Photo Credit: M-Sport Ott Tanak and Martin Jarveoja bagged their second WRC career victory on the tricky sealed surface challenge of ADAC Rallye Deutschland ahead of Andreas Mikkelsen / Anders Jaeger and Sebastien Ogier / Julien Ingrassia.
The event moved west from Trier to Bostalsee and seemingly the form book was left behind in the ancient city. Torrential rain made conditions treacherous at best on Friday's opening leg, with Dani Sordo, Andreas Mikkelsen and then Ott Tanak taking the rally lead. Once inheriting the advantage, Tanak would never look back to claim a surprise and emphatic victory on the tenth round of the World Rally Championship. The Estonian had it all under control. His performance bagged M-Sport their first ever win on the German round of the championship and underlines him as a serious championship threat in the future and present with a win on gravel and now tarmac. The result moves him to within 16 points of second place Thierry Neuville and 33 off his team mate Sebastien Ogier. This also helped M-Sport extend their gap in the manufacturers standings to 64 points. Mikkelsen's second place for Citroen Racing was equally as impressive. The Norwegian was well in the mix before a spin and a stall on Saturday, and on just his third rally with the French team, took the C3 WRC's second podium finish. Former team mate Sebastien Ogier came third to re-open his championship lead. The talk pre-event was all about the title fight between Ogier and Thierry Neuville. The battling duo headed to Germany level on points, but a third place finish and a further two Power Stages points to boot let the defending champion establish a 17 point lead with just three rallies in Spain, the United Kingdom and Australia to come. Neuville was dealt a cruel blow. On Saturday's opening test around the Panzerplatte spectator test, an abrasive cut wrecked the rear left suspension on his Hyundai i20 Coupe WRC, leaving the wheel dragging at a 45 degree angle and forcing his retirement. The Belgian restarted on Sunday under Rally2 with the aim of securing Power Stage points, but could only manage sixth fastest meaning he left his home event empty handed. He now has it all to do in the remaining rallies to topple the master from his perch. 14 seconds was all that separated the fourth, fifth and sixth placed drivers in Germany with Juho Hanninen finishing ahead of Craig Breen and Elfyn Evans. The Finn clearly got the memo from Toyota Gazoo Racing and the worldwide press that he needed to up his game, with an incredible performance in Germany. Hot off the back of his maiden WRC podium at home in Finland, Hanninen was more impressive here. Winning the mammoth Panzerplatte test the first time round, he overcame a broken damper to then re-haul Elfyn Evans for fourth spot. Craig Breen deposed Evans in the final test to grab his usual position of fifth, after struggling in the wet conditions on Friday. Evans had a slightly disappointing event for his now high standards. Dan Barritt's door was flapping open in Panzerplatte which hampered him, as did his DMACK rubber which wasn't quite up to scratch on the final leg. Jari-Matti Latvala took seventh on another weekend that promised much more, with yet another electrical issue occurring aboard his Yaris WRC. In Germany it wasn't as serious as in Poland or Finland, allowing the Finn to continue and seal a points finish. Enduring another tough weekend were Hayden Paddon and Seb Marshall. Asphalt has never been the Kiwi's happiest hunting ground, but punctures all but ruined any chance of a decent result. The extended break between Germany and the next round in Spain will give Paddon the chance to re-set and hopefully come back stronger. Armin Kremer, trying out a 2017 spec Fiesta RS WRC, finished ninth ahead of WRC2 winner Eric Camilli in an R5 Fiesta. Pontus Tidemand claimed third in the category behind Skoda Motorsport stable mate Jan Kopekcy to clinch the WRC2 title with three rounds remaining. The Swede has been dominant in his Fabia R5 this year, and will be hoping his crushing performances, including beating Andreas Mikkelsen in a straight fight, will be enough to secure him a 2018 WRC seat. But he faces stiff competition for one of those.. When was the last time Kris Meeke wasn't mentioned this far down in one of my This Is Rally reviews? The honest answer: I can't remember. And I genuinely don't think the Ulsterman has had a weekend as bad as this one. His event was over on Thursday evening when on the tricky superspecial city stage, he clipped a concrete barrier and wrecked his steering. He retired a second time on Saturday with mechanical issues and wouldn't restart on Sunday. Dani Sordo had the pace to win the event he won four years ago, leading the rally and winning the Power Stage to prove it. But he outbraked himself on Friday morning and ended up 40m from the road in a bank. Esapekka Lappi meanwhile couldn't repeat his Finland heroics, clipping a wall and retiring from Friday's action. With ten rounds gone and three remaining, the 2017 title race continues to excite. Touted as a clash of the titans between Ogier and Neuville yes, but this is becomingly increasingly inaccurate. Tanak's points haul and performance makes him a real threat and outside bet, but M-Sport's number two is relying on trouble befalling the others. And don't forget if Latvala's Toyota hadn't packed up in Poland and Finland he would have been right there too. Isn't it great to have such a fiercely competitive, and better still, genuinely unpredictable championship...?
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Photo Credit: M-Sport The fight to become the 2017 FIA World Rally Champion has been turned up to 11, with title protagonists Sebastien Ogier and Thierry Neuville heading into the tenth round of the 13 round season level on championship points. Germany will host this epic encounter, and is arguably the perfect battleground to separate the Frenchman and the Belgian.
