Photo Credit: Volkswagen Motorsport After the winter tests of Monte-Carlo and Sweden, the FIA World Rally Championship heads to the sunshine of Mexico for round 3 of the 2016 season. As one of the newer events on the WRC calendar, Mexico has only been won by four drivers in the WRC, only one of which will contest the 2016 season - Sebastien Ogier. Ogier has won the rally the past 3 years for Volkswagen, while compatriot Sebastien Loeb won in 2006, 7, 8, 10, 11 and 12 for Citroen Racing. The rally was not part of the WRC in 2009. The other two winners were Markko Martin for Ford in 2004 and Petter Solberg for Subaru in 2005. Mexico is a big challenge for the crews and the cars alike, due to the high altitudes that sap around 50bhp from the car's engines and the humid temperatures that can bother the drivers in the cockpit. An intriguing feature of the 2016 event is the mammoth test in the form of the Guanjuatito stage, which at just over 80km is the longest to be included in the WRC since 1983. That means it will be the longest stage of everybody's career. This could really shake up the rally on Sunday morning just before the event closing Power Stage! Photo Credit: Hyundai Motorsport Since he has won the last three additions of Rally Guanajuato Mexico and is yet to drop a single point in 2016, triple World Champion Sebastien Ogier heads to America as the hot favourite to succeed in his Volkswagen Polo R. However, team mate Jari-Matti Latvala is in dire need of a strong result after two non scores so far this year, and with a subsequent lower starting position for days 1 and 2 he has a good chance of stopping Ogier's winning streak.
Volkswagen Motorsport II's Andreas Mikkelsen is a potential dark horse as he seeks for WRC win number 2. However, an unstable performance in Sweden where he made three separate mistakes on an event he was hotly tipped to win means it's hard to know how Mikkelsen will fare in Mexico. Andreas did finish third last year though. Another man expected to perform well is Hyundai's Thierry Neuville. The Belgian claimed his first WRC podium in 2013 and Hyundai's first in 2014, while was on the pace in 2015 before a crash plummeted him down the order. With confidence flowing through his veins once again and a good start position of 7th, Neuville will be keen to prove both his and the new generation i20's mettle and steal the win from the grasp of Ogier and VW. Dani Sordo will partner Neuville in the main Hyundai team driving i20 #4, whilst Hayden Paddon, fresh from his podium in Sweden, returns to the second string squad for the American adventure. M-Sport will once again be represented by consistent Norwegian Mads Ostberg and Frenchman Eric Camilli who will be aiming to keep the car on the road in Mexico and make it to the finish. The Fiesta driver has switched his co-driver from Mexico onwards, teaming up with his co-driver from 2015 Benjamin Veillas and replacing Nicolas Klinger. Ostberg meanwhile took a fine second place last year for Citroen and will be looking to continue his purple patch of form in the Fiesta RS from Monte-Carlo and Sweden. Straight after Rally Mexico, Ostberg is off to the Canaries to contest round 1 of the 2016 European Rally Championship in a privately entered Fiesta R5. Citroen will not be represented in Mexico, as focus turns to the development of the new 2017 challenger. Rally Guanajuato Mexico gets underway on the streets of Guanajuato on Thursday 3rd March, before concluding on March 6th. My prediction is a Sebastien Ogier win, Latvala second and Neuville third. We shall see how that stacks up next Sunday!
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Photo Credit: Volkswagen Motorsport Round 2 of the 2016 World Rally Championship was as ever the Swedish rally, but it threatened to be nothing like we know it. Warmer than usual conditions in the run up to the rally left the usually snow covered forests barely even white, forcing the organisers to revise the itinerary of the event to suit. However, the rally went ahead, the snow did come, and the same man one once again. Sebastien Ogier netted his third Swedish win after leading from start to finish in his Polo R, whilst also claiming 3 points on the event closing Power Stage. That means out of a possible 56 points in the championship he has 56. The triple World Champion didn't have it easy though cleaning the road for the others, prompting him to take risks like he had never done in his life before. That was because New Zealand's Hayden Paddon was reveling in his lower starting position, and on Saturday looked a serious threat to Ogier's lead, but the Kiwi wasn't interested in being drawn into a fight. Instead, he guided the new-generation i20 home to second place on his debut in the car to become the first non-European driver to finish on the podium in Sweden. Mads Ostberg and Ola Floene were never really on the front running pace all weekend as they continued to adapt to the Fiesta RS, but a mature drive with no mistakes was rewarded with a third place finish which leaves him third in the championship after two rallies. Photo Credit: Hyundai Motorsport Andreas Mikkelsen had a raggid run to fourth place, with two major spins and an overshoot throughout the weekend forcing him off the podium. Ott Tanak took a fine fifth for DMACK with Dani Sordo coming home in sixth position. Henning Solberg came seventh with Craig Breen close behind in eighth. Breen was making his debut for the Abu Dhabi Total World Rally Team, and was loving every moment of it, emotionally remarking it was like he had been given a Willy Wonka Golden Ticket and he didn't want to let it go. Elfyn Evans once again won the WRC-2 support series to finish ninth overall, while Teemu Suninen finished tenth. Photo Credit: M-Sport A special mention must go to Eyvind Brynildsen too, who claimed the Colin's Crest jump record of 46m in an R5 specification Ford Fiesta. Big commitment!
