[deetjohn]

The season is off to a flying start and it promises the best treat for rally fans - of very close fights. So, we cannot afford to not have a dedicated thread for 2017.


Round 1 - Monte Carlo - Won by Sebastien Ogier in his M-Sport Ford Fiesta WRC
Round 2 - Sweden - Won by Jari-Matti Latvala in his Toyota Yaris WRC

Pleasantly surprised? Let's meet the teams eligible to score manufacturer points and the drivers then.


The Teams and Drivers

M-Sport World Rally Team: Ford Fiesta WRC - Sébastien Ogier, Ott Tänak, Elfyn Evans


Hyundai Motorsport: Hyundai i20 Coupe WRC - Hayden Paddon, Thierry Neuville, Dani Sordo


Citroën Total Abu Dhabi WRT: Citroën C3 WRC - Kris Meeke, Stéphane Lefebvre, Craig Breen


Toyota GAZOO Racing WRC: Toyota Yaris WRC - Jari-Matti Latvala, Juho Hänninen. No shortage of fins here with legend Tommi Mäkinen being the team principal of the team.



The Calendar



Main changes for 2017
Technical
An increase in the power output of the engine, from 300 to 380 bhp.
A reduction of the overall weight of the car, cutting 25 kg from the monocoque.
An increase in the overhang of the front and rear bumpers and increases in the size of the door sills, door pillars and the fixed rear wing, permitting the inclusion of additional aerodynamic aids, all aimed at improving aerodynamic grip.
The reintroduction of an active centre differential for the first time since the 2010 season.
Sporting
Manufacturers are permitted to enter at least two and as many as three crews in each round, with the best two results being awarded points.

The changes in regulation has made the cars blindingly fast with experts commenting its like the return of Group B rallying.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EV478bP19cY

And FIA is already on the crackdown with a stage in Sweden called off after pacesetter Ott Tanak's M-Sport Ford Fiesta set an average speed of 85.62 mph on its first use. source

Let's see how the season unfolds.

[deetjohn]

3 rounds, 3 winners.

Kris Meeke wins rally Rally Mexico with his Citroën C3.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OU3h02M8kY4

report

[fash_1]

Is there any channel telecasting WRC live in India by any chance?

[qr20de]

@deetjohn: What an end to a rally! I am a die hard WRC fan for almost 15 years now and this has to be one of the most riveting finishes I have ever seen!

Just to summarize for other rally fans, Meeke had close to a 40 second gap between him and Sebastian Ogier until the final stage.

After the famous jump on the El Bronco stage, Meeke took a sweeping right corner way to quickly, hit a bump, and flew into a hedge! He was EXTREMELY lucky that there was a open field that allowed him to rejoin the race.

He managed to finish 14 seconds ahead of Ogier despite his off road adventure. He completed the stage with a front puncture and Meeke was sure that they had lost out. But Nagle got the confirmation and you can imagine their relief!

The on board video and commentary from his driver says it all!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZrzNrds0qCc

This is the team's reaction while in the service park watching it live!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B3RV0aHhpdU

The new season of the WRC is turning out to be one of the best so far. Three different winners in three races, both drivers and manufacturers.

Who needs F1 when you have this?!

[qr20de]

Originally Posted by fash_1

Is there any channel telecasting WRC live in India by any chance?

As far as I know, no one is. Log on to RebBull Tv. They have great highlights and even show some stages live.

I heard WRC+ is a great resource, but paid.

[deetjohn]

It's the 4th round at Corsica and guess who is leading?

Thierry Neuville with his Hyundai i20 is sitting pretty with a 38.9 seconds gap to Ogier and his Fiesta.

If Neuville can hold on, we will see a 4th constructor win in as many races!

[qr20de]

What a rally this was and what a season this is turning out to be!

Four different drivers and four different manufacturers! Now this is what racing is supposed to be! I have officially disowned Formula 1!

Highlights

Kris Meeke once again got off to a blinding start and established himself as a leader in the rally. He continued to build his lead until his engine blew on the last stage of the second day. Really unfortunate for him.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XABlTmbxCqs

Ogier struggled with hydraulic issues on the same day, leaving him with no center differential basically rendering the car rear wheel drive and forcing him into manual shifting. This made him drop time to Neuville, of over 30 seconds.

Neuville managed to push and increased his lead finally winning the rally, after two unlucky non-finishes in Monte Carlo and Sweden.

However the best of the action was reserved for the battle between third and fourth. Sordo was rallying the hell out of his Hyundai but finished just 1.3 seconds behind Ogier for third place.

Breen was also flying, despite driving one stage without the intercom and his co-driver using hand signals. He finally lost out to Latvala by just 0.1 seconds! Talk about a close finish. And this is after 3 and a half hours of competitive rallying!

A well deserved win by Neuville. Can't wait for this season to go on!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dh91V23yiL8

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yxWX...TPeV35niipYCuo

[deetjohn]

Looks like Ford will have to step up support to the M-Sport team, else they risk losing the imperious Ogier to a rival next season.

Originally Posted by qr20de

Four different drivers and four different manufacturers! Now this is what racing is supposed to be! I have officially disowned Formula 1!

You picked a wrong season to disown F1. The season has started with a bang. Much faster cars, and two leading teams with very good cars. Hopefully, the fight will go to the very end of the season.

[qr20de]

Originally Posted by deetjohn

Looks like Ford will have to step up support to the M-Sport team, else they risk losing the imperious Ogier to a rival next season.



