Corsica. The word to some may just mean a French island in the Mediterranean. But to any rally fan, it is one of the most prestigious events of all time! For round 11 of the 2015 World Rally Championship, the drivers and teams are heading to the island of Corsica for the first since 2008 for the French round of the series. It's perfect timing for newly crowned champion Sebastien Ogier, who can celebrate winning his third title with three rounds to spare - the earliest in history - in front of a home crowd. mDubbed the "rally of 10,000 corners", the Tour de Corse is one of the oldest events of the WRC calendar, first being run in 1973. Ever since it has gained a reputation for being one of the toughest events around, with stages typically well over 30km in length and there seldom being a straight patch of road around due to there being seemingly a million hairpins. For any rally fan, Corsica is more than just your average event. This year's running should be even more interesting than previous encounters, as every driver is literally starting with a blank sheet of paper. Most of the stages haven't been used before, which means new pace notes, and a whole bunch of drivers have never competed on the island in a WRC car. Elfyn Evans, Ott Tanak and Hayden Paddon have never even competed in any kind of machinery. Having said that, there are 4 previous Corsican winners on the entry list for 2015, plus drivers such as Jari-Matti Latvala and Andreas Mikkelsen who have had several years experience, and in Latvala's case all of it in a WRC car. However, the man that is most likely to win is still Sebastien Ogier, despite him never having done Corsica in a WRC car. He did though claim the Junior title back in 2008 there. The previous winners are the last 4 winners of the event. These include ex-Formula 1 driver, Subaru WRC driver and current Toyota endurance racer Stephane Sarrazin, who won the event last year when it was in the European Championship, Bryan Bouffier who scored an excellent second place on last year's Monte-Carlo Rally, Dani Sordo who has the most experience of any of the drivers competing in Corsica this weekend and Thierry Neuville, who stunned everyone to take victory against high class opposition in 2011. Interestingly, both Neuville and Sordo took their first international rally win in Corsica, and the two are spearheading Hyundai's challenge this year as team mates as the Korean marque looks to fend off Citroen for second in the constructors championship. That seems highly probable too, as Hyundai have arguably the strongest line up for the event while Citroen have a mixed bag of fortunes. Kris Meeke is a fast charger on all surfaces and could spring a surprise, but equally the tight, twisty roads with large drops to the side could spring a surprise upon him, as his crashing list in 2015 is longer than he'd like. Much like his mentor Colin McRae, Kris is generally close to the limit when driving, and on two occasions Colin suffered pretty severe accidents on the island. Mads Ostberg however could be the weak link in the French team's pursuit of second place. Not only is he not the most complete asphalt driver around, but he is recovering from broken ribs sustained on a crash during the recce at the last event in Australia. Even if Meeke can beat the two Hynudai's, it is unlikely Ostberg will. But then again making predictions is much harder than you might believe. Nobody expected Thierry Neuville to be within a shot of winning in Sweden, did they? Volkswagen have Latvala and Mikkelsen who both boast good Corsican experience. Latvala has a best finish of fourth, which would've been third if it wasn't for team orders came into play to boost Mikko Hirvonen's championship chances. And as for Mikkelsen, he has done the event before in a WRC car when he was the same age as me (albeit with a lot more skill than I have) and did it as recently as three years ago in a Skoda Fabia S2000 when he was competing in the iRC. Ogier doesn't have the same bank of experience, but given he has won seven out of ten rallies already this season you would be an absolute madman to not even consider him for the win. M-Sport are definitely fielding the weakest line up when it comes to experience for Corsica, but team boss Malcolm Wilson believes his drivers can spring a surprise or two when the rally gets underway. Tanak has been much improved in the latter part of the year as he has readjusted to WRC machinery, although tarmac is not his preferred surface. Welshman Elfyn Evans may be on the back of a dismal Australian performance, but he performed brilliantly on the last tarmac round in Germany. He was the only driver to break the monopoly of VW stage wins, so he could well be a force to be reckoned with.