However, not every driver had such a good time in Sweden. Jari-Matti Latvala wasthe biggest casualty. The three time winner of the event suffered a driveshaft problem as early as stage 2, and with no mid day service he was stuck in 2WD for the whole of Friday, which put him well out of contention. After his retirement in Monte-Carlo, he has 0 points and subsequently is 56 behind Ogier. Is that already too much to claw back? Thierry Neuville is another who will be disappointed. He suffered the same problem as Latvala but later on in the day, so he managed to climb back to 14th come Sunday. Thierry's form is back to what it should be, but interestingly he is still the worst placed Hyundai in the championship. Kris Meeke once again proved his pace in Sweden, mixing it right at the front just as he was on the Monte. However, the same issue that befell him in France struck again in Sweden. A hidden rock wrecked his steering arm and with no way to steer, Meeke was forced to retire. A shame because right now Kris' driving is not what is preventing him from scoring. And finally Eric Camilli, Mads Ostberg's number 2 at M-Sport, suffered another disappointing weekend. Making his Sweden debut, he slid off the road on Saturday and made a mess of his Fiesta RS. It is early days and a big step into the unknown for the Frenchman, but Malcolm Wilson must have seen something we have not because two retirements from two starts is not a good track record. And albeit in WRC2, the man he replaced, Elfyn Evans, has two wins from two starts. The WRC circus regroups in Mexico on 4-6 March. Keep an eye on This Is Rally for an event preview. Photo Credit: Hyundai Motorsport It's February, which means it's time for the WRC Winter spectacular: Rally Sweden.
Despite the freezing temperatures resulting in ice and snow, Rally Sweden is one of the fastest rounds of the championship and is a firm favourite among fans and drivers alike. Last year saw a thrilling battle for the win between Volkswagen's Sebastien Ogier and Andreas Mikkelsen and Hyundai's Thierry Neuville. Even though he was the road sweeper, it was the World Champion that came out on top in one of the battles of the season. Will we get the same this year? It's likely that Rally Sweden will provide us with an entertaining show, as the tricky, slippery road conditions make for a supreme challenge that catch out even the best. Sebastien Ogier, a 2 time winner of the Scandinavian event, must be the hot favourite after another supreme display on round 1, Rallye Monte-Carlo. He and fellow countryman Sebastien Loeb are the only non-Scandinavians to have won this winter classic. However, it is unlikely that Ogier will have it all his own way. His team mates Latvala and Mikkelsen are both Scandinavian and very handy on the white stuff. Jari took his first ever WRC victory in 2008 in Sweden, and recorded another victory 6 years later in 2014. Mikkelsen has never won the event but has been in the fight the past 2 years and is in sparkling form. The battle could be rather tasty! Another Scandinavian to look out for is Norwegian Mads Ostberg at the wheel of his M-Sport Ford Fiesta RS WRC. Sweden is traditionally Mads' strongest weekend of the year, and he has come very close to winning in the past. Anything other than a podium for him will be a disappointment. At Hyundai expectations and hopes will be high after Neuville grabbed a podium place on the new-generation i20's debut. Both he and his team mate for Sweden Hayden Paddon went well last year so will be looking to take the fight to the boys at the front. There is also a lot of intrigue surrounding the Abu Dhabi Total World Rally Team after Kris Meeke's scintillating Monte-Carlo performance. The Northern Irishman has never been too strong in Sweden, but you would be a fool to discount him. And Craig Breen is an exciting prospect, finally getting the chance to show what he's made of in a competitive WRC car. Other names to look out for are Eric Camilli, who remains an unknown, and Ott Tanak in the DMACK Fiesta. Ott was rapid on this event in 2014, and is capable of breathtaking speed when he's in the mood. The rally gets underway on the 11th of January. Who is capable of stopping the Sebastien Ogier train? |
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January 2018
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