2012 World Rally Championship General News and Discussion

[Ian G.]

Yeah Latvala out,Ogier is flying in the Skoda,setting faster times than many of the WRC cars.

Edit...i spoke too soon,Ogier out after high speed off an very lucky to walk(limp?) away. Reports Ford is putting pressure on WRC class competitors to find extra sponsorship so will post a link when one of the Journo's goes to print.

[Ian G.]

Monte. over,no major dramas that we know of or were made public,off to Sweden.

So, final top 10 for Monte:
1.   1   LOEB S. / ELENA D. CITROËN DS3 WRC   wrc   04:32:39.9 00:00.0 00:00.0   
2.   37   SORDO D. / DEL BARRIO C. MINI John Cooper Works WRC   wrc   04:35:25.4 02:45.5 02:45.5   
3.   4   SOLBERG P. / PATTERSON C. FORD Fiesta RS WRC   wrc   04:35:54.1 03:14.2 00:28.7   
4.   2   HIRVONEN M. / LEHTINEN J. CITROËN DS3 WRC   wrc   04:36:46.7 04:06.8 00:52.6   
5.   6   NOVIKOV E. / GIRAUDET D. FORD Fiesta RS WRC   wrc   04:38:43.3 06:03.4 01:56.6   
6.   8    DELECOUR F. / SAVIGNONI D. FORD Fiesta RS WRC   wrc   04:40:27.8 07:47.9 01:44.5   
7.   52   CAMPANA P. / DE CASTELLI S. MINI John Cooper Works WRC   wrc   04:41:11.3 08:31.4 00:43.5   
8.   5   TÄNAK O. / SIKK K. FORD Fiesta RS WRC   wrc   04:43:14.5 10:34.6 02:03.2   
9.   21    PROKOP M. / HRÅ®ZA Z. FORD Fiesta RS WRC   wrc   04:48:50.6 16:10.7 05:36.1   
10.   12   ARAÚJO A. / RAMALHO M. MINI John Cooper Works WRC   wrc   04:48:56.5 16:16.6 00:05.9


Top 3 at Power Stage:
1.   1   LOEB S. / ELENA D. CITROËN DS3 WRC   wrc   03:27.8 00:00.0 00:00.0
2.   2   HIRVONEN M. / LEHTINEN J. CITROËN DS3 WRC   wrc   03:29.0   00:01.2 00:01.2
3.   6   NOVIKOV E. / GIRAUDET D. FORD Fiesta RS WRC   wrc   03:30.4   00:02.6 00:01.4

[Ian G.]

The Soap Opera continues with Sweden only a week+ away.

http://www.irallylive.com/ir_news.htm?00000183&

[bpratt]

Ouch, that's going to hurt losing Eurosport Events as Global promoter of the WRC, particulary as it is the loss of the TV coverage.

[Ian G.]

Yeah,major problems for the WRC,it looks like local TV will cover(try) the Swedish round but still hurdles to overcome for future events.Journo's over the past week have VW reversing their decision to compete in 2013,BMW withdrawing the Mini's from WRC events and persistant rumours Ford want out.The WRC will still exist in some form or another but it will be interesting to see what it morphs into,i have read the FIA want the Japs. back in so i guess the new rules will be framed to achieve that objective.

http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/97314

[Ian G.]

http://www.rallysweden.com/finnish-domination-in-norway?lang=en

[theStig]

I got an email the other day from EuroSport (who took over the 2012 broadcast rights from ONE) & they will not be showing any more of the 2012 season. Not sure of all the details but it will not be on TV this year by the sounds of it, but if you are looking for a way to watch it, I found this guy (WRCforeva) on YouTube, he seems to upload all of the Motos tv WRC shows, good quality too.

[Ian G.]

I got an email the other day from EuroSport (who took over the 2012 broadcast rights from ONE) & they will not be showing any more of the 2012 season. Not sure of all the details but it will not be on TV this year by the sounds of it, but if you are looking for a way to watch it, I found this guy (WRCforeva) on YouTube, he seems to upload all of the Motos tv WRC shows, good quality too.

