XION Rally Argentina 2015 was a momentous rally, but not for the reasons we were expecting. All the pre-event hype had surrounded Sebastien Ogier, who was on the brink of achieving three records: a first Argentina win to complete the set, a record-equaling sixth consecutive victory, and he could have put France ahead of Finland in the all time WRC winners list for nations.
Instead, Northern Ireland's Kris Meeke opened up a robust lead on day 1 as his rivals suffered with gremlins, a lead that was too large to diminish for his rivals. Meeke wound up the winner, taking his first ever WRC win, and the first for Great Britain since Meeke's mentor Colin McRae on the Safari Rally in 2002. An emotional Kris said at the stage end, "This one's for Colin." This year's Rally Argentina was akin to the Safari, with it being a huge battle of attrition. Even Meeke suffered problems on the way to victory. Volkswagen were hit the hardest, with all three Polo's enduring difficult rallies. Ogier was compounded with engine issues on SS2, and on the penultimate test Latvala met the same fate. Andreas Mikkelsen damaged his suspension after having a high speed spin, and then spectacularly bowed out of the live on TV power stage just 20 seconds in, clipping a bank and kicking the back of his car into the air and into a crash. Thierry Neuville made the same misjudgment, but it was more costly for the Belgian who threw away handy championship points. Meeke was joined on the podium by an under the weather Mads Ostberg, who took his second consecutive second place finish, although he will be disappointed not to have beaten Meeke to the first Citroen win since 2013. Still a 1-2 finish for the team used to be almost a formality, but hasn't occurred since 2012 so a job well done! Britain's Elfyn Evans took the final step of the podium, to round off a fantastic WRC event for the United Kingdom. It was his maiden WRC podium, and underlines the potential the young Welshman has at world level. An event like the 2015 running of Rally Argentina was always going to suit Elfyn, with getting to the finish being the hardest and main objective. XION Rally Argentina 2015 was the first WRC rally not to feature a Volkswagen Polo R on the podium since ADAC Rallye Deutschland 2013! Incidentally that was the last time Citroen won a WRC event, courtesy of Dani Sordo. Interestingly that podium also comprised of two DS3's and one M-Sport Fiesta on that day. All that aside, Ogier still looks certain to become World Champion for a third time after a non score for both of his team mates. But for Kris Meeke, he will savour the moment and hope that this will be the first of many. Colin will be proud of him.
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The feeder series' to the WRC and the second tier of international rallying the ERC have produced a whole bunch of rallying stars this century, just look at arguably the world's greatest Sebastien Loeb. I have decided to look at the career paths of the majority of the current crop of WRC stars to work out just how important the support championships are for a successful career in the WRC. Sebastien OgierThe double World Champion and current runaway championship leader stormed onto the WRC scene in 2008 when he dominated the Junior WRC in a C2 R2. His performance was so great he earned some WRC drives in 2009 and his first win in 2010. He is now a double champion and looks well set to become a triple champion. A huge success story, akin to his championship predecessor Mr Loeb Jari-Matti LatvalaThe talented Finn didn't progress through the WRC hierarchy like his VW team mate Ogier. He first made a name for himself in the 2003 British Rally Championship season, before entering WRC events in a variety of different machinery including a Focus WRC and Impreza N4. Latvala got his big break in 2007 in the Stobart Team before progressing into the main Ford squad in 2008. He now has 12 WRC wins to his name, and is the youngest driver ever to win an event. Today is his 30th Birthday! Andreas MikkelsenThe Norwegian is the most successful driver in iRC history with 2 iRC titles to his name. This instantly put him on the radar as Volkswagen gave him outings in their Fabia S2000s in the 2012 WRC alongside Ogier as they tried to work out who to sign for the 2013 season. Mikkelsen got the nod, and he now looks like the hottest prospect to clinch a maiden WRC victory. Kris MeekeKris competed in the JWRC in 2005 as team mate to eventual champion Dani Sordo and was mentored by Colin McRae, which proves he had something special. Meeke contested the 2009 iRC season in a 207 S2000 and dually won it, which led to the Northern Irishman being snapped up by Mini in 2011. However, the Mini WRC programme was somewhat of a flop, but after some guest appearances in 2013 Meeke gained a factory drive with the Citroen team, the most successful in WRC history. If he irons out his crashes he looks good for a WRC win. Mads OstbergMads did not compete in any of the traditional WRC feeder series' in slower machinery, instead he contested WRC rounds in a privately entered Subaru Impreza WRC. After obtaining some handy points scoring finishes, Mads was given a Stobart drive for 2011 where on his debut he snatched 2nd place! In 2012 he took an incredible 4th in the championship (and maiden WRC win courtesy to Mikko Hirvonen's disqualification in Portugal) in a privately entered Fiesta WRC despite missing Monte-Carlo, which earned him a full time factory drive at M-Sport. Now at Citroen, Mads is one of the top guns in the WRC Elfyn EvansElfyn - the son of British Champion Gwyndaf - elevated himself from the British series in 2011 to drive in the WRC Academy in 2012 in a Ford Fiesta R2. Elfyn took the championship win, and his reward was a season in the WRC2 in a Fiesta R5. A strong second place in the championship and with Neuville and Ostberg both moving from the M-Sport