[RingBredE90]

Looks like we don't have a WRC thread yet, so let it begin. Rally Monte Carlo is only a month away, this is what i love about WRC. They only have 13 rallies per year, but the winter break is very short. So some topics to discuss....

- Ford has committed to WRC for at least 2 more years
- Petter Solberg is back at Ford after 12 years!!
- Hirvonen to partner Loeb at Citroen
- VW & Ogier (driving a Skoda S2000 in 2011)
- And how will our beloved Mini do in 2012?

Here are the standing after round 4

Drivers:
1. Sebastien Loeb 66
2. Petter Solberg 62
3. Mads Ostberg 53
4. Mikko Hirvonen 50
5. Evgeny Novikov 39
6. Jari-Matti Latvala 28
7. Dani Sordo 21
8. Nasser Al-Attiyah 20
9. Ott Tanak 15
10. Martin Prokop 10

Discuss......

[///McRae]

With VW and Mini in the picture, Hirvonen to Citroen and Solberg to Ford, this could be the most interesting WRC season in years, which isn't saying much, considering it has been a yawnfest since 2005. Hopefully, we are starting to move into a new era, where any one of a number of drivers could win any given event, like it was throughout the 90's.

And as for the Monte....Francois Delecour FTW!

[RingBredE90]

Yeah i was never a fan of Delecour but it will be cool to see him back, like Kankkunen a few years ago in rally Finland!

Should be a good season, and there is rumors that Toyota will be back in 2013, Saab possibly too.

[Singletrack]

Haven't watched in years I'm sad to say. Is Loeb still beating the living shit out of everyone?

[Tarmac_E46_M3]

I'm not so sure the Mini WRC team will dominate 100% in 2012... but i think they have a good chance of coming in and kicking some ass.

they did amazing in 2011, they barely did any races, compared to everyone else, and they were still able to place decently well based on their total points. Sordo is no joke, he joined Mini to show people he's not a force to be messed with. I think Meeks will come back strong; most of his errors, in the rallies, were his car breaking down. Not sure why, since Sordo's car was strong all year.

I know the road cars are so different from the WRC cars, but it almost makes me want to pick up a Mini Countryman All4. I love AWD and this car shows to be a well rounded car.

Or I can go back to STIs....

[RingBredE90]

Singletrack yes Loeb is STILL the champion, 8 years running, but its been a close fight the last few years.

Bad news for Mini, they do not want to commit to WRC until this legal saga is dealt with, concerning North One Sport. They have missed the deadline to register as a manufacturer already, although FIA may bend the rules to allow them to register before Monte Carlo.

[Zoli007]

Is there still no where to watch on TV the races this year? I miss when speed used to cover the races.

Also, I miss Subaru and Mitsubishi having factory teams.

Any chance they will bring back a sort of Group B? that would be amazing. They could run ridiculous power back in the 80s when safety was non-existant but they cant run it it now with the amazing safety standards they have?

[Tarmac_E46_M3]

Originally Posted by Zoli007

Is there still no where to watch on TV the races this year? I miss when speed used to cover the races.

Also, I miss Subaru and Mitsubishi having factory teams.

Any chance they will bring back a sort of Group B? that would be amazing. They could run ridiculous power back in the 80s when safety was non-existant but they cant run it it now with the amazing safety standards they have?

HistoryHD was covering it for a bit, in 09. I don't know about now, I don't watch TV that often.

Subaru WRT FTW!

Part of the safety regulations was to tune down the cars... people were dying!

[RingBredE90]

They do not show it on TV in Canada, not sure about the States. However everything can be downloaded and watched in HD

Motors TV covers it, as well as ONE HD. Thanks god for torrents!

[RingBredE90]

Kris Meeke is OUT of Rally Monte Carlo due to financial reasons Mini has replaced him with Pierre Campana who is paying for his drive...i guess BMW does not want to invest very much in to its WRC program, meaning the funds will probably not be there to challenge Citroen and Ford for the title.

[BrokenVert]

Originally Posted by Singletrack

Haven't watched in years I'm sad to say. Is Loeb still beating the living shit out of everyone?

ohh yeah he is. While I was at the Champs de Leysies a few weeks back (I know I speeled it wrong, but whatever im not French) I walking in the Citroen "store" there and they had the WRC DS3 on display, next to a 3 meter tall plaque of all of their's and Loeb's wins...it really put the dominance in prospective.



