WRC 2014 : All Chat Here

[Cess]

Not surprised. His whole demeanour, body language and attitude has been negative for the best part of 18 months. Pontus Tideman or Ott Tanak will get the nod. But the Fiesta will still be lacking until MSport get works backing and a massive development budget like VW.

 

[DC.]

No surprise, he's done very little recently.

Fiesta WRC hasn't won a round since Wales Rally GB 2012.

 

[Cess]

Annoucement today by Mikko Hirvonen. I can't cut and paste, but basically it says - Lots of rumours, nothing decided yet for sure. Considering all possibilties. When I've made my decision about the coming years, I'll let you know.

 

[weeloaney]

Seen some post on Facebook confirming meeke and solberg in citreon for next year.

Any truth?

 

[RallyCiaran]

Solberg would be mad to come back. Rallycross is going to be massive in the US in the next few years so is going to be flooded with money and tv coverage. Also Solbergs son takes part in the junior rallycross which he would have trouble doing if Petter was away doing WRC stuff.

 

[Cess]

Just spectulation at the moment @weeloaney. Best indication of what Citroen think about Kris Meeke is in the interview with Yves Matton posted by @Sam.

 

[Reno_LV]

As @Cess said before Mikko has announced all these are just stupid rumours.

 

[Cess]

I still don't think he will be a factory team driver in January 2015 though @Reno_LV. No matter what Mikko says!

 

[KevM]

I think we've all seen the tell-tale signs of what lies ahead for Mikko, its no surprise that he's under pressure, but does anyone know what has rattled Ogier?

 

[Reno_LV]

I hope he still does, I really like him and I don't think he has lost it yet, just not a competitive car. Would be cool to see Solberg back as well!

 

[Cess]

Was told when I was in Finland @KevM by the RallyTravel boys that Ogier was refusing to sign a new contract and that VW had got fed up with his prima donna ways and said take it or leave it.

I think Solberg would be a backwards step for Citroen, for all the reasons listed above by others and more. Likewise, Hirvonen is getting to the point where he is nearly the waste of a seat.

Time to put faith in new blood, especially for MSport. That has to mean Ott Tanak or maybe Pontus Tidemand.

 

[KevM]

If thats the case @Cess , then it really is great to see Latvala matching Ogier's pace, maybe the Iceman has got into Seb's head & pulled him from that gold pedestal he probably see's himself on. I wouldnt doubt for a second that that the VW team would also be arrogant enough to believe that their car is good enough to be on the podium irrespective of driver, so maybe have given him a ultimatum over next year.

Could he throw the head up and go back to his roots for 2015 & partner Meeke in the DS3?

All we would need then is for Hyundai to iron out their issues to put Thierry & Dani into the mix

Now that would make for another interesting year.

 

[Cess]

At a guess, I'd say Citroen couldn't afford Ogier's (current) wages. The WRC team is dependant upon the Abu Dhabi money, as Citroen throw all their own cash at original Seb and the WTCC team.

The only good thing to come out of last weeks rally was Hyundai's win. It shows that a new manufacturer can break the VW domination, that Hyundai are moving in the right direction and has to encourage other manfacturers to enter the sport. WRC looked like a closed shop for a while.

I see that the Chief Engineer at MSport reckons the Fiesta would be a championship winning car if they had Ogier!

Loriaux: "Driver crucial piece of the puzzle"

 

[RComms]

I see that the Chief Engineer at MSport reckons the Fiesta would be a championship winning car if they had Ogier!

Loriaux: "Driver crucial piece of the puzzle"

Well.... That must be comforting for Mikko.

nawt.

 

[KevM]

I see that the Chief Engineer at MSport reckons the Fiesta would be a championship winning car if they had Ogier!

Loriaux: "Driver crucial piece of the puzzle"

That statement is another big kick in the stones for Mikko.....

(you beat me to it RComms)

 

[Sam.]

I can't see Ogier leaving VW unless he feels second to Yari-Matti, and even then I'm not sure where he would go. He probably wouldn't go back to Citroen easily after the way he left.

 

[Graham]

I can't see Ogier leaving VW unless he feels second to Yari-Matti, and even then I'm not sure where he would go. He probably wouldn't go back to Citroen easily after the way he left.

He will go to wherever the biggest cheque is and coupled with the biggest test / development budget

so unless ford had a MAJOR sponsor on board i would say that seat isn't worth enough to SO

 

[DC.]

Ogier is likely to stay at VW along with Jari-matti & Andreas.

I think M-Sport will have Ott Tänak & Elvyn Evans next year with possibly the worst/least developed car at the moment.

Solberg's plan rest upon whether he wins the RX title.

Hyundai are my tip to challenge VW next year, Neuville in particular.

Colin Clark replied on twitter to me saying he doesn't think there'll be a Yaris WRC, unfortunately.

 

[Reno_LV]

@coops! Toyota said they will announce the plans at the end of the year - WRC or Lemans as far as I've read!

 

[svensktoppen]

Oh my, what a rally, Germany never disappoints, lol.

Kubica continues his impressive feat of crashing out in every rally, lol

Ogier is human after all, that is actually one which qualifies for the Today I Learned thread!

Latvala - all he had to do was drive the car home ffs.

And then Meeke... What is there to say? Could barely watch at the start of the stage, and you could tell already on the first corner it was not going to end well... Still a sterling effort, and a great run, very mature. Just a shame getting taken out by a stupid puncture in the end.

Neuville - really happy for him. All the work with Hyundai paying off, and he is a very good driver to boot. Thoroughly well deserved

 

[Reno_LV]

Puncture? Did he not just crash into a wall? Kubica being half paralised drives better than half on the list there.

 

[svensktoppen]

He picked up a puncture on the left front at the first corner, when he ran a little wide there. The crash a little bit later just followed, inevitably. You can see he was going slowly, and the car just ploughed straight on anyway. Not much to do...

 

[Reno_LV]

I saw the crash but didn't hear of puncture as he said it was pacenotes error. I watched day 1 highlights still need to watch the rest.

 

[KevM]

the pacenote error was on turn 1, he ran wide and took a puncture on the front left, 2 corners later (a 90 right), he couldnt turn in with the puncture and understeered into the wall (wheel off)!

 

[Cess]

Only 30 entries for Rally Australia.

Makes you call into question the point of the non-European rounds. They are incredibly expensive for most teams but so badly supported.