RallyDriven 284 Posted November 19, 2015 szekto said: Today's announcement from Citroen makes no sense for me. They will quit the WRC for 1 year, and then they will enter it in 2017 again...Why the heck they can't participate in 2016, just like collecting the kms and experience for the future? Maybe they don't have the budget and would rather put all the money into 2017 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
RodgerDavies 804 Posted November 19, 2015 Yeah, the current car has been in development since 2010/1 - no more major gains to be made with it and might as well focus on the new car rather than chase second in a championship (against a new Hyundai) again. They can also take stock of the driver market in case Neuville, Ogier or Latvala become available for 2017. Makes perfect sense; great news for rallying IMO.Maybe if it isn't a 'current' car though, it would be eligible for DiRT Rally. You know, like the Hyundai i20 (2 door) isn't 'current' any more....... Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
KevM 44 Posted November 19, 2015 RodgerDavies said: Partial programme for Lefevbre and Meeke with PH Sport, according to the former's Twitter: https://twitter.com/SLefebvreRallye/status/667346679109189632?s=09 https://twitter.com/Yves_Matton/status/667359923265789952 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
RodgerDavies 804 Posted November 19, 2015 Sure they did Yves, sure they did ;)Your face is 7 characters too short. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
YoMrWhite 3 Posted November 19, 2015 szekto said: Today's announcement from Citroen makes no sense for me. They will quit the WRC for 1 year, and then they will enter it in 2017 again...Why the heck they can't participate in 2016, just like collecting the kms and experience for the future? It makes sense, because the 2017 cars will be all new and they need someone to test and develop them. Drivers with a full season in the "old" car wouldn't be available often enough.Keeping Meeke and Lefebvre makes sense, too - if that is confirmed. They need at least one driver with some experience. Apparently Kris is willing to sacrifice one year and Lefebvre still needs some time to develop anyway. Let's just hope they do a few rallies to make things more interesting in 2016. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
YoMrWhite 3 Posted November 19, 2015 KevM said: RodgerDavies said: Partial programme for Lefevbre and Meeke with PH Sport, according to the former's Twitter: https://twitter.com/SLefebvreRallye/status/667346679109189632?s=09 https://twitter.com/Yves_Matton/status/667359923265789952 Oh well, there goes my analysis... Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Rallycameraman 180 Posted November 19, 2015 Also with Citroen not competing in 2016 they're not tied by any of the FIA regulations so they can do as many testing days and kilometres as the want. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
RodgerDavies 804 Posted November 19, 2015 Rallycameraman said: Also with Citroen not competing in 2016 they're not tied by any of the FIA regulations so they can do as many testing days and kilometres as the want. Couldn't they do that anyway? Doesn't seem like VW have been holding back on testing their 2017 mule. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
sqdstr 87 Posted November 19, 2015 Back in 2006 Citroen did exactly the same thing, pulling out of the WRC for 1 year to further develop the C4 WRC for 2007.Loeb & Sordo ran in privateer Xsara WRC's prepared by Kronos Racing. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
thecraicbear 0 Posted November 19, 2015 EDIT: Didn't realise Citroen were taking part still, just not in a competitive programme. My first thought was that they were going to miss the season altogether. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
RodgerDavies 804 Posted November 19, 2015 thecraicbear said: EDIT: Didn't realise Citroen were taking part still, just not in a competitive programme. My first thought was that they were going to miss the season altogether. They will, as a team, but I suspect they'll pay for PH Sport to run Meeke and Lefebvre in a few European events, both to keep their hand in and to incentive development of the new car, in Meeke's case. It won't be like Kronos running full season in 2006. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
tbtstt 1,814 Posted November 20, 2015 szekto said: Today's announcement from Citroen makes no sense for me. They will quit the WRC for 1 year, and then they will enter it in 2017 again...Why the heck they can't participate in 2016, just like collecting the kms and experience for the future? I personally don't think the current-spec DS3 is on par with the Polo. Why pour money and development trying to sort that car when it will be redundant at the end of the year anyway? I think their plan makes perfect sense: and it's good news for the WRC in the long term as Citroen seem to have a renewed interest in it again. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
RodgerDavies 804 Posted November 20, 2015 Secondary bonus is that WTCC might be worth watching again, with private Citroens and (semi-)works Ladas, Hondas, Volvos and private Citroens and Chevys. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
MastaVonBlasta 1 Posted November 20, 2015 I can see the reasoning behind Citroen's decision to miss out on 2016 and come back strong in 2017 when the beasty new cars will come in.However, that leaves up to 9 factory seats in the 2016 championships, out of which 5-6 are very firm. I do think there's more talented drivers deserving a WRC drive than 9... And that will leave without much to do in 2016...The sad state of WRC is that even for privateers it's challenging to attract sponsors willing to fork out for a full campaign, as they just don't see the return in terms of promotion.Are VW going about WRC in a good way? Absolutely yes - they've created an unbeatable combo of team + car + driver and it seems no other manufacturer wants to go that HARD at WRC. It's quite interesting that VW still want to do it, with the emissions scandal going on.I hoped there would be some movement in the factory teams for next year, but there just won't be any. 2016 will be a bit of gap, slow year after which we'll hopefully see a good revolution. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Fedemaisonnave 48 Posted November 24, 2015 https://twitter.com/mattyjim1/status/667422126035574784 well thats gossiping, the stickers was aimed to petter? And finally matthew used it? For me 90% Petter Solberg to MSport Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Fedemaisonnave 48 Posted November 24, 2015 Petter also named as rally legend in WRGB https://twitter.com/WalesRallyGB/status/666917036505882624 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
RallyDriven 284 Posted November 24, 2015 Pretty sure petter is doing rallycross next year, but there were hints he might be looking at doing something else. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
RodgerDavies 804 Posted November 24, 2015 RX for next year, but possibly not with Citroen. He said he was trying to get funding for an entry to Rally Sweden for 2016 and I think he's looking at the Dakar for 2017. If that is, as rumoured, with Toyota, it could mean he's doing some WRC testing for them too. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Fedemaisonnave 48 Posted November 25, 2015 Tanak confirmed at DMack WRT, hope for a young gun to be his team-mate Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
RodgerDavies 804 Posted November 25, 2015 Fedemaisonnave said: Tanak confirmed at DMack WRT, hope for a young gun to be his team-mate Expecting Ketomaa Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Fedemaisonnave 48 Posted November 25, 2015 RodgerDavies said: Fedemaisonnave said: Tanak confirmed at DMack WRT, hope for a young gun to be his team-mate Expecting Ketomaa Yes, thats why i put hope, because Ketomaa would be a really bad choice, not the speed of any young gun and any future in it Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
RSRally 1 Posted November 25, 2015 Fedemaisonnave said: RodgerDavies said: Fedemaisonnave said: Tanak confirmed at DMack WRT, hope for a young gun to be his team-mate Expecting Ketomaa Yes, thats why i put hope, because Ketomaa would be a really bad choice, not the speed of any young gun and any future in it I would prefer to see Tidemand or Lappi instead of Ketomaa! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Rallycameraman 180 Posted November 25, 2015 It's not been confirmed at all. Just speculation at the minute. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Fedemaisonnave 48 Posted November 25, 2015 Rallycameraman said: It's not been confirmed at all. Just speculation at the minute. Watch tanaks facebook Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
RallyDriven 284 Posted November 26, 2015 Yeah tanak himself on Twitter suggested that he hasn't heard about any of this! Dmack are supposed to be making a big announcement soon, so it's likely they will be putting a world rally team together Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
