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WRC Fanatic (11 posts)

Topic tags: Hirvonen, Loeb, Ogier

Viewing post 1 to 11 (11 total posts)

AndrewTanner said 1 year, 8 months ago:

Thought I would take the opportunity to restart @ned-flanders WRC Fanatic thread (it got closed when I asked about having it put in the WRC group).

So, who’s going to take the championship? So very tight at the top!

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Fer no.65 said 1 year, 8 months ago:

Hope Ogier does. I like Loeb, but he’s been having an easy time since Grönholm retired.

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Prisoner Monkeys said 1 year, 8 months ago:

I really want to see someone beat Loeb. Unfortunately, Rally Catalunya is a tarmac event, and Loeb is at his best on tarmac. That said, the last two tarmac rounds – Germany and France – have seen him get into all manner of trouble. I don’t think cracks are beginning to show, but Loeb will certainly take some beating. Especially with the extra points on offer for the power stages; if Loeb doesn’t win, but gets a good result on the final stage in Spain, it’s going to be very difficult for Hirvonen and Ogier to take the title, because they’ll need certain results to go their way.

And if I were Sebastien Ogier, I’d ignore the orders to help Loeb. He’s won more rallies than Loeb, so he deserves his shot at the title. if he gets fired for it, then I’m sure Ford would happily pick him up next year. Or even Mini, if they want to do a full season in 2012.

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AndrewTanner said 1 year, 8 months ago:

Good point about team orders @Prisoner-Monkeys

I don’t agree with disobeying team orders, but it does make for great drama!

I hope Ogier takes it. He will have immense bragging rights if he is the guy to stop the Loeb-machine.

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Ned Flanders said 1 year, 8 months ago:

Does anyone else fınd ıt bafflıng that Hırvonen ıs stıll ın the runnıng? He’s had such a medıocre season sınce he won the fırst race, yet he’s the joınt poınts leader! I suppose ıt’s a case of the tortoıse and the hare, he’s been slow but relıable and consıstent, whereas Loeb and Ogıer are more wın or bust.

I’ve mıssed the last two rallıes wıth beıng abroad, but they both sounded fantastıc. Can’t waıt for to see the hıghlıghts, and the fınal two events! I’m rootıng for Hırvonen because he’S the underdog and I lıke hım the most, but I don’t see hım wınnıng. I see Loeb’s experıence clınchıng ıt

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Deleted User said 1 year, 8 months ago:

I am desperate to see Hirvonen win. He stunned me in 09 but he hasn’t quite been as spectacular for me the last two years but I still love him. I was quite frustrated that he didn’t do better in the last round when Loeb ran into trouble as it would have been a great opportunity. Ford are rubbish on tarmac so he’s going to need a lot of luck to pull the title off. If he did somehow manage to win it would be the happiest I’ve been since Kimi won in 07.

Great point about team orders PM but I think if they come into play Ogier will obey them. He’ll want to stay at Citroen and even though Lobe’s decided to stick around after all I’m sure he’ll start ruling the roost soon. Citroen’s the best team. Ford are rubbish on asphalt and Mini look great so far but they’re still new and a risk.

Wow, Ned for once we’ll actually be supporting the same driver!

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AndrewTanner said 1 year, 8 months ago:

Does anyone know if Kimi is hanging about next season?

I can’t see the rumours of a return to F1 coming to fruition some how…

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AndrewTanner said 1 year, 8 months ago:

@ned-flanders Latvala has struck me as the more interesting driver from Ford but like you say, consistency pays.

Anyone want to take any bets as to which farmyard animal Henning Solberg will bump into next?

I’m not particularly fussed who takes the championship but the only reason I picked Ogier is to see just how much it shakes Loeb up.

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AndrewTanner said 1 year, 8 months ago:

********** SPOILER ALERT !!! **********
********** SPOILER ALERT !!! **********
********** SPOILER ALERT !!! **********

Rally Spain this weekend.

********** SPOILER ALERT !!! **********

Loeb leads with a 11.9s advantage over Ogier with Latvala sandwiched between them, 5.3s off Loeb. Hirvonen is 36.5s behind Loeb. Sordo and Meeke running 5th and 6th respectively.

I thought it was a little weird this morning when I checked out the timing app to see Loeb leading with quite a nice margin, considering he’s road sweeping. However, looks like the dust is catching folks out. The gap between drivers has been increased to 4 mins for this afternoon. Raikkonen has had a bit of a stop-start morning, literally. So much so he’s down in 36th at the moment, ouch.

Bets on who will take this rally folks?

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Prisoner Monkeys said 1 year, 7 months ago:

Well, the championship is over. It kind of went out with a whimper, too – Hirvonen crashed in the middle of the first leg, and his engine lunched itself. Sebastien Loeb claimed his eighth consecutive title when Ford decided that there was too much damage to Hirvonen’s car to re-enter under Super Rally regulations.

One thing that caught my eye was some of the stages that have been revived – Dyfi, Garthieniog, Dyfnant, Great Orme. I haven’t heard some of those names in fifteen years. And Great Orme hasn’t been used in my lifetime. But watching the one-hour review programs, I’m struck by the stages. They’re utterly fantastic. Why didn’t the organisers use them sooner?

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AndrewTanner said 1 year, 7 months ago:

It was indeed a bit of an anti-climax, carried over from Ogier’s disaster in Spain. Solid result for Latvala though, he was driving like a man possessed! Tanak had a more than respectable debut so congratulations to him.

To be honest, i’ve only really followed the WRC more intensely this year so i’m not over familiar with the stages that are and aren’t used. Some of the stages had fantastic camber though, beautiful stuff.

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