F1 Fanatic

Well the new World Rally Championship season has begun rather predictability with a Sebastien Loeb victory.

Make that a trouncing, as he was a whopping two minutes and 45 seconds clear of Dani Sordo at the end of the Rallye Monte-Carlo.

Should we just crown him champion for the ninth year in a row now and get it over with? Or will Solberg, Ogier, Sordo, Hirvonen or someone else finally prise the trophy from Loeb’s grasp?

Watching the Monte I was particularly impressed by Solberg. As the last person to beat Loeb to a title I would like to see him get on terms this year.

I’m with @robk23 I don’t think Hirvonen is gonna be in with much of a chance, given this is his first season in a DS3, but the politics at Citroen won’t allow it anyway.

I reckon Latvala will take an impressive number of victories but going into Sweden 28 points down will really hurt him.

Honestly, I don’t really know yet. I’d like Hirvonen to prove me wrong but I also respect him for perhaps playing the long game.

No, there’s only been one rally but it certainly seems like it might go that way. Mikko might challenge in the odd rally but by the time he settles in Loeb will probably be miles away points wise. The only real challenger could be Latvala but he’ll probably crash out too much or be wildly inconsistent (not to forget how bad Ford are at tarmac events). Petter needs time to settle in too and he’s amazing to watch but can attract trouble too so I’m not sure he could pull it off even if the circumstances were right. Given the state of the other teams I don’t think anyone else really has a shot (Sordo has impressed me in the Mini though). It’s still early so I have to say no because anything can happen but every bit of reason in me says yes.

I´m amazed everyone seems to think Solberg has a shout. He peaked years ago, he´s rarely even threatened to win in the last few years. Even in his heyday I don´t think he was ever anything particularly special. Ford would seem to agree because they´ve admitted he´s officially number 2 to Latvala this season.

Saying as Ogier doesn´t have a WRC car this season and Hirvonen is never going to beat Loeb in the same car, the only other man I see having a shot at the title is Latvala. I think he´s far better than his career results so far would suggest, and with a combination of more luck and fewer crashes he could regularly have the beating of Loeb

@Ned-Flanders: remember he was stuck running privateers after Subaru pulled out. It’s hard to do a lot with that, yet he often got podiums.

@sato113: you’re not alone in that thought.

It seems to me the WRC in 2012 is where F1 was in 2002: Best driver in best car, team mate not allowed to beat him, opposition nowhere.

I think that 2011 was a close year. As far as competitve driving goes, it was technically all open until the very last rally in Wales. Everyone had their fair share of technical problems, including Loeb, which made things really dramatic.

Although Loeb ultimately won last year, it was by no means easy riding for him, so as a result i’m trying to look at this year with a fresh pair of eyes, knowing that there is the talent out there. That said, Hirvonen moving to Citroen will certainly give Loeb a head start until he can comfortably get on top of the DS3.

I guess that what i’m trying to say is that this year may well be another one that goes to Loeb, but with Ogier taking one step back (and hopefully two steps forward) and Hirvonen putting himself in the position he has should mean that we’re in for a real battle in the future. Maybe not 2012, but at least they’re thinking ahead.

To be honest, @keithcollantine I think that his retirement in France probably only delayed the inevitable. At least it went down to the last rally, however.