Rallye Deutschland is like no other asphalt rally in the world championship. The event is often likened to as "three rallies in one", with tight and junction-littered vineyard tests, faster and more open country roads and the infamous concrete Baumholder tank region (with the dreaded hinkelsteins lining the route) facing the crews across the three days of competition. With such a diverse skill-set needed to succeed, it's no surprise that only the best win here. Nine time World Rally Champion Sebastien Loeb was unbeaten all the way from the event's inception in 2002 until 2010, with only a puncture in what was a hugely controversial event in 2011 preventing him from extending his remarkable winning streak. Compatriot Ogier took the win, before Loeb retook glory the following year. Dani Sordo and Thierry Neuville took their maiden WRC victories in 2013 and 2014 respectively. Ogier suffered a troubled event for Volkswagen in these years, but returned to the winners' circle in 2015 and 16, aiming for the hattrick this year for M-Sport who have yet to win in Germany. Both the championship chasers stand in good stead heading into the weekend. Neuville will lead the crews away on Friday morning for the first time in his career, which if it's wet could be a serious advantage. Ogier is a three time winner but is on shaky form having had a poor couple of rallies in Poland and Finland. Neuville has the most wins in the new generation of World Rally Car and won the only pure asphalt rally we've done in Corsica, so Germany could be an opportunity for him to assert his dominance and stretch his legs. But both men also have an important role to play in the WRC's other major championship: the manufacturers battle. M-Sport and Hyundai are in a ding-dong battle for the title, with the latter looking strong on paper to take a chunk out of M-Sport's lead with Dani Sordo in their ranks. Hayden Paddon is the elephant in the room. His season was basically over before it began with a freak accident on the very first stage of Rallye Monte-Carlo. From then on he has been building his confidence back up and undergone a change in the car with Sebastian Marshall coming in to replace John Kennard. The pace looks to be back with a second in Poland underlining this, but the luck still isn't there. Tarmac isn't Paddon's cup of tea but he could spring a surprise if he keeps his head down. Over in the Cumbrian corner, they will be quietly confident. Not only do they have Sebastien Ogier whose record speaks for itself, they have one of the quickest out and out men in the championship in Ott Tanak. The Estonian is more confident on the rocky tests of the WRC, but has come on leaps and bounds this year so can't be discounted. But it's the man in the DMACK liveried Fiesta that could be Malcolm Wilson's real star this weekend. Elfyn Evans has long been touted as a future WRC winner. His incredible yet agonising brush with success in Argentina was the indicator, his sublime rise to second place in the Finns' backyard last month was the proof. Both those stand out performances were on gravel, but the Welshman is arguably a more accomplished tarmac driver. Remember his incredible run on Corsica two years ago? He took his first ever stage win in Germany in 2014, so if conditions play to him he could be a real dark horse. Fresh on the back of their best ever result, Tommi Makinen's Toyota Gazoo Racing will have their eyes set on further success in the German countryside. But will the Yaris WRC be bulletproof? Jari-Matti Latvala will be hoping so, after a loss of at least 30 points from the last two rallies with mechanical issues aboard his example. It was particularly heartbreaking in Finland where he retired from the lead and was set to make huge gains on Ogier and Neuville who endured tough events. Still, all being well, Latvala has an enviable asphalt record so if the car is up to scratch he'll be the man to propel it to glory. Man of the moment Esapekka Lappi won this rally at the wheel of a Skoda Fabia R5 in WRC2 last year, but is widely expected to not be right at the top of the pyramid this weekend. But I could easily be wrong, such has been the Finn's rate of progression. Juho Hanninen bagged his first career podium at home, but talk is still of the experienced Finn being replaced next year at Toyota. He needs to use his podium result as a springboard for better things. Citroen Racing are dreaming of better things. Recently having the all conquering Sebastien Loeb testing their car will surely have been put to good use, and Germany could finally see a decent result for the struggling outfit. The C3 WRC was blistering on Corsica before Kris Meeke's engine lost oil, so the French car could well be the one to beat near Trier. Meeke himself has only finished in the points twice this year, so his approach could be erring on the side of caution. Andreas Mikkelsen returns to the team after completing Sardinia and Poland, with Craig Breen in the third car. The battle for WRC2 is also worth keeping an eye on with a titanic works battle between M-Sport Ford and Skoda. In the blue corner, step forward the forgotten man Eric Camilli. Camilli had a shocker on this event 12 months ago in a WRC Fiesta but is known for his asphalt speed. Teemu Suninen returns to the R5 after his WRC exploits, where he very nearly took a podium place on just his second event in the top flight. Representing the green team is runaway championship leader Pontus Tidemand who will be aware of how much he needs to impress given the amount of talent on the periphery of the WRC these days. Jan Kopecky joins the Swede in a very strong line-up. Others to look out for are Jon Armstrong in the first of his DMACK prize drives and fellow Brit Gus Greensmith whose pace in Finland took everyone by surprise. As for the main class, I'm going to save my own blushes and not make a pre-event prediction. Except I will, and say Ogier. |
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January 2018
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