WRC Most liked posts in thread: WRC - 2015

minirab · Mar 11, 2015

I wouldn't have even parked my ex-wife's old Vega there.:lol:

MCS02 · Mar 28, 2015

Thanks Chris. There is a web sight where I download the highlight programs but it takes the guy a week or so to post them. I signed up for WRC+ last night can't wait for the next race.
When am I going to see your MINI on the WRC highlights?

RallyMini370 · Mar 28, 2015

If I crash the mini into one of the Polo's I think I can be in the highlights! LOL

MCS02 · Mar 29, 2015

I'm liking it. I like how you can chose two drivers and watch the in car and see where one is faster than the other. It well north the money!

MiniCamaro · Apr 3, 2015

Toyota back on the WRC title trail - wrc.com

"Toyota back on the title trail."

Some nice pics of the Yaris set to debut in '17. Makes me wonder about the '17 rules, which I've heard vague things about.

Steve · Apr 22, 2015

Time for Argentina!

Xion Rally Argentina (wrc.com)

Info

Xion Rally Argentina
Start Date: 23.04.2015
End Date: 26.04.2015
Timezone: UTC -3
Category: WRC3
WRC2
WRC
Stages: 12 (342,59 km)
Distance: 1396,34 km
Servicepark: Villa Carlos Paz
Website: Rally Argentina

Route

Based in the lakeside resort of Villa Carlos Paz, 700km north-west of Buenos Aires and 30 minutes from Cordoba city.
Stages based in Cordoba province, ranging from open plains in the Punilla Valley to stunning mountain roads in the Traslasierra mountains.
Starts with a new Thursday evening super special stage in Villa de Merlo.
Long stages feature prominently. Fridayâ€™s 52km test from Agua de Oro across the Sierras Chicas mountains to Ascochinga and Saturdayâ€™s 56km San Marcos - Characato will both run twice.
The popular super special in Carlos Paz will close Fridayâ€™s leg and will be broadcast on live TV.
Sundayâ€™s final leg will comprise a double pass of the classic El CÃ³ndor test, famed for its moonlike landscape.

Challenge

The contrast between the fast stages of the gentle Calamuchita Valley, rugged roads in the plains of the Punilla Valley and rocky, narrow mountain tracks.
Sandy gravel roads become heavily rutted for the second pass and moving out of the â€˜railsâ€™ can pitch a car off the road.
Many river crossings in the valleys which become wide and deep in wet weather.

Car spec

Gravel suspension.
Drivers raise the ride height to cope with rutted roads for the second pass of stages.
Hard and soft compound tyres available.

History

First run in 1980 in TucumÃ¡n province in the north, when it was known as Rally Codasur.
The 1982 edition was cancelled due to the Falklands War between Britain and Argentina.
Moved to Bariloche, in the south, in 1983 but found its home in Cordoba in 1984.
Argentines are passionate soccer fans and in 2007 a stage was held at the River Plate Stadium in Buenos Aires while Cordoba stadium, home to Talleres, has twice hosted stages and the finish.

Whatâ€™s new for 2015

Thursday nightâ€™s curtain-raiser in Villa de Merlo, 235km from Carlos Paz in San Luis province, has never been held before.
Two stages north of Carlos Paz will feature roads not used since 2007.
The fast stages in the Calamuchita valley have been dropped from the itinerary.

Donâ€™t miss

Few vantage points can compare with a place perched high on the roadside rocks at the start of the high altitude El Condor stage. Keep an eye out for the soaring condors too.
Soak up the crackling atmosphere by joining tens of thousands of enthusiastic Latin American fans at one of the big jumps or in the vast open pampas. Itâ€™s fiesta time!
Click to expand...

Steve · Apr 22, 2015

The shakedown just finished, here are the times.

Steve · Apr 23, 2015

[ame="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o_7QdquwVIE"]Shakedown - 2015 WRC Rally Argentina - Best-of-RallyLive.com - YouTube[/ame]

Steve · Apr 26, 2015

After Latvala was forced to retire on the final stage, he stopped along the 4km walk to the finish to buy something to eat from a roadside stand. Apparently he offered to buy for the nearby spectators as well.

Then, he offered to buy drinks! Within two minutes, this happened...

Steve · Apr 26, 2015

Kris Meeke enjoying his first WRC win.

