[deetjohn]

This thread is to capture all that is happening in the 42nd season of the World Rally Championship.

The Calendar
The 2014 season will be contested over thirteen rounds in Europe, North and South America and Australia.
1) 16–18 January Monaco
2) 5–8 February Sweden
3) 6–9 March Mexico
4) 3–6 April Portugal
5) 8–11 May Argentina
6) 6–8 June Italy
7) 27–29 June Poland
8) 1–3 August Finland
9) 22–24 August Germany
10) 12–14 September Australia
11) 3–5 October France
12) 24–26 October Spain
13) 14–16 November United Kingdom

4 constructors will take part in the 2014 season.

Volkswagen with the Polo R WRC
2 teams: 3 cars


Ford with the Fiesta RS WRC
3 teams: 4 cars


Citroën with the DS3 WRC
1 team: 2 cars


Hyundai with the i20 WRC
1 team: 3 cars


The Monte-Carlo Rally
The first round of the season, the Monte-Carlo rally was run in difficult conditions, with heavy rain making for a slippery surface and low visibility. Former Formula One driver Robert Kubica took an early lead, but fell behind on the first leg when he made the wrong tyre choice. French privateer Bryan Bouffier took control and led the field at the end of the first day.

Bouffier came under pressure from reigning World Champion Sébastien Ogier on the second day, and ultimately lost the lead when he spun during the afternoon stages, whilst Kubica crashed out. Ogier's rally was not without incident, with the VW driver surviving several close encounters with walls as he tried to recover from a poor start.

Ogier went on to win the rally by over a minute, with Bouffier second and Kris Meeke finishing third. Hyundai's return to the WRC started and ended poorly as Thierry Neuville crashed heavily on the first stage and team-mate Dani Sordo was forced to retire with a suspected electrical fault.

Here is a summary of what happened from the perspective of VW.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kW7rrJ5Takw

Here is another great video showing all cars on full song!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lIZOZnDMDlc

Pic courtesy: Respective team web pages

[HyperRetard]

Volkswagen Motorsport 37
Citroen Total Abu Dhabi World Rally Team 33
M-Sport World Rally Team(Ford) 10
Volkswagen Motorsport II 8


As expected Hyundai's 3 cars get a grand total of 0 points.
Not that they are bad cars, but I think that
a) i20 is a bit soft for a WRC car
b) Its their first year, it will take time to get their car right.

[Powersteer]

I am not sure if its just me. But without Mitsubishi, Subaru and Peugeot, it just doesn't feel the same.

Not sure why WRC does not gain as much interest/popularity as F1, given that its the WRC thats actually close to real world driving on real world cars (Well, almost!).

[deetjohn]

^

We have discussed this very topic before here. The main issue is that WRC or any rally format for that reason is not very viewer/ spectator friendly. Also, the rally cannot be shown live on TV as it is spread across days.

And over the internet, the coverage is very poor and it is very difficult to get material on WRC. Almost all photos and videos are copyrighted putting it out of reach for the majority. This just doesn't help the fans and people lose interest. And lack of viewers keep the sponsors away restricting the number of factory teams. A big shame because it is a very underrated sport!

But I like to think that it is getting better. We have 4 big manufacturers now and hopefully the list will grow. VW and Hyundai will bring money into the sport. And of the 4 cars, we do get to see 3 of them on road here in India as well.

[HyperRetard]

2014 WRC Driver’s Standings after Round 1:

Sebastien Ogier (Volkswagen Polo R WRC) 27pts
Bryan Bouffier (Ford Fiesta RS WRC) 18pts
Kris Meeke (CitroΫn DS3 WRC) 16pts
Jari-Matti Latvala (Volkswagen Polo R WRC) 13pts
Mads Ostberg (CitroΫn DS3 WRC) 12pts
Elfyn Evans (Ford Fiesta RS WRC) 8pts
Andreas Mikkelsen (Volkswagen Polo R WRC) 6pts
Jaroslav Melicharek (Ford Fiesta RS WRC) 4pts
Matteo Gamba (Peugeot 207 S2000 RC2) 2pts
Yuriy Protasov (Ford Fiesta R5) 1pts

[Powersteer]

Originally Posted by deetjohn

But I like to think that it is getting better. We have 4 big manufacturers now and hopefully the list will grow. VW and Hyundai will bring money into the sport. And of the 4 cars, we do get to see 3 of them on road here in India as well.

