Thirteen new and former events are lobbying to join the WRC calendar:
http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/124600/thirteen-new-rallies-chasing-calendar-slots
It wasn't the weather that was the issue - it was civil unrest in East Timor.unsure if Malaysia could get on the calendar consider the hot tropical weather wich was a huge issue when Rally Indonesia was in the WRC 96-97
It wasn't the weather that was the issue - it was civil unrest in East Timor.
Beating VW in the manufacture championship will be impossible anyway.
Also it looks like Kevin Abbring in the 4th Hyundai is looking like a Future Talent, Dispite having mechanical issues with the car he won a SS stage and he got 2nd in the Powerstage.
I risk sounding like Sebastien Ogier here but the running order rules are ridiculous, we all know that for the last 4 rallies the best driver hasn't won. It will be the same next rally too, Mikkelsen already stopped at the end of the rally to avoid the risk of scoring points (crazy!) so he would get a better road position for Poland. It's like a more exaggerated version of DRS, it's like wrestling or DRS, it's not interesting if we all know it's fake.
Edit: It turns out Hyundai have been running an illegal car for the whole season with the incorrect rear windows, something I seem to remember M-Sport doing once and having all of their cars excluded. Hyundai get a fine. http://www.wrc.com/en/wrc/news/june-2016/hyundai-fined/page/3631--12-12-.html
Edit 2: I remembered incorrectly, every Focus WRC at the 2007 Rally Portugal was given a 5 minute penalty for having windows half a centimetre too thin.
It's actually in celebration of the birth of Ogier's son Tim, but nice theory.VW respond on official facebook page to allegations of them being WRC crybabies![]()
Rally China has revealed its route, including a power stage that ends at the foot of the Great Wall:
http://www.wrc.com/en/wrc/news/june-2016/china-route/page/3643--12-12-.html
Stages have been run in the opposite direction from one year to the next in the past, and drivers have commented that the character is completely different.I´m not impressed with the route, several stages are gonna be the same except they drive in the opposite direction and only 300km
Stages have been run in the opposite direction from one year to the next in the past, and drivers have commented that the character is completely different.
Character completely different? I don´t think so. Was it too costly to have many stages or is it just like this because It´s first time in China since 1999?
It's because they're more experienced. The 2017 cars will not simply have more horsepower, but less weight and more aerodynamic grip. They will be closer to Group B than anything that has competed since Group B was banned. The FIA is concerned about pay drivers getting access to the cars when they aren't up for it. If it's an experienced part-timer like Bryan Bouffier, they're fine with it; they're more concerned about the likes of Valeriy Gorban and Paulo Nobre - guys with money to burn. Back in 2012, M-Sport put a guy named John Powell, a Trinidadian local champion, in a car for Rally Catalyuna. Afterwards Powell said he thought he was prepared, but found it so intense that he had to pull over in the middle of stages and take a break.I can´t see the reason behind this. Why are manufacturer drivers better?
It's because they're more experienced. The 2017 cars will not simply have more horsepower, but less weight and more aerodynamic grip. They will be closer to Group B than anything that has competed since Group B was banned. The FIA is concerned about pay drivers getting access to the cars when they aren't up for it. If it's an experienced part-timer like Bryan Bouffier, they're fine with it; they're more concerned about the likes of Valeriy Gorban and Paulo Nobre - guys with money to burn. Back in 2012, M-Sport put a guy named John Powell, a Trinidadian local champion, in a car for Rally Catalyuna. Afterwards Powell said he thought he was prepared, but found it so intense that he had to pull over in the middle of stages and take a break.
Plus, there's only going to be a small handful of 2017-spec cars available at the start of the year. The manufacturer teams will no doubt be concerned about taking unnecessary risks with them, but M-Sport's entire business model is based on providing customer cars.