World Rally Championship WRC 2019

and there it is.....right rear puncture ss 11

and more...…….technical issue ss 12!!

Fingers crossed for the Welshman now.

First 30 point haul (win + power stage win) for the great one since Sweden 2016

and kris issued apology for commenting on what he saw as a dodgy decision to scrap stage even though couple of cars able to pass safely....hhmmm......

Kris needs to be quiet and drive, he talks about it only being his 3rd event in a new car, the guy in his old car has only done 3 events too...

Impressed by Tanak running 1st on the road, Neuville couldn't hack it, but it appears Tanak will, and perhaps Ogier has a proper challenger this year!

yep hopefully hel keep his emotions in check..i'm happy enough with his driving, reasonable results in first 3 rallies and a consistent level of performance, not exactly setting the world alight but would've been daft of him not to temper his driving after getting the drive... time yet for him to improve ...

In fairness to Meeke, he’s probably driving a little bit within himself having secured a seat after developing an unfortunate reputation for expensive crashes. And i also think Makinen probably felt he would challenge on a couple of events but his primary role was getting manufacurer points. I suspect Tommi is pretty happy with him right now - doing what they wanted him to do.

Read elsewhere he was planning a measured approach for the first 3 then push from there. Think everyone should be happy so far as looks like mission accomplished.

agreed paul..id settle for him finishing rallies in decent scoring positions this season to repay tommis faith in him and show he can drive for the bigger picture if needs be..we'll see but so far hes been bringing the car home at the end which is a good start lol!! and he would prob have done a bit better in mexico had the citroen thing not happened....

agreed chris...heres hoping...

no respect left for Kris - absolute douche nozzle. Any other series he would be massively penalised for that kind of carry on and allegation of cheating (that has been proven patently untrue) and he would be absolutely nailed to the wall.....rather than getting away with an apology

His carry on and refusal to take responsibility for his Citroen departure lost me as a fan - not the kind of behaviour we would have seen from his mentor

awk michael...a douche nozzle???!?!?!?!?! ...harsh m8, harsh.....

alleging that a team has done a Piquet 2008 because you have an axe to grind after going full mccrash and costing your own seat with that team? yep I stand by my call

Dr Tumbo wrote:alleging that a team has done a Piquet 2008 because you have an axe to grind after going full mccrash and costing your own seat with that team? yep I stand by my call

He's clearly a passionate driver, interviewed in the heat of competition. He was wrong in what he said, I personally think he would be wiser to have a lower profile and get a few top results in, but do you want pr dummies who only speak in pre-approved team messages? I'd prefer passion and the odd blunder along the way personally.

if he were even 29 or better yet 19 I'd give him a free pass. At 39 coming across as a petulant teenager nope, there's passion and there's stupidity - he crossed the line firmly into the later

Well a topsy turvey event has just finished in Corsica. Evans had the measure of them all only to fall foul of a last stage puncture. Meeke was quick but then had a couple of issues but blitzed the Power Stage. This all left Neuville to pick up the pieces and the old fox Ogier lucked into more points than he deserved with second. Some big crashed as well elsewhere in the field. Rumoured to be the last event held on the island but hope it isn't as stunning place to rally.

yep chris, just about to post you beat me to it lol!! gutted for kris as he had the pace, and also for young evans who was dead unlucky, but theyre both still up there in decent positions after the event...day 1 fairly took its toll but was another exciting and eventful rally...

Evans was a deserving winner - gutted to see him come unstuck in such unlucky circumstances (also I can't stand Neuville so would have been nice to keep him from the win).
Ogier knows exactly how to pace himself - he may not have won any stages but he was certainly quick when needed and to come 2nd in a car requiring as much tinkering as his did (seems it was a setup change every few stages and new suspension mapping every major service) shows just how good he is.
Tanak was unlucky with the puncture also but certainly does push the envelope - I see him as the clear #1 for this title with Ogier entirely dependent on how Citroen develop that C3. Neuville will likely pick up a few wins and be in the hunt but he hasn't yet shown us the oomph required to win.

That Toyota can be an absolute rocket-ship, though the Fiesta certainly benefited from Ogier's input and it seems Evans has learned how to setup a car for sure. I'm hopeful by the end of the year we see 4 cars which would all easily win on the day if the C3 can be improved

I continue to hate the power stage and extra points in this regard - Meeke was good on the stage but when you have so many spare tyres cause you don't have to push (being well out of it) to walk away with 5 points just seems a bit crap to me....then again I also preferred the old 10, 6, 4, 3, 2, 1 system of points

Agree,  Evans should have won this. He was the outstanding driver of the event for me. Hopefully this is the start of something for him.

Tanak as champion, possible however believe Ogier is more likely to pick it up with his consistency. Powerstage, maybe they should have two or three by running a stage towards the end of each day. The one with the highest average gets the points. Gets rid of the also rans not trying hard until the last or second last stage of the event.

Fair review. One point I find interesting is that Toyota appear to be having more puncture/rim issues than the others. Dont know if they have gone for a lighter construction or the car puts strain on the corners more than the others. Seen pics of the rims in two pieces so maybe an issue that needs addressing.

The Shitroen looks like it has lost its Touring Car rep to make it better on the loose.

Think we are in for another interesting year!

meeke started well in this new event, but wide on ss7 i believe and trying to recover in 11th at end of ss9.....thats what i get for applauding his point winning finishes in first rallies of 2019...

neuville retired ss8 after acident...

and penalised by stewards for removing window...….hhmmmm

Rallying becoming like F1 with all these penalties!

Loeb getting another run out after his performance in Chile....