The second full day of Rallye Monte Carlo started with snow falling, which we had been waiting for! Boy, did it come down!
Kris Meeke and Paul Nagle, Photo credit Citroen Racing.
Craig Breen was first into stage nine, the first of the day. At the end, he referred himself as a snowplow! Sadly, Dani went off the road and so one of the teams that we expected to see standing on the podium, now will be nowhere near it. The stage was won by Andreas, but clearly the team could do with some luck. Seb made a great start, increasing the gap to former M-Sport teammate, Ott by a full minute who now found himself in second and Jari-Matti a further 21 or so seconds in third. Elfyn Evans in the number 2 Fiesta WRC, gapped Thierry by 20 seconds in their battle for seventh overall.
Stage 10 saw Ott close down 15 seconds to Seb, with the French champions advantage a little over a minute at the end of the 16km stage. The Toyota’s were running well, all three in the top four overall positions.
2018 FIA World Rally Championship, Round 01, Rallye Monte-Carlo 2018, January 25-28, 2018. Worldwide Copyright: Toyota Gazoo Racing WRC
The following stage saw Esapekka Lappi pick up a puncture, so Kris Meeke picked up fourth place, despite sliding off into a field. Elfyn also picked up a position, moving ahead of Bryan Bouffier into sixth place. Ogier’s lead was now down to 48 seconds.
The next stage, number twelve, was won by Thierry, and this edged him a little closer to seventh placed Bouffier’s Fiesta, the gap just 12 seconds! Kris also was just hanging onto fourth place, with Lappi in the Yaris setting the third quickest time.
2018 FIA World Rally Championship Round 01, Rallye Monte-Carlo 24-28 January 2018 Day 2 Action Thierry Neuville, Nicolas Gilsoul, Hyundai i20 Coupe WRC Photographer: Helena El Mokni Worldwide copyright: Hyundai Motorsport GmbH
The last stage of the day was won by Thierry and Elfyn was just two seconds slower than the Belgian keeping the gap between them above 30 seconds. Kris lost fourth place to young Finn, Esapekka Lappi after the Irishman spun in a hairpin, losing a couple of seconds.
Heading into the last day tomorrow, Seb Ogier leads Ott by just a little over half a minute. Just four stages and a total of 64km. It’s certainly possible for something to happen!
FIA WORLD RALLY CHAMPIONSHIP 2018 -WRC Monte Carlo (FRA) – WRC 24/01/2018 to 28/01/2018 – PHOTO : @World
Well, what a day! Where to start my round up of today’s six stages? Seb in his Fiesta was our leader all day, but there were different stage winners and the person leading to fight to the Frenchman changed as well.
Andreas Mikkelsen was the man who was closest at the start of the day, but after dropping behind Dani in stage three, he then retired in stage four with alternator failure. There was more pain for Thierry as well, who suffered another puncture in stage three.
2018 FIA World Rally Championship Round 01, Rallye Monte-Carlo 25-28 Janvier 2018 Dani Sordo, Carlos Del Barrio, Hyundai i20 Coupe WRC Photographer: Austral Worldwide copyright: Hyundai Motorsport GmbH
The lead grew in stage four, but Ott Tanak was feeling at home in his new car, moving up the leaderboard and closing the gap to second placed Dani. Meantime, Craig was having a nightmare in his Citroen, with a stone breaking part of the caliper and meaning he’d suffer from brake failure and he was not enjoying that one bit. The good news though was that after stage five, the cars headed for service and the problem was fixed.
The afternoon loop began with the 26km and Ott took the fight to Seb, winning the stage and taking six and a half seconds out of erstwhile leader Seb’s lead. Craig was feeling a lot more comfortable now he had working brakes!
2018 FIA World Rally Championship, Round 01, Rallye Monte-Carlo 2018, January 25-28, 2018. Worldwide Copyright: Toyota Gazoo Racing WRC
Elfyn Evans took the long stage seven when the heavens opened, but Seb lost 14 seconds to Ott and the lead was down to 19 seconds after a spin put the Fiesta into a ditch! Craig was increasingly comfortable, setting the fourth fastest time in the stage, whilst Dani, Esapekka and Jari-Matti continued their battle for third overall.
Elfyn Evans, Dan Barritt, Day two. Photo credit, M-Sport
The final stage of the day fell to Thierry who after his puncture had been fighting back and closed the gap to Elfyn to just a little over three seconds.
Tomorrow sees the crews tackle five stages and a total of 117 km. One thing that could have a big impact to the standings is the snow that has been predicted all week. It will make tyre choices very hard!
Craig Breen, Scott Martin. Photo credit, Citroen Racing
Here’s the standings at the end of day two.
1 S. Ogier J. Ingrassia Ford Fiesta WRC 2:07:15.4
2 O. Tänak M. Järveoja Toyota Yaris WRC +14.9
3 D. Sordo C. del Barrio Hyundai i20 Coupe WRC +59.7
4 E. Lappi J. Ferm Toyota Yaris WRC +1:09.9
5 J. M. Latvala M. Anttila Toyota Yaris WRC +1:10.1
6 K. Meeke P. Nagle Citroën C3 WRC +2:45.5
7 B. Bouffier X. Panseri Ford Fiesta WRC +3:34.6
8 E. Evans D. Barritt Ford Fiesta WRC +4:01.7
9 T. Neuville N. Gilsoul Hyundai i20 Coupe WRC +4:04.1
First stage of the event and there was lots of drama in the Thoard – Sisteron 36km opener! There was no snow and ice in the first 12km and then broken ice for a couple of km’s.
Seb Ogier, early leader of Rallye Monte Carlo, Photo credit, M-Sport
Seb Ogier was first in, and spun in the stage! Ott stopped 11km into stage, but got going again and Thierry was another to stop, but got going again as well. Both had slid wide into snow banks. Another to spin was Jari-Matti and he managed to spin twice! Elfyn picked up a puncture at about 12km into the stage, so they had to change the tyre. The Citroen duo of Kris and Craig both spun as well, Kris losing a minute or so.
Esapekka completed the stage third fastest, with a good run though, whilst Andreas was the closest challenger to Ogier, just 7.7 seconds off the Fiesta WRC pilot!
1st Ogier 23’16”6
2nd Mikkelsen + 7”7
3rd Lappi + 19”4
4th Sordo + 19”7
5th Breen + 24”6
6th Tänak + 37”9
7th Latvala + 48”9
8th Bouffier + 1’15”6
9th Camilli + 1’43”3
10th Meeke + 1’44”7
Stage two, Bayons – Breziers 25,49km stage which includes a rise of 1184 metres above sea-level to the summit of Col de Sagnes! Ogier won the stage with a very good clean run through with Thierry going second fastest and Ott third. There were a few changes in the leaderboard with Dani moving ahead of Esapekka and into third. Kris and Thierry are a long way off the lead sadly, over two minutes away for the Citroen pilot and over four for the Belgian. That’s a big ask for them.
Classification after Day One
1 S. Ogier J. Ingrassia Ford Fiesta WRC 38:09.8
2 A. Mikkelsen A. Jæger Hyundai i20 Coupe WRC +17.3
3 D. Sordo C. del Barrio Hyundai i20 Coupe WRC +25.6
4 E. Lappi J. Ferm Toyota Yaris WRC +37.4
5 O. Tänak M. Järveoja Toyota Yaris WRC +42.4
6 J. M. Latvala M. Anttila Toyota Yaris WRC +55.4
7 C. Breen S. Martin Citroën C3 WRC +1:02.3
8 B. Bouffier X. Panseri Ford Fiesta WRC +1:51.0
9 K. Meeke P. Nagle Citroën C3 WRC +2:12.7
10 E. Camilli B. Veillas Ford Fiesta R5 +2:42.2
17 T. Neuville N. Gilsoul Hyundai i20 Coupe WRC +4:18.2
What will happen tomorrow? There are six stages and 144.88 km’s of action!
Its time for a new season! Will this year be as amazing as last? Who knows what will happen in 2018?! First up, we’ve got the iconic Rallye Monte Carlo, an event being run for the 86th time, that really challenges the drivers, with ice and snow-covered stages!
FIA WORLD RALLY CHAMPIONSHIP 2016 -WRC Monte Carlo (FRA) – WRC 18/01/2017 to 22/01/2017 – PHOTO : @World
Reigning champion Seb Ogier has won this event four times and will be targeting a fifth! If you’re looking for challengers, then last year’s early leader Thierry, plus Andreas and Kris are the drivers likely to be there. Jari-Matti and Ott in the Yaris will also be challenging near the top. Any number of these drivers could stand on the podium.
Here’s the full details of the stages.
WEDNESDAY 24 JANUARY
4.00pm: shakedown (Gap)
THURSDAY 25 JANUARY
5.50pm: Start day 1 (Monaco – Place du Casino)
9.43pm: SS 1 – Thoard – Sisteron (36,69 km)
10.51pm: SS 2 – Bayons – Bréziers 1 (25,49 km)
11.56pm: Flexi Service A (Gap – 48′)
FRIDAY 26 JANUARY
8.00am: Start day 2 and Service B (Gap – 18′)
8.51am: SS 3 – Vitrolles – Oze 1 (26,72 km)
10.04am: SS 4 – Roussieux – Eygalayes 1 (30,54 km)
11.37am: SS 5 – Vaumeilh – Claret 1 (15,18 km)
12.52pm: Service C (Gap – 33′)
1.58pm: SS 6 – Vitrolles – Oze 2 (26,72 km)
3.11pm: SS 7 – Roussieux – Eygalayes 2 (30,54 km)
4.44pm: SS 8 – Vaumeilh – Claret 2 (15,18 km)
5.49pm: Flexi Service D (Gap – 48′)
SATURDAY 27 JANUARY
6.57am: Start day 3 and Service E (Gap – 18′)
8.08am: SS 9 – Agnières en Devoluy – Corps 1 (29,16 km)
9.16am: SS 10 – St Léger les Mélèzes – La Batie Neuve 1 (16,87 km)
10.31am: Service F (Gap – 33′)
11.57am: SS 11 – Agnières en Devoluy – Corps 2 (29,16 km)
1.08pm: SS 12 – St Léger les Mélèzes – La Batie Neuve 2 (16,87 km)
2.23pm: Service G (Gap – 33′)
4.09pm: SS 13 – Bayons – Bréziers 2 (25,49 km)
5.29pm: Service H (Gap – 48′)
10.17pm: Parc ferme (Monaco)
SUNDAY 28 JANUARY
6.49am: Start day 4
8.32am: SS 14 – La Bollène Vésubie – Peira Cava 1 (18,41 km)
9.08am: SS 15 – La Cabanette – Col de Braus 1 (13,58 km)
10.55am: SS 16 – La Bollène Vésubie – Peira Cava 2 (18,41 km)
12.18pm: SS 17 – La Cabanette – Col de Braus 2 (13,58 km)
1.58pm: Parc ferme (Monaco)
3.00pm: Prize giving (Place du Palais Princier – Monaco)
That’s a total of 17 stages, covering 388.59km in total.
Flashback to 2017
Thierry Neuville had built a commanding lead over the first two days, but after running wide during the final stage on Saturday and breaking his suspension, Sébastien Ogier came through to take his fourth victory!
Ott Tänak / Martin Järveoja (Ford Fiesta WRC) +2:57.8
Okay, let’s hear from the teams then.
M-Sport Ford World Rally Team
Malcolm Wilson OBE
“Last year saw us enjoy our most successful season in motorsport and that’s something that we want to see continue in 2018. The hard work has not stopped and everyone has been working around the clock to ensure that we start our title defence on a high.