You picked a wrong season to disown F1. The season has started with a bang. Much faster cars, and two leading teams with very good cars. Hopefully, the fight will go to the very end of the season.

Oh man! Looks like it! I heard the previous F1 race weekend was intense!

I can't wait for next weekend's Argentina Rally. Proper gravel, high altitude. It's going to be awesome!

[deetjohn]

0.7 seconds!

That was the margin with which Thierry Neuville claimed his second consecutive win in Rally Argentina over Elfyn Evans on his Fiesta. Really incredible!

Elfyn Evans was leading the early stages with over a minute in hand when he hit trouble with two punctures and damage to the rear diffuser on his DMACK Ford Fiesta. Neuville cut the gap steadily and got the lead to finish with the narrowest of margins.



Thierry Neuville' i20 WRC


Elfyn Evans' Fiesta WRC


source

[qr20de]

@deetjohn! I knew I would an update to this page when I logged in! You're a true WRC fan!

This season just seems to be getting better and better. But to be quite honest, I was really really praying that Evans would win it. Such an amazing driver and great performance over the weekend. Many people attributed his win to the Dmack tyres, but he was really driving well.

I can not imagine a closer battle in rallying. A 0.7 second difference is Formula 1 time. Even more amazing is that fact that that was the margin after 3 hours and 38 minutes of driving. And the battle was decided in the very last stage of the rally, the famous El Condor.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3KHunohqWxU

This is Hyundai's last day highlights:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IB8xYog9xpw

World champion Ogier finished fourth with the extremely talented Tanak in fourth. Toyota faced some overheating issues and finished in 5th and 7th places.

Last rally's winner Meeke was showing promising pace at the beginning of the rally but then had a massive roll on the second day, but managed to bring the car back to service.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RLHi...k5CscRkpebUsLR

He rolled the car once again under Rally 2 rules but this time rolled 8 times! Obviously the car was totally destroyed. The other Citroen of Breen got stuck in gear 5 on the second day.

Here is the overall summary.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M3eMwRjIm1E

[qr20de]

Yet another fantastic rally; the sixth round of the 2017 WRC season finished this past weekend with the famous Portugal round. This is one of the most challenging but popular rounds of the championship. The extremely rough roads took their toll on cars with several DNFs and suspension damage cases.

The lead kept changing between the leading drivers but the surprise of the event came in the WRC2 class in the very last stage of the rally, with 2km of competitive section remaining.

Shakedown Highlights

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WX1CPRw6DnM

Day 1

During the super special stage in Lousada, Ostberg and Neuville were tied for 1st. What an incredible atmosphere!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gjaVe9Bnytw

Day 2

The lead changed hands between Paddon, Latvala, Meeke and finally Tanak at the end of the day. That's four different teams in one day leading the rally; talk about a close race!

Paddon faced electrical problems towards the end of the day, rendering him far away from the overall lead. Latvala rolled his Toyota while Meeke broke his rear suspension and retired from the rally, to compete in the Rally 2 rules.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sXAi0M2OjII

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DONYpYKUz8s

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fRGDAF_cumI

Day 3

Ogier dominated the third day and was the seventh driver to lead the rally! Tanak who came into the day leading the rally hit a boulder and suffered suspension and brake damage. The Estonian was on track to win the rally but these put him much further back by dropping 90 seconds.

Ogier continued his dominance and increased the lead over second placed Neuville. Sordo in the other Hyundai was now elevated to third. Craig Breen in the other Citroen continued his impressive consistent run but made bad tyre choices dropping him time.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sID4CZyzjs0

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0g6tjHAYivg

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5o9uuw9CKeI

Day 4

The final day brought about the famous Fafe stage with the massive jumps.

Ogier continued his dominance of the rally with consistent times and won it for the fifth time! Neuville fought hard and finished second with Sordo in third.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Immi2i3Aric

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T6G7jHEDTZk

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RHfH4fxR4xM

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2tDUbSMLBHM

But the surprise of the event came in the WRC2 category. Skoda's Mikkelsen lead the rally from the opening stage to the last power stage on Sunday with a lead of over 3 minutes to second place Tidemand. But his world went upside down literally when he rolled the car with 2km to spare in the final stage! He had to retire and this gifted the win to his team-mate Tidemand. Talk about bad luck.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XRp_dTLjUdI

The next rally is Sardegna on June 8.

[deetjohn]

This thread didn't get any updates and two rallies happened in the meanwhile.

Round 7 - Italy - Won by Ott Tänak in the Fiesta WRC
Round 8 - Portugal - Won by Thierry Neuville in the i20 WRC

Sebastien Ogier leads the drivers championship due to his consistency with results. And M-Sport World Rally Team leads the constructors with the Ford Fiesta. Hyundai is closing in pretty quick with some great results.

What a season we are having!

[deetjohn]

Sebastien Ogier has done it again and took the 2017 WRC title (his 5th) with M-Sport on the Ford Fiesta. A brilliant job by M-Sport!!




But he is considering retirement with Ford reluctant to give factory support to M-Sport.

The current manufacturer standing is as follows with the last round at Australia pending.
M-Sport World Rally Team : 398
Hyundai Motorsport : 305
Toyota GAZOO Racing WRT : 241
Citroën Total Abu Dhabi WRT : 210

source

[glikithvinayaka]

Has there been any word on Sebastian Ogier's future with M-Sport?
I remember reading somewhere that if Ford steps up to help M-Sport only then will he consider staying there or discussions are going on for him to move to citroen.