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I was right on every point last year (Citroen winning, Peugeot falling on their face, Subaru not being able to match the Citroen, etc...) so here's this year's preview thread, only two weeks away from Rally Monte Carlo. Loads of driver changes, this year. No one posted the pictures of their new cars, so I'm going with whatever I can find that's newest.
The Teams
Citroën
Drivers: Sebastien Loeb, François Duval
Defending champions, they were rumored to enter the all new C4 near the end of the season, but that backfired with the announce of the PSA group (Peugeot-Citroen) quitting WRC at the end of 06, so they're stuck with the old Xsara for another year. Aside Ford, I doubt anyone can get close, this year again.
Ford
Drivers: Toni Gardemeister, Roman Kresta
Two new driver teams at Ford, which could be a disadvantage for them. Ultra quick on tarmac at the end of the season, they could be the surprise of '05. Like I said, currently, the driver's line-up looks like the weak point.
Mitsubishi
Drivers: Harri Rovanpera, Gilles Panizzi
Not much to say about Mitsubishi, for in the past few years they've been quasi-inexistent. Disaster can't even come close to describing the new Cedia based Lancer, which has been in competition since late '01 (back then as the EVO VII). Rovanpera's hit or miss, Panizzi strong on tarmac... too bad the car won't come close to matching their talent.
Peugeot
Drivers: Marcus Gronholm, Markko Martin.
Martin pretty much got ***** slapped by Ford at the end of the season, after performing extremely well. No doubt he'll look for revenge. If Peugeot can get rid of the power steering and transmission troubles that plagued them through the year, they'll be strong, strong contenders for the title.
Skoda
Drivers: Armin Schwarz, and a bunch of others.
Skoda has at least 7 different drivers, 6 of which will drive the team's second car. A bit of a mess, really. The car's not all that competitive, either, in fact it really isn't. They're supposed to run full time this year, at the bottom of the pit, with Mitsubishi and the faster GroupN cars...
Subaru
Drivers: Petter Solberg, Stephane Sarrazin, Chris Atkinson
Not a whole lot to say... I suspect the car will be mainly similar to the 04 car, which was one of the quickest, if not the quickest. Hopefully Solberg's ran out of bad luck, and Sarrazin will show what he's worth on tarmac. Never heard of Atkinson, so I can't comment on him.
My pick for the championship: Markko Martin, providing the 307 works well this year.
See you in two weeks!
The Teams
Citroën
Drivers: Sebastien Loeb, François Duval
Defending champions, they were rumored to enter the all new C4 near the end of the season, but that backfired with the announce of the PSA group (Peugeot-Citroen) quitting WRC at the end of 06, so they're stuck with the old Xsara for another year. Aside Ford, I doubt anyone can get close, this year again.
Ford
Drivers: Toni Gardemeister, Roman Kresta
Two new driver teams at Ford, which could be a disadvantage for them. Ultra quick on tarmac at the end of the season, they could be the surprise of '05. Like I said, currently, the driver's line-up looks like the weak point.
Mitsubishi
Drivers: Harri Rovanpera, Gilles Panizzi
Not much to say about Mitsubishi, for in the past few years they've been quasi-inexistent. Disaster can't even come close to describing the new Cedia based Lancer, which has been in competition since late '01 (back then as the EVO VII). Rovanpera's hit or miss, Panizzi strong on tarmac... too bad the car won't come close to matching their talent.
Peugeot
Drivers: Marcus Gronholm, Markko Martin.
Martin pretty much got ***** slapped by Ford at the end of the season, after performing extremely well. No doubt he'll look for revenge. If Peugeot can get rid of the power steering and transmission troubles that plagued them through the year, they'll be strong, strong contenders for the title.
Skoda
Drivers: Armin Schwarz, and a bunch of others.
Skoda has at least 7 different drivers, 6 of which will drive the team's second car. A bit of a mess, really. The car's not all that competitive, either, in fact it really isn't. They're supposed to run full time this year, at the bottom of the pit, with Mitsubishi and the faster GroupN cars...
Subaru
Drivers: Petter Solberg, Stephane Sarrazin, Chris Atkinson
Not a whole lot to say... I suspect the car will be mainly similar to the 04 car, which was one of the quickest, if not the quickest. Hopefully Solberg's ran out of bad luck, and Sarrazin will show what he's worth on tarmac. Never heard of Atkinson, so I can't comment on him.
My pick for the championship: Markko Martin, providing the 307 works well this year.
See you in two weeks!
