Team-BHP - The WRC 2020 thread

2020 Rally Sweden: 13-16 Feb'20

THE STAGES

Action begins with big power slides at Thursday night’s spectacular super special stage at Karlstad trotting track, which is repeated 48 hours later.
Friday’s cross-border leg features two venues in Norway and two in Sweden. Norway’s Finnskogen makes a welcome return while Sweden’s Nyckelvattnet appears for the first time. Hof-Finnskog and Torsby are retained from 2019. Seven stages total 131.11km.
Saturday contains classic Swedish roads near Hagfors, incuding the iconic Colin’s Crest in Vargåsen. It also includes the return of Torntorp and a revised Hagfors, before culminating in a short sprint that ends on the edge of Torsby’s service park.
Just two stage venues in Sunday’s finale which is identical to 2019. Two passes over Likenäs are followed by the live TV Wolf Power Stage at Torsby.

WHAT´S NEW FOR 2020

Two new stage venues for Friday’s first full day. Sweden’s 18.94km Nyckelvattnet has never been used in the rally, while Norway’s 20.89km Finnskogen returns for the first time since 2012.
Torntorp is back on Saturday after a year away.
The opening three-quarters of the following Hagfors test was last driven in 2008.
A new look also for the famous Vargåsen on Saturday. The opening half hasn’t been graced by Rally Sweden cars for 19 years.

What's more to look forward would be Jari Matti Latvala's return!
https://www.autosport.com/wrc/news/1...vala-in-sweden

Good to see a WRC thread. We should have one for each event in the calendar going forward.

For those who are interested in seeing the sessions live or replayed, WRC has WRC+. Subcription for a year costs around 8000 rupees. I subscribed to it and watched the Rallye Monte Carlo couple of weeks back. Excellent quality and allows you to follow the action very well.

One of the hot new faces is Kalle Rovanpera who is driving for Toyota. All of 19 years and finished 5th in Monte Carlo.

The battle between Hyundai and Toyota went down to the wire in Monte Carlo.

Drive on,
Shibu

Thanks for editing the date in my post, got the month wrong! (tried to find the edit button on my phone screen without success).

Yeah, that subscription is quite steeply priced! I remember watching highlights of the stages when it used to be shown on Star Sports long time back. Not sure whether it is being aired now. Have to depend on YouTube for highlights now.

Toyota Vs Hyundai, what a contest! Missing Citroen and Mini though, used to enjoy watching the likes of Hirvonen, Loeb, Meeke. Hope M-Sport mount some challenge to the factory teams in Sweden.

So it's the warmest winter in Sweden which means that there is no snow. What is there is a gravel + ice combo that has teams concerned about how the studded winter tyres would cope. This is the first time the Rally of Sweden has been run under such conditions.

Couple of stages have been cut as a result of the weather as well.

Car Setup

Quote:

Loose surface specification but engineering solutions required to make engines work at peak performance in unrelenting cold.
Michelin’s skinny tyres bristle with 384 tungsten-tipped steel studs to bite into the frozen roads. Each stud is 20mm long and weighs 4g. However, just 7mm is exposed, with the rest inserted into the rubber to provide a strong anchor.
Shovels are mandatory in case competitors have to dig their cars out of snow.

Link

Stages

Quote:

Action begins with big power slides at Thursday night’s spectacular super special stage at Karlstad trotting track.
Friday’s cross-border leg features two venues in Norway and two in Sweden. Norway’s Finnskogen makes a welcome return while Sweden’s Nyckelvattnet appears for the first time. Hof-Finnskog and Torsby are retained from 2019. Four stages total 63.68km.
Saturday follows an identical schedule in Norway and Sweden.
Just two stages in Sunday’s finale, with two passes over Likenäs. The second run forms the live TV Wolf Power Stage.

Link

Ott Tanak set the fastest time in the Thursday morning shakedown.

Quote:

Rallies follow the same basic structure. They start with two days of reconnaissance in which drivers and co-drivers practise the route at limited speed to make pace notes.

The recce is followed by a Thursday morning shakedown, a full-speed test which allows competitors a final opportunity to fine-tune their car’s set-up.

The rally proper starts on Thursday night, usually with a short fan-favourite stage in a stadium or through the streets of the host town.

The competition continues for the next three days, before ending on Sunday lunchtime with the rally-closing

Drive on,
Shibu

A new star on the rise. Or much I say two.

Elfyn Evans taking lead of the charge at Toyota in his first outing with them was comfortably placed at the end of yesterday's stages.

There was a see-saw battle going on between team mates Sebastian Ogier and Kalle Rovanpera (the Verstappen of WRC but with a much more mature and stable head on his shoulders) before Rovanpera lost 3rd to his 6 time champion teammate Ogier in the final sprint stage.

Ott Tanak for Hyundai is placed second and Theirry Neuville in 6th. Esapekka Lappi represents Ford in 5th.

What sees to trouble the drivers most seems to be the varying grip levels with a mixture of snow and gravel over the stages.

Also it seems that the shorter Yaris is more suited for these winding stages and seems to be able to carry higher speed through.

Drive on,
Shibu.

Quote:

Ogier started the final round facing a 14-point deficit to Toyota Yaris team-mate Elfyn Evans. They took the lead on Saturday morning, but Evans’ measured pace kept the Welshman on course for a maiden championship success.

But Evans’ dream ended when he crashed down a bank after being caught out by treacherous snow-covered mountain roads.

Ogier eased through Sunday’s rain-soaked final leg at Monza’s Cathedral of Speed circuit to win by 13.9sec and take the crown by eight points. French drivers have claimed the title on 16 occasions in the last 17 years.

After a weekend characterised by never-ending rain at Monza and snow blanketing the roads in the Italian Alps, Ogier endured one final scare in the last kilometres of the closing Wolf Power Stage. The wipers on his Yaris briefly failed, leaving him with no visibility behind a muddy windscreen.

This is Sebastian Ogier's 7th title in the last 8 years and has done so with 3 different constructors - Volkswagen, Ford and now Toyota. He matches Juha Kankkunen's record of winning the WDC with three different Manufacturers. Juha Kankkunen won with Peugeot, Lancia and Toyota.
It is just amazing the name Sebastian has dominated the last 15 years of motorsports with Sebastian Loeb winning 9 titles in WRC, Sebastian Ogier's 7 titles in WRC & Sebastian Vettel's 4 year and hopefully continuing reign in Formula 1.

SOURCE