YoMrWhite

Yes, it looks like Citroen has already conceded the championship to the other manufacturers and is just aiming for the occasional win. Doesn't make sense to me, but hey, that's only one man's opinion...

Isn't it the other way round?

I think this is good news, especially for M-Sport of course, but also for the championship. Without Ogier M-Sport wouldn't have enough driving strength to fight against Hyundai and Toyota. I think Evans is missing just a bit of speed - although it's hard to compare his 2017 season because of the DMack tyres he used. Maybe he finally closed the gap to the best. Suninen and Tidemand on the other hand have great potential, but wouldn't be competitive everywhere right now. Both need some more outings in WRC cars. Besides, you have to beat the best to become the best. If Ogier had retired and Neuville would become champion - I'm sure that would take something away from his win. At least a lot of people would think so. That said, I think Neuville has to be the favourite for 2018, but Ogier, Latvala, Tanak and Mikkelsen will be ready to jump at the opportunity if he has another bad start to the season. I don't see Citroen as a real contender, but hopefully not as unreliable (hello Kris!) as in 2017. It's looking to be another great season.

Speaking of doing something really stupid, look who's leading. For now... And what is Hänninen doing? Two stage wins? On tarmac? This second half of the season is a real redemption run for him.

Interesting. So maybe Hyundais driver lineup for 2018 isn't yet set in stone. Paddon and Sordo may have contracts, but I guess Hyundai would be willing to pay a fourth driver in order to win the championship - in 2018 of course, they are too far behind to catch M-Sport this year.

Meeke's WRC career with Citroen is DONE! I'll be surprised if he sees out the season.Just ask Duval and McRae how ruthless Citroen can be. Honestly, Citroen has given him a lot of opportunities, but this year was just a complete disaster. They will go with Mikkelsen, Breen and Lefebvre for the last rallies, and I really doubt Meeke has any chance of a factory seat next year.

Interesting how much slower the times got in the second pass. Neuville and Ogier will have some healthy advantage from their road position on friday.

Nice to see those comments. Maybe he can channel that into some competetive times tomorrow.

My bet is on the first pass of Ouninpohja, aka SS16. He'll try to do too much there and repeat last years performance. On the other hand, his comments today sounded quite downbeat, as if he really didn't care any more. Either way, not good.

Yes, that was another bad showing by Citroen. At least Meeke was fast before his crashes...

Hard to say with the conditions being as they are, Lefebvre and Mikkelsen are still in the running but we'll see how it pans out for the rest of the day. Think the front runners will have an advantage for the first run.  Quite an advantage indeed. Reminds me of Portugal 2001. And Lefebvre going faster than Mikkelsen in every stage? Can we confirm hell has now officially frozen over?

Maybe it is just me, but somehow a rally without Meeke lacks that element of drama he always provides. Let's see if that's a good thing for Citroen. So far they don't look too good...

Yes, a very deserving win, He was close a few times already and showed great resilience after his bouts of bad luck. Good man.

Yes, this season is basically lost. They can hope for strong results on the remaining tarmac rounds, but they should already develop the car for next season. And of course think about their driver lineup...

Aaaaand Meeke crashes again, while Breen damages the gearbox on a jump. Awful. Okay, the car may be difficult to drive, but that's no excuse. They had a full year of testing to find this out. What were they doing in 2016?

It will definitely be interesting to see where Citroen really stands. A little bit hard to judge with Meekes crashes and Breens inexperience. I don't think Mikkelsen will run away from them, but he'll surely be a huge upgrade from Lefebvre. And with a proven winner beside him, maybe Meeke can even relaxe a bit more. I hope so for him.

SS7 is wreaking havoc on the field. Latvala rolls, Meeke and Paddon stop... I somehow knew it wouldn't stay so tight at the top for much longer.

I think Citroen should reactivate Carlos Sainz. Hey, it worked in 2005!

They won't have to. Cars start in reverse order of their positions. So he's going to have about the same road position as today.

This has to be the most optimistic thing I've read this year!  Glad I could cheer you up!

Sordo, Breen, Meeke, Paddon, Hanninen with crashes and serious mechanical problems, to a lesser degree also Neuville... That is some carnage we have after just four stages. This new generation of cars seems quite demanding and outright treacherous. If that continues, I'm betting on Tidemand getting onto the podium. Or maybe Bertelli, if he can keep it on the road...

That was a great rally indeed, full of drama and close fights. Meekes heartbreaking engine failure, crashes by Hanninen, Tanak, Evans and Lefebvre, Breens intercom drama (anyone else thinking Martins frantic gesturing was more distraction than help?), Ogiers electric troubles and two changes of position in the last stage, with Latvala edging Breen by one tenth of a second. Glad it's only 2 and a half weeks until Argentina.

My prediction for the first five places was Neuville-Sordo-Ogier-Evans-Breen. Apart from Evans, that is looking pretty smart right now...

Maybe 89 ? On the last four rounds :  -Kankkunen (Toyota) Australia -Biaision (Lancia) Sanremo -Oreille (Renault) Cote d'Ivoire -Airikkala (Mitsubishi) RACI meant the first four rallies of the season. But nice find! Then it's 86, last year of group b : -Toivonen (Lancia) Monte carlo -Kankkunen (Peugeot) Sweden -Moutinho (Renault) Portugal (after the withdraws of all the big teams due to the fatal crash) -Waldegard (Toyota) Safari Yes, I think you are right. I even thought we had to go back as far as 1981, because somehow Portugal 1986 feels like an event that got cancelled.

Maybe 89 ? On the last four rounds :  -Kankkunen (Toyota) Australia -Biaision (Lancia) Sanremo -Oreille (Renault) Cote d'Ivoire -Airikkala (Mitsubishi) RAC I meant the first four rallies of the season. But nice find!