real life 2020 FIA World Rally Championship

[KevM 44]

He half spun on a few icy hairpins.  I'm not sure I'd say it was a design flaw just yet :)

[RallyDriven 398]

KevM said:

He half spun on a few icy hairpins.  I'm not sure I'd say it was a design flaw just yet :)

Oh yeah, I know it's still early days, I was just going on what we've seen so far!

[Jepsertti 26]

Latvala said that he couldn't get any temperature into the tires and that the suspension was too stiff. The too stiff suspension might be the reason of tires not warming up and I think that explains the twitchiness of the car at low speeds (and also the half spins on a few hairpins). Seems like the suspension is the weak point of the Yaris currently (on tarmac at least) - Ogier didn't like how it felt either when he tested it. Oh well, it's still early days like @RallyDriven just said :)

[RallyDriven 398]

Yeah I heard Ogier said something about not liking the Yaris suspension. I think Seb definitely made the right choice in M-sport, not just because of his win yesterday

[Fedemaisonnave 48]

My opinion is that the ugliest rubbish and most boring car is the C3, the widebody isnt even near to be as agressive as the Fiesta,i20 and Yaris. I think that the i20 and Fiesta are really similar, Seb Ogier after driving the car he said "I really want yo race in this car" I think he said that in the post rally conference. So it cant be any bad, he has tested the Polo.
Then from the drivers view I think Thierry is the second behind Seb, then in third place Ott, Paddon, Jari-Matti and Meeke, then you have Elfyn, Esapekka and Sordo, behind them Breen, Lefebvre(he won the stage because he had better conditions than anyone and better tyre choice, not by driving fast), Ostberg. 

[SRD_SimVansevenant 863]

Fedemaisonnave said:

My opinion is that the ugliest rubbish and most boring car is the C3, the widebody isnt even near to be as agressive as the Fiesta,i20 and Yaris. I think that the i20 and Fiesta are really similar, Seb Ogier after driving the car he said "I really want yo race in this car" I think he said that in the post rally conference. So it cant be any bad, he has tested the Polo.
Then from the drivers view I think Thierry is the second behind Seb, then in third place Ott, Paddon, Jari-Matti and Meeke, then you have Elfyn, Esapekka and Sordo, behind them Breen, Lefebvre(he won the stage because he had better conditions than anyone and better tyre choice, not by driving fast), Ostberg. 

I must disagree with you on several points I'm afraid.
I think the C3 isn't the most boring.
Also the i20 and Fiesta are different. They look different and the i20 looks more planted, easier to handle.
As the drivers are concerned. Thierry showed great pace whilst driving comfortably and consistent. He was just so unlucky. I think he's in with a shot for that world title crown. Ogier had to drive with more risks. He didn't seem to be as comfortable as he was in the Polo yet, which is understandable. He'll make few more mistakes in the first few rallies and some will put him out of the rally. There's no way he can keep getting that lucky like he did in Monte.
Prediction: close battle between Neuville and Ogier with Ott, Paddon, Meeke, Sordo, Latvala, Breen and then the rest behind them.
Sordo might not go for wins in many rallies but he normally scores points consistently.

That's my opinion but please don't be scared to correct me. :lol:

[Dytut 89]

I believe Hyundai is making a clear push with Neuville this year, so I suspect that Paddon and Sordo are on strict orders to drive safe and bring home points. When Paddon crashed out on SS1 in Monte I gather Sordo was under orders to just bring it home safe and sound.

[RallyDriven 398]

Sordo is consistent, but consistently average. He won't be challenging for wins, but you can pretty much guarantee that he'll bring home manufacturers points on most rallies. I can't imagine that Hyundai would tell Paddon to reel anything in. 

Latvala i I think is past his best unfortunately. He's still good, but I don't think he's a championship contender anymore. I rated Mikkelsen over him by a mile.

Breen has the least experience out of anyone remember, yet he's showing he can mix with the rest 

[Dytut 89]

Ford stuff: http://progressive.laola1.at/wrc/podcast/COL_ON_MSPORT_FORD.mp3

[FloatingGrass 0]

RallyDriven said:

Latvala i I think is past his best unfortunately. He's still good, but I don't think he's a championship contender anymore. I rated Mikkelsen over him by a mile.