“We have completed two comprehensive test sessions and the feeling amongst the team is more determined than ever. It might not be possible to make huge gains within the regulations, but we have been working with our partners to enhance what was already an extremely strong package.
“Every team is capable of securing the ultimate prize this year and I am expecting the competition to be closer than ever. It’s so difficult to predict who will even come out on top this week, and that in itself is fantastic for the sport.
“In Sébastien, Elfyn and Bryan we have three very competent and intelligent drivers who are all more than capable of securing a Monte-Carlo victory. That has to be our aim so let’s see what happens. Like every rally fan, I am very much looking forward to the start of this exciting new season.”
Sébastien Ogier
“We start the new season with an event that is always a real highlight for me – Rallye Monte-Carlo. As my home event, I always want to give my best and challenge for the top results.
“We started something great here last year and want to try and build on that in 2018. We will need to work hard as the competition will be very tough. Every team has a winning car and a winning driver so everyone is a threat and we need to be ready right from the start.
“It’s such a challenging start to the season – the ultimate test with extreme conditions that can see us go from dry Tarmac to pure ice and snow in the space of a single stage. It’s certainly not easy, but that’s what makes a good result here so rewarding.
“We’ll start this year with what could be the biggest challenge of the entire rally – Sisteron, in reverse, in the dark. It doesn’t get much tougher than that, but that’s Monte. It’s always a challenge and that will be the case from the very first stage this year.”
Sebastien Ogier, Rallye Monte Carlo 2017, Photo credit, Alastair Cummins
Elfyn Evans
“Rallye Monte-Carlo is one of those events that every driver looks forward to. I’ve always said that it offers some of the best Tarmac roads in the world, but at this time of year the conditions make it a true challenge and the ultimate test of strategy. To do well, you really do need to get absolutely everything right.
“We’ve just completed two days of testing in mixed conditions. The road was constantly evolving which is great when it comes to getting a flavour for everything we’ve come to expect on a rally like this, but it can also be a bit of a double-edged sword at times – making it difficult to judge which direction to go in terms of set-up.
“Overall, I would say that we had two pretty good tests and that we are feeling fairly well prepared. Monte can always be a bit of a lottery and it can go either way, but we’re definitely ready to get the season started. We want to start the year on a high, so we’ll give it our best and see what happens.”
Bryan Bouffier
“Since learning that I would be driving the Ford Fiesta WRC, Rallye Monte-Carlo could not come soon enough! It’s one of my favourite events and having the opportunity to do it in one of these new generation world rally cars – the championship-winning car – is a dream come true.
“I have a lot of experience at Rallye Monte-Carlo which helps when it comes to reading the road and adapting the pace to suit the conditions, but this event is never easy. It’s one of the toughest events on the calendar and to do well you need to drive a clever rally by making the right calls on the tyres and finding the right balance between pushing hard and being more cautious.
“As one of the ‘French’ events, I feel at home at Rallye Monte-Carlo and am really looking forward to it. First and foremost, we want to have fun. We’ll start in a relaxed frame of mind and if we could help the team by scoring some good points for the manufacturers’ championship it would be amazing.”
Citroen Abu Dhabi WRT
Pierre Budar
“The new season is upon us, which obviously means both excitement and uncertainty. After claiming second place in Germany and winning in Spain in the second part of 2017, which confirmed the growing strength of the team, I am determined to continue the work begun by Yves Matton, so that the team picks up in 2018 where it left off at the end of last year. This is especially the case since the C3 WRC has been further improved during the off-season, with intensive work put into widening its operating spectrum. Kris Meeke has the required experience to fight at the front at this unique event, as he showed in 2016, whilst Craig gained a lot of confidence from last year’s appearance and is determined to use it to push for a good position. They both also know that you can’t approach this rally just like any other: you must remain composed and treat the stages with the respect they deserve to avoid getting caught out by one of the many tricky sections.”
Citroen C3 WRC, Rallye Monte Carlo, Photo credit, Citroen Racing.
Kris Meeke
“Monte is probably one of the season’s hardest rallies, because of the constant changes in grip, but I’ve always really enjoyed it. I’ve also been quick here. I won the event in the Junior WRC class in 2005, I picked up a podium (3rd) on my full-time return to the WRC with Citroën in 2014 and I fought for the win in 2016… So, I think that we can do a good job here, especially since our off-season tests were held on roads that are fairly representative of what we’ll be facing during the rally, with a good variety of weather conditions. The test sessions also enabled us to keep improving the ability of our C3 WRC to adapt to changes in road surface, particularly by heading back to the Col de Faye, which is where we were least comfortable last year.”
Craig Breen
“Monte-Carlo is a rally that I love. It’s a unique challenge, something you don’t get on any of the other events. Until 2017, however, I never felt sufficiently confident in the kind of changeable, slippery conditions you get here. But last year, with the old car, we surprised ourselves. With a bit more horsepower, we could have aimed for the podium, so that gives me confidence. I’d like to think we can do it this time around, even though I’m not the most experienced driver in the line-up. Especially in that based on what we learned in 2017, we come into this event better prepared and with a C3 WRC that is even more versatile.”
Toyota Gazoo Racing WRT
Tommi Mäkinen
“This time last year, we didn’t really know where we were as we prepared for the debut of the Toyota Yaris WRC. In the coming season, I believe that we can be a lot more consistent, which is really what we need in order to fight for the championship titles. That is our aim after our learning season last year. The break since Rally Australia finished has not been very long but we have been very busy trying to make our car even better. Rallye Monte-Carlo is always a tough event to start the season with. Although I won it four times during my career as a driver, I didn’t prepare for it very well back then: I would not even think about rallying, and just go skiing instead! Our three drivers have been doing much better preparation, with a lot of testing, and we hope for a good result.”
Jari-Matti Latvala
“We learned a lot last year during our first season together. We discovered where we needed to improve, and we are now ready for the second year and I think we should be very competitive. We have a very good driver line-up: all of us managed to win in 2017 and when everybody is aiming for victories it is usually good for the team. We already achieved a good result on Rallye Monte-Carlo on the debut for the Yaris WRC last year, finishing in second place, which equalled my best result there. Then, it was important to have a clean rally and the same will be true this year, but we also want to have good speed.”
Jari-Matti Latvala, Rallye Monte Carlo 2017, Photo Credit Alastair Cummins
Ott Tänak
“There is a lot of excitement ahead of my first rally for TOYOTA GAZOO Racing. The team did a really good job last year: even though it was their first season they were already very competitive. I could see how much potential there is and I wanted to make sure I was part of this team in the coming years. Our target is the same: to win the championship. I am just getting used to the team but already I feel very welcome and the preparation has been going really well. In Monte Carlo we will see how we are compared to the competition. For sure, it is one of the most challenging events on the calendar. You don’t know what to expect: whether it will be snow or ice, wet or dry.”
Esapekka Lappi
“This will be my first full season in a World Rally Car and the approach needs to be a bit different to before: I need to be a bit more consistent. I still need to gain some more experience: during the first part of the season there are rallies I do not know so well, and Rallye Monte-Carlo is one of those. It is an event where experience can really help, so my aim has to be to do all the stages. Later in the season there are the rallies where I have confidence and where I should be most competitive. The preparation is good: we have just been trying to improve the car and ourselves.”
Hyundai Motorsport
Michel Nandan
“We are as well prepared for this new season as we can be with renewed ambitions for the championship. The performance of our Hyundai i20 Coupe WRC in the final rounds of last season, especially winning in Australia, gave us a good springboard for winter development. We have taken the car and crews to France and Spain for seven days of testing in the past month, in an effort to replicate conditions that we expect in Monte. The beauty of this opening event is its unpredictability, so we have to be prepared for anything. Autosport International brought together all the manufacturer teams for a unique event, one that perfectly showcases the WRC’s community spirit. We know our rivals will be formidable and relentless, so we have to be on top of our game at all times. Bring on round one – let’s hope it’s another classic Monte.”
Andreas Mikkelsen
“It’s an amazing feeling to be starting a complete WRC season with Hyundai Motorsport. Last year was a bit frustrating, so I am looking forward to a consistent year with lots of rallying and aiming to be in the championship fight. Monte, of course, is an incredibly difficult challenge to start a new year with all kinds of conditions, including night driving where black ice can catch anyone out. Alongside Anders, I can’t wait to get our 2018 campaign underway.”
Thierry Neuville
“Excitement for this new WRC season is at fever pitch. The launch event in Birmingham put us all in a very positive frame of mind, and ready to attack the year ahead. Monte-Carlo is a very special event, one at which even the slightest error can be rally-ending. We saw last year, having led the event comfortably right until the penultimate day, that a small mistake put us out in a very frustrating manner. That’s what Monte is all about; it’s a tough challenge to start the year. We will aim to put all the lessons learned from our participation in the recent editions of this event to good use.”
Thierry Neuville, Rallye Monte Carlo, Photo credit, Alastair Cummins
Dani Sordo
“I am pleased to be starting my fifth season with Hyundai Motorsport at one of the most demanding events on the calendar – Monte-Carlo. We have developed a strong working relationship and although my schedule for this season is just seven events, I will aim to get as much out of them as I possibly can. I have a new co-driver for this season, Carlos, so there will be some areas we need to refresh, but we are optimistic we can deliver a positive result in this debut rally of the new year. We have to expect the unexpected at Monte-Carlo, and it will definitely be a tough fight against our rivals.”
In recent weeks it has been snowing, and this means that the teams and drivers will have a big challenge in getting the right strategy in terms of tyres. With the first stage on Thursday evening, the shakedown held in Gap at 4pm on Wednesday afternoon will be crucial in allowing the teams to really judge how their cars are behaving on these unique roads.
We’re all set for an amazing year then! Who will take victory?
We are just a little over a week away from the start of the new WRC season! This year’s calendar features a couple of changes. Rally Turkey has returned and has a slot in the middle of September and Wales Rally GB is now on the first weekend of October. Rally Poland does not return this year, which means that there are still 13 rounds like last year.
Here’s the full calendar!
Monte-Carlo 25 – 28 January
Sweden 15 – 18 February
Mexico 8 – 11 March
France 5 – 8 April
Argentina 26 – 29 April
Portugal 17 – 20 May
Italy 7 – 10 June
Finland 26 – 29 July
Germany 16 -19 August
Turkey 13 – 16 September
Great Britain 4 – 7 October
Spain 25 – 28 October
Australia 15 – 18 November
Reigning champion Seb Ogier will lead the M-Sport challenge with Elfyn Evans alongside him in the number two car. Teemu Suninen will drive a third Fiesta WRC in eight rounds.
Malcolm Wilson OBE, M-Sport WRT
“Every year we look forward to revealing our liveries, and this year we were able to do it in style with a joint launch at what is widely considered to be the traditional start of the motorsport season – Autosport International.
“We pride ourselves on producing striking liveries year after year, and this year is no different. Increased technical support from Ford Performance is represented, as is the increased involvement from Red Bull which sees their support extend to the younger drivers coming through our ranks.
“Another thrilling year of close-fought competition awaits, and we can’t wait to get going.”
M-Sport’s Fiesta WRC, Photo credit, Warren Nel
Ott Tanak has switched to the Toyota Gazoo WRT alongside Jari-Matti and Esapekka. Jari-Matti and Miikka have their eyes set on regular points and podiums with their re-worked Yaris, and Ott has definitely made the switch, looking to win championships.
