real life 2020 FIA World Rally Championship

[YoMrWhite 11]

Jepsertti said:

Porkhammer said:

Alf72 said:

For me, i20 is the best looking car and Yaris has the best engine sound. C3 is my second best looking car, very close to i20.

I hate all of them equally.

Almost flagged for abuse :D

Well, none of the recent cars is what you could call beautiful. No flowing lines, no elegance, only pure functionality.

But if you look back at the class of 86, those cars were mostly really really... ugly. The Quattro, the S4 and the Metro looked brutish, the Peugeot had that monstrous wing, only the Ford RS200 looked somewhat more refined. But it was what they did on the stages that made them cool and created a beauty of its own.

So let's hope the current cars can create some kind of that excitement, too. And don't get banned...

[ALF 8]

There's no Rally car more beautiful than Impreza S4/S5. No matter at what angle you look at it, it's just perfect <3

[versedi 39]

1/3 Following @JKCoDriver’s news I’m delighted to finally confirm that I’ll take up the mantle of co-driving for @HaydenPaddon pic.twitter.com/qvnrDpCH1W

— Seb Marshall (@sebmarshall) March 15, 2017

[RallyDriven 398]

It's a shame to see Hayden and John go their separate ways (in the car anyway), they've been together a long time. But hopefully it will be a relatively easy transition, as I imagine they've known eachother for a while being in the same team

[Dytut 89]

https://www.motorsport.com/wrc/news/ogier-retains-mexico-result-after-gearbox-investigation-884375/

Ogiers gearbox found to be OK :-)

[tbtstt 2,385]

Dytut said:

https://www.motorsport.com/wrc/news/ogier-retains-mexico-result-after-gearbox-investigation-884375/

Ogiers gearbox found to be OK :-)

I would hate to see any driver punished for something that was out of their hands, but a part of me was hoping that they would penalize him so he would have to drive even harder to regain those points!

[Dytut 89]

tbtstt said:

Dytut said:

https://www.motorsport.com/wrc/news/ogier-retains-mexico-result-after-gearbox-investigation-884375/

Ogiers gearbox found to be OK :-)

I would hate to see any driver punished for something that was out of their hands, but a part of me was hoping that they would penalize him so he would have to drive even harder to regain those points!

To be quite honest a part of me was hoping for that aswell. Ogier hunting from behind would be a nice change of pace instead. Now he's back at the lead, where he can drive comfortably as long as he beats the 2nd place in the championship. And tactical driving like that is one of his major strengths.

[tbtstt 2,385]

Dytut said:

tbtstt said:

Dytut said:

https://www.motorsport.com/wrc/news/ogier-retains-mexico-result-after-gearbox-investigation-884375/

Ogiers gearbox found to be OK :-)

I would hate to see any driver punished for something that was out of their hands, but a part of me was hoping that they would penalize him so he would have to drive even harder to regain those points!

To be quite honest a part of me was hoping for that aswell. Ogier hunting from behind would be a nice change of pace instead. Now he's back at the lead, where he can drive comfortably as long as he beats the 2nd place in the championship. And tactical driving like that is one of his major strengths.

Absolutely. The moments where Ogier has been under pressure and had to drive on the limit have been spectacular to watch. As you say, I'd like to see that Ogier rather than comfortable driving Ogier!

[sqdstr 107]

Just wait untill Neuville starts to close in on 1st place in championship, I think 3rd place + powerstage win in Mexico was the boost he needed

[Dytut 89]

I sure hope the other drivers will rise to the challenge and keep consistent performances faster than Ogier. Because that's what they need now, not only beating him but to consistently outscore him.

[YoMrWhite 11]

Let's make a prediction for Corsica: M-Sport was 1st and 3rd in Monte Carlo, 2nd and 3rd in Sweden, 2nd and 4th in Mexico. That points clearly to a 3rd and 4th finish. Anyone holding that bet?

[sqdstr 107]

YoMrWhite said:

Let's make a prediction for Corsica: M-Sport was 1st and 3rd in Monte Carlo, 2nd and 3rd in Sweden, 2nd and 4th in Mexico. That points clearly to a 3rd and 4th finish. Anyone holding that bet?

