2016 WRC Season

[WhiskeyTangoFoxtrot]

First shakedown roll of the 2016 Rally Finland by Yazeed Al-Rajhi!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZrDRymKF5Uk

[PsoR]

Yazeed soft rolled and H.Ptaszek small mistake. Hmmm Rally Finland is comming

[WhiskeyTangoFoxtrot]

Oh... It was a really good fight between Meeke and Tänak but something broke in Tänak's car, putting Meeke in a clear lead. His difference to Latvala is 18,8 seconds after SS6. It's a lot of time to catch, particularly in this rally, but Latvala will certainly give it all that he's got. This will get interesting.

[WhiskeyTangoFoxtrot]

During the second day of the rally, Latvala has not been able to catch Meeke - quite the opposite, in fact, as the Northern Irelander has extended his lead to 41 seconds. Ireland and the UK are well represented in the top-3, anyway, since Craig Breen has crept up to 3rd place. However, Ott Tänak has been on a mighty charge all day and has already plowed his way into 4th, and is now 11,5 seconds behind the final podium position.

Neuville, Paddon and Östberg are not far behind Tänak, meaning that there still plenty of good fighting going on. Somewhat disappointingly, Andreas Mikkelsen is only 8th, and looks to be missing a great opportunity to cut down some of Sébastien Ogiér's championship lead, given that the champion got stuck in a ditch and is out of the points.

Esapekka Lappi has been dominating WRC-2, followed by Teemu Suninen who seems to be competing for 10th place in the overall standings with Kevin Abbring - a bit embarrassing for the WRC driver.

The second time through Ouninpohja took a worrying turn as Lorenzo Bertelli crashed out in spectacular fashion and his unconcious co-driver Simone Scattolin was taken to the hospital in a helicopter. Thankfully, Scattolin is okay. Also Eric Camilli had a crash that forced him to retire.

1. Kris Meeke Citroen 2.22.00,8
2. J-M.Latvala VW +41,0
3. Craig Breen Citroen +1.43,0
4. Ott Tänak Ford +1.54,5
5. Thierry Neuville Hyundai +2.00,9
6. Hayden Paddon Hyundai +2.03,6
7. Mads Östberg Ford +2.06,0
8. Andreas Mikkelsen VW +2.24,0

Highlights stages 11-15: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ENXnn7Ib_Zk

[MadRacer38]

Good to see Lappi heading the WRC 2 charge! Hopefully Scott Pedder can get into the top 10 (in wrc2). Needs to make up 28sec though...

[WhiskeyTangoFoxtrot]

The WRC news we've all been waiting for: YLE reports that Juho Hänninen and Esapekka Lappi will be driving a full season for Toyota GAZOO Racing in 2017. This is what the 2017 line-up looks like right now:

Citroën WRT: Kris Meeke / TBA / TBA
Hyundai WRT: Hayden Paddon / Dani Sordo / TBA
DMACK WRT: TBA / TBA
M-Sport WRT: Eric Camilli / TBA
Toyota GAZOO Racing: Juho Hänninen / Esapekka Lappi / TBA
Volkswagen Motorsport: Sébastien Ogiér / Jari-Matti Latvala / Andreas Mikkelsen

[PsoR]

DMACK WRT: Tanak / TBA

[MadRacer38]

Evans to get back into a WRC car?

[WhiskeyTangoFoxtrot]

Evans deserves to be back in a WRC car, in my opinion. Tänak / Evans at DMACK would be quite a nice combination - they might prove a tough challenge to M-Sport themselves.

[MadRacer38]

Evans deserves to be back in a WRC car, in my opinion. Tänak / Evans at DMACK would be quite a nice combination - they might prove a tough challenge to M-Sport themselves.

I completely agree.

Needs to be some more teams/manufacturers because are too many good drivers at the moment lol.