Tommi Mäkinen, Toyota Team Principal
“It’s great to launch the 2018 season at the Autosport International show in front of so many motorsport fans. After a very pleasing first season in 2017 we are excited to build on that in the year ahead. We saw last year that the Toyota Yaris WRC was already capable of winning rallies, which was a great achievement by the team, but the competition also allowed us to discover areas that we can improve. With more time and more learning, we have been able to update the front end of the car to give us better aerodynamic performance, and we also have improvements to the cooling. I’m very excited that we’re going to keep on learning this year, as part of our mission to make ever-better cars.”
Hyundai sees Thierry and Andreas do the full season, with Hayden and Dani sharing a third car. Hayden will be driving in Sweden.
Team Principal Michel Nandan said:
“All of us at Hyundai Motorsport have been honoured to play a small part in today’s WRC launch at Autosport International. To have the chance to unveil our Hyundai i20 Coupe WRC in such a unique way has been incredible, and we are excited by the plans announced by WRC to show every stage live this season. We are always looking to reach new audiences, and show our sport in the most authentic way possible. WRC All Live is the ideal way to do that, and we are sure fans will be closer to the action than ever before. It’s really been the best way to kick-start 2018.”
Citroen will feature Kris Meeke doing the full season and Craig Breen doing ten rounds. Legend Seb Loeb will drive in three rounds, Mexico, Corsica and Spain. Also announced at the Autosport Show, WRC launch day, Mads Ostberg will drive a third C3 WRC in Rally Sweden as a one-off drive, although he’s set his sights on securing more competition time in that car. Khalid Al Qassimi will also drive a few events as well.
Citroen legend Sebastian Loeb, Photo credit, Citroen Racing.
Yves Matton, Former Citroën Racing Team Principal
“For 2018, we have decided to capitalise on what we’ve been building for a number of seasons now with Kris and Craig. Kris’ speed is unquestionable, and with the more relaxed mindset he had at the end of the year, he proved he had it in him to be a leader. The aim will be to target podiums, secure some wins, but Kris can also go for position in the championship. Meanwhile, Craig proved that he was the perfect foil, with some very consistent performances. There is still room for him to improve and aim even higher. I’m also delighted to see that there will be another chapter in the great history between Sébastien Loeb and Citroën: he couldn’t have returned to the WRC with anyone other than us! Seb confirmed that he has lost none of his speed and skill during the test sessions completed, although he is bound to be short of knowledge of the stages and time in the car, compared with the increasingly tough competition. We still believe in Stéphane: we are convinced that he will be a good ambassador for the Citroën C3 R5, for which the brand has great hopes. And this programme will allow him to continue to add to his experience and therefore keep improving.”
The big questions remain. Who will emerge triumphant this year? Can Thierry go one better than last year? When I spoke to him and his co-driver Nicolas last week, they were thinking more of the championship, than wins, realising that consistency is crucial when the cars and drivers are so evenly matched.
2018 FIA World Rally Championship 2018 Birmingham Team Launch 10-11 January 2018 Hyundai i20 Coupe WRC Photographer: Helena El Mokni Worldwide copyright: Hyundai Motorsport GmbH
Citroen are the sleeping giant, of all the teams, I’d say. They had a better second half in 2017 after changes to the car. With Kris, they have a very good talent, and he can certainly challenge for the championship. Craig will continue his development at the highest level.
You can read what a few of them had to say, when I interviewed them at last week’s Autosport Show. Check out my separate article
Come back soon to read my preview for Rallye Monte Carlo!
Pierre Budar succeeds Yves Matton, who joins the FIA as FIA Rally Director, after having initiated the return of the brand to the WRC.
The Citroën Racing Team, under the leadership of Pierre Budar, to recpnnect with the brand’s prestigious victories in motorsport, with 8 World rally championship titles, 3 WTCC World championship titles and 4 victories at Paris-Dakar Rally.
A graduate of the Ecole Centrale de Nantes, Pierre Budar joined Groupe PSA in 1989 as an engineer before being an official 309 Group N driver for the Peugeot Talbot Sport Team in 1991 and pursuing a brilliant career in engineering in France and in Asia.
After having created in 2010 the department of sports road versions (DS3 Racing, 208 GTi 30th, 308 GTi, DS3 Performance), he expanded his scope in 2016 to activities related to the Customer Competition. With his teams, he notably developed the 308 TCR and the C3R5.
His passion and his skills are undoubtedly an asset to reinvigorate Citroën Racing who is preparing to start the 2018 season of WRC at Monte Carlo rally with his C3WRC entrusting young talents Kris Meeke / Paul Nagle and Craig Breen / Scott Martin
On the occasion of his appointment Pierre Budar says: “Groupe PSA has given me a unique opportunity to reconcile my passion for motorsport with an engineering career. I never imagined one day running one of the most prestigious competition teams in the world. I measure the challenge that is proposed to me at the head of an extraordinary team and I will strive to obtain the best of its talents”
Jean Marc Finot, Senior Vice President of PSA Motorsport, adds: “I am proud that the FIA nominates Yves Matton to this prestigious position and would like to thank him for his contribution. I am pleased to give Pierre Budar the opportunity to express all his energy and enthusiasm in the service of ourcit passion: motorsport”
I got the opportunity to speak to the stars of the WRC during the launch day of the Championship.
2018 WRC Launch, Autosports International Show, NEC – Birmingham, UK, 11/01/2018
Here’s what they had to say.
First of all, I asked Citroen driver Craig Breen to sum up his 2017 season. This is what he said.
“It was a good first season in the world championship, close to a full season. The car wasn’t as good as we’d hoped, and we had to work hard on development in the middle of the year. Even still, it was a good year I’m quite happy, we showed some good speed and some rallies we were quite consistent finishing six times in fifth, so I was happy with that.”
I then asked him about his stellar drive to fifth in Monte Carlo in a 2016 DS3, and of course driving a C3 WRC there this year.
“Yes, Monte was a surprise with the old car, it was nice to do it, to get familiar with the event. Yes, I’m really looking forward to it, first time out with the big car there, and really excited!”
I then asked him which events he was most looking forward to this season.
“Finland, we’ve done well in Finland in the past, bagging a podium with third place in 2016. Portugal as well, Germany too.”
I then asked him if the team had got a good handle with the cars technical aspects.
“Yes, its definitely getting better and better with every test session and it’s going in the right direction and the team have already tested for Monte Carlo and have another two-day test next week.”
I spoke to Paul Nagle next, co-driver with Kris Meeke.
I started by asking him which events he was most looking forward to.
“Corsica was the first that he mentioned, saying we should have won that last year and the car gave up. Looking forward to going back to places that we won (Mexico and Portugal). It would be good to get a result in Monte and Sweden, solid results would be good, then Argentina as well (where they took their maiden victory).
I then asked him if he thought they had the pace in the car to challenge as last year was a mix, with a car that was hard to handle.
“We had the pace on tarmac, but the car was a handful. We improved as the year went on, getting more consistent results.”
Finally, I asked him about Sebastian Loeb joining the team for three events.
Autosport International Show, January 2018, Photo credit, Warren Nel
“It’s a good thing, he’s nine times world champion, brings a lot of experience, plus a lot of profile and support to the team and I’m looking forward to working with him.”
Kris Meeke was next up. I said to him that Paul was really positive for the season.
He said, “Its nice to start with a clean slate, and 2017 wasn’t the year we’d hoped for, yet we were able to take two victories. It could have been more with Corsica and Portugal. We certainly struggled in certain areas, I made a few mistakes, probably through my usual trait of trying too hard, when things aren’t right. We identified things that where we were inconsistent and needed to improve, even looking to improve myself as well. We’ll take each event as it comes and hopefully we can try to be in the mix for the title, and give it their best shot.”
I then asked if they’d got a handle on the car.
“Yes, it turned around quite a bit, for sure the car was strong on tarmac, bar Monte Carlo, on gravel we certainly improved after we changed our suspension supplier to Ohlins, and that improved everything. However, there are still areas we have to work on, so we’ll wait and see.”
We then got the surprising news that Mads Ostberg had signed to drive in Rally Sweden for the team!
He said, “Well, for now its just for Rally Sweden, and that he’s working with Yves Matton to drive more events. I’m motivated to work with Citroen, it was some of the best years of my career, it’s a good mix and I’m happy to be back.” He continued, “I had eight or nine podiums whilst there.
He’s yet to drive the car, but the amount of test time is already agreed.
Mads continued, “I’m happy with the programme that is ahead of me for Rally Sweden.”
He had a real up and down Rally Sweden in the One Bet Fiesta WRC. I asked him for his memories of it.
“We were doing well and in the podium position, then we lost the wing, then we had the gearbox problem and then also had a puncture! I got the longest jump on Colins Crest as well!”
Now it was time to talk to the Hyundai team, and I started with Thierry Neuville’s co-driver, Nicolas Gilsoul.
2018 FIA World Rally Championship 2018 Birmingham Team Launch 10-11 January 2018 Hyundai i20 Coupe WRC Photographer: Helena El Mokni Worldwide copyright: Hyundai Motorsport GmbH
I asked him what his hopes were for the new season.
“I think it’s quite clear. We missed the title last year, it’s our main target this year. He said less focus on the wins and more on the title itself and look to get the optimum result each time.”
Asking him if he was disappointed at all with the results, he said,
“No, not at all. A few had said that, and there is a little frustration, but that’s completely gone now and actually its been a fantastic season. If you check the numbers, you can see we have a lot of stage wins, more than Ogier and Tanak together, and except mid-season on a few rallies we struggled, for example we had a mechanical problem in Sardinia, in Finland the car was not competitive, we lost a wheel in Germany, three rallies in a row where we were not competitive or suffered mechanical problems, so except for that it was a very good season. Thinking of the problem at the start of the season, for sure, it should not happen, but I never count the corners through the year but we need some jokers, it’s close to impossible to drive at full speed to not do a mistake and sometimes its only a little mistake and its okay, and sometimes its not and you lose a wheel, or you break something and it’s over.”
I suggested that this is what he and Thierry wanted to do, to conquer these moments and overcome them.
“Yes, it’s a combination of things, to be really strong together, we are winning together and losing together and it’s the same for the team, for example three years ago when it was looking like we were not wanted by the teams we started to complain about the procedures, but it’s not the right way. The most important is to analyse what’s happened, to define what’s happened, to try and win through and solve the problem.”
Speaking about last season, he continued;
“I think last season, we didn’t start with the right mindset, because we didn’t expect it to be so competitive, and when we realised it, it was already too far through the season. Now this season we will start thinking of the championship. Now last year we mostly focused on rally wins.”
I asked them how long they’ve driven together and he said;
“Since 2011” he said. “We are very strong together, we know each other very well, we like working together and it’s easy and not boring at all, it’s still exciting, it’s good because now we are experienced and you are more confidant, because at the beginning you checking and double checking everything, and you are sometimes tired, and now it’s not being lazy, you trust yourself and you its been done and you don’t have to keep checking.”
Next, I had a chat with Seb Marshall, who is Hayden Paddon’s co-driver. He’s been working with the Kiwi for a couple of years now, but this will mark a first time they start a season together.
Seb Marshall, Hyundai Motorsport, Autosport International Show, January 2018, Photo credit, Warren Nel
He said “Yes, it’s nice to start a season together, and its confirmed that we have seven events this year, starting with Sweden, and gravel the rest of the year. Now the key objective is results wise with the drivers’ title not a consideration for us one of the key objectives is helping the team win the manufacturers championship, so that means that we need to score well. Last year we scored a couple of podiums and the target is that we can repeat that, and also take advantage of our road position on some events and string things together and target a win. We’ll take things as they come, take opportunities and see where we are at the end of the year.”
I spoke next to Thierry. I said to him, that it got away from him, but that it was a positive year on the whole despite the odd slip up.