You think its getting better?! Where has the Mitsubishis, Subarus, Toyota's, Peugeots, Renaults gone.

VW was present since long in the form of the Skoda and so was Citroen and Ford. Only addition is Hyundai, am not sure how much of a passion would that be able to inject alone.

But I agree, it has more to do with the way its managed. However, WRC is a real test bed for manufacturers to prove their products. However, you would appreciate that Rally cars are completely different from their road going counterparts.

[deetjohn]

Originally Posted by Powersteer

You think its getting better?! Where has the Mitsubishis, Subarus, Toyota's, Peugeots, Renaults gone.

Easy there buddy!

I was talking relative to the recent years! The 2010 season had only Ford and Citroen. VW in place of Skoda means they have raised their stake in the game and they are in it to win it as shown last year. Also, Hyundai too got bag loads of money and in dire need of passion and race credentials for the brand. I think they are here to stay as well.

It is a shame WRC lost Mini to Dakar. But Mini was more Prodrive than BMW and it was a works supported private team with short future.

One cannot hope to bring back the wonder years of rallying in a short duration after a heavy global financial crunch. You need to give it time.

And the presence of cash rich teams is certainly a step in the right direction. Toyota is also rumored to enter WRC with the Yaris World Rally Car.

[Powersteer]

Originally Posted by deetjohn

Easy there buddy!

I was talking relative to the recent years! The 2010 season had only Ford and Citroen. VW in place of Skoda means they have raised their stake in the game and they are in it to win it as shown last year.

Okay, now I see where you are coming from. Yes, from that perspective you're definitely right. Hopefully the worst is over.

The Popularity (or the lack!) of the Rally scene can also probably be judged by the "action" this particular thread is witnessing

Threads on a mundane commuter vehicle is generating far more interest these days than on a thread that has vehicles going sideways on full chat. The thing to worry is that even the young guns do not seem too interested. Or they have migrated to the Rally portal.

Ironically Rallying is far more "Reachable" and realistic.

[nitrous]

I was a keen follower of WRC until 2011.
FIA made it too uninteresting.

[Rehaan]

Originally Posted by nitrous

I was a keen follower of WRC until 2011.
FIA made it too uninteresting.

As someone who hasn't had the good fortune of seeing or following any WRC stuff since quite a few years now, what exactly were the changes made in 2011?

cya
R

[nitrous]

Originally Posted by Rehaan

As someone who hasn't had the good fortune of seeing or following any WRC stuff since quite a few years now, what exactly were the changes made in 2011?

cya
R

Moved from 2.0 turbo engines to 1.6 turbo.
Moved to shorter wheelbases and wider tracks. (Ford Focus turned to Fiesta)
A few more changes not too significant like moving from paddle shifters to sequential shifter levers.

Much like the changes they do in F1. Just that the effect on WRC was higher and I'd fall asleep while watching rallies downloaded from the web.

[Powersteer]

Originally Posted by nitrous

Moved to shorter wheelbases and wider tracks. (Ford Focus turned to Fiesta)

This was controversial. This favoured the Europeans and drove out the Subaru-Mitsu. Homologation requirements meant that the cars have to be based on roadgoing cars. Neither Subie, not Mitsu had anything with the requisite powertrain in a smaller package.

[deetjohn]

WRC comes home. Scandinavia! Amazing videos!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rZ4qarEMogw

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1NqnwAwGzm0

[deetjohn]

Jari-Matti Latvala moved into the lead of WRC after earning his second win for VW with victory on Rally Sweden.

Latvala took control of the rally on Friday afternoon and drove faultlessly on Saturday to pull comfortably clear and claim a third win in Sweden, ahead of VW team-mate Andreas Mikkelsen, who secured a maiden WRC podium with second place.

Mikkelsen had to fight off a late charge from Mads Ostberg, with the Norwegans locked in the rally's most entertaining battle as it entered its conclusion on Saturday afternoon.

Look at this amazing clip of the rally from VW.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gLcPofN1FUQ

[deetjohn]

I managed to find one more stunning video of Rally Sweden by Michelin.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4ovUgecy7xM