Steve · Apr 28, 2015

[ame="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qEs_YFXSX34"]WRC - XION Rally Argentina 2015: Review - YouTube[/ame]

Steve · Jun 2, 2015

Kubica opens up about WRC team switch (crash.net)

1 June 2015

Robert Kubica has shed some light on his split with World Rally Championship squad A-Style, explaining he had 'no other options' but to switch to M-Sport support.

The former F1 Grand Prix winner began the 2015 WRC season as a privateer entry under the A-Style banner but after a dismal run of results he opted for a last-minute pull-out of Rally Argentina so he could restructure his squad.

The Polish driver returned for Rally Portugal with an updated Ford Fiesta RS WRC with support from factory squad M-Sport. As a result he notched up his best result of the year, a ninth place finish, and post-Portugal says he made the decision to switch from A-Style because it was the only suitable setup open to him.

â€œIt's not that I did it because I wanted. The situation came to the place where there were no other options,â€ Kubica told WRC.com. â€œThis car has been built together with the M-Sport guys and we are supported by some M-Sport people.â€

The BMW and Renault F1 driver has also moved his RK World Rally Team to Italy because of the country's logistical links with the rest of Europe.

The move reconnects previous links with M-Sport, whom he competed with under the RK M-Sport World Rally team banner in 2014 after splitting from the Citroen factory squad.

Reflecting on his ninth place finish at Rally Portugal, the 30-year-old hails it as one of his best career finishes in the premier class of rallying.

â€œIt was definitely one of my best rallies because I felt like I was driving well with everything that we had, the grip level and the balance of the car,â€ he added. â€œMaybe the final position is not confirming it but it was a really good weekend from a driving point of view.â€

Kubica will hope to build on the positive result at this month's Rally Italia Sardegna, which will act as round six of the 2015 championship and is scheduled for the 11-14 June.
Click to expand...

Steve · Jun 12, 2015

Italy this weekend, and it's already well underway...and there are surprises...

After the only stage Thu: SS1: Prokop surprise leader in Italy (WRC.com)

Martin Prokop was the surprise winner of Thursday night’s opening special stage at Rally Italia Sardegna when he sped to fastest time over the harbour roads in the island’s capital city, Cagliari.
Click to expand...

That's not huge, it was just one of those super short arena stages, but read the full article here if you're so inclined.

At the end of 9 stages today, surprise #2: Paddon on top in Italy (WRC.com)

12 JUN 2015

Hayden Paddon surprised the expected pacesetters to lead Rally Italia Sardegna after Friday’s opening leg.

He won three of the four morning rough road gravel speed tests to build an advantage he defended this afternoon to head FIA World Championship leader SÃ©bastien Ogier by 8.8sec. Jari-Matti Latvala was 25.8sec behind in third.

Paddon’s low start position gave him a morning advantage of roads swept clean of loose gravel by those ahead. But he maintained his pace in equal conditions this afternoon and earned the accolade of being the first New Zealander to lead a WRC round outside his home country.

However, he survived a last stage scare. “Something broke on the right rear of the car with half the stage to go. Then in one corner the back of the car went sideways and hit a bank. We decided to take it easy afterwards so we lost a bit of time.

“It was an amazing day and we have a road position advantage again tomorrow morning, so if we can benefit from that who knows what will happen,” said the Hyundai i20 driver.

Road opener Ogier had the worst of the conditions, sweeping the gravel all morning in his Volkswagen Polo R. However, a clever tyre strategy limited the losses and two stage wins kept him on Paddon’s tail.

Latvala was Paddon’s closest challenger most of the day. He won three stages but an error in the penultimate test when he bounced his Polo R off a chicane and into a bank cost more than 20sec when the impact knocked the rear left tyre off the rim.

Ott TÃ¤nak was fourth in a Ford Fiesta RS, the Estonian winning a stage this afternoon after earlier struggling for rhythm. CitroÃ«n’s Mads Ã˜stberg ended a lacklustre morning in eighth but climbed to fifth in his DS 3.

He headed Thierry Neuville’s Hyundai i20 by 1.3sec, the Belgian losing a minute with a broken turbo pipe this evening. Martin Prokop, who led after last night’s curtain-raising stage in Cagliari, was seventh with Lorenzo Bertelli eighth, both in Fiesta RS cars.

WRC 2 leader Paolo Andreucci and Elfyn Evans, who dropped more than three minutes with a broken driveshaft, completed the leaderboard.

The rocky conditions took a heavy toll. Andreas Mikkelsen hit a hole in SS3 and broke his Polo R’s rear right suspension. He made repairs but retired from third on the following liaison section with no fuel pressure.

