WRC 2011 Season

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timeatkuu
*WARNING: This thread will most probably be filled with discussion of the on going season. If you do not wish to spoil race results, do not read further. Race results will not be posted/updated in the main post. However, Power Stage results will be. You have been warned.*

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*This awesome banner has been so kindly supplied by Speedster502, whom started/ran the 2010 WRC thread​

Here's a little intro to the WRC for the new comers to the this amazing motorsport:

The 2011 WRC cars are powered by an 1.6L turbocharged engine that generates 300bhp, as opposed to the 2010 WRC cars and the many previous years prior being powered by a 2.0L turbocharged engine that generates the same power.

Also, the gearbox has been changed to a manually controlled sequential one, and electronic aids have been reduced.

Say goodbye to entries/privateer cars such as the Citroen C4, Ford Focus, Mitsubishi Evo, and Subaru STi. And say hello to the new faces of WRC - the Citroen DS3, and the Ford Fiesta.

Driving for Ford this year are of course their two main men, Mikko Hirvonen, and Jari-Mati Latvala.

Citroen will see the return of their Sebastien duo, Loeb and Ogier.

There are also 7 other Fiesta's competeting, including Ken Block, Henning Solberg, Mads Ostberg, and Per-Gunnar Andersson who has been funded by his fanclub. Citroen has provided DS3's for Petter Solberg, and Kimmi Raikkonen.

We'll be seeing Mini enter with their all-new Countryman in May, which will be driven by Chris Meek, and Danni Sordo.

Lastly, a newly added "Power Stage" has been added to each rally event. In this event, each driver will do a time trial for this stage, and the three fastest drivers gain championship points (1st = 3 points, 2nd = 2 points, and 3rd = 1 point). ​

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I'm just updating here with the new calendar for those who do not wish to look on the official website, open a new tab, leave gtplanet's page, etc.

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2011 WRC Calendar

ROUND 01: Rally Sweden 10 - 13 Feb : COMPLETED

ROUND 02: Rally Guanajuato Mexico 03 - 06 Mar : COMPLETED

ROUND 03: Vodafone Rally de Portugal 24 - 27 Mar : COMPLETED

ROUND 04: Jordan Rally 14 - 16 Apr : COMPLETED

ROUND 05: Rally d'Italia Sardegna 05 - 08 May : COMPLETED

ROUND 06: Rally Argentina 26 - 29 May

ROUND 07: Acropolis Rally of Greece 16 - 19 Jun

ROUND 08: Neste Oil Rally Finland 28 - 31 Jul

ROUND 09: ADAC Rally Deutschland 18 - 21 Aug

ROUND 10: Rally Australia 08 - 11 Sep

ROUND 11: Rallye de France 29 Sep - 02 Oct

ROUND 12: RACC Rally de Espana 20 - 23 Oct

ROUND 13: Wales Rally GB 10 - 13 Nov​

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2011 WRC Power Stage Results

Rally Sweden:
1st - Sebastien Ogier
2nd - Sebastien Loeb
3rd - Jari-Matti Latvala

Rally Guanajuato Mexico:
1st - Mikko Hirvonen
2nd - Sebastien Loeb
3rd - Petter Solberg

Vodafone Rally de Portugal:
1st - Sebastien Loeb
2nd - Jari-Matti Latvala
3rd - Sebastien Ogier


Jordan Rally:
1st - Sebastien Ogier
2nd - Mikko Hirvonen
3rd - Sebastien Loeb

Rally d'Italia Sardegna
1st - Mikko Hirvonen
2nd - Jari-Matti Latvala
3rd - Sebastien Loeb

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(Original Post - Sunday, February, 13, 2011 @ 2:21am):
Argh.. Damn it! The new season just kicked off this weekend, but I've no access to real Internet since I've just relocated for a new job...

Has anyone watched any footage yet? I can read the news and watch the latest videos from the website via my iPhone, but I really don't want to spoil it. Has the season kicked off to an exciting start?

