2022 WRC and Off Road Discussion *includes 'Dakar' *

[Everso Biggyballies]

Bottom post of the previous page:

Woohooo.... Loeb went quicker than Ogier in the final stage and wins his 8th Monte by 10.5 seconds.

A true masterclass from the two Sebs

3rd was Green 1:40 behind with Rovanpera 4th and Greensmith 5th. Neuville was 6th in a pretty ordinary weekend for Hyundai.Tanak had to retire and Solberg and his co-driver were retired for safety because they were both still unwell after the earlier fumes inhalation they had suffered.

[Cheeveer]

Ogier got a jump start penalty on the final stage, without that the winning margin would have been 0,5 seconds! What a fantastic rally.

[Everso Biggyballies]

Ogier got a jump start penalty on the final stage, without that the winning margin would have been 0,5 seconds! What a fantastic rally.

Yeah I did not realise the jump start penalty when I posted. Shame really that they are both only doing a part time campaign. Could do with that sort of duel every round!.

Somewhat fitting they now both share the most Monte wins title on 8 each. (double the next score of 4 each for Jean Trévoux (1934-51) Sandro Munari, Walter Röhrl and Tommi Mäkinen.)

[Cheeveer]

None of the Sebastien's entered for Sweden, which will be a brand new rally situated in Umeå, quite far to the northeast from the old location in Karlstad. In the midst of the epic Monte battle, it's been forgotten that it is Kalle Rovanperä who is leading the championship, after his strong fightback which culminated in 4th overall and the powerstage win. Craig Breen was 3rd but took it very easy at the powerstage, so it is Kalle who has a slight lead. One peculiarity with today's WRC that I am not particulary fond of, but it is no biggie.

[SBan83]

As long as there's snow...

[Everso Biggyballies]

An event coming up that I am looking forward to.... Rally Sweden. I suspect being his home event@Cheeveer will be following too from TFL.

The event made the news here today in something that highlights that Australia's issues with local wildlife disrupting plans is not the only country that faces issues. With us it is usually kangaroos, but Sweden have had to make changes to accommodate their own wildlife!

Posting this is also just a subtle plug and heads up to others for the event.

Reindeer wreak havoc on WRC’s Rally Sweden

An unusual hurdle has forced Rally Sweden organisers to think on their feet in the countdown to Round 2 of the World Rally Championship.

The unexpected movement of reindeer has forced the double pass through the Örträsk special stage on the Saturday (February 26) of the event to be cancelled.

“Unfortunately, due to unexpected reindeer movements caused by the current weather, farmers have come back to us to say that access is no longer available,” said Rally Sweden CEO Glenn Olsson.

“While a range of solutions have been offered and considered by both parties, unfortunately we have been unable to find a solution to allow the stage to take place.

“It’s a late decision but that reflects the determined efforts from everyone involved to avoid this situation.”

WRC Promoter event director Simon Larkin noted: “WRC Promoter and the FIA respect Rally Sweden’s decision.

“The move north to Umeå is a positive step for the rally and we’re confident of a successful event next week and a long-term future in the region.”

Rally Sweden has this year moved 700km northeast from Torsby to Umeå on the east coast.

“Moving a WRC event to a new location is a difficult and complicated logistical, planning and community consultation process,” added Olsson.

“This move reflects a clear acknowledgement of the organisers and the WRC community that there are environmental factors that can affect our access to countryside areas. It’s a fact we must, and do, respect.

“Huge amounts of community work have taken place over a long period to deliver a successful rally for competitors and fans but unfortunately in this case, we accept the roads in this area are not accessible for 2022.”

https://www.speedcafe.com/2022/02/18/re ... ly-sweden/


Of a more general WRC issue, Sebastien Loeb currently leads the WRC standings but will not compete in the February 24-27 event, being that he’s running a part-time campaign for M-Sport Ford.

With Rallye Monte-Carlo runner-up Sebastien Ogier also skipping Rally Sweden, Kalle Rovanpera will be the highest-ranked championship driver in action.

