Photo Credit: Volkswagen Motorsport After six of the thirteen high speed and testing rounds of the 2017 FIA World Rally Championship, the battle has been intense, pulsating and unpredictable; and this only promises to get better as the season races into its second half with just 18 points separating the top two drivers in the standings.
For round seven, the WRC heads to Poland for the fifth time in its history, and marks one of the first genuine chances we will get to see the new breed of World Rally Cars in action at high speeds. The Polish round of the World Championship is known for being ultra-fast and smooth, with the new aerodynamic kits coming to the fore making this already fast event even quicker. It's a rally Hyundai star Hayden Paddon describes as "Sweden without the snow", which tells you everything you need to know. Last year's rally was all about one man: Ott Tanak. Rather apt, as the Estonian is the pick of the bunch heading to Eastern Europe after finally grabbing the maiden win that had eluded him on numerous occasions in his career in Sardinia. There is a strong sense that with this win under his belt, Tanak is only going to get better which is a scary thought for his rivals after a consistent year sees him third in the drivers standings. Only a puncture robbed him of victory in 2016, with third place going his way in 2015, so M-Sport's number two is odds on for a second WRC win this weekend. Next door, Sebastien Ogier will be eyeing up the Polish country lanes as a good chance to pounce, but once again he will have to face the worst of the conditions on day one sweeping the loose gravel off the surface of the stages to his rivals' benefit. The Frenchman is a two time winner in Poland and is a genuine contender wherever he goes, but flat out, searing speed rallies aren't necessarily his forte. A good result is all but guaranteed, but a win in Poland will be hard for Ogier. But as a serious championship campaigner, that won't be his primary aim albeit an added bonus. Aim number one will be to extend his points advantage, which means getting the better of Hyundai's Belgian Thierry Neuville. Thierry is a completely different driver to the confidence-drained, negative and frustrated figure that steered an i20 two years ago, and is in a serious fight for a maiden WRC title. Two high-profile mistakes when comfortably leading in Monte-Carlo and Sweden have almost been forgotten, as wins in Corsica and Argentina has been supplemented with two further podium finishes in Mexico and Sardinia, helping Neuville close up to the series leader. He has been the fastest man across the season thus far, so what's stopping him one of the fastest events out there? Potentially Jari-Matti Latvala. The Finn sits fourth in the championship, just one point off Ott Tanak, but has been a revelation since joining Tommi Makinen's Toyota Gazoo Racing. An incredible breakthrough win for the Yaris came as early as round two in Sweden which saw the experienced Finn lead the WRC for the first time since Sweden 2014, but a couple of disappointing rallies followed. The team appear to have got the car working well on the loose though with Latvala well in the hunt for victory in Sardinia, and as the victor of the only real fast and flowing rally thus far in 2017, Jari-Matti can't be written off your betting slip ahead of round seven. Thirty seven points shy of the leading quarter, Dani Sordo, as he has done so often in the career, holds the title of 'best of the rest' after the first half of the season. Sordo has been impressive this year, with his pace not correlating into the results it deserves. Elfyn Evans has had a mixed campaign with some blunders but came of age on round five, coming an agonising 0.7 seconds within a first win at World Championship level. He will perhaps be one to watch this weekend. Craig Breen has, in his own words, "ticked all the boxes" so far in 2017 with some impressive, consistent drives as he continues to learn the WRC. He starts Poland as the most experienced man in a C3 WRC with Kris Meeke on the bench. Stephane Lefebvre rejoins the team on an event he competed on last year, while the winner in Poland 12 months ago, Andreas Mikkelsen, gets his second bite of the cherry in Citroen's WRC machine. After a rally spent learning the car and perfecting the set-up, Mikkelsen will need to deliver on a rally he has previously excelled on if he wants to continue to grow his bulging reputation. Reputation has so far saved Hayden Paddon, as the Kiwi hasn't had the easiest start to life in an i20 Coupe WRC. It all looked to be coming together in Sardinia but after running slightly wide on a left hander, Paddon and new co-driver Sebastian Marshall damaged a wheel and surrendered their rally lead. But Paddon is better than that. He knows that. The team know that. We know that. Now it's time to deliver. Over at Toyota, there is a real air of confidence. Aside from Latvala, the under-performing Juho Hanninen showed signs of improvement in Italy but the real star was his younger compatriot Esapekka Lappi. Grabbing his first ever stage win and then immediately taking five more, Lappi snatched fourth overall on just his second event in a World Rally Car, marking himself not just a star of tomorrow but a star of today. Poland will be another steep learning curve but "EP" learns almost as quick as he drives. The final WRC entrant is privateer Mads Ostberg, who is another to have performed better this year than his results suggest. The Norwegian doesn't have the pressure of performing for a manufacturer which seems to suit him, but he will be keen to get a high profile result after showing great signs of intent and promise in his Fiesta RS WRC. Round seven of the World Rally Championship takes place this weekend, with the race for victory open as ever in this most unpredictable of seasons.
