WRC Round 2 - Rally Sweden

[Cess]

Ford 1-2-3 in Rally Sweden. I was really pleased to see Andreas Mikkelsen grab fifth place. Struggled in Galway last week, but was mixing it with the best of them in the WRC. Just goes to show you, world rallying is no comparison to the Irish Tarmac Championship!

Highlights tonight @ 18.00 hrs on Dave, Ch.19, Freeview or Channel 111 on Sky.

RESULTS

1 LATVALA
Focus RS WRC 07

2 HIRVONEN
Focus RS WRC 07

3 GALLI
Focus RS WRC 07

4 SOLBERG
Impreza WRC 2006

5 MIKKELSEN
Focus WRC

6 SORDO
C4

7 GARDEMEISTER
SX 4

 

[cormac81]

Just watched it there on Dave, well done to Latvala!

 

[Graham]

latvala just proved his worth going to the BP team and also well done to andreas a huge talent at just 18 pushing hard

 

[Nazor]

Atko binned her again - typical

 

[Curtiz]

couldnt believe it when i saw Loeb wrecking it, made it much more interesting tbh to see the battle for the top...as much of a shame it was

 

[Doovde]

Good to see solberg keep it between the hedges, his run last year wasn't exctaly up to his expected standards.

 

[svensktoppen]

Latvala is a future champion. Not too sure about Mikko though, he seems to have been number two for too long.

And poor Sebastian. First going off, and then a speeding ticket. Not his weekend at all

But what is all the fuss over Mathiew? Surely he is only there because daddy owns the team? Only in the points when enough people go off, cannot see him ever winning an event.

 

[Cess]

I kind of agree. He's steady, but doesn't have the blistering pace to win stages outright...yet. He's still young, so you never know. There is definitely a touch of Daddy's special soldier about it!

Mikkelsen is definitely a world champion of the future. Such a talent.

By the way, Loeb getting booked by the cops was satisfying!

 

[seanbob]

Don't be harsh on the lad it could happen to anyone:

http://www.motorsportmad.com/view/3689/wrc-sweden-2008---loeb-gets-done-by-the-police

Pity Henning didn't finish, he was going well too.

Anyone know if this is repeated and when? I had a very delayed flight out of Belfast International on Sunday.

 

[jonny106]

Great result for Ford, good to see Latvala get the win. If he stays on the road this year he could be a real force. Henning was going well and this would have been his best rally of the season with no Norway this year, shame. Great result for Mikkelsen, they guy is super quick, but remember he is also a daddys boy like Matthew with an unlimited budget, but importantly with far more pace.

 

[Karlos Da Jackle]

I kind of agree. He's steady, but doesn't have the blistering pace to win stages outright...yet. He's still young, so you never know. There is definitely a touch of Daddy's special soldier about it!

Mikkelsen is definitely a world champion of the future. Such a talent.

By the way, Loeb getting booked by the cops was satisfying!

Its kind of a hard one, I've been watching that access all areas of WRC, where your man the commentator followed young wilson about, and was at his house and all for dinner.

My first impression was Matthew was there becaus of daddy, however he has been racing from a young age, and has been up there in the positions all the time, so he definately has done the groundwork to be competing, like in the wilson house, there is even a pic of Matthew, with Lewis hamilton in the background when they wre racing at a younger age. There is also another younger brother on his way up through aswell, so no doubt Malcolm will try give him a try when he is ready.

And its nice to see a British driver back up in the rallying world name group, give the man a chance.

 

[Cess]

Seanbob - the Dave highlights are avilable to download, although I've got the full Eurosport coverage if you want it? Henning did finish by the way! He went super-rallying on day three and despite the time penalty, he nearly broke into the top 10. Finished 13th over all.

I'm not down on Wilson. He comes across as a really nice guy and he can obviously steer. But he's not in the same league as Mikkelsen. I take the point about Mikkelsen being a Daddy's boy. His present for finishing 9th on Rally Ireland was a fully paid up entry for the entire Irish Tarmac Championship! However, I just love the way he drives! He's fast and he's got the flair! He's an entertainer. Precisely the reason why I'm not a Loeb fan boy...

