Wrc 2008

Which would mean the new Focus RS, would have be 4WD (as it should be),


mmmmmm Cossie...



..anyway, where was I,

I can't see 2WD happening, too many manufacturers have developed or are developing S2000 cars for the FIA to just abandon it,...

..lets hope so anyway

Turns out it's not going 2WD,

Max's idea for 2WD only seems to have been beaten out of him


(all the big news seems to happen when I'm away from the internet)

New WRC cars, to be S2000, but with a supplementary kit including turbo & rear wing additions
The new cars can run on next years events, but aren't eligible for points, then in 2010 New & Old Spec WRC cars will both compete for points, before going New Spec only from 2011.

Fiat are considering running the S2000 G Punto on some WRC events this year (in the production class),

Sounds good to me.

Watched the highlights of the last one last night...was great, loved all the mud and rain...Poor Solberg

Rally Jordan,

(in case you haven't heard)
1 MH
2 DS
3 CA
4 HS
5 MW

stunning scenery, scary cliffs,

Marks star of the rally award goes to - Conrad Rautenbach

Marks of the rally award goes to - whoever decided to scrap reverse running order, which basically took the competition out of days 1 & 2, Ford decided they wanted to run 2nd & 3rd on day three and spent two days driving to Sordo's splits.
If Seb had not crashed out it would have been interesting to see if his risk paid off and he had opened a big enough gap to hold off the Fords despite running 1st on day three, but it wasn't to be.

Reverse running order was introduced for a very good reason, and only scrapped as apparently it was confusing for new fans, I may be thick, but surely cars purposely driving slowly for two days and even slowing down to almost a stop just before the flying finish is confusing for new fans as well, at least with reverse running the drivers are giving it 100% for most of the rally,

rant over

yet another rubbish result for PS, and another podium for CA (Hmmm)

Subaru are approaching a hairpin, with the launch of the new hatchback Impreza WRC in Greece this weekend,

Story & Pics

Can they turn it around, or are they heading for the ditch?

I honestly hope they can turn their fortunes around, make things a bit more exciting, and ...

*whispers* the new Impreza is not to shabby looking in WRC form

A Greecey ditch maybe

Originally Posted by Dirk

A Greecey ditch maybe

maybe if Seb ends up in it, he could use some to tidy his hair

Linky

Hopefully Subaru returning with a competitive car and the new regs will liven things up in the next few years. It would be good to see more than 20 WRC cars running, like there were in Sardinia.

The S1600/GpN cars were quite entertaining to watch, but 99% of the people out on the stages were there for the WRC cars.

Lets wait to see if FIAT/Abarth, GM, Skoda, Peugeot, AUDI, Mitsubishi, Toyota and Renault build cars for the new formula and hope Citroen don't spit their dummies out of the pram and go to DTM or Sportscars instead.

There are still loads of very talented drivers out there without a regular drive (Duval, Wilks, Bogie off the top of my head), some more teams should only be good for the sport.

Couldn't agree more,

I think the WRC cars being a (removable) kit version of an S2000 / GpN car is a good idea, which should allow more privateers to have a go in the WRC as well.

Shakedown times

1. Sordo: 2:26.3
2. Hirvonen: 2:27.0
3. Loeb: 2:27.2
4. Galli: 2:27.6
5. Atkinson: 2:28.0
6. P. Solberg: 2:28.2
7. Latvala: 2:28.4 (hit a tree stump on his second run, but is OK to start)

The Subaru's aren't too bad, since they're just out of the box.

So then

Greece after SS6, (just super special to run on day1)

1 SL
2 JML +12.8, (despite losing about 10sec due to a puncture)
3 DS +15.5
4 MH +49.7 (running first)
5 PS +1:00.5
6 HS +1:05.6
7 Urmo Aava +1:19.3, (Another good showing)
8 CA +1:23.9

Pretty much business as usual, though I'm starting to have high hopes for JML

Jari-Matti was flying every time we saw him in Sardinia - a future world champion.

What happened to Gigi, he's 25 minutes down ?

Just spotted, he broke his suspension on SS3.

Good result for Subaru & Petter, but I thinks it's still a bit early for the Subaru boys to get carried away.

Galli won the Colin McCrae trophy for fastest average speed for a stage. When he was going he was fastest on 4 stages out the 8 (I think) he completed without problems.

Miko did well to make the best of a bad situation, just one point behind with another gravel rally coming up, not a bad place to be.

Latvala, as ever was quick when he was running without problems, rarely out of the top three stage times, with 5 wins,
The focus is looking a bit fragile on the really rough events, or maybe the drivers need a few more years to get all the bad rocks into their pacenotes.

Urmo Aava, 2 stage wins & 4th place.

Seb did what Seb does,

All in all, a good rally, just slightly frustrating for those with loyalties to a certain (unmentionable) team