He said, “It was a very positive year, the speed was there, the car was very good, the best performance of the team, we can’t complain. We just missed out on the objective, the most important, probably its not all about being world champion, but also enjoyable to do, I really enjoyed what we did we had a huge satisfaction, and I think a great preparation for the up-coming year as well, running in this position, we were one of the contenders for the title and at one point we were leading the championship, these are all things to experience and we have experienced it now we have to be constantly in this position. It won’t be easy. Looking forward to it!”
Next up, I spoke to Jari-Matti and his co-driver Miikka from Toyota. The second year with the team run by Finnish legend, Tommi Makinen. I started by saying, its your second year at Toyota.
2018 WRC Launch, Autosports International Show, NEC – Birmingham, UK, 11/01/2018
Jari-Matti said “Yes, it’s going to be exciting, Easier to start the second year than the first year, but there is a little more pressure of course, but you know on the other hand that the car is competitive!”
Of course, we did see Jari-Matti lead the championship after Rally Sweden last year.
Jari-Matti continued, “The first half of the season was very well and the first two races were special, it was an amazing feeling to be leading after Sweden, I knew that it would be more demanding in the high altitude races coming up, Mexico, Argentina, yes we were suffering in those, then it was getting better and I thought that wouldn’t face problems but we did mid-season, and of course it was disappointing to get them at the time when we could almost fight for the championship, but on the other hand it was the learning year and you know that they were coming, but still I prefer this way, that we had a good start to the season, it was really a bit great.”
I asked him next what his hopes were for the new season and what they had worked on over the winter.
“We have the new front bumper, the new front aero, which will give help to the turnings, work done on the engine, gears and suspension and I feel the car is better than last year. The target is to try to fight for podiums in every race.”
I then suggested that we saw a rebirth of him last year after leaving Volkswagen and asked him if that was fair to say.
He replied, “That yes that was fair to say, at Ford I was young and fast but made a lot of mistakes, then I went to Volkswagen and I was close and two times I finished second in the championship, but Ogier was always a step ahead with the consistency but then coming to the Toyota I thought start a new era just focus really for the consistency and it was going well and the target is to keep that this year as well.”
I asked him next on his feelings about Rally Finland where he retired with a problem on the Saturday afternoon.
He said, “Ah, that was very, very, disappointing, I mean my best single day performance in the morning before the technical problems, but these things can happen.”
I then asked him about the relationship between the drivers.
His reply was typically honest as you’d expect.
“In our team we are close and even with the little change with Ott Tanak coming in and Juho being test driver, to try and keep that spirit. All in all, in the rally world basically I would say all the drivers have a very good relationship, it’s not like in the racing world.”
Finally, I asked him which events he was most looking forward to this year, well, other than Rally Finland of course!
He said “For sure Sweden is important, I like Sardinia, Catalunya which I have really wanted to win for a long time.”
Then I spent some time talking to Miikka Anttila. I asked him how many years he’d been in the car with Jari-Matti and also how he found the transition from Volkswagen to Toyota.
2018 WRC Launch, Autosports International Show, NEC – Birmingham, UK, 11/01/2018
“Since 2003, I think it’s the fifteenth year already, a long time. We have a very good working relationship. The biggest part is that the team is from Finland, working so much with the Finnish people, for sure makes it a much, much easier, I mean let’s say if we went to Citroen, it wouldn’t have been so easy, and then of course already in the team there were people we knew from the past, I mean not Finnish guys, but from M-Sport times, so all in all its been really easy. When we went there, we found it was a good boost for all the people in the team, that we came from Volkswagen who’d just scored the fourth title.”
Asking him their goals for the year, I said that Jari-Matti had said lots of podiums were what they were hoping for.
“Yes, to fight for the championship, you don’t have to win everything, but you do have to be in the points constantly, when you think the 2017 season there were so many different winners, it means the car needs to be on a good level. The other thing is that it’s the second year of the team, now in this sport you cannot happen that go and win at the top level straight away. Okay, in a way, Volkswagen did that, they did enter the car 18 months before the first rally with the world rally car, they went there with the smaller car, and they faced all the conditions, whereas we faced all the conditions with the new car. If we’d joined with the old regulations, then probably the gap would have been a lot bigger, but now it was new for everybody.”
I asked him next about the development of the Polo WRC and how it compared to the Yaris when they first drove it.
Autosport International Show 2018, Toyota Yaris WRC, Photo credit, Warren Nel
“We didn’t drive the latest of the 2017 Polo, as it was October the last time we drove it, and there would have been improvements to come, but they didn’t come and the car wasn’t finalised when we did our final test. That’s why it’s a bit difficult to compare. For sure, our car was changed a lot between the first test and before Monte Carlo and there were new parts coming all the time which were decided before we joined the team, because it was already December when we joined the team.”
Finally, I asked him about Seb, former teammate at Volkswagen and what he was like to work with.
“Let’s say he was a proper competitor, in the way he is always thinking for the competition what he can improve, not always telling to others, a bit not giving all the secrets of what he has in his pocket.”
Finally, I spoke to Elfyn and asked him what his hopes were for this new season
Elfyn Evans, M-Sport driver, Autosport International Show, January 2018, Photo credit Mitch Oakley
He said, “Yep, massively looking forward to it, there’s a lot to do, a lot of expectations to live up to thanks to the success of the team last year, expectations are high but so are my own expectations, to be honest, I would really like to be consistently on the podium as often as we can, we’re anticipating that its going to be even more competitive year, this year so we could find that a big challenge, looking forward to it!”
I then asked him about that win that got away in Argentina.
He said “After the rally it was a second-place finish, after a tough start in the first three or four rallies, although we were starting to show good speed, we’d not been able to bag a good result for different reasons so on reflection of the rally it wasn’t such a bad result, finishing second. At the time, it was hurting pretty badly, I have to be honest after showing such good speed through the first day and fighting through problems on the second, to lose by such a fine margin was tough to accept, but like I say looking back now with everything that happened it is was it is and second at the time was a positive result”
I also asked him about #ElfynsCorner.
“Well, yes it was a surprise to be honest when it came up, I had no involvement in it what-so-ever, I still don’t, its purely a fan base thing, we enjoyed massive support on the rally, both through ElfynsCorner and otherwise, just throughout the weekend, the amount of people supporting both on and off the stages was incredible, something I’d never experienced before, okay I’d always enjoyed great support in Wales before, but never to this extent.”
I then explained that I’d been in touch with the individuals, before it all it all spiraled into what had happened. The reason they did it was because they wanted to raise your profile, they felt you weren’t valued and wanted to show their support. I gave him the names of all the individuals who made it happen and he recognized them.
Autosport International Show 2018, M-Sport Fiesta WRC, Photo credit Warren Nel
His response was interesting, “It especially hard in the UK, because we have so many successful, high level sports, it’s very difficult to build a profile, especially through motorsport, so many high-profile tennis players, football players, football is massive, whereas let’s say Ott, he’s in the top three sportsmen in Estonia!”
Well, I hope you’ve enjoyed reading the thoughts of the teams. We are getting really close to the start of the season, with just twelve days to go!
Pop back soon, as I’ll have my preview for round one very soon.
What a year we’ve just had! Here’s my round by round review of this year’s championship.
When the new cars were launched, we were treated to the most spectacular looking cars for a very long time. We also had the prospect of the most open championship for years. Volkswagen had left and we had a returning Citroen team.
Round One Monte Carlo
There was sadness on Thursday evening when Hayden Paddon slid wide on ice and a spectator was in the wrong place. Out of respect, Hyundai withdrew the car.
Through the weekend, Thierry opened up a big lead, to over a minute, until stage 13 on the Saturday afternoon. He slid wide and damaged his suspension. After completing a quick fix, he completed the stage. However, he was out for the rest of that day. He would re-join under Rally2 regs, but the win had slipped away. Sebastien Ogier had lost time earlier in the weekend, after sliding wide and getting stuck in a ditch, but he chipped away and after getting comfortable in the car had emerged in the lead after Thierry’s accident.
Several other drivers had starring roles too. Craig Breen was driving the previous years car and produced some giant killing times and ultimately finished in fifth place! Top three in the end was Ogier, Latvala and Tanak. It was M-Sport’s first win in Monte Carlo since 2006 and their first win since Wales Rally GB in 2012.
FIA WORLD RALLY CHAMPIONSHIP 2017 -WRC Monte Carlo (FRA) – WRC 18/01/2017 to 22/01/2017 – PHOTO : @World
Round Two, Rally Sweden
It was another spectacular event in northern Sweden. Lots of snow, gave us some very good conditions for all the drivers to do their magic.
Mads Ostberg returned to the championship with a Fiesta WRC run by Team Adapta. He had a very interesting time, losing his rear wing during stage four. On Saturday he attempted to beat the record jump from the year before from Colin’s Crest. It stood at 45 metres and he came very close indeed. In the first run of the stage he reached 42 metres and then later set an amazing 44 metres!
Once more Thierry drove a perfect event, building a decent lead, until the final stage on Saturday when his bad luck struck again and he broke his left front wheel after sliding wide. Incredibly, Jari-Matti in his brand-new Yaris WRC was there to pick up the victory.
After taking the lead with just a 3.8 second gap on Saturday evening, he increased it to almost 30 seconds by the end of the rally! With this brilliant drive, he also took the lead of the world championship, leading Sebastien by four points.
Citroen weren’t having a very good time though, with Kris Meeke sliding out on Saturday and incredibly Craig Breen was their top driver in the championship. On the other side, M-Sport were doing really well after seeing Seb and Ott finish both events this year on the podium. Malcolm and the whole team were delighted.
FIA WORLD RALLY CHAMPIONSHIP 2017 -WRC Sweden (SWE) – WRC 09/02/2017 to 12/02/2017 – PHOTO : @World
Round Three, Rally Mexico
A month later, the teams headed for the first gravel event of the year, and well, it didn’t start well. After transporting the cars to Mexico City for two short stages on Thursday night, there was a delay getting them back to Leon, which ultimately meant all of the Friday morning stages were cancelled.
It was time for Kris to shine after a troubled start to the year, and he took the lead of the rally through Friday and increased it on Saturday to thirty seconds. M-Sport, Hyundai and Toyota all experienced car problems, with overheating on the very hot stages. Elfyn Evans was also showing that his year away from the top had done his confidence the world of good, setting some good times and building his knowledge for the future.
Ultimately, Kris won Rally Mexico, but not without some big drama! On the final stage, he went wide and left the road clipping a parked car! After re-joining the stage, he crossed the line thirteen seconds ahead of Seb, with Thierry completing the podium!
After that result, Seb moved back into the lead of the championship ahead of Jari-Matti Latvala, who could only manage sixth.
Kris Meeke, Rally Mexico 2017 victor
Round Four, Tour de Corse
Day one on the Island of Corsica belonged to Kris and the Citroen team. In the four long stages he felt very comfortable and opened up a lead of 10 seconds over his closest challenger Seb. It was Ott Tanak who would not have a good day. He slid wide in stage three and although the car wasn’t damaged, it was stuck fast and wouldn’t move. Thierry Neuville would have a good day though and was not far off the lead in third.
Saturday would ultimately lead to disappointment for Kris, Paul and the whole Citroen team. After driving really well, they would suffer a mechanical failure with the engine letting go on stage six. It was over. Elfyn would also suffer misfortune, after sliding off and beaching his car.
Sunday would see Thierry continue to lead and take his first victory of the year! A battle for second place between Seb and Dani would entertain us, which ultimately would go to the Frenchman. Jari-Matti would finish in fourth after a very good drive.