Bonus for those who are interested, Peugeot had the 908 and Renault had the RB7 on display in their stores...it was a good day to be in Paris.

[///McRae]

Originally Posted by RingBredE90

Kris Meeke is OUT of Rally Monte Carlo due to financial reasons Mini has replaced him with Pierre Campana who is paying for his drive...i guess BMW does not want to invest very much in to its WRC program, meaning the funds will probably not be there to challenge Citroen and Ford for the title.

This is a disgraceful decision and really sums up the problems within the WRC today. BMW and Prodrive ought to be ashamed of themselves. The irony is that BMW were close to pulling out of the 2012 season because of the arrest of Antonov (owner of WRC global promoter North One), with a BMW insider being quoted in the press as saying that the FIA could not expect a company like BMW to be involved in the WRC under these circumstances. After receiving assurances from the FIA, BMW appears to have committed, but without sufficient funds to not have the second factory seat on the opening event going to that antithesis of professional racing, the paying driver. Really, really amateur stuff.

[RingBredE90]

I read today that BMW's budget is about 20 times higher for 2012 for their DTM program than their WRC program. You would still not expect a company like BMW to cheap out like that on WRC and hire a pay driver, its embarrassing. That is something a private team would do. Also, they would get a lot more world wide exposure in WRC, even though they are running Mini's

[MikeyV]

Originally Posted by Zoli007

Any chance they will bring back a sort of Group B? that would be amazing. They could run ridiculous power back in the 80s when safety was non-existant but they cant run it it now with the amazing safety standards they have?

Funny thing, todays WRC cars are almost like the Group S cars which were going to take over from Group B in the late 80's. The WRC car is faster than the Group B cars even with half the power.

I just can't see Loeb losing the title in 2012, he's simply the best most consistance driver in the world today, not just in the WRC but in any series.

[///McRae]

Looks like Mini has now committed for 2012, but with apparently little or no funding from BMW, since only one factory driver will be run full time by the team. Not good news for Prodrive or Kris Meeke.

On a more positive note, it appears that Eurosport will be stepping in to take over TV coverage and promotion of the WRC, with the FIA having cancelled the North One contract due to the Antonov mess. Good news, but certainly the WRC could have done without all this negative publicity.

[RingBredE90]

Originally Posted by ralhou

Looks like Mini has now committed for 2012, but with apparently little or no funding from BMW, since only one factory driver will be run full time by the team. Not good news for Prodrive or Kris Meeke.

On a more positive note, it appears that Eurosport will be stepping in to take over TV coverage and promotion of the WRC, with the FIA having cancelled the North One contract due to the Antonov mess. Good news, but certainly the WRC could have done without all this negative publicity.

I preferred the ONEHD coverage with Paul King.

I heard Mini might only participate in 7 rallies, 5 Europe and 2 long hauls. God i hope this is not true. This whole fiasco is hurting both Mini and BMW's image.

[///McRae]

FIA has just sent out an official press release confirming that the North One contract has been terminated with immediate effect, and providing assurances that they are working as hard as they can to make sure the 2012 WRC will go ahead as planned.

[Robin_NL]

[RingBredE90]

And we have one more team, GO FAST Energy team, whos drivers will be Henning Solberg an Mathew Wilson. The team will be run by M-Sport. Gonna be one of the best seasons in a long time!

[BrokenVert]

Live ticker.

http://www.motorstv.com/car/rally/wr...lly-2012-day-1


Anyone have a video site I can use for streaming. Its not on iPlayer, does Sky have WRC?

[Tarmac_E46_M3]

sordo is doing amazing. I really didn't expect that. Solberg is also doing really well, compared to last year.

[RingBredE90]

Originally Posted by Tarmac_E46_M3

sordo is doing amazing. I really didn't expect that. Solberg is also doing really well, compared to last year.

Well Solberg is back in a manufacturer team. He will do a lot better this year than the past 3 years when he was running his own team. Ford has a large budget, and Solberg can focus on driving rather than managing the team.

As for Sordo, he has always done well on tarmac. If it was no for Loeb, he would have won a few tarmac rallies in his career. Should be a great season.