Thanks(& Welcome) Stig,i know that name from somewhere! :Dg,i'll keep an eye out for his clips.As Old Tony mentioned previously there are still legal issues regarding North One so i guess Eurosport have been advised its not worth the trouble to get involved.WRC is certainly at the crossroads and struggling for creditability.

http://www.rallysweden.com/latvala-keeps-clear-of-hirvonen?lang=en

[theStig]

I read something similar to that the other day, why can't things just be simple.

[Ian G.]

....Money,making a profit is all that counts with the FIA ,promoting,fostering & evolving Motor Sport is just a by-product these days.

Ford is  happy again,  http://www.rallysweden.com/finn-in-a-ford-again?lang=en

[Ian G.]

Mexico WRC.

http://www.speedcafe.com/2012/02/18/qa-chris-atkinson-on-wrc-return-with-ken-block/

[Ian G.]

Atkinson out.

 http://www.best-of-rallylive.com/en/2012/03/11/loeb-and-citroenmichelin-still-on-top-in-mexico/

[Ian G.]

Although not many people posting someone seems to be reading this Thread so i'll keep it updated.Its not only here,even on the dedicated Rally Forums there has been a distinct lack of interest in the WRC the last couple of seasons.A FIA official said last year they would like the Japanese involved again but its time for a total revamp one would think. 

http://www.skynews.com.au/sport/article.aspx?id=728093&vId=

[Mothers Worry]

I'm actually taking all my information from your posts; and links.... and I thank you for that. 

[Ian G.]

No worries,there are over 600 views so someone is reading this thread but i feel the WRC is starting to loose interest among Sports fans so i feel its time for FIA to actually do something + instead of looking at the $ all the time.

Postscript on Mexico,Atkinson crashing,conflicting reports  whether it was brake/suspension failure or driver error,started a chain reaction where the following Fords of Novikov & Latvala crashed out at the same spot.

[bpratt]

Glad to read your posts Ian, as this is where I get my WRC info from, so I'm rather reliant on you posting the news here.

You're right though, WRC has really lost its gloss lately, and seems to be getting rather ignored, which is a damn shame.

[Mothers Worry]

i feel the WRC is starting to loose interest among Sports fans

If it develops horsepower and has wheels I'm interested.

[Oldtony]

The FIA is supposedly considering making the WRC a more endurance focused event.
To me that is logical, in fact the short sprint stages they use are more Rallycross than real Rallys.
Seb Loeb doesnt like the idea as he would have to go to the Rally a day earlier. In fact he says he would like to see everything shortened so the Rally finished Saturday and he could be home on Sunday.
What do you think.

[bpratt]

In the early 1980's I used to rally myself, and entered quite a few rallies and rallysprints, and whilst these were basically a Saturday day/night event, the stages varied in lengths, but were really different to the rallysprints which were anything up to around 3km, and really quite a lot of fun. Both required a different mindset to each other.

Rallysprint was just that as sprint, but a actually rally was a whole lot different as it was more an endurance event.

That all said, the TV requirements these days means that short stages allow more vision of the cars on those stages, so perhaps it is TV that is shortening these stages, which is a damn shame as I like the longer stage lengths that we once used to have.

My 'vote' is for lengthening the stages, and turning it in to a real rally.

[Ian G.]

That all said, the TV requirements these days means that short stages allow more vision of the cars on those stages, so perhaps it is TV that is shortening these stages, which is a damn shame as I like the longer stage lengths that we once used to have.

My 'vote' is for lengthening the stages, and turning it in to a real rally.

Yeah,it will be interesting where it all leads,WRC TV just hasn't rated the last few years so going back to the Safari type Rallies can't hurt,in fact in its day the Safari and now the Dakar does attract a reasonable audience on TV. In the late 1960'/early 1970's people used to pay to see highlights of the Safari in Cinema's.

Portugal round looks like having dust problems,last report i read was unseasonal snow so i guess the heat is back.
  http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/98432