I'm going to download and watch ASAP! Anyone else excited? I don't see a lot of threads going on in this sub-forum... *thumbs down*
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Yeah I've been watching it, there's daily highlight's every night for me on ESPN HD, and there's the live 'Powerstage' on this afternoon. So far I think the new cars are awesome, I'd prefer it if they hadn't quite reduced the technology in them as much, but alot has made them more spectacular. Such as sequential sticks instead of paddles and ban on active centre diffs meen the drivers have a lot more to do and the cars are more sideways through the corners.
 
I think the racing seems to be much closer, but the ruining aspect (for me atleast) is the coverage. I don't have ESPN therefore I have to watch it on Motors TV and the quality of the coverage I'm getting isn't great (pretty much all on-boards, but the cameras are set up so you can't actually see anything). It's ridiculous that NorthOneTV have got rid of their deal with Dave, whilst it wasn't amazing coverage, it was done relatively well and was on Freeview too.

That said, the racing is so close, can't believe that it could be pretty much any one of 5 people winning the rally today.

EDIT: Oh, and.

timeatkuu
I don't see a lot of threads other than F1 based threads going on in this sub-forum... *thumbs down*
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Fixed this for you.
 
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Did anyone see the clip of that guy (don't remember name) rolling his car off of a snow bank?
 
If it was an orange Fiesta it was Henning Solberg.
 
Bad luck for Petter... The snow dust blinded him in SS17. Had a chance for a podium, but boy :(
 
I've been keeping track with their Facebook updates. Also get updates from the Monster World Rally Team for Ken Block. He jumped up to 14th overall yesterday. Hopefully he has a good day today and picks up another spot or two.
 
Speedster502
... I have to watch it on Motors TV and the quality of the coverage I'm getting isn't great (pretty much all on-boards, but the cameras are set up so you can't actually see anything). It's ridiculous that NorthOneTV have got rid of their deal with Dave...
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The footage I download is from OneHD... I believe Dave is the commentator, he sounds exactly the same. I tried Motors TV rips, but I couldn't stand it. The OneHD rips are just 30 minute long "summaries" of the day. I'm pretty sure you know what I mean.

I live in Canada, and do not have Discovery HD as I don't want to pay extra for the subscription (I really don't watch a lot of cable), or the availability of a foreign broadcast to watch . So "illegally" downloading (its not illegal here! :p) is my only way of watching :)
 
Power stage and final results: Klick.

Good result for Ford, but this is of course a special rally so we can't really make any judgments if one or another make is stronger than another. Next rally, Mexico is a little bit special too with its high altitude, so I guess we'll have to wait until Portugal to really see if Ford and Citroen are equally competitive or if one is better than other.

I have to say, that I do like these new cars. They are much more spectacular. If they are a bit slower, who cares? They are much more fun to watch and listen. And the battle was really tight in this first event. 5 drivers inside 15s when the final day started.

Nice to see Kimi improving his pace and of course very impressive performance by Mads. He has some pure talent and it will be interesting to watch him in other rallies. Solid performance by Mikko and JML. I do think that without some of his mistakes, JML would won, he seemed faster than Mikko. Seb², again impressive with his limited snow experience. Of course I think Petter could've kept his position, but his co-driver drove the last stage because apparently Petter lost his driving license due high speeding in passage between special stages. And of course Loeb wasn't quite on his level after loosing so much time after first days sweeping and punctures on second day.

I was a bit disappointed on PG's performance, I expected better from him in his home rally. He should done what Mads did. And Wilson. Oh boy, is it his 6th full season in WRC? Wouldn't it be time to finally replace him with a competitive driver. There is several drivers with less experience beating him all the time (even Kimi, not to mention Ostberg and Ogier who are from another planet pace-wise). Matthew was battling with Sandell who was driving S2000 car and Al-Qassimi who drives rally for a hobby. They really need to replace him with a driver that can do the same as Ostberg did in Sweden. Mix up the pack and take some points from Citroen drivers. There would be plenty of better choices, like PG and Ketomaa only to name few.