Kris Meeke rolled his DS 3 in the morning’s opening stage, Robert Kubica crashed his Fiesta RS into a chicane in the next stage and Dani Sordo retired from fourth after an impact ripped the rear left wheel and hub from his i20.

Tomorrow’s second leg will be the longest WRC day since 2002. After a 06.00 restart, drivers face nine stages covering 212.83km in a near 17-hour leg.
Click to expand...

See the Friday casualty list (and a few photos of the carnage) here.

[ame="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o3y_1zzEXig"]Leg 1 - 2015 WRC Rally Italia Sardegna - Best-of-RallyLive.com - YouTube[/ame]

Steve · Jun 14, 2015

Well, Paddon actually managed to hold the lead for another 6 stages. He lost the lead and started losing time, then...

Paddon: 'I thought it was all over' (WRC.com)

13 Jun 2015

Hayden Paddon feared his dream drive at Rally Italia Sardegna was over when a rock strike on Saturday left his Hyundai with a broken gearbox.

Paddon was in second place and enjoying the best form of his career when he hit trouble 8km into the penultimate stage.

"We struck a section of bedrock in a compression and the impact broke the gearbox," he told wrc.com "We could smell oil pretty much straightaway and although we still had gears the unit was moving about and losing oil."

The Kiwi was too upset to talk when he reached the stage end and drove off to assess the damage.

"I thought it was all over. It was similar to the problem we had in Argentina and it was end of our rally there," he said. "But after talking to the team John [Kennard - co-driver] and I topped up the oil and used ratchet straps to tie everything so it didn't move about. After that it was a case of crossing our fingers. I didn't think it would make it - especially the long [42km] stage.

Paddon said the drive through the Monte Lerno repeat was a tense one. "We had to take it really easy - we didn't want things moving around. I had to be very gentle with the braking, the throttle and try to drive around any bumps."

Stage complete, he carefully nursed the car through the 95km journey back to the Hyundai service park in Alghero. The car will be repaired tonight, ready for Sunday's final leg, when Paddon has his sights set on a career best result.

"We were lucky that Mads [Ã˜stberg] had a problem in the last stage and that's given us a good margin" he explained. "All we've got to do tomorrow is have a clean day and hopefully we can finish second. That would be a dream result."
Click to expand...

End of the day, Ogier led Paddon by 2:13, Ostberg 3rd, another 1:12 back. 4th Neuville, 5th Evans, 6th Latvala.

[ame="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZW-7xyCviog"]Leg 2 - 2015 WRC Rally Italia Sardegna - Best-of-RallyLive.com - YouTube[/ame]

Steve · Jun 14, 2015

Then, today, with only 4 stages to go.

SS21: Ã˜stberg yields third after mistake (WRC.com)

14 JUN 2015

Thierry Neuville demoted Mads Ã˜stberg from third in Sunday’s opening stage at Rally Italia Sardegna when the Norwegian went off the road and damaged his DS 3.

It cost Ã˜stberg a minute and he then conceded fourth to Elfyn Evans as he limped through the following test 1min 20sec off the pace. He completed the loop 25.3sec behind the Welshman’s Ford Fiesta RS.

“There were a lot of things happening at the same time. I lost an ear plug in my intercom on a straight and was trying to put it back in place. I had a very bad pace note for the next corner, went wide and off the road. The damage wasn’t too bad but I lost my brakes,” said Ã˜stberg after the incident.

However, the damage proved worse than he thought. “It’s more than the brakes. I don’t know what, but we have to learn more about the problem,” he added at the end of Cala Flumini.

Yurii Protasov lost the WRC 2 lead and seventh to Paolo Andreucci in SS20 after a puncture in his Ford Fiesta RS. However, a radiator leak hampered the Italian and Protasov regained the initiative by 1.7sec in the next test.

Yazeed Al Rajhi lost fourth in the category and 10th overall when he crashed his Fiesta RRC.

Hayden Paddon won Olmedo Monte Baranta by 2.1sec from Jari-Matti Latvala, with Evans a further tenth of a second back. Leader SÃ©bastien Ogier was fastest in Cala Flumini by 0.3sec from Andreas Mikkelsen, with Ott TÃ¤nak third quickest.
Click to expand...

Maximum points for Ogier in Italy (WRC.com)

14 JUN 2015

SÃ©bastien Ogier claimed maximum points from Rally Italia Sardegna on Sunday after winning both his fourth WRC event of the season and the final live TV Power Stage.

