RallyCiaran
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WRC 2017 : All Chat Here
- Thread starter B6GUE
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DC.
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RallyCiaran
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Meeke is 3rd after the first day. Seem to be on a reasonable pace. Hopefully he can stay in contention when the others are no longer cleaning the road.
He lost around 12 seconds after a slight off, think he got away with one! I believe the road order was decided before the 2 super specials so he'll be starting just ahead of Mikkleson so similiar to Friday running in that regard. Neuville and Tanak are now the dangers as they will have a better road position than they did on Friday.
RallyCiaran
RMS Regular
Meeke seemed very annoyed with the team when they wouldn't let him start the last stage on Saturday due to suspension damage. The stage then got cancelled so he lost out for nothing. Doesn't seem like he has a sustainable relationship with the team.
Graham
RMS Photographer
SS18 - Bucca16 (31.90km)
Breen rolled in the stage, crew OK. Retirement.
Meeke: "Horrendous. Absolutely horrendous with that heavy rain. It's hellish in there. Like being on ice, so close to the trees."
1 Paddon 16:57.4 (112.9kph)
2 Lappi +3.7
3 Evans +8.5
4 Ogier +13.0
5 Tanak +14.5
6 Latvala +26.8
7 Neuville +35.9
8 Mikkelsen +1:31.3
MEEKE +1:35.6
Overall after SS18
1 Neuville 2:28:13.1
2 Latvala +9.9
3 Tanak +21.3
4 Paddon +47.5
5 Ogier +2:23.8
6 Evans +2:52.8
7 Lappi +3:45.5
… MEEKE +22:49.1
… Mikkelsen +37:39.3
Breen rolled in the stage, crew OK. Retirement.
Meeke: "Horrendous. Absolutely horrendous with that heavy rain. It's hellish in there. Like being on ice, so close to the trees."
1 Paddon 16:57.4 (112.9kph)
2 Lappi +3.7
3 Evans +8.5
4 Ogier +13.0
5 Tanak +14.5
6 Latvala +26.8
7 Neuville +35.9
8 Mikkelsen +1:31.3
MEEKE +1:35.6Overall after SS18
1 Neuville 2:28:13.1
2 Latvala +9.9
3 Tanak +21.3
4 Paddon +47.5
5 Ogier +2:23.8
6 Evans +2:52.8
7 Lappi +3:45.5
… MEEKE +22:49.1
… Mikkelsen +37:39.3
He has actually drove to the start line of SS13 before they told him to retire, though at that stage they still had 2 proper stages to go (around 30km). Unfortunately SS14 which was the longer of the 2 was then cancelled so he potentially could have continued. Seems strange for the team to make the decision to retire when they don't know the nature of the damage. Saw a clip of Kris giving Yves Matton a piece of his mind back in the service park.
It doesn't look great for them but I don't know where Kris would go next year? I reckon he'll see out his remaining year with them. The car still showed the signs that it isn't good on changable conditions, though didn't look like the death trap it was at the start of the year. Kris did comment at the end of one stage when he was a fair bit down on Neuville and Latvala that he could push harder but didn't want to visit the trees so the car isn't there yet. Here's hoping they have it sorted for next year...
gpaevo
RMS Regular
Meeke is on real thin ice with big Yves, last thing he should be doing is slabbering lol. He'll be getting a big French size 10 up the hole shortly.
Graham
RMS Photographer
Likely be the best thing to happen, he has been more than loyal to the team and they have not been able to provide!
It would be interesting to see him at Ford or Hyundai but i do feel he will see out his contract
The problem Yves has is who is going to replace Meeke with!? At least Meeke has proved he is as fast as the top guys and can win rallies - I don't see many drivers on the market that they could afford to bring in that will do a better job. Hopefully with a more predicable car he can keep it between the ditches more often.
Mikkleson clearly wasn't impressed with the car when he went to Hyundai (though maybe there was no Citroen offer anyway) however on Mikklesons first outing in the C3 in Poland he was no-where and said it was down to seat time - in contrast at the end of his first day in the Hyundai he was leading the rally!
svensktoppen
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Mad mad car, lol, and madder driver 
svensktoppen
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All the better for it
So the news had finally broke! Ford have decided to partner m-sport and Ogier will stay with them. Big news for the WRC and they'll be very hard to stop next year.
Also Elfyn has got the other seat which is great for him and well deserved.
Also Elfyn has got the other seat which is great for him and well deserved.
cormac81
RMS Regular
Great news.
DC.
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No official word from Ford yet but it’s expected that Ford Europe will get onboard.
http://www.m-sport.co.uk/m-sport-news/fiesta-rs-wrc/ogier-and-evans-to-lead-m-sport-in-2018
http://www.m-sport.co.uk/m-sport-news/fiesta-rs-wrc/ogier-and-evans-to-lead-m-sport-in-2018
All the main sources are running with Ford Performance supporting M-Sport so there has to be something in it. I noticed it wasn't in the statement though! Pretty sure Ogier said he wouldn't sign without their backing (and M-Sport couldn't afford it!)
DC.
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It’s about time M-Sport got more backing from Ford.
Punching well above their weight the past few seasons & bringing Ford both championships this season on the smallest budget when they faced the biggest regulation change in a generation.
Ford piggybacking on M-Sport’s success.
Punching well above their weight the past few seasons & bringing Ford both championships this season on the smallest budget when they faced the biggest regulation change in a generation.
Ford piggybacking on M-Sport’s success.
Graham
RMS Photographer
Gerard Quinn more or less stated that Ford Performance EU was on board in an interview with an Irish outlet the other day
Graham
RMS Photographer
AFAIK - Gerard is MD of Ford Performance Europe or something of such esteem
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