I'm looking forward for Mexico. It's nice that the battle is quite widely open at this point and Loeb isn't running away in points already now! Let's hope for an interesting and tight season. That is what WRC really needs.
 
Great result for Mikko. Maybe he can keep it up after the disappointment of last season and coming so close in 09.

Don't have an internet connection at home, or any of the channels that show rally highlights.

I just made a fool of myself in an internet cafe when I saw that Mikko had won. ;) Totally worth it.
 
R1600Turbo
14th for Block. Not too shabby.
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Not too shabby at all for someone who hadn't driven a snow rally, or the new car until a few days prior to the event.

Promising start to the season for WRC, I hope it stays this close throughout. 👍
 
Speedster502
Not too shabby at all for someone who hadn't driven a snow rally, or the new car until a few days prior to the event.
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He has driven in a snow rally here in the USA, but it was his first time doing a snow rally on studded tires. (not allowed in Rally America) He did win the Colins Crest award for the weekend though. :dopey:
 
R1600Turbo
He has driven in a snow rally here in the USA, but it was his first time doing a snow rally on studded tires. (not allowed in Rally America) He did win the Colins Crest award for the weekend though. :dopey:
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Haha, well I was close enough :p

I must say I really like both the DS3 and Fiesta though, they look really cool. Particularly liking the livery on Kimi's DS3 it just looks mean!

439x.jpg


:drool:
 
Mikko started off on the right foot as well last year :S And then just rocketed (not even plummeted) downhill after that. JML (Ford's second hand man) and Petter show promise this year :)

Correct me if I'm wrong, but Petter has looked a lot better since he started as a privateer. I have no hate for Loeb, he's an amazing driver, but it'd be a nice change of pace to see an actual challenge for him to win.

And for Ken Block's second WRC season, he's off to a MUCH better start, but still NEEDS to improve a lot. I remember one of my colleagues telling me that he'd destroy everyone in WRC back in 2007 if he participated... Hah
 
timeatkuu
And for Ken Block's second WRC season, he's off to a MUCH better start, but still NEEDS to improve a lot. I remember one of my colleagues telling me that he'd destroy everyone in WRC back in 2007 if he participated... Hah
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Yeah I doubt that. His goal for Sweden was to finish the rally, which he did. I expect him to shine on the gravel stages and given his gymkhana videos it's hard to say how he'll do on tarmac.

But yes, great start to the season. Hopefully mechanical failures don't plague the team again this season.
 
I've giving up on the WRC. I'll still watch it from to time but they have just ruined it. I want the days when you had 8-9 different car manufacturers rather than 2. But ofcourse most car companies can't afford it.
 
maSonn it's on the road to recovery, if it had carried on with the old cars I think Ford would've had to have pulled the plug eventually. Big series with heavy manufacturer input always have a drop at some point, just look at FIA GT or BTCC in the late 90's/Early 2000's.
 
I do agree the WRC is rather bland now only having two manufacturers going at it, but the racing is still rather exciting. I would really like to see some variety however... Maybe Toyota and Subaru can join the battles again, since they are partnered companies now?
 
Just for those UK/Irish WRC fans, ESPN has made it a free weekend this weekend, and seeming the WRC coverage is on I thought it'd be worth a post here.

Link

First bit of coverage starts in about 15 minutes time, but tommorrow there's both a normal 30 minute coverage and also a hour live power stage. 👍
 
I saw a video of the first stage today. I have to say, I hate stages like that - fiddly little crowd-pleasers that give the drivers no chance to actually establish a running order. If you want to make it a part of the ceremonial start, then fine. Just don't time it. It's a waste of comeptitive mileage.
 
If you have MotorsTV you can watch it there, as mentioned earlier I think ESPN shows it globally too. If you don't have any of them I'm afraid it's pretty much wrc.com or YouTube. It's a really bad year for coverage really. :(
 
Ken Block has been down for almost the entire rally so far due to electrical problems. Why is it that he's the only Ford driver having so many technical failures?
 

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