After a fierce fight with Hayden Paddon, Ogier eventually enjoyed a comfortable 3min 05.3sec victory in his Volkswagen Polo R over the New Zealander, who produced the surprise of the rally by heading the world champion for almost two days.

After problems late yesterday, Paddon’s consolation was a career-best second in a Hyundai i20. Belgium’s Thierry Neuville finished 4min 22.5sec off the lead in third, ensuring two podium places for the Korean manufacturer.

Ogier was the only frontrunner to avoid major problems as the rocky roads took a heavy toll. He leads the championship by 66 points from CitroÃ«n’s Mads Ã˜stberg, with seven of the 13 rounds remaining.

The Frenchman overcame the handicap of sweeping gravel from the roads for the opening two days, and only demoted Paddon, in his first full WRC season, when the Kiwi spun and later hit a rock and damaged his gearbox.

Hayden did a great job and deserves his podium,” said Ogier. “I didn’t expect this kind of result here. It was very difficult to open the road but the times got better and better. Everything was perfect all weekend, from the car to the weather forecasts.”

Paddon became the first New Zealand driver to lead a WRC round outside his home country. But with victory gone after yesterday’s problems, he eased through the final day, hiding the fact he was nursing his car.

“We still had some damage from the impact yesterday so we were lucky to get here,” he said after the final stage. “I’m very relieved, it was a massive weekend but there’s more to come yet,” he promised.

Neuville climbed to third this morning after Ã˜stberg went off the road in the opening stage and damaged his DS 3’s brakes. He limped through the final three tests, falling behind both Neuville and Elfyn Evans but holding off Jari-Matti Latvala.

After driveshaft problems on the opening day, Evans recovered to finish fourth in a Ford Fiesta RS, 1min 12.3sec behind Neuville and more than two minutes clear of Ã˜stberg.

Latvala threw everything at his attempt to overhaul Ã˜stberg, but fell 16.6sec short and settled for sixth in another Polo R. The leaderboard was completed by WRC 2 trio Yurii Protasov, Paolo Andreucci and Jan Kopecky, and Khalid Al Qassimi.

Among those to finish down the order were Andreas Mikkelsen (suspension / fuel pressure), Kris Meeke (accident), Dani Sordo (wheel off / fuel pressure), Ott TÃ¤nak (gearbox) and Robert Kubica (gearbox).

Round seven of the series is the all-gravel LOTOS 72nd Rally Poland which is based in Mikolajki on 2 - 5 July.
Click to expand...

Full stage results and numbers here.

[ame="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m7F30CSt7EE"]Highlights - 2015 Rally Italia Sardegna - Best-of-RallyLive.com - YouTube[/ame]

Steve · Jun 16, 2015

Some good HD video.

[ame="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T-ptOp_cnXY"]WRC Rally Italy Sardegna 2015 Best of HD PureSound with CRASHCAM - YouTube[/ame]

Steve · Jul 5, 2015

Ott Tanak.

RallyMini370 · Jul 7, 2015

looking at the video footage this rally could have ended badly. Crowd control was not at its best near those jumps.

Thanks Steve for keeping us informed. I'm still on catch up watching Argentina!

Crashton · Jul 7, 2015

I thought the same thing Chris. Look at all the organ donors. ut:

Steve · Jul 7, 2015

Picture special: Neuville's miracle roll (WRC.com)

07 JUL 2015

Thierry Neuville says he has no idea how he ended up rolling his Hyundai i20 World Rally Car on the penultimate stage of 72nd LOTOS Rally Poland.

The Belgian was sixth, and had his team-mate Hayden Paddon in his sights, when he crashed on the first pass through Baranowo, run later as the Power Stage.

His car landed on its wheels and Neuville was able to continue, now carrying a two metre wooden fence stake and trailing a huge fabric banner. Remarkably, he managed to hold his sixth position and record the 11th fastest time through the stage.

"I really have no explanation," Neuville told wrc.com. "Everything was alright, but suddenly the car jumped out of the line, we hit the ditch and we rolled. It seems a bit like Kris Meeke's roll at shakedown. We just don't know what happened. Okay, we lost some time, but the car wasn't badly damaged. We were very lucky."

"Overall I'm very happy with the weekend. We rediscovered a good rhythm and I'm happy with that. Without a couple of poor tyre choices I feel I could have finished one place higher in fifth. Still, we can look ahead to Finland with optimism."
Click to expand...

Just a few pics here, see the rest at the full article.

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