2021 Rallying

[BertMk2]

Suninen properly bent it!

https://twitter.com/rallyemag/status...81754921537538

[tbtstt]

Gutted for Teemu and M-Sport. The Fiesta is my favourite car of the field, but I would be surprised to see it on the podium this year. Suninen looked to have immense pace, but seemed to push way too hard too early.

Now all hopes for the Fiesta are in the hands of Greensmith...

[justracing]

Originally Posted by BertMk2

Suninen properly bent it!

https://twitter.com/rallyemag/status...81754921537538

Love one of the twitter comments 'Vatanen would have driven onto the road below and continued', (I have corrected the grammar)
Pretty unlucky really, he just caught some snow that had pulled onto the road and slid wide into the bank which flipped him over. Frightening to watch in real time as he disappeared off the road in to the trees.

[justracing]

I thought Elfin made a good fist of it in the first 2 stages but young Rovanpera is a real talent, would be great to see some proper conditions stages particularly with so many daylight stages.

[justracing]

Well anything can happen but Ogier is supreme again leading Elfin by 13 seconds going into the last day and once again a retirement for Tanak. Toyota looking very strong under the new leadership.

[crossfades]

Originally Posted by justracing

Well anything can happen but Ogier is supreme again leading Elfin by 13 seconds going into the last day and once again a retirement for Tanak. Toyota looking very strong under the new leadership.

I don't think Latvala can be credited for it, just the first event after all. Hyundai seemed to struggle, even Sordo. Neuville's co-driver change was quite a gamble and Tänak's unfortunate retirement also made things worse for Hyundai.

[BertMk2]

Originally Posted by crossfades

I don't think Latvala can be credited for it, just the first event after all.

Agreed - he's not been in the position long and the team he's taken on were the class of the field last season so it's too early to judge Latavla as team boss. Still weird to see him there and not competing though!

Originally Posted by crossfades

Hyundai seemed to struggle, even Sordo. Neuville's co-driver change was quite a gamble and Tänak's unfortunate retirement also made things worse for Hyundai.

The Hyundai drivers all seemed to be complaining about the same thing - just a lack of confidence in the 'feel' they were getting from the car. I still don't really understand Neuville changing his co-driver so close to the start of the season (and with no testing) - does anyone know why he changed co-driver?

[crossfades]

Originally Posted by BertMk2

Agreed - he's not been in the position long and the team he's taken on were the class of the field last season so it's too early to judge Latavla as team boss. Still weird to see him there and not competing though!

The Hyundai drivers all seemed to be complaining about the same thing - just a lack of confidence in the 'feel' they were getting from the car. I still don't really understand Neuville changing his co-driver so close to the start of the season (and with no testing) - does anyone know why he changed co-driver?

Apparently there was a fallout between Toyota and Mäkinen. As for Latvala, he was aiming at a future comeback to WRC last year but perhaps he realised there was little hope.

Swedish expert commentator Jonas Kruse talked about a rumour where Gilsoul wanted to get paid on a monthly basis instead of per event, which Neuville refused.

[FIRE]

Isn't Mäkinen promoted to Toyota HQ in Cologne?

[crossfades]

Originally Posted by FIRE

Isn't Mäkinen promoted to Toyota HQ in Cologne?

Advisor, hardly better than the role he had.

https://dirtfish.com/rally/wrc/makin...f-wrc-program/

[FIRE]

Originally Posted by crossfades

Advisor, hardly better than the role he had.

https://dirtfish.com/rally/wrc/makin...f-wrc-program/

Sidelined is indeed a better description.

[SnoodyMcFlude]

Originally Posted by crossfades

Swedish expert commentator Jonas Kruse talked about a rumour where Gilsoul wanted to get paid on a monthly basis instead of per event, which Neuville refused.

I quite liked this

[FIRE]

Originally Posted by SnoodyMcFlude

I quite liked this

Is this real?

[SnoodyMcFlude]

Originally Posted by FIRE

Is this real?

Don't think so, the text doesn't wrap around properly. It is believable though, which doesn't reflect too well on Thierry

[BertMk2]

Originally Posted by crossfades

Swedish expert commentator Jonas Kruse talked about a rumour where Gilsoul wanted to get paid on a monthly basis instead of per event, which Neuville refused.

That seems like a very flimsy reason to split with a co-driver on the eve of the season. Why would when Gilsoul got paid make any difference to Neuville?

[FIRE]

Originally Posted by BertMk2

That seems like a very flimsy reason to split with a co-driver on the eve of the season. Why would when Gilsoul got paid make any difference to Neuville?

Neuville himself gets paid per event?
Maybe monthly paid means also a different contract between employee and employer? I don't know about labor laws in Belgium.

[crossfades]

I think it would matter since rallies might be cancelled because of covid, so a monthly pay would secure an influx of money no matter what. But this was just a rumour, though it's the only reason I've read or heard about for the split.

[SnoodyMcFlude]

Originally Posted by BertMk2

That seems like a very flimsy reason to split with a co-driver on the eve of the season. Why would when Gilsoul got paid make any difference to Neuville?

As above, if Thierry was being paid per rally then potentially he could be in an awkward position if rallies were cancelled...but I'm not convinced that drivers actually are paid per rally.

[S griffin]

Caught the highlights on ITV4 last night. Once again no one can top Ogier, although Evans gave a good account of himself. Roll on the proper snow of the Arctic Rally

[justracing]

Finland this coming weekend, live on BT Sport if you have it! Really hoping that Evans can keep up the pressure at the front.

[BertMk2]

Originally Posted by justracing

Finland this coming weekend, live on BT Sport if you have it! Really hoping that Evans can keep up the pressure at the front.

Really looking forward to this one - I love a proper snow rally

[SnoodyMcFlude]

Be interesting to see what young Solberg goes like in his first WRC car outing, hopefully a sensible drive to the finish

[BertMk2]

Originally Posted by SnoodyMcFlude

Be interesting to see what young Solberg goes like in his first WRC car outing, hopefully a sensible drive to the finish

Well - I think that went about as well as he could have hoped for - really impressive drive I thought.

The event as a whole was good I thought - great to see some proper 'full snow' conditions again with nice snowbanks at the sides of the stages. The onboard footage from the night stages was superb - you really get an impression of the speed and you can tell how much they're relying on their notes with the visibilty restricted.

I was also quite pleased to see the Hyundais being competitive - I was a bit worried after the Monte that it might be a season of Toyota dominance but maybe it'll depend more on surface and we'll see a close fight.

WRC2 was dominated by Lappi - it's a real shame he's not in one of the Fiesta WRCs, you get the impression he'd be closer to the pace than the other M-Sport drivers, they were largely anonymous again.

[FIRE]

Kalle Rovanperä youngest leader ever in championship?

[BertMk2]

Originally Posted by FIRE

Kalle Rovanperä youngest leader ever in championship?

Quite possibly. I think Rovanpera's drive got overshadowed a bit by the hype around Solberg but he was strong all weekend apart from one mistake, on the coverage they mentioned him being the favourite going into the event which I guess shows how highly regarded he is despite his age.