Looking forward to it. The main problem I have is tht WRC is no longer on our Foxtel coverage. Now to follow it I will hve to get hold of the local Stan Streaming service to follow on TV or computer. Not the end of the world though as they also have the rights for the LM24 and WEC.

[Everso Biggyballies]

Ypres Rally Belgium fills vacant 2022 WRC calendar slot

The World Rally Championship has revealed Ypres Rally Belgium will fill the vacant slot on the 2022 calendar.

The famous asphalt event made its WRC debut last year when it stepped in at the last momentbut was omitted from the original 2022 schedule as the WRC left a slot open for the possibility that Rally Northern Ireland could join the calendar.

Northern Ireland failed to secure the funding to run the event by the Motorsport UK deadline

Ypres Rally Belgium faced competition from Barum Czech Rally Zlin to fill the vacant 18-21 August slot, but the WRC has today announced Belgium will now host the ninth round of 13 this season.

I enjoyed Ypres last year. I have vivid memories of cars coming through Eau Rouge full noise and then doing a handbrake turn on the exit of Radillon to leave the circuit.

[SBan83]

Looking forward to it. The main problem I have is tht WRC is no longer on our Foxtel coverage. Now to follow it I will hve to get hold of the local Stan Streaming service to follow on TV or computer. Not the end of the world though as they also have the rights for the LM24 and WEC.

If you use Amazon's FireTV, you can get the RedBullTV app on it and watch the daily highlights.

[Cheeveer]

As long as there's snow...

There will be snow! Rally Sweden this weekend. Ceremonial start on Thursday evening but no super special stage, is tradition was in Karlstad. Action in Umeå starts on Friday morning, SS1 Kroksjö at 8.30.

[Cheeveer]

Tänak fastest on the shakedown. He will be on a mission this weekend.

[Everso Biggyballies]

I was just reading about McRae Kimathi the Kenyan young hot shot. (Yes he was named McRae after Colin) Sadly his name came to my attention because he has been the subject of racial abuse on Social Media, which sucks. The FIA have jumped to his defence on that count though, not that they can do much about retarts o social media. Anyway, the kid seems good though, or at least has done well in Africa, where he is the African Junior Champion.

He might be up against it this weekend though.... he has never seen snow before, let alone driven on it. Actually thats not strictly true, he first saw snow last week when he went to Norway to try his M-Sport Fiesta (Junior WRC spec) for a brief test.

His only comment..... he is scared of the cold! This weekend will be his first time in Europe. Wish him the best of luck, and I hope the racial abuse stops.... poor kid has enough on his plate driving in snow and overcoming his fear of the cold without having to deal with racist idiots.

Funnily enough I can relate to his snow issues..... I also grew up in Africa and never saw snow until I went on a School ski trip to Austria when I was 14 or 15. Quite weird getting out of the coach at the Hostel and trying to manage the 30 metres up a slope to the hostel entrance with my bags, on ice and snow. It took me a number of attempts.

[Cheeveer]

After two stages. Breen has already crashed out, Neuville almost joined him on two occassions.

[Everso Biggyballies]

Scandinavian 1-2-3.

Great to see the Solberg name up there. Early days yet though.

Breen , well, what can I say other than you cant win it on the first morning but you can lose it.

[Cheeveer]

Both surprised and not surprised over how this went. Tänak led when the hybrid system failed, Rovanperä was so close to crash in the first corner of the rally but had it under control thereafter. It was Evans who threw the most points away with two crashes on Saturday and Sunday.

Not the most exciting rally, but Umeå was very welcoming to the WRC, it was a good decision to move the event there.

[Everso Biggyballies]

Seems to be a lot of issues with the Hybrid side of things not behaving causing problems.

Rovanpera wins at a canter. Leads the championship.
Adds the Rovanpera name to his Dads win 20 years ago on the Rally Sweden Trophy

2nd for Neuville / Hyundai will be a relief after Monte.

Good to see Sweden confirmed for at least the next two years.

Now nothing for WRC until end April.

[SBan83]

Rovanpera looks set to exceed his father's achievements. In a short time, he has matured remarkably and the Portugal rally win was a clinical display.