This year's event features only nine stages, three on each of the three days. The excitement levels are going to be through the roof when the event gets underway, as it has been a while since the best rally drivers in the world have taken on one of the best rallies in the world. And the gorgeous scenery only makes for even more spectacular viewing. I'm going for an Ogier victory, although part of me did believe that 2012 was going to be the end of the world, so don't take my prediction too seriously! But on balance, the odds of Ogier winning a WRC event are a lot higher than Planet Earth becoming history.
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With Sebastien Ogier blitzing to his third consecutive World Drivers Championship crown at the weekend, and in the process joining an elusive club of just four men to have won the WRC more than twice, I got my thinking cap on. The other three men alongside Ogier are Juha Kankkunen, Tommi Makinen and Sebastien Loeb, meaning the club has two French and two Finnish members. These two nations have the most drivers championships to their names so I was thinking, which one is the greatest WRC nation? Obviously despite the statistics "greatness" is utterly subjective, so you can make your own mind up. But here's my take on it. World Drivers ChampionsLooking at the table for how many drivers championships each nation has, Finland and France are miles ahead of the rest, with their nearest rivals being Sweden, the United Kingdom and Germany with 2 championships. There have been 6 WRC champions from the 1000 Lakes (Ari Vatanen, Hannu Mikkola, Timo Salonen, Juha Kankkunen, Tommi Makinen, Marcus Gronholm) and between them they have mustered up a grand total of 13 titles. Interestingly, France are actually sitting level with 13, but have achieved this through half as many drivers - just 3 (Didier Auriol, Sebastien Loeb, Sebastien Ogier). However, there is a strong chance that France may surpass Finland as Sebastien Ogier doesn't look set to surrender his crown any time soon. Deciding which nation is better in this category is difficult. France have definitely had the more dominant drivers in the all conquering Sebastien Loeb and his protege Sebastien Ogier. But Finland have produced more actual champions, so in my opinion this makes them a superior nation as they have produced a wider pool of talent. Rally WinsAgain, looking at a table of statistics France and Finland are both pools ahead of their opposition with over 100 more rally wins than the chasing pack. The Finns have taken a total of 174 wins, with their biggest hitter being Marcus Gronholm with 30. However, Finland feature strongly in the all time winners list with Tommi Makinen sitting 6th with 24, and Juha Kankkunen just behind with 23. Markku Alen and Hannu Mikkola both feature in the top 10 too with 19 and 18 wins respectively. Of the modern era, Mikko Hirvonen leads the way with 15, but Jari-Matti Latvala is close behind with 14 and looks set to surpass his compatriot before the end of his career. France however can do even better. They have taken a jaw dropping 176 wins, with the 2 most successful drivers in terms of wins being French. Sebastien Loeb has an astronomical 78 wins, while Ogier now has 31 and that figure is likely to climb. What further boosts the French's claim in this category is that there have more French winners, 18, than there have been Finnish winners, 14. Beside Didier Auriol with 20 (8th in the all time list), France boast Gilles Panizzi, Michele Mouton and Francois Delecour among others as WRC winners. Because they have a higher total, they hold 1 and 2 in the individual drivers list and there have been more different winners from France, the French most definitely level the score here at 1-1. FolkloreThis is based on the greatness of the drivers, how they will be remembered, stuff that's not measured by numbers. This is the most subjective of the lot, as everybody will have different opinions and memories of drivers and will hold different heroes.
Rather ridiculously, I'm going to call this one and the whole contest a dead heat. The French are more sublime, mind blowing and incredible on balance. I don't think there will ever be a greater driver than Sebastien Loeb, just for how he changed the game and what he achieved. Ogier could well come close, but because he didn't do it first I don't think his achievements will ever be as special. As for the Finnish, I think it's their stereotypically flamboyant and spectacular driving style that wins over the heart. The passion the country has for the sport rubs off on the drivers; there's simply nothing like Rally Finland. Overall, I think statistically France will pull away, especially considering Ogier's current level of dominance. But statistics only tell half the story. Finland has a much stronger emotional attachment with the WRC, making it near impossible to hate a Finn. So who is actually the greatest nation: the exciting Fins or the sublime French? I'll let you decide.. |
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January 2018
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