[WhiskeyTangoFoxtrot]

Rally GB was not much in the headlines, but there were some interesting things happening. For one, Ott Tänak once again came frustratingly close to winning, staying on Sebastién Ogiér's tail throughout the event. DMACK has scored the results for Ford this year, and Tänak actually still has a fair chance to pass M-Sport's Mads Östberg in the standings. It will be very exciting to see what happens next year when DMACK expands into a two-car operation!

Thierry Neuville took yet another podium to continue Hyundai's great season, and with Andreas Mikkelsen finishing 12th with two power stage points, he now looks like the favourite to take second in the drivers' championship. Meanwhile, Jari-Matti Latvala's misery continued with technical issues that left him only seventh; he's sitting sixth in the standings which is a colossal disappointment with one rally to go.

The stakes were high in WRC-2 where Teemu Suninen had a chance to take the championship. However, Esapekka Lappi put in a convincing performance - the rear of his car looked totally wrecked, yet had no effect on his driving - and won despite a strong challenge from Pontus Tidemand. He now looks set to take the title in Australia where Suninen will not be taking part.

[WhiskeyTangoFoxtrot]

VW's announcement of withdrawal from the WRC has really shaken up this silly season! All of a sudden Sébastien Ogiér is without a drive, along with Andreas Mikkelsen and Jari-Matti Latvala. Who will end up where, and will some of the drivers who already have a deal be disappointed?

Citroën's line-up is locked with Kris Meeke, Stéphane Lefebvre and Craig Breen. This would certainly be a lucrative option for the world champion, and without a doubt Citroën could reach some deal with one of its drivers to make room for him.

The same goes for Hyundai who have got Neuville, Paddon and Sordo signed. This could be a very good option as they have been the second best team this season and possess a lot of potential.

Then there's Toyota - could they potentially do what VW did and start winning right away? Despite earlier rumours about Esapekka Lappi being signed, there are still two seats available, although only one of them is full-time. I think they might pick Jari-Matti Latvala, though, to keep things Finnish.

With Camilli under contract, M-Sport has one available seat; I remember some rumours from the past involving Malcolm Wilson and Ogiér, but somehow I see this as a more likely destination for Mikkelsen. Then there's DMACK - I know it sounds like a crazy idea, but we have seen that those tyres have potential, and this season they have been closer to winning than M-Sport.

My predictions:

Citroën WRT

Sébastien Ogiér
Kris Meeke
Stéphane Lefebvre

Hyundai WRT

Thierry Neuville
Hayden Paddon
Dani Sordo

DMACK WRT

Ott Tänak
Craig Breen

M-Sport WRT

Andreas Mikkelsen
Eric Camilli

Toyota GAZOO Racing

Jari-Matti Latvala
Juho Hänninen
Mads Östberg

In this scenario, I see Citroën making some kind of a deal to shift Breen to DMACK while Toyota snatches one guy who can win rallies, the other two bringing in steady points and not wrecking the car. M-Sport grabs Mikkelsen. What do you think?

[Quiksilver]

VW will continue developing an R5 car that customers can buy for the 2018 season.

[MadRacer38]

Will Ogier take a pay cut to stay in WRC or will he shift to another series would be the question I'd ask.

World RX is quickly gaining ground and with VW staying in that, maybe Ogier will stay as VW factory driver, running World RX and selected TCR rounds with the potential to be loaned out for Dakar...?

It's left field, but why not? He has nothing to gain from staying WRC unless he believes he can top Loeb's records.
As good as he is, I don't think that will happen...at least not for a very long time.

Latvala or Lappi. One is proven, very fast but tends to find his car being scavanged for spares as often/more often then he wins (unfortunately #gojari!) and the other is looking to step up and shows a lot of promise but will take time to develop...tough call.

I'm guessing an all Norwegian line-up for DMACK (Otsberg and Mikkelsen), unless I missed Tanak being locked in???

Tanak alongside Camilli (poor Evans) and Hyundai/Citroen unchanged.

It's a crazy sequence of events and tough to follow, but thats what happens when a big gun team pulls the plug. WEC and Audi are in the same boat...the best drivers and nowhere to drive.