 

[Graham]

as i said on another forum:

"i am not saying he's a **** driver, he just doesn't have the raw talent needed for a works seat IMO, he's being trained to drive and yes he is improving but correct me if i am wrong, stobart is the development sceme for the BP Ford drives? so basically get the young 'uns (use term loosely) into a stobart car, once you get the results then you progress into the A team eventually.

matt i dont feel has the talent needed to progress into the hot seat as a full works driver so why spend millions on someone thats not going to make it at the very top (ie. top 3 most rallies)

just my 2c and it's a public airing forum so i am sure some will agree some will disagree and some wont care lol"

 

[RComms]

as i said on another forum:

"i am not saying he's a **** driver, he just doesn't have the raw talent needed for a works seat IMO, he's being trained to drive and yes he is improving but correct me if i am wrong, stobart is the development sceme for the BP Ford drives? so basically get the young 'uns (use term loosely) into a stobart car, once you get the results then you progress into the A team eventually.

matt i dont feel has the talent needed to progress into the hot seat as a full works driver so why spend millions on someone thats not going to make it at the very top (ie. top 3 most rallies)

just my 2c and it's a public airing forum so i am sure some will agree some will disagree and some wont care lol"

I agree. He's pants!

He's definately made steady progress, but he's not exactly setting the world on fire like Mikkelson, or even Latvala when he first appeared in the BRC. I think ultimately there are other British drivers with more potential, but saying that... if I ran a WRC team with that many cars, then 'my son' would probably be getting a seat too!

 

[jonny106]

To be fair, he's still not as bad as Xavier Pons getting a works Subaru. There have always been duffers about getting works drives when they don't deserve it; Bruno Thiry for Ford, Uwe Nittel and Freddy Loix for Mitsubishi, Alex Fiorio for Lancia (daddy was also team boss then), Louise Aitken Walker for Vauxhall, Barbara Armstrong for SEAT...the list goes on.

 

[svensktoppen]

There have always been duffers about getting works drives when they don't deserve it

Like that Dubai guy in one of the fords for no other reason than Dubai sponsoring the whole championship - now I think we can all agree that guy is totally useless

Not saying Wilson is a bad person or anything, if daddy wanted to pay me to drive a rally car I would certainly not say no He just does not seem to have the talent to get consistently even into the top ten, never mind fighting for a podium.

 

[Nazor]

I agree young Wilson is definetly not a WRC champ of the future. If he was going to be that he would have turned in a couple of blistering stage times by now.

To be fair, he's still not as bad as Xavier Pons getting a works Subaru. There have always been duffers about getting works drives when they don't deserve it; Bruno Thiry for Ford, Uwe Nittel and Freddy Loix for Mitsubishi, Alex Fiorio for Lancia (daddy was also team boss then), Louise Aitken Walker for Vauxhall, Barbara Armstrong for SEAT...the list goes on.

Thiry - was quick but had to be the most unlucky driver ever to grace a WRC seat.

Nittel - i agree he wasnt the real deal but he came through from Ralliart Germany if i mind rightly.

Loix - was quick also, blindly quick in a Corolla WRC car - when he went to Mitsubishi they where in the "Tommi" era and the team was focused on him. A good driver who wasnt in the right place at the right time. Did he drive the WRC Mitsi?? if so it was a piece of crap!

Fiorio - agree with you there.

Louise Atkin Walker - was a very talented lady driver who could cut it with alot of the big boys in the British Championship. It might only be the British championship but she could still drive!

Barbara Armstrong - like the Simmonite sisters, was okay but it was more about publicity more than anything. She drove for Peugeot also at one point.

 

[jonny106]

Thiry was a bit unlucky and Loix was borderline to appear on this list but he never performed or got a top 2/3 place either. Louise Aitken Walker was a talented driver no doubt, but she did not cut it with the big boys in BRC. Kalle Grundel walloped her in the 309, Dave Metcalfe beat her in the Nova, she was just there because she was a woman (which lets face it, doesn't mean you should be any slower as it doesn't need extra strength to drive a car). And Barbara Armstrong was woeful!

 

[Cess]

I agree with Patrick, Loix was good. The main reason he wasn't top 2 or 3 is because he had a talent for totally wrecking cars. Safari in 1999 springs to mind. I have the picture in an old mag.

 

[RComms]

imho Loix had alot more natural speed than Wilson Jnr. Unfortunately Loix also seemed to have a natural talent for finding big f**k off bits of concrete and trees to drive into . remember last year, when practising the possible stormont stage, he took the wheel of tracys 206....doh.

Its gonna sound stupid i know, but I liken Wilson Jnr to KPL! Not immediately quick.. but progressivly getting much better by putting alot of miles and work in.

 

[Cess]

imho Loix had alot more natural speed than Wilson Jnr. Unfortunately Loix also seemed to have a natural talent for finding big f**k off bits of concrete and trees to drive into

Safari '99. Mitsubishi Carisma GT as modified by Freddi