3rd & 5th

[ALF 8]

1st - Neuville
2nd - Meeke
3rd - Latvala
4th - Tanak
Ogier will crash and are forced to retire.

[Dytut 89]

I think... Tänak 2nd and Ogier DNF due to mechanical failure.

So full predictions:

1. Latvala - surprise MFers!
2. Tänak
3. Neuville
4. Breen
5. Sordo
6. Meeke - after a crash

[Jepsertti 26]

I want to take a big risk this time with my predictions:

1. Breen
2. Neuville
3. Ogier
4. Tänak
5. Sordo
6. Latvala / Meeke / Paddon

[Scyy 0]

I'm going to be boring and say it's going to be another Ogier win.  
1.Ogier
2.Neuville
3.Sordo (tarmac is definitely his best surface)
4.Latvala
5.Tanak
6.Meeke, Breen or Paddon.
I would like Latvala to finish higher but I'm unsure how the Yaris will be on a full tarmac event.  I'm also going to be very interested to see how the c3 performs on a full tarmac event.

[YoMrWhite 11]

Here's my complete one:

1. Neuville

2. Sordo

3. Ogier

4. Evans

5. Breen

Paddon and the Toyotas behind, Tanak, Meeke and Lefebvre out.

[versedi 39]

I'd really, really like to finally see one of Hyundai's on top position this time! 

Paddon isn't really blasting on tarmacs yet so my money goes for Neuville.
Sordo has a lot of expierence on tarmac and can deliver a stable result - 3rd place would be nice to see. 

2nd - Ogier. 

[juu1ius 5]

hm, tough one tbh. Corsica Rally means crucial brake and tire management, and Ogier is best at it. Neuville has been really good in Corsica, but he's starting waaaaay back in the line. 3rd place is even harder imo - Sordo should be best pick, but there are so many  others. Meek is always a dark horse, Breen had decent run last year, Lefebre should be fast on tarmac. Evans if the conditions suits for Dmack. Tänak had decent run as long as the tires were working and this year he's also benefiting from starting position. I don't see Toyota in the top - in Mexico they had issues with brakes cooling and if I remember correctly, Ogier choose M-Sport over Toyota based on tarmac tests. Also most of the their testing were done on gravel?
1. Neuville - 4 out of 4 would be the best start for the series 
2. Ogier - can't but him any lower, only technical issues will stop him and he has been so lucky compared his teammates
3. Sordo - safe bet
4. Tänak - because i'm Estonian ;)
5. Breen /\ because of that  :D

[versedi 39]

Some comparison from tests, unfortunately Meeke had tests in wet conditions, but man he was blasting fast - Neuville was too. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z3ryeA1vyIo&index=1&list=PLVyRAt2cxbxvoux6BK_G8NYe1sPHwWZYu

[sqdstr 107]

Not really WRC related but Volkswagen announced they plan to start testing the new Polo R5 in september.

http://www.wrc.com/en/wrc-2/news/2017/march/polo-r5/page/4399--51-51-.html

[Dytut 89]

So from testing I have to say... I have no idea. They all looked bloody fast. The Citroëns looked a bit twitchy still, so I wager Meeke crashes out again. 

[Scyy 0]

Dytut said:

So from testing I have to say... I have no idea. They all looked bloody fast. The Citroëns looked a bit twitchy still, so I wager Meeke crashes out again. 

Hate to say it but I've got a feeling that's how it's going to go as well. I would love for us to be proven wrong though.

[Dytut 89]

Shakedown usually doesn't say much, but here it is:

https://twitter.com/HMSGOfficial/status/849895105477713920

Looks like we'd suspect, everyone pretty close except for Evans, Lefebvre and Hänninen.

I'd write up Paddon as a dark horse for Corsica. He seems to be in a good mood, and I saw some onboards from his R5 run in San Remo and it looked quite good. 

So final predictions....

1. Neuville
2. Latvala
3. Ogier

[tbtstt 2,385]

Very close times so, as already said above, impossible to say at this stage! Can't wait to see these cars going at it again this weekend, I'm so pleased that the WRC has already become such gripping viewing!