I'm the absolute biggest Latvala fanboy in the world, and it hurts me to even think about that. Honestly, I've considered that before, thinking that maybe 2013/2014 were his last years in which he had a shot at the title and he blew it, but I try really really hard to make myself believe he still has a chance. His last two years were abysmal as he dropped out of the championship race in the first four rallies of the year, and even though that took away valuable time in his career, I feel that if he can get his head under control and try to be just a little more consistent, he could be a championship contender next year with the upgraded Yaris, if not this year.

Looking back at the ages of championship winners, Loeb was 30 when he won his first championship in 2004, Ogier was 29 and Gronholm 31, like Makinen. Latvala is 31, so I think he's about ready to win a championship, and he's got some years in him still.

[RallyDriven 398]

Hope you're right, I like latvala too! There aren't really any drivers that I don't like or wouldn't want to win to be honest!

[pigloaf 236]

RallyDriven said:

I can't imagine that Hyundai would tell Paddon to reel anything in. 

Agreed. Paddon is for unleashing, not reeling in  :D

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KIpwxOLlOwk

[YoMrWhite 11]

FloatingGrass said:

RallyDriven said:

Latvala i I think is past his best unfortunately. He's still good, but I don't think he's a championship contender anymore. I rated Mikkelsen over him by a mile.

I'm the absolute biggest Latvala fanboy in the world, and it hurts me to even think about that. Honestly, I've considered that before, thinking that maybe 2013/2014 were his last years in which he had a shot at the title and he blew it, but I try really really hard to make myself believe he still has a chance. His last two years were abysmal as he dropped out of the championship race in the first four rallies of the year, and even though that took away valuable time in his career, I feel that if he can get his head under control and try to be just a little more consistent, he could be a championship contender next year with the upgraded Yaris, if not this year.

Looking back at the ages of championship winners, Loeb was 30 when he won his first championship in 2004, Ogier was 29 and Gronholm 31, like Makinen. Latvala is 31, so I think he's about ready to win a championship, and he's got some years in him still.

Röhrl was 33, Waldegaard 36, Blomqvist 38, Mikkola 41... Latvala has lots of time.

[Dytut 89]

Latvala has been in the WRC so long that I forget that he's still quite young :-)
Who knows, maybe he can learn something this year when he really has the focus of getting the car home instead of pushing and crashing all the time. He's always had the pace, but he always managed to crash or break the car somehow (and no, it's not bad luck when it happens all the time). Maybe a year of solid top 5 places and no crashes is what he needs.

[Dytut 89]

The moment before impact. The pipe wasn't the culprit, that concrete slab was what did it. 

[Rallycameraman 241]

I uploaded my iPhone videos from Monte Carlo to the Tube of You.

https://youtu.be/iiHSY0i4mEQ

[Dytut 89]

"Oh easy Kris you bastard" - Paul Nagle just before Meekes crash on friday.

[ALF 8]

Yaris anti-lag sound is so brutal. Miles ahead from the others, when it comes to car/engine sound.

[F2CMaDMaXX 505]

Yeah, been watching more fan videos from last week, Yarris has some brutal tweeting and screeching (brakes) going on :)

[Dytut 89]

Some testing videos are starting to appear from Sweden. Gotta say that the Yaris looks real good on the snow!

[bogani 756]

Let's hope there will be plenty of snow.

[Dytut 89]

Gotta admit I have no idea how the weather has been around Torsby. Think it's been decently cold and snowy, hasn't it?

Edit: checked some local news, apparently the roads are looking good with cold nights the last month. Might not be that much snow, but as long as the roads are frozen the stages are fine.

[tbtstt 2,387]

Can't wait for Sweden. More 2017 specification cars in the mix, going to be really interesting to see how Ostberg fares in the Fiesta. 

[versedi 39]

If Sweden lacks snow we can organize it in Poland, 30 cm's and still snowing badly. :P

[RallyDriven 398]

Bertelli is also back in the old fiesta, and the other regular in the mini who's name I forget. Lefeberverer and Breen are switching cars, I hope Craig has a good rally, and proves he's worthy of the seat and the C3. 

Anyone else find find it odd that M-sport have made 4 fiestas in the time it's taken Citroen to make 2 C3's? Especially since they weren't even competing properly last year!