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Photo Credit: M-Sport It's finally happened: Ott Tanak is a WRC winner. The Estonian M-Sport driver sealed his first ever victory at World Championship level on round seven of the championship in Sardinia, after numerously looking destined to take the top step.
Tanak's win stretches this year's winners' tally to five and adds a further spanner into the works in the fight for the 2017 World Rally Championship title. This result elevates Tanak and co-driver Martin Jarveoja to third in the standings, helping to consolidate M-Sport's lead in the manufacturers race in the process, and was even more impressive considering it was on the roughest and most technical round of the championship: conditions not associated with a Tanak attack. The milestone result marked the first win for an Estonian driver since Markko Martin on Catalunya in 2004, and the first back to back win for M-Sport since Mikko Hirvonen in Finland and Australia back in 2009. The new-time WRC winners took the win ahead of Jari-Matti Latvala and Miikka Anttila who visited the podium for the first time since their emphatic win on February's Rally Sweden in what was a very good weekend for Toyota Gazoo Racing. Faced with hunting Tanak down on day three, it was a slightly erratic performance from the Finn but he can count himself unlucky to have actually lost a position in the championship having beaten both Neuville and Ogier who were ahead of him. Stretching their podium run to five events, Thierry Neuville and Nicolas Gilsoul took a frustrated third in their Hyundai i20 Coupe WRC. Faced with some road sweeping as second car on the road, Neuville ended the first leg less than 10 seconds shy of the lead but brake issues left him furious and saw him hemorrhage time to his competition. Third trimmed Ogier's title lead to 18 points with six rallies left however. Tanak put in a fantastic performance, but when picking the star of the rally, step forward young Finn Esapekka Lappi. Competing in just his second ever rally in a World Rally Car, the Yaris WRC pilot claimed his maiden stage win on Friday and added a further five to his tally across the weekend to take the Power Stage, win the most stages of any driver during the event and net a fourth overall for himself and the team. At this rate of progression, the opposition should be very worried. If it weren't for brake problems early on Friday Lappi could've easily been on the podium. Sebastien Ogier and Julien Ingrassia took fifth overall, their worst result of the year, on an event that was always likely to be a struggle for them as first car on the road on Friday. An early puncture on Saturday only worsened the cause, but the champion's speed on Sunday was impressive seeing him catch and pass Juho Hanninen for fifth in the final test. Hanninen and co-driver Kaj Lindstrom, conversely to Ogier, took their best result of the year in sixth but it could've been so much more. Hanninen led the event on Friday, staying in touch at the front before a mistake damaged his radiator. He kept it together on Saturday but power steering issues slowed him and ultimately he couldn't live with a ramped up World Champion on Sunday. It may not be overly exciting, but seventh was a decent result for Mads Ostberg and Ola Floene. The Norwegian privateers were one of many crews to suffer a puncture on Saturday, but the angry Ostberg, ever the showman, took it out on the famous Micky's Jump and leaped the furthest of any of the competitors, to back up his winning leaps over Colin's Crest (Sweden) and Fafe (Portugal). The weekend was soured by broken suspension in the Power Stage. Despite all the words being of no pre-event targets, neither Citroen Racing or Andreas Mikkelsen can be happy with eighth overall in Sardinia. Mikkelsen was drafted in to replace Stephane Lefebvre on the Mediterranean island after Citroen's dismal start to life in this new era of the WRC, but struggled after little time in the car. A broken differential and a puncture hampered him, but the Norwegian looked far from his rally winning best and to be honest would probably have finished just as strongly at the wheel of an R5 Skoda, but it's too early to make judgement. Andreas will get another shot at success, more on that below. Eric Camilli (Fiesta R5) and WRC2 winner Jan Kopecky completed the Sardinian top 10, with the Czech ace maintaining Skoda's 100% start to 2017. With 13 new generation WRC cars entered and five missing from this article thus far, you know what's coming next. And more often than not, Kris Meeke has found himself down the bottom of a 2017 This Is Rally review. Sardinia is no different. After wrestling the lead off of Juho Hanninen's Toyota, Meeke misjudged a fast section of road, struck the undergrowth and flipped his C3 WRC. The damage was sufficient enough to damage the roll cage and ensure the Northern Irishman headed back to Emerald Isle two days early. To rub salt into the wounds, after the rally it was announced that with Mikkelsen staying with the team in Poland, Meeke will miss the lightning fast event with Stephane Lefebvre returning to the fold. This marks a sudden turn in Meeke's fortunes, as 12 months ago he was on the back of an easy Portugal win and on the way to a historic victory in Finland. But the performances haven't been good enough, with mistakes on day one of the last three rallies. It's important to stress that this isn't permanent, and it has been done, as Citroen claim, for the best interests of the team. But ultimately this also is in the best interest of Meeke. This gives him a chance to take a step back, let the