Thierry’s drive to victory would see him jump to third in the championship with 54 points, but Seb was in a strong position on top with 88 points.
2017 FIA World Rally Championship Round 04, Tour de Corse – Rallye de France 06-09 April 2017 Thierry Neuville, Nicolas Gilsoul, Hyundai i20 Coupe WRC Photographer: Sarah Vessely Worldwide copyright: Hyundai Motorsport GmbH
Round Five, Rally Argentina
Kris Meeke and Haydon Paddon had both won this rally in the last two years, but really anything could happen. Would we see another first-time victor?
Well, through Friday we started to hope! Elfyn Evans would win a number of stages and opened up a lead of 55 seconds from second placed Mads Ostberg! Thierry was third at this point, just five seconds behind Mads. Pretty much all the other driver experienced problems of or kind or another. Kris rolled out and his teammate Craig hit the same bump and damaged his gearbox, leaving him stuck in fifth gear.
Saturday would see a big drive from Thierry getting the gap down to Elfyn from a minute, to just eleven seconds. Even a puncture wouldn’t slow him down. However, he was helped with some problems for the Welsh wizard who got a puncture on stage eleven. Ogier had problems in the morning, but after a lot of setup changes in service, the car was handling better.
On the final day, it all unravelled for Elfyn and Dan. They lost more time in the first two stages, meaning that they were just six tenths of a second ahead going into the final stage. At the very end, Thierry did enough to take the victory from Elfyn, winning by just seven tenths of a second!
FIA WORLD RALLY CHAMPIONSHIP 2017 -WRC Argentina (ARG) – WRC 26/04/2017 to 30/04/2017 – PHOTO : @World
Round Six, Rally Portugal
On the first day there was lots of drama, with Jari-Matti and Kris both damaging their cars. Hayden was challenging near the front, but an electrical problem dropped him from third to sixteenth! The top three was Ott, with Dani second and Seb in third at the end of day one.
On Saturday. Ott continued to have a good run, opening his lead up, but then disaster. He ran wide in stage 12 and damaged his car against a bank and dropped to fifth. Through the afternoon, Thierry and Seb would continue to fight for the lead. Ott’s car was fixed during mid-day, and this allowed him to push again in pursuit of Craig Breen who he passed later in the day.
Into Sunday then, and Seb drove to his second win of the year with Thierry just a few seconds behind. Rounding out the podium was Dani who had driven very well throughout the event. Ott drove well after his problem on Saturday getting into fourth place.
FIA WORLD RALLY CHAMPIONSHIP 2017 -WRC Portugal (POR) – WRC 18/05/2017 to 21/05/2017 – PHOTO : @World
Round Seven, Rallye Italia Sardegna
It was the breakthrough we’d been waiting for. Ott Tanak took his first WRC victory! However, it was Hayden who led at the end of the first day after early leader Kris rolled out in the morning. We also saw young Finn Esapekka take his first overall stage victories on Friday, definitely one to watch as we would discover!
On Saturday, Hayden started well, but sadly it didn’t last, with him getting a puncture and broken wheel which then damaged his car too much to continue beyond stage 13. Ott took the lead and by the end of the day, he’d built a decent lead over Jari-Matti, with Thierry in third.
On Sunday Ott used his head and drove to his first victory, whilst Jari-Matti secured second place and Thierry in third. Lappi drove very well to secure fourth as well ahead of Seb.
FIA WORLD RALLY CHAMPIONSHIP 2017 -WRC Italy Sardegna (ITA) – WRC 08/06/2017 to 11/06/2017 – PHOTO : @World
Round Eight, Rally Poland
Kris was stood down for this round, after his accidents in the previous rounds. It rained in the morning of the first day. After a battle between Jari-Matti and Thierry for the lead on the first day, the top three would be Thierry, Ott and Jari-Matti. On his WRC debut, Teemu Suninen won his first stage behind the wheel of an M-Sport run Fiesta. Very impressive indeed. In the Citroen camp, Andreas would run wide and break his suspension. He would make it back to service though.
A dryer Saturday led to a dramatic day on the roads of Poland. The lead changed hands several times between Thierry and Ott who lost his rear wing during the afternoon stages. Hayden Paddon also won a few stages as well lifting himself into the top three. Jari-Matti sadly retired after his car stopped in stage 16.
On Sunday morning it was raining again. The battle was on between Thierry and Ott for the win. In the second stage of the day, Ott spun out hitting a tree in the process. Seb benefitted from that, moving into third overall. Thierry took his third victory of the year and Haydon finished second which after the year he’d been having was excellent news, whilst Seb finished a lucky third.
Thierry had now closed the gap to Seb after Poland to just eleven points and five rounds remained this year. The fight was on and it could go either way.
Thierry Neuville, Rally Poland 2017 victor.
Round Nine, Rally Finland
This was an amazing rally, just like twelve months previously, but for very different reasons. The first thing that happened was that Seb crashed out after hitting a tree on stage four. Both he and Julien were taken to hospital. It was also a bad stage for Ott, who hit a rock causing a puncture. Hayden also hit the same rock, but the damage caused put him out. Through all of this came Jari-Matti, Esapekka Lappi and Teemu Suninen! The Finns were taking this rally back in a big way. After lots of lead changes on Friday, it was Esapekka who was in front of Jari-Matti, on only his fourth WRC start!
Saturday saw Jari-Matti take the lead from his younger Toyota teammate. However, after just a few stages it would all come to nought. Jari-Matti ground to a halt in the second run of Ouninpohja, giving the lead back to Lappi. Behind all these quick Finns, was Elfyn Evans and Dan Barritt. They had found some great pace by the end of the day and found themselves just six seconds away from third place overall! Not bad for someone who’d not even run in the pre-event test!
No-one else led this event after Jari-Matti retired and Esapekka Lappi took his first victory! Incredibly, Elfyn and Dan came through and finished in second place! He passed Juho for third in stage 22, but then in stage 23, Juho repassed him, but also emerged in second overall after Teemu spun mid-stage! Anyway, at the end of all of that, Elfyn passed Juho in the very last stage to take second overall by just three tenths of a second!
In the battle for the world championship, things had got very interesting with Thierry Neuville drawing level with Seb Ogier on points, but being counted as leading at that point due to having three wins with Seb only on two.
Esapekka Lappi, Rally Finland victor 2017
Round ten, Rally Germany
Ott Tanak took his second victory of the year in a rally that M-Sport had never won before. Thierry who won this rally in 2014, crashed out in the Panzerplatte stage breaking his suspension. Many drivers have crashed in this stage, and the Belgian ace was yet another claimed by it. Kris sadly crashed out during the Thursday night super special, after hitting one of the concrete barriers lining the stage. Ogier finished third, knowing that would be enough to retake the lead in the championship, whilst Andreas, driving for Citroen finished in second place.
FIA WORLD RALLY CHAMPIONSHIP 2017 -WRC Deutschland (DEU) – WRC 16/08/2017 to 20/08/2017 – PHOTO : @World
Round eleven, Rally Spain.
Kris Meeke took his second victory of the year on the classic mixed surface event that is Rally Spain. Friday sees the crews tackle gravel stage, before switching to smooth tarmac for Saturday and Sunday. Kris mastered the challenge brilliantly, and we saw him and Paul back to their very best form. Andreas made his debut for the Hyundai team, leading at the end of the first day, but ultimately not scoring any points after hitting a rock on Friday.
Thierry also endured an event to forget after experiencing car troubles on Friday which would cause handling problems and then damaging his suspension, putting him out on Sunday. Mads drove a brilliant event, to finish fifth with Torstein alongside him in their Adapta run Ford.
Seb and Ott drove to second and third positions and with that result put M-Sport on the brink of the manufacturers championship, plus Seb had an almost 40-point lead over second placed Thierry.
FIA WORLD RALLY CHAMPIONSHIP 2017 -WRC Catalunya (SPA) – WRC 05/10/2017 to 08/10/2017 – PHOTO : @World
Round twelve, Wales Rally GB
Elfyn Evans and Dan Barritt drove to a consummate first victory on home soil, the first Brit and also first Welshman to achieve this result and the first home winner since 2000! It started with stage wins on Friday, building on that with good pace throughout Saturday, including the foggy night stages. It was the kind of victory that Seb Ogier would be happy with.
FIA WORLD RALLY CHAMPIONSHIP 2017 -WRC Wales Rally GB (GB) – WRC 26/10/2017 to 29/10/2017 – PHOTO : @World
It was also a great weekend for the whole M-Sport team, with the manufacturers championship success, the first since 2006 and their first ever drivers title with Sebastien Ogier.
ELFYNSCORNER, Myherin, Wales Rally GB
Thierry drove a great rally to finish in second place, after sliding wide early on Friday and having to fight back from a penalty that he got on Friday. He was driving better again after two non-finishes which had ended his fight with Seb for the world championship. Third place went to Seb Ogier.
Round Thirteen, Rally Australia
Thierry Neuville showed that he was the man on the pace in 2017, with his fourth victory of the year Down Under. The victory came his way when his teammate, Andreas suffered a double puncture on Saturday morning when Thierry started to catch the Norwegian.
Jari-Matti had a pretty decent event, until Sunday. He was firmly in second place until the final power stage, when he crashed out. The weather turned really bad on Sunday and it was these conditions that saw him slide out.
With the Finn crashing his Yaris, Fiesta pilot, Ott moved into second. He’d been as low as sixth place, but had found good pace through Saturday to climb into the podium positions and held it together to take another podium in this stellar year for him.
Hayden completed the podium, bringing his hardest season at the top to an end. It was the second podium of the year for him.
Conclusion
Well, what a season we had to enjoy! Seven different winners and three different leaders in the world championship made this a year to remember. Three new winners as well, with Ott Tanak, Esapekka Lappi and Elfyn Evans all taking their maiden victories.
We had spectacular cars as well. These new generation WRC beasts sounded great, looked great and they tested the drivers to new levels.
We had some answers to some questions too. Could Seb win with a different team? He answered that question. Could anyone challenge him? Well, yes, sort of. Thierry took more victories, but with too many non-finishes, he fell short in the end. Ott Tanak took two wins as well, just like his teammate, but he’s still early in his career and lacked the experience to consistently challenge Seb.
Kris Meeke took two wins as well, but also crashed out too often and was stood down for Rally Poland. In my opinion this was the wrong decision really.
Toyota made a great return to the sport with the team run by 4-times world champion Tommi Makinen, with two victories from Jari-Matti and Esapekka, even leading the drivers’ championship after Rally Sweden. However, they weren’t going challenge all year and they can count it as a really good result to finish ahead of Citroen in the manufacturers standings.
Thierry Neuville’s victory started with setting the fastest time on shakedown. Despite suffering with some gremlins during shakedown, he powered through the stages and emerged victorious for the fourth time this year. Here’s the story of how it came together for him and Nicolas.
Despite rumours of rain affecting this event, Friday morning dawned bright and sunny. The first day would feature a completely new stage called Sherwood. I received some very useful information about the stage from a member of the support staff. He’s what he had to say about it.
“Sherwood is a real mix up. It has characteristics of the fast-flowing Bakers Creek stage from last year as well as the typical forest stages. It will be fast in the first half and then transitioning to a mix of technically demanding tracks and fast flowing forest runs.”
He explained that all the stages were in very good condition and that the forest stages would be harder on the tyres, compared to the shire stages. He continued by saying that Nambucca was in the best condition he’d ever seen it in as well.
Stage one, Pilbara fell to the ever- fast Andreas, but it was Kris who was surprised by Seb’s time despite running first on the road. Thierry was fifth fastest, five seconds slower than his teammate. It was a good stage in general for the Hyundai team, with three cars in the top five.