team, Evans was awarded the factory drive. He has a best finish of 4th to his name and has youth on his side. A great prospect for the future. Ott TanakLike many of the men battling against him, the Estonian built up his reputation in the WRC support categories. In 2010 he drove a Mitsubishi Evo X in the PWRC as a Pirelli Star Driver, and progressed to the SWRC in 2011 taming a Fiesta S2000. This was enough to give him a drive in Malcolm Wilson's second Ford team, known then as M-Sport. He had a crash-strewn season so despite a debut podium Tanak was dropped. After a quiet 2013, Ott returned in 2014 in the WRC2 series in a Fiesta R5 whilst also dominating his home event in the ERC. Alongside this he had some guest appearances in the WRC, with an impressive run in Sweden. Now Ott is back in the WRC as a factory driver, and looks to have improved. He will forever be remembered in some way though after the #TiTanak escapade in Mexico! Thierry NeuvilleThe "Belgian Bullet" is another to have reached the WRC elite by competing in the junior formula. On his way to the WRC, Neuville competed in the 2010 JWRC in a C2, before racing in the 2011 iRC season which was in my opinion the best ever year of the series due to the blend of experienced competitors and young hopefuls. Thierry took 2 victories, both on classic events, the Tour de Corse and Sanremo which culiminated in a Citroen Junior Team drive. In 2013, Neuville took an excellent 2nd in the championship for M-Sport, before taking his and Hyundai's first WRC win in Germany last year in fairy-tale fashion. In 2015, he looks like Ogier's closest challenger at the moment. I am a big fan of Neuville. He has all the hallmarks of a future world champion. Dani SordoThe Spaniard is another to have triumphed at junior level, and after winning the JWRC in 2005 he was quickly tackling the infamous Xsara WRC. Sordo has competed at the sport's top level since 2006, and has a catalogue of second place finishes to his name, predominantly courtesy of tarmac events where only the all-conquering Sebastien Loeb got the better of him. Sordo finally won his first WRC event in Germany in 2013, and he is one of the finest drivers around. He has had a long relationship with Citroen, but was part of the Mini Prodrive project before returning to Citroen in 2013. He then joined the Hyundai team where he currently drives. If he retires with only 1 WRC win, it would be an injustice. Hayden PaddonLike Tanak, Hayden piloted a Pirelli backed Evo X in the 2010 PWRC season. The following year minus Pirelli sponsorship, the Kiwi lifted the 2011 PWRC title in a Subaru Impreza. In 2012 he moved up a notch into the SWRC with a Skoda Fabia. Hayden got his chance in the WRC in 2013 when he had a one-off drive for M-Sport in Catalunya. Last year, he joined Hyundai's second squad for the second half of the season, and this year he is improving even more. Paddon could be something rather special. Kevin AbbringThe Dutch ace made his name in the JWRC as a youngster in a Renault Clio R3 between 2008 and 2010, with a best championship finish of 4th in 2009. Like Mikkelsen, he was selected to drive a VW backed Fabia S2000 on selected WRC rounds alongside Ogier, but the Norwegian got the nod ahead of the Dutchman. Abbring then joined the Peugeot Rally Academy, to compete in the 2014 ERC in the brand new Peugeot 208 T16 R5 alongside Craig Breen. Kevin only finished 2 rallies, but both were podium finishes and this was largely down to teething problems with the new car and bad luck. He showed tremendous flashes of speed and this was enough for him to become Hyundai development driver. He got his WRC debut in Sweden when Sordo injured himself and should be back again at some point in 2015. Martin ProkopThe Czech star was one of the stars of the support series, having competed in the JWRC, PWRC and SWRC. He often juggled between the JWRC in a Citroen C2 and the PWRC in a Mitsubishi Evo IX. This dedication paid off for Martin as he won the JWRC title in 2009. After this triumph, he moved onto the SWRC for 2010 and 2011 where he finished 3rd in the championship on both occasions in an S2000 Fiesta. In 2012, Martin progressed into the WRC, and has a stage win to his name. He is consistently the best privateer on events and is always there to creep up the table when others have trouble. Robert KubicaUnlike all the others, Robert entered rallying already as a big name as he is a Formula One race winner for BMW Sauber. His F1 career ended when he was competing in a rally in a Fabia S2000 and badly crashed. Now no longer able to compete in Formula One, Kubica turned to what had caused his hand injury: rallying. In 2013 he contested the WRC2 in a DS3 RRC and dominated it. He also contested the European Rally Championship but was not as fortunate. In 2014 he made his WRC debut and quickly established a reputation for crashing. That said, his raw pace is unbelievable! Well there you have it! All of the drivers above are well-renowned WRC stars, who have got into that position through commitment and driving talent. To reach a valid conclusion as to the importance of the support series', it is best to ignore Kubica and Prokop as they are both private entries into the championship which in theory can be done by anyone with enough money. So, minus Kubica and Prokop, I covered 11 drivers and only 2 of them did not progress through the ranks in either the WRC support categories of the Intercontinental Rally Challenge/European Rally Championship. That means 82% of the drivers have been rewarded factory drives due to their performance in the lower categories. Those are great odds for the next bunch of stars looking to burst onto the scene - Craig Breen, Esapekka Lappi, Stephane Lefebvre - especially considering Toyota are to return in 2017. |
WRCArticles covering the World Rally Championship Archives
January 2018
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