scenery!!  

We'll see!!

Cheers, Steve

I think im the only one who sees Loeb not finishing. His job is to push Oiger to breaking point but even though hes been doing WTCC and the odd rally, its a long way off WRC pace. I think he is the one who will break, Loeb or not, you cant be away from the top end of competition and expect to be on the pace right away on your return. I see Oiger setting the pace early on, Loeb to go off/have problems trying to keep in touch and Oiger to sit on his lead for the rest of the rally. Latvala second and Meeke battling Neuville for third provided they finish

Quite excited about this rally. For the first time in ages we have a situation where the result is not a foregone conclusion.

Steve

Live TV times are on this link

http://www.wrc.com/en/wrc/news/january-2015/live-tv/page/2064--12-12-.html

Chris

brian you're right about ogier on the first day, he seems to favour killing off the opposition on day one then driving controlled for the next two...if loeb is able to at least stay in touch for the first day or day and a half before applying the pressure to the end, would be interesting to see if ogier has a plan b..... hope they stay in for the first two days anyway, and stay safe of course....

Chris,

Many thanks for the TV timings. You're a hero!

Should be able to be more interactive with the Monte this year than I was for the 1986 Lombard RAC, which I follwed using a mixture of Teletext updates and the two Top Gear Rally Specials each night (with William Woollard as the link man based in Rally HQ). Those were the (rose tinted) days!

Now all I need to do is work out if the broadcasts are on a channel I have access to and I'm away!!

Cheers, Steve

One wonders will young Seb running first on the road for the first 2 days have any relevance in the rally?
I know it's not gravel, but would fresh snow or compact ice make any difference?
I take it the older version will be well back the running order and surely at a disadvantage if there is piles of mud being pulled out by the early runners?