Stage two, Eastwood saw a few changes in positions, but Andreas remained at the top of the time sheets. Kris ran him close though, just 1.7 seconds slower at the end of the 19km stage. Paddon, Ogier and Tanak fell down to sixth, seventh and eighth, with Neuville, Jari-Matti and Breen all moving ahead. Wales Rally GB winner, Elfyn was struggling for pace and was now 28 seconds from the lead.
Now it was the first run of Sherwood and the longest stage of the day at 26.68km. It didn’t go well for Kris after he ran wide and had to stop, reverse and turn. Somehow, he still maintained second overall though, albeit 16 seconds down on Andreas, who was definitely in the zone. With Breen’s third fastest time, he moved up to third overall. Ott also found some speed and moved ahead of Latvala, into fifth.
Kris Meeke and Paul Nagle, Photo Credit @Taffey
The crews headed back to Coffs Harbour for service at this point.
Stage 4, the rerun of Pilbara saw the top three of Andreas, Seb and Thierry less than a second apart! Really close times! Overall, the top three was still Andreas followed by Kris and Craig in their C3 WRC’s. Thierry moved a little closer though to Craig after he suffered a deflation on his right-rear. However, he’d be okay, as he had a spare in the car.
2017 FIA World Rally Championship Round 13, Rally Australia 16-19 November 2017 Andreas Mikkelsen, Anders Jaeger Synnevaag, Hyundai i20 Coupe WRC Photographer: Austral Worldwide copyright: Hyundai Motorsport GmbH
Thierry won stage 5, Eastwood rerun and with that moved into third overall at the expense of Craig. Hayden was also moving up the leaderboard having been faster than Jari-Matti by 1.7 seconds. Kris had a better run through this stage in the afternoon, consolidating second overall. However, his teammate, Craig, fell behind Jari-Matti after a messy stage that saw him hit a hay bale!
The two short 1.27km stages were won by Thierry and with those under his belt, he’d moved into second overall at the expense of Kris although after his day, he was happy to be third. Hyundai had definitely hit the ground running
End of day 1 (Friday):
1 Andreas Mikkelsen/Anders Jaeger (Hyundai i20 Coupe WRC) 57m51.9s
2 Thierry Neuville/Nicolas Gilsoul (Hyundai i20 Coupe WRC) +20.1s
11 Esapekka Lappi/Janne Ferm (Toyota Yaris WRC) +3m27.6s
Let’s hear from the drivers then.
Andreas Mikkelsen (1st) said:
“It has been a very good start to the rally, bringing back memories from our win last season. I have had a clean drive throughout the day with no mistakes and with an incredibly positive feeling from inside the car. It really felt like home! I have focused on increasing the lead wherever possible and 20 seconds is a nice gap. Our challengers will be closer to us on the road tomorrow, so we have had to make the most of our advantage today. Things really couldn’t have gone any better. The weather forecast suggests we might have some rain this weekend, and there are some long stages on the itinerary for tomorrow. For now, though, I am happy with how things have started.”
Thierry Neuville (2nd) said:
“We have had a promising first day. The conditions on the stages were quite tricky with lots of loose gravel, which meant a bit of cleaning for those earlier on the roads. All of the stages went pretty well from my point of view and I am generally satisfied with our position. We struggled a bit with the soft tyre in the longer afternoon stage (Sherwood II), which prevented us from pushing as much as we’d like, but we were still able to set decent pace. It’s a very close battle for second with Kris, while Andreas is looking very strong out in front. For sure, we want to aim for victory ourselves this weekend. We are in a more favourable road position tomorrow so I am definitely up for the fight.”
Kris Meeke (3rd) said:
“I enjoyed it today, although I’m a bit frustrated to lose time with my little mistake on SS3. I had too much speed coming into a corner and we ran wide off the road and into bushes. I had to stop, reverse, turn and go again and lost a dozen seconds or so. Apart from that, everything went well and I felt very comfortable in the car. The second loop was interesting, because there was little to choose between us despite tyre choices varying considerably from one team to another. We’ll have a good road position again tomorrow, and perhaps that’s the most important thing!”
Jari-Matti Latvala (4th) said:
“It wasn’t a perfect way to start for us on the rally here as my intercom broke on the first stage. When you’re pushing hard, it definitely helps to be able to hear your co-driver! Then I also lost the front splitter, which obviously affected the handling of the car. But I’m pretty satisfied with our progress in the afternoon. It was important for us to get back up to fourth after the forest stages this afternoon, as this will give us a better road position tomorrow. To fight for a podium on this rally you have to be in the top five really: if you’re out of the top five than it becomes too tricky with the road position.”
Craig Breen (5th) said:
“It wasn’t all plain sailing, but it was still a good day for my debut appearance here. This morning, I was really very happy and I felt totally at one with the C3 WRC. The afternoon was harder going, with several little problems that prevented me from making the most of the potential of the car. I’m back in my happy place in fifth, but I’m not too far off the podium!”
Ott Tänak (6th) said:
“It’s not been the start to the rally that we were hoping for and it’s not been easy with our road position. Obviously, Thierry [Neuville] has done a good job so we can’t complain too much, but we had some damage to the aerodynamics early in both loops which made it even more difficult.
“Looking at the gaps, it’s still really close and the podium isn’t too far away. For sure it will be difficult with the cleaning tomorrow, but we have two very long days to come. If we can find a bit more performance and attack hard, anything is possible.”
Hayden Paddon (7th) said:
“It’s not been the start that we had wanted to this final event of the season. So far, things haven’t quite clicked. There is no apparent reason; we just haven’t been able to get into the all-important rhythm. We will look through the data this evening to see if there’s anything we can find to improve for tomorrow’s stages. This is an event where I feel very comfortable usually, so we will keep pushing. It is fantastic to have such support from the crowds. There are plenty of Kiwis here and it makes for a great atmosphere. There’s a lot more to come, I’m sure.”
Sébastien Ogier (8th) said:
“It’s not been the optimum start to the rally, but we knew that we would be at a disadvantage this weekend. We had a gear selection issue throughout the day which didn’t help, and on the second two stages in particular you could see the road getting better and better with every car.
“Of course, this means that we don’t have a great road position for tomorrow – when we expect the road cleaning to be even worse – but we will still try to enjoy. We’re far from a strong result at the moment and it won’t be easy for us tomorrow, but there’s still a long way to go and we will keep pushing.”
Stéphane Lefebvre (9th) said:
“It wasn’t quite the day I was hoping for. My two punctures – that I don’t entirely understand – lost me close to half a minute. I can take nevertheless some positives from today’s leg. When everything is going well, my times are similar to those of Craig and I’m managing to get into the top five. I hope to have a bit more luck tomorrow!”
Elfyn Evans (10th) said:
“We knew the conditions were unlikely to suit us this weekend. It’s all been about getting the experience and getting the notes fully up to date. This afternoon was a bit better, but we’re still just focused on the job in hand – on getting through the stages and taking the maximum, we can away from this weekend.”
Saturday morning dawned bright and sunny. The rain had still not arrived having got stuck on the dividing range beyond the stages. The first stage of the day would be the longest stage of the entire event- Nambucca!
Thierry won the stage, averaging 109kph and eating four and a half seconds out of Andreas’ lead. Citroen driver, Lefebvre spun in the stage losing a lot of time after taking a bit longer to restart the car. Kris lost a lot of time and dropped behind Jari-Matti. In fact, this stage was not kind to any of the Citroen drivers with Craig also dropping behind Ott Tanak into sixth place.
The next stage, Newry saw Andreas dramatically exit the event, after sustaining a double puncture! Jari-Matti won the stage from Tanak with new overall leader Thierry third. Kris climbed back into third place overall, but Ott Tanak was just half a dozen seconds behind him.
The short Raceway stage 11 followed and it was won by Ott Tanak followed closely by Ogier and Neuville. The overall top three was, Thierry, Jari-Matti and Kris with just 22 seconds between them.
A very early service for the day at just before 11am followed this and then there would be three normal stages followed by two runs in Raceway to complete Saturday’s action.
Stage 12, Welshs Creek went well for Thierry who won the stage and therefore increased his lead over Jari-Matti by almost ten seconds. Kris touched a bridge near the start of the stage and broke his suspension. The team asked him to retire the car on the road section before stage 13.
Stage 13 saw Thierry again at the top and now his lead was almost 20 seconds over second placed Jari-Matti. Kris’ teammates had different problems though. Craig ended up with a butterfly in the car, definitely not ideal at all, whilst Lefebvre ended up with his tyres completely running out of grip and he was struggling with understeer!
2017 FIA World Rally Championship Round 13, Rally Australia 16 – 19 November 2017 Thierry Neuville, Nicolas Gilsoul, Hyundai i20 Coupe WRC Photographer: Sarah Vessely Worldwide copyright: Hyundai Motorsport GmbH
Stage 14 the rerun of Newry was cancelled as there was damage to a bridge. It was made of old railway sleepers and one became detached, thus falling into a river whilst two others had damage from termites meaning that they’d only got worse with the cars running over them.
Stage 15 and 16 were won first by Craig and then Ott took the second running of it. All of this meant that our top three was unchanged with Thierry ahead of Jari-Matti and Ott Tanak in third after two days of punishing action.
Top ten following Saturday’s stages
1 Thierry Neuville/Nicolas Gilsoul (Hyundai i20 Coupe WRC) 2h05m11.6s
9 Esapekka Lappi/Janne Ferm (Toyota Yaris WRC) +4m20.3s
10 Nathan Quinn/Ben Searcy (Mitsubishi Lancer Evo IX) +17m35.2s
Thought’s then from the drivers-
Thierry Neuville (1st) said:
“It’s a good feeling to be leading the rally heading into the final day. Of course, the event is far from over but I have been very pleased with our approach to today’s tricky stages. Our pace has been good overall, and we’ve added more stage wins. At the same time, there is a sense of disappointment that we weren’t able to have more of a fight with Andreas following his retirement this morning. It has not been a completely trouble-free day for us either. We made a mistake in the Newry stage, going straight on at a junction, but thankfully we didn’t lose too much time. Something broke in the gearbox, as a result of us rectifying the error, which required a fix at lunchtime service. The afternoon then went more to plan and we could build up a reasonably good gap. There is no such thing as a comfortable lead, though, and with the weather still looking like it could play a part, we will have a challenge on our hands on the final morning.”
Jari-Matti Latvala (2nd) said:
“It was damp and even wet in some places this morning, so the soft tyre was definitely the correct choice. In the afternoon it was drying out, but just before leaving service we had some information that there were some showers as. Our plan was to go with full hard tyres, but as a result of this new information we decided to swap and take two softs. That information was absolutely correct: it was damp at the beginning and end of the long stage. I don’t think I quite got the right feeling with the balance of the car, but it was still a good day and we’re looking forward to tomorrow. My only regret is that we had one stage cancelled because of a damaged bridge, as I think that stage could have suited us.”
Ott Tänak (3rd) said:
“Overall I think it’s been a much more positive day than yesterday. We’ve had a much better feeling in the car and managed to improve the confidence and the driving. We had a big push in the afternoon, and to be back on the podium is a good thing.
“There are some more tricky stages tomorrow so we need to keep focused, but hopefully we can finish the year with another top-three result for the team.”
Craig Breen (4th) said:
“We’ve had another good day. This morning, I found the Nambucca stage particularly difficult. But considering it was our first time on the stage, we didn’t do too badly up against the more experienced drivers. The afternoon loop was better, with drier conditions. We have moved up the standings due the misfortune of the others, but that’s part and parcel of racing. I’ll be ready to grab any opportunities to get onto the podium.”
