World Rally Championship 2021

What a cracking event the return of the Safari was - almost without exception the drivers have said they want to go back, irrespective of how much of a car killer it was. Pains me to say it, but with 4 wins already this year, you have to say that Ogier's class and experience is looking ominously good for him.

agreed paul... hard to bet against him but safari was a class looking event tho hard on the motors as you say...

brilliant result for breen in estonia...surely he must be given the chance of a full season soon....

Couldn’t agree more Billy

i think thats 7 wrc events in a row in last three years with points in all 7...
plus more points from 3 events this year than both ford drivers with full season.....

I so wish Malcolm had offered him a drive. The Fiesta isn’t as good as the Yaris or Hyundai but i’d bet heavily he would have got top 4 or 5 in a good few events in it.

reeft1 wrote:I so wish Malcolm had offered him a drive. The Fiesta isn’t as good as the Yaris or Hyundai but i’d bet heavily he would have got top 4 or 5 in a good few events in it.

The Fiesta is a shed. With Sordo nearing 40 and Seb retiring at the end of the season his options are Toyota for the vacant seat if Ott stays put or with his current seat if OTT moves back to Toyota. A good result in Belgium-a win even-will make a big difference.

Rally Belgium up and running, Breen doing ok so far...

Malcolm needs to sign Craig and the talented man from Fermanagh, Jon Armstrong

Rallycol wrote:Malcolm needs to sign Craig and the talented man from Fermanagh, Jon Armstrong

Completely agree but i fear Malcolm has left it too late. No chance that Hyundai will let him go as he consistently proves he can reaclimatise to a car and run at the front of the pack with limited time behind the wheel. I’d love him to win Ypres but i think Neuville has the slight edge for the remaining 4 stages.

Also Hyundai won't let craig win over Thiry

yep indeed...but another great drive from Breen..

No disagreement here. Given the chance to compete for the win I expect he could have taken the fight to Neuville

Hilarious that Ogier finished 5th and still managed to increase his championship lead. Long time since we've had a rally with the top 5 separated by less than a minute before a gulf of 3mins to 6th and further gulf of 10mins to 7th

Dr Tumbo wrote:No disagreement here. Given the chance to compete for the win I expect he could have taken the fight to Neuville

Hilarious that Ogier finished 5th and still managed to increase his championship lead. Long time since we've had a rally with the top 5 separated by less than a minute before a gulf of 3mins to 6th and further gulf of 10mins to 7th

and a gap of 44 mins to the first M-Sport Fiesta WRC. Embarassing.

https://youtu.be/IM0rXlaW4xk

Great video including gob smacking footage of Katsuta's off.

There was an interesting article on DirtFish from Elfyn Evans about the current point system for the Power Stage.

So up for discussion....

If you have retired from the rally you are still able to come back in and do the Power Stage. If you win the Power Stage you get 5 points.

If however you have done the whole rally for three days, with all the effort and risk that takes, and you finish 8th you get 6 points

Tanak has taken the Final Stage win 4 times and one second out of 8 rallies this year. On four of those 8 rallies he has retired from the main rally.

https://www.wrc.com/en/wrcplus/live-timing/

Absolutely no disrespect to Tanak a fantastic driver and playing the game to his advantage - But is the points total for the Power Stage too much, or does the points system for the main rally need revising?

Chris

A very fair challenge- it does feel a bit over egged when explained like that.

agreed.... surely retirement should mean retirement.....guessing there are tv/marketing/political reasons behind the restart rules but heyho whats new....

I hated the power stage in 99
I hated the super rally when it was brought back in
I hated the extended power stage when it was brought back
I hated the move from 10-6-4-3-2-1 to 10-8-6-5-4-3-2-1 to 25-18-15-12-10-8-6-4-2-1

I think Moseley then Todt have fucked the wrc. And I have ZERO faith there will be any meaningful change which will improve things. Of the current crop of drivers maybe Ogier, Evans and Breen would have capacity to hold it to the best of the 90s......

Will I still watch....yes ‍�

breathe mate.......breathe,,,,,

Suninen leaves M-sport with immediate effect....

https://www.autosport.com/wrc/news/suninen-leaves-m-sport-wrc-squad-with-immediate-effect/6654918/

Possible option for Breen but is the new Puma up to the job. Could at least provide some leverage with Hyundai. I'd say be better to stay put if he can? Ford plan to run three cars! Ott has secured a deal with the current team and they are looking at Solberg too!

would prefer more manufacturers with two cars each than same three teams with more cars each.... oh for the variety in wrc that we see in btcc....

Completely agree Billy. Getting too expensive again to particpate. No great loss for M-Sport but probably a reflection of a poor campagin (so some self awareness by Suninen and worrying that it will damage his reputation) and a car that is unfortunately well past its best.

off we go in Greece....