pressure ease a little, reassess, recharge the batteries and go again in Finland. It's no bad thing as let's be honest Meeke was imperious last year, and that was during a bit-part campaign. Citroen's other pilot Craig Breen retired on Friday of the Italian round of the WRC after a heavy landing on a rock sidelined his C3. Elfyn Evans and Dan Barritt were tipped to go well in Sardinia but ran wide on a tightening left hander and broke a wheel in the undergrowth. Dani Sordo's event was plagued with turbo issues. The Spaniard had the pace to fight at the front so this was a shame. But his event was nowhere near as gut-wrenching as team mate Hayden Paddon and Sebastian Marshall's was. The Kiwi-British pair led the event at the end of Friday after a cautious approach, with this partnership just two events old. However, Paddon hugged one left hander a little too much on Saturday, resulting in his Hyundai running wide and setting a wheel alight. "A stupid mistake" that "let everyone down" was how Paddon described it, and it's hard to argue with him. The weekend was capped off with a violent smash into a wall on Sunday. But rest assured, Paddon is back. He just needs to get it to the end. Poland is up next for the WRC, a rally Ott Tanak has made his own the past two years despite not actually winning it. Ogier has a good record there too, while Neuville's purple patch continues. Excited? Yep, so am I. Photo Credit: Hyundai Motorsport The 2017 FIA World Rally Championship crosses its half way point this weekend as the series heads to the Italian island of Sardinia for Rally d'Italia Sardegna.
After six rallies on tarmac, snow and gravel we have seen four different winners in four different cars, with that number almost rising to five, with the championship looking to be the closest it has been in six years. A man involved on the periphery of that fight in 2011 with Sebastien Loeb and Mikko Hirvonen was Sebastien Ogier, and somewhat predictably he is at the centre of the 2017 title fight. Switching from the departed Volkswagen, Ogier has taken two wins for Malcolm Wilson's M-Sport team, including the last round in Portugal. A podium will be the minimum target, but ultimately Ogier's primary aim will be to get the better of Thierry Neuville. But that will be easier said than done. After a fourth consecutive podium finish in Portugal, the Belgian leap-frogged Jari-Matti Latvala into second place in the championship and is looking like a tasty bet for a first World Rally Championship title. The Hyundai driver has had the pace to win at least 66% of the rallies this season, and won Sardinia last year in the old specification of World Rally Car. Would you bet against a second consecutive win? I don't think I would, but Neuville along with Ogier is, for me, one of six potential winners on round seven. Let's start in the Ford corner. Ott Tanak has constantly been touted as a future WRC winner, and has had a very strong start to 2017 as team mate to a quadruple World Champion, while DMACK runner Elfyn Evans came within 0.7 seconds of that elusive first win in Argentina. Both could and probably will do well in Sardinia but it's privateer Mads Ostberg who enters the ring along with Ogier in a Fiesta RS WRC as a potential winner. The Norwegian has been rejuvenated since leaving the factory M-Sport team and joining the Jipocar One Bet World Rally Team, and is looking far more relaxed and competitive behind the wheel. Sardinia is a rally that suits Mads and he went well last year before a small misjudgment curtailed his rally, but he will be aided by a low start position and is ready for a fight. Hyundai's Hayden Paddon is another the competition need to be wary of. Sebastian Marshall joined the Kiwi in the car in Portugal due to an aggravated hip injury for John Kennard, with that move now becoming permanent after Kennard and Paddon decided with the ongoing injury it would be better for Hayden's long standing co-driver to step back. This is a sad day for Kennard and the WRC, but could actually be a good thing for Paddon, as it marks a fresh start and that's exactly what he needs right now. Sardinia is the scene of his maiden podium, and he is arguably the hungriest driver to get back on the top step of the podium. However it is Citroen Racing that for me hold the strongest hands in the fight for victory in Italy. Kris Meeke and Paul Nagle are in desperate need of a strong result after a lacklustre start to life in a C3 WRC. Sardinia hasn't always been the best stomping ground for the Brit, but nor was Mexico and Meeke was dominant over there. If he keeps it clean Meeke will be a strong shout. But the one they are all talking about is Andreas Mikkelsen. We are finally going to see the Norwegian in a 2017 World Rally Car , with Citroen handing Mikkelsen the keys to Stephane Lefebvre's C3 WRC for at the time being, one event only. And there's nothing stopping Andreas fighting at the front in this, his first rally since Australia last year. The Norwegian will get plenty of seat time before the event and will benefit from a lower start position, and will undoubtedly be ultra determined to prove his worth to Citroen and the rest of the WRC. This is his chance to shine. And that's why I think he will win. There's a good chance I'll be wrong of course. It would be too comical if either Latvala, Hanninen, Lappi or Sordo who haven't got a mention in this piece take the spoils, but either way this unpredictable and exciting season in the World Rally Championship promises to continue. |
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January 2018
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