Craig Breen and Scott Martin, Rally Australia 2017
Hayden Paddon (5th) said:
“The Australian weather has thrown us a real curveball this year. Some stages were like two totally different rallies with some parts wet and others completely dry. It made for a complicated tyre choice with neither compound perfectly suiting the conditions. Nambucca was a case in point; the first 10 or 15km was wet and muddy but then 100% dry; it caught us out a little bit. We have been trying a few different things today to try and improve our feeling in the car. We found some improvement on the diff mapping for the afternoon, which helped give more confidence and made the driving more natural. We need to continue in this direction tomorrow and secure our top-five position.”
Sébastien Ogier (6th) said:
“This has not really been our rally but I suppose it’s better to deal with all these issues in one weekend than to deal with them separately over the season!
“We were hoping to try for some strong times through this afternoon’s loop but immediately after service we heard a noise on the rear. There was some damage and that altered the balance of the car. The end of the stage [SS12] was really slippery and in a fast, down-hill corner we had some massive understeer, hit a bank and spun.
“It’s just been about getting though the stages this afternoon, but tomorrow could be interesting with the weather. There are some really tricky stages and, if it’s wet, you never know. The rally isn’t over until it’s over so we have to keep going.”
FIA WORLD RALLY CHAMPIONSHIP 2017 -WRC Australia (AUS) – WRC 16/11/2017 to 19/11/2017 – PHOTO : @World
Stéphane Lefebvre (7th) said:
“The start of the day was tricky, in the rain. On Nambucca, I stalled after a spin and then it took some time to restart. After that, I completely lost the rhythm and I struggled until the end of the stage. Running third on the road was a real handicap and that’s what led to me taking a gamble with the soft tyres for the afternoon stages. It wasn’t a particularly astute choice in the end, because the tyres lost their efficiency as we went further through the loop.”
Elfyn Evans (8th) said:
“We knew that we would struggle coming to this one, and we faced another tough day today. I really enjoy these stages, but we just didn’t have the traction to attack and enjoy them to the fullest. That said, we’ve made it through all of the stages and perfected the notes which will be valuable for the future.”
Esapekka Lappi (9th)
“Today’s been a tricky day with being first on the road: it’s been really difficult to judge the grip, with the grip levels always changing. Getting the tyre choice right was one of the most crucial things today: we were definitely on the wrong tyres most of the time but there was a good reason for that as we didn’t have any soft tyres left and I want to save the new ones for the Power Stage tomorrow. So that was a tactical decision and also a good learning experience, as we need to concentrate now on gaining as much experience as possible.”
Andreas Mikkelsen (retired) said:
“I am very disappointed. It would have been really fantastic to end the season with a victory but that chance has now gone because of a mistake on my part. About two kilometres after the start of the Newry stage, on a right-hander over a crest, I went wide and touched the bank quite hard. I thought I had only a rear puncture but it became quickly apparent that we had one at the front too. With only one spare in the car, it was game over. Nine times out of ten we would have been OK, but luck was not on our side today. Still, it is great to see Thierry take over the rally lead and we will be keeping our fingers crossed for him as he carries the honours for the team.”
Kris Meeke (retired) said:
“After a fast bend, there was a narrow bridge and we just touched it with the rear wheel. A few kilometres later, I felt that something wasn’t right. We stopped after the time control to try and repair the suspension. I wanted to keep going, but the team asked me to stop. It’s frustrating because in the end, the final long stage of the loop was cancelled. We’ve missed out on a good result.”
Kris Meeke, Rally Australia 2017
Sunday morning and the rain that we had expected finally turned up during stage 17 which was a rerun of Pilbara, but in the opposite direction from Friday. Sadly, Lefebvre retired after running wide and breaking his suspension on the rear after hitting a tree stump. Elfyn at last delivered a quick time and won the stage from Lappi and Ogier. Kris commented on the heavy rain saying “Massive rain in the middle of the stage. I couldn’t even see the road though the wipers. For us it was a monsoon.”
Stage 18 was another bad one for Citroen, as Craig Breen rolled out! Approaching a down-hill right-hander, the car took off as Craig didn’t know the car would take off. When the car landed, it slid wide and the rear caught the bank on the left spinning it and the car then rolled end over end a few times, before coming to rest further down the road. Kris had restarted the rally under Rally2 regs and explained that it was like driving on ice through the stage! Hayden won the stage though, with Lappi and Evans in second and third. In the fight for the win, Jari-Matti cut the gap to Thierry from 19 seconds to 9.9 seconds.
Stage 19, Wedding Bells and this stage would be run later as the power stage. Thierry increased his lead over Latvala to 14.7 seconds after winning the stage, whilst Andreas would take second fastest with Ott third in the stage and maintaining third overall.
Sadly stage 20 was cancelled and not even because the stage was bad. All the access roads had become flooded and the cars couldn’t get to the start.
It was time for the final stage of Rally Australia and in fact the year! Ogier won the stage and with it the maximum points whilst Ott was second. The big drama was that Jari-Matti lost control of his car and crashed out of second overall. Behind the two Fiesta’s was Lappi’s Yaris, Andreas in the i20 and Kris got the final power-stage point with fifth fastest.
After all that drama, Thierry was in control and took his fourth victory of the year, two more than anyone else, whilst the demise of Latvala meant that Ott Tanak finished second and a surprised Hayden rounded out his frustrating season third, much to the delight of his fans.
FINAL RESULT, RALLY AUSTRALIA 2017
1 Thierry Neuville/Nicolas Gilsoul (Hyundai i20 Coupe WRC) 2h35m44.8s
2 Ott Tänak/Martin Jarveoja (Ford Fiesta WRC) +22.5s
3 Hayden Paddon/Seb Marshall (Hyundai i20 Coupe WRC) +59.1s
8 Richie Dalton/John Allen (Skoda Fabia R5) +24m39.6s
9 Nathan Quinn/Ben Searcy (Mitsubishi Lancer Evo IX) +25m03.4s
10 Dean Herridge/Sam Hill (Subaru Impreza WRX STi) +29m52.3s
Here’s the thoughts then of all the drivers after this dramatic event!
Thierry Neuville (1st) said:
“This is a very special victory, and I dedicate it to the whole team. They have been working hard all-season long. It hasn’t always been easy but they have never given up, so it’s a big thank you on a job well done by everyone – not only those at the rallies but everyone at the factory. We obviously missed out on the championship, but we secured second place today and it gives us a massive motivation for next season. It was a tricky final morning and we didn’t want to take too many risks, so to take our fourth win of the year is fantastic. It’s really the ideal way to end the season. Now, we can enjoy this moment before turning our attention to next year.”
2017 FIA World Rally Championship Round 13, Rally Australia 13-19 November 2017 Day 2 Portrait Thierry Neuville Photographer: Helena El Mokni Worldwide copyright: Hyundai Motorsport GmbH
Ott Tänak (2nd) said:
“It was important to finish the season like this, and to finish our time with the M-Sport family in such a positive way. On Friday we were struggling a bit with the pace and losing the rear diffuser didn’t help with the balance. But after this we managed to find a good average speed and had the pace to achieve a podium.
“To be honest, I didn’t think too much about this being our last rally with Malcolm and the team until the last road section when Martin started to play some sad songs! It’s been a long journey together and it’s never easy to leave a family. It feels quite hard actually, but the whole championship is also a family so this isn’t goodbye, it’s just see you later.”
Hayden Paddon (3rd) said:
“It has been a difficult season for me. At least we have been able to bring the year to an end with a more representative result. We never want to score a podium through someone else’s misfortune, and it’s a shame for Jari-Matti, but it’s a nice result for us after a tough year. There is some light at the end of the tunnel in terms of finding our feeling with the car. We have found some answers this weekend, which has been the main objective. We were quite lucky with the weather this morning, as we seemed to avoid the worst of the rain in Bucca and could take a stage win. Overall, the car felt better after we made another big change with the diff mapping overnight. We’ve just been gathering information for the future and were set on bringing the car home safely in third and our second podium of the season.”
2017 FIA World Rally Championship Round 13, Rally Australia 16-19 November 2017 Hayden Paddon, Seb Marshall, Hyundai i20 Coupe WRC Photographer: Austral Worldwide copyright: Hyundai Motorsport GmbH
Sébastien Ogier (4th) said:
“It’s not been the smoothest of rallies for us, but at least we finished on a small positive with victory in the Power Stage. To be honest, it was more or less the only stage of the rally where everything was working for us.
“We had a lot to contend with this weekend – with the technical issues and also with our starting position through the opening stages. We just tried to stay focused and in the end that strategy paid off as fourth place was pretty unexpected.
“But regardless of this weekend, it really has been a fantastic season. A big thanks to Malcolm and the whole team. What we have achieved together this year really is incredible.”
Elfyn Evans (5th) said:
“We knew that we would struggle this weekend, but with the rain today we had an opportunity to use the soft tyre. It was a more enjoyable day for sure and it was nice to secure a stage win. It was unfortunate that we encountered a few little niggles after that, but all in all not a bad way to finish off the weekend.
“The season as a whole has been amazing for the team. We’ve worked with some great people this year who really deserve this success – a big thanks to all of them.”
FIA WORLD RALLY CHAMPIONSHIP 2017 -WRC Australia (AUS) – WRC 16/11/2017 to 19/11/2017 – PHOTO : @World
Esapekka Lappi (6th) said:
“It was a tough day: a lot of standing water as the rain suddenly came on the stage before the Power Stage. There were a few surprises for us, as we were first on the road again. I wasn’t controlling the car – it was just like a boat – but we’re still here! Yesterday we were first on the road and we were struggling with tyre choice: today the roads were cleaning less so it was a bit easier. The tyre choice was actually good today as we kept some new tyres back, so we had a good feeling. The main thing is that we gained plenty of experience on this event, to try to understand the best way to drive here. Looking at the season as a whole I’m happy with our speed, but I know I’ve got plenty to learn to iron out the ups and downs we had. I’m already looking forward to next year.”
Esapekka Lappi, Toyota Yaris WRC Rally Australia 2017
Kris Meeke (7th) said:
“The idea today was to prepare for 2018. From that perspective, it was pretty handy that it started raining because we could work in conditions where we have quite a lot of room for improvement. It wasn’t easy for me to push when I had nothing to gain, but what we have learned this morning will undoubtedly prove useful in the future.”
Andreas Mikkelsen said:
“It was disappointing that we were forced to retire from the lead of this rally on Saturday morning. Having said that, looking at the conditions we had to face this morning, it would have been a challenge to defend that. We were unlucky with the rain in the earlier stages. Even with the wipers on maximum, we couldn’t see anything. Still, at least we had a clean finish in the Power Stage and could bring the car home. Whatever the result this weekend, we have shown good pace. It has been a very valuable experience over these past three rallies with Hyundai Motorsport. I know I am in the right place for next season; the car is awesome and the team is fantastic. Let’s keep our fingers crossed for a strong championship challenge together next year.”
Jari-Matti Latvala (retired)
“Obviously this is not the way that I wanted to end the year but this is rallying and you have to take the most and learn from every experience, even if it doesn’t feel like a positive one at the time. We were pushing hard on the Power Stage to try and maximise our chances of doing something special and when you are pushing hard these things can happen. Up until then it had been a good rally for us and we managed to get very close to the front, especially after the first stage this morning. I’d like to apologise for my mistake today after a huge effort from everyone here, and most of all say a big ‘thank you’ to the whole team for delivering a year that went beyond all my expectations.”
Craig Breen (retired)
“It was a big off. I’ve not had one like that for a long time. Fortunately, the C3 WRC is a solid car and the safety features did their job perfectly. We weren’t sure of finishing in fourth place and I knew I had to push to counter a return from Paddon, who had slightly better road conditions than we did. I didn’t want to end the season with another fifth place without making a fight of it.”
Stéphane Lefebvre (retired)
“Obviously, it’s not the best way of ending the season. I just made a mistake on the first stage, a long right-hander. The conditions were awful, with a lot of water, which made the ground as slippery as ice in places. I got caught out by a slippery patch of mud. The car understeered, ran slightly wide and we hit a big tree stump. It’s a shame and I’m sorry for everyone in the team.”
2017 FIA World Rally Championship Round 13, Rally Australia 16 – 19 November 2017 Thierry Neuville, Nicolas Gilsoul, Hyundai i20 Coupe WRC Hayden Paddon, Seb Marshall, Hyundai i20 Coupe WRC Photographer: Sarah Vessely Worldwide copyright: Hyundai Motorsport GmbH
Well, what an amazing rally, to top off a brilliant season! Thierry will take a lot of confidence from this victory down-under. Ott rounded out his brilliant season with another podium and Hayden will take heart from his second podium of the year, after a torrid time.
Ogier once again showed why he is the best driver in the world, with the ability to get the results he needs, and able to deliver wins when others wouldn’t. We’re still waiting to find out if he’ll be returning next year, but get the feeling that an announcement is just around the corner.
The Class of 2017
Thanks for reading my reports this year. I’ll be doing a season review soon, so do look out for that.
It’s time for this year’s final round! The teams head for Coffs Harbour and the unique roads around the Gold Coast, with stages held on dusty tracks, the rainforest and through bushy territory giving this event an authentic down-under feel!
Last year, Andreas Mikkelsen took the victory in the final event entered by Volkswagen Motorsport. He returns this year, driving for Hyundai Motorsport.
The championships may have been decided, but there is lots to be excited about ahead of this classic event. We have our first winner from these shores for the first time since Richard Burns and Robert Reid won in 2000 for Subaru. If Elfyn wins down-under, he could finish ahead of Jari-Matti in the championship. We shall see….
There are 21 stages and a total of 318.33km’s of competitive action over the three days.
RALLY AUSTRALIA SCHEDULE (GMT+11)
THURSDAY 16 NOVEMBER
8.00am: Shakedown (5.02km)
FRIDAY 17 NOVEMBER
7.30am: Start (Coffs Harbour)
8.13am: SS1 – Pilbara I (9.71km)
8.36am: SS2 – Eastbank I (19.05km)
9.39am: SS3 – Sherwood I (26.68km)
11.24am: Service A (Coffs Harbour – 30 mins)
12.37pm: SS4 – Pilbara II (9.71km)
1.00pm: SS5 – Eastbank II (19.05km)
2.03pm: SS6 – Sherwood II (26.68km)
4.54pm: SS7 – Destination NSW SSS I (1.27km)
5.02pm: SS8 – Destination NSW SSS II (1.27km)
5.22pm: Flexi Service B (Coffs Harbour – 45 mins)
SATURDAY 18 NOVEMBER
6.00am: Service C (Coffs Harbour – 15 mins)
7.18am: SS9 – Nambucca17 (48.89km)
8.56am: SS10 – Newry17 I (20.87km)
9.44am: SS11 – Raceway SSS (1.37km)
10.49am: Service D (Coffs Harbour – 30 mins)
12.22pm: SS12 – Welshs Creek (33.49km)
1.08pm: SS13 – Argents Hill (12.24km)
2.16pm: SS14 – Newry17 II (20.87km)
4.54pm: SS15 – Destination NSW SSS III (1.27km)
5.02pm: SS16 – Destination NSW SSS IIII (1.27km)
7.32pm: Flexi Service E (Coffs Harbour – 45 mins)
SUNDAY 19 NOVEMBER
6.40am: Service F (Coffs Harbour – 15 mins)
7.38am: SS17 – Pilbara Reverse I (9.93km)
7.56am: SS18 – Bucca16 (31.90km)
9.08am: SS19 – Wedding Bells16 (6.44km)
10.33am: Service G (Coffs Harbour – 30 mins)
11.46am: SS20 – Pilbara Reverse II (9.93km)
1.13pm: SS21 – Wedding Bells16 II Power Stage (6.44km)
2.16pm: Service H (Coffs Harbour – 10 mins)
3.30pm: Podium (city centre)
Let’s hear from the drivers then.
Sébastien Ogier said:
“Heading to the final round of the season with a fifth championship already secured is fantastic, and exactly what we were aiming for in Wales. It lifts some of the pressure and means that we can go to Rally Australia fully focused on enjoying the great stages that they have there.
FIA WORLD RALLY CHAMPIONSHIP 2017 -WRC Italy Sardegna (ITA) – WRC 08/06/2017 to 11/06/2017 – PHOTO : @World
“I say some of the pressure as we still want to secure a good result. So far, the team has had a podium on every event and we want to see that continue next week. If it’s dry, our road position won’t make it easy, but we will try our best as always.
“It’s quite an intimate event, but the locals really get behind the rally and we always receive a very warm welcome. If we could end the season with another strong result, it really would be the perfect ending to an incredible year.”
Ott Tänak said:
“It’s a nice feeling heading to Rally Australia as part of a championship winning team, but the hard work isn’t over yet. We’ve still got a chance of finishing second in the championship and we’ll be giving our all to end our time with the team on a high.
FIA WORLD RALLY CHAMPIONSHIP 2017 -WRC Italy Sardegna (ITA) – WRC 08/06/2017 to 11/06/2017 – PHOTO : @World
“It won’t be easy – Rally Australia never is – and it’s completely different to anything else we experience. Everything is different – even the shadows in the forest – and we’ll have to be at the very top of our game if we want to deliver a strong result.
“It all starts with the recce and we’ll have to be fully focused from the word go – driving with complete trust in the notes and keeping the foot to the floor to combat what would be some fairly heavy road sweeping if it stays dry.”
Elfyn Evans said:
“Securing the win on home soil gave us an amazing feeling, but there wasn’t too much time to celebrate with the next event just around the corner. After a little party, it was straight into our preparations for Australia.
“I’ve always enjoyed this event, but it’s not been particularly kind to us in the past. It’s not the easiest of events and visibility can often be a big challenge. We can get some hanging dust and when the sun is low it can create a strobe effect through the trees which makes it difficult to read the road. It’s certainly an event where you need complete confidence in your notes.
Elfyn Evans, D-Mack sponsored, M-Sport run Fiesta WRC
“We missed this rally last year and there are quite a lot of new stages to get to grips with. We’ll also have to wait and see how the conditions suit our package. At the moment the forecasts look a bit uncertain, so that could be interesting. But whatever happens, I always enjoy coming to Australia and we’ll be giving it our all as always.”
Hyundai Motorsport
Thierry Neuville said:
“Australia is an enjoyable rally, an event where I have finished on the podium a couple of times in the past. It will certainly be nice to finish the season with a great atmosphere and some Australian summer sunshine, my aim for this final rally is clear: to secure our second place in the Championship. We know we have the technical package to compete at the front, so with the addition of a bit of luck I am hopeful we can do what we need to do.”
2016 FIA World Rally Championship / Round 14 / Rally Australia / November 17-20, 2016 // Worldwide Copyright: Hyundai Motorsport
Hayden Paddon said:
“It is always nice to be heading back to our side of the world. It isn’t quite a home event but it is as close as we can get. The support we receive from the fans is unreal and we want to give them a good show – and something to shout about. We are not competing on the public roads as much as previous seasons, with a lot more stages in the forest. That will make the event slightly different but we are confident in our abilities. Finishing the rally in Wales in the top-eight wasn’t necessarily the result we wanted, but it gave us good mileage in the car, which we hope will translate positively to Australia.”
Andreas Mikkelsen said:
“Australia is probably my favourite rally of the season, and I have great experiences from the event previously. Winning in 2016 was a great memory and I hope we can be in the mix again with Hyundai Motorsport. It would be an amazing way to end the season, and to prepare for a full-season campaign in 2018. It is always a challenging event, so nothing can be taken for granted. We do have an advantageous starting position, though, which we hope to make the most of. I am looking forward to it!”
Citroen Abu Dhabi WRT
Kris Meeke said:
“I have some very good memories of my three appearances in Australia. In 2015, I had led the rally for two days before losing out to the VWs, but third place was nonetheless a very good result. This year, a few of the stages that appeared last year will be new to me, but that shouldn’t be a big problem because I feel comfortable on these roads. There are some characteristics that you just don’t get anywhere else. For example, the trees are so tall in the jungle that the light flashes through the branches, creating a ‘strobe’ effect. The changes in light can make it very difficult to read the road. I’m looking forward to contesting the Nambucca speed test again – it’s one of the finest stages of the season in my opinion. Considering our performance level at the last two gravel rallies, I think we’ll be there or thereabouts.”
FIA WORLD RALLY CHAMPIONSHIP 2017 -WRC Catalunya (SPA) – WRC 05/10/2017 to 08/10/2017 – PHOTO : @World
Craig Breen said:
“I often say Australia is my second home! My sister lives in Perth and there is a big Irish community in the country, so I have a lot of friends and supporters here. I can’t wait to start my second rally outside of Europe. I know it won’t be easy, because I’ll have to learn the whole course, which is quite a disadvantage at an event that doesn’t change much from year to year. But the stages look magnificent and the performance of the C3 WRC on the last few rallies fills me with optimism. I hope we can finish 2017 in a positive manner.”
Stephane Lefebvre said:
“It’s easier to forget it, but this is the longest journey of the year and we have to think ahead and prepare for the time difference. In 2015, I came here originally just to do recce. Then Mads Østberg had an accident and the team asked me to step in to replace him at the last minute. We didn’t have our racing equipment and we had to come up with improvised solutions for all that within a few hours.. Despite the lack of preparation, I set some decent times overall, whilst also experiencing some difficulties in dealing with the stages in the rainforest, such as Nambucca. Everyone would like to finish the season on a high. As far as I’m concerned, I’ll be aiming to build on my level in Spain, when I was setting times within 2/10ths per kilometre of the leading drivers.”
Toyota Yaris WRC
Toyota Gazoo WRT
Jari-Matti Latvala said:
“I’m really looking forward to Rally Australia. It’s a nice event to finish the year, usually in warm conditions and sunshine. The stages are fast and flowing and it’s a rally that I have pretty much always enjoyed. This year there will be some new sections and parts that have not been used for a long time. On Rally GB we struggled slightly but I think the Yaris WRC should be well-suited to the stages in Australia. Personally, I want to go out there and really push for the podium, and if we could challenge for the victory that would be even better.”
Esapekka Lappi said:
“One of the main characteristics of Rally Australia is the loose gravel on top of the surface, so the first cars have to do a lot of road sweeping. Further down the order it should be better, but it is really important to keep the car on the racing line. Another challenge will be tyre management, as the second pass of the stages can be quite hard for the tyres, and if the weather is warm we will need to look after them. We weren’t so successful in Britain, but it should be better for us in Australia hopefully. We certainly want to have a good season finale.”
It should be a spectacular event, with every driver pushing to get a great result before the winter break. Ott Tanak will want to sign off his time with M-Sport with a top result and perhaps we’ll find out what’s happening with Seb as well. Will he be staying at M-Sport?
Kris did well here a couple of years ago, leading before ultimately finishing third, behind two Polo WRC’s. He’ll want to end the year well, after a real up and down season.
