Photo Credit: M-Sport This morning M-Sport revealed that their line up for the 2016 World Rally Championship season is Mads Ostberg and Eric Camilli, meaning neither of the 2015 drivers Elfyn Evans and Ott Tanak have retained their place within the main team. Norwegian Ostberg who finished 4th in the championship in 2015 is the proven force, whilst Eric Camilli's appointment was a calculated gamble, to give an unproven driver his chance to shine. I have to say I was quite surprised to learn of his addition to the team. Ott Tanak has signed for the DMACK, but Evans' position is still unclear, but it is understood the team are in discussions with him. Mads, who is returning to M-Sport after two years with Citroen, said: “I am really looking forward to the season ahead and honoured to have been welcomed back into the M-Sport team. The Ford Fiesta RS WRC has formed a big part of my career and it’s a nice feeling to be heading back to a team where I have achieved a lot of success in the past. “Loose-surface rallies are my favourite, and we saw this year that the new Fiesta can be very competitive on gravel. Our first aim will be to get up to speed and challenge for strong results. Sweden is obviously a real highlight for me – and one that I will be targeting – but I think we can also be very competitive on a lot of events that follow." Frenchman Eric Camilli, 28, who has only ever contested 10 WRC rounds to date, said: “This is an amazing opportunity for me and I am extremely proud to join the M-Sport team in 2016. I can’t wait to get started. We’ll have our first test this week and I’m really looking forward to getting to know the team and the car. “I have only contested a few WRC events so I recognise that I am extremely lucky to have been given this opportunity. Malcolm is such a big part of the WRC so his confidence and faith in me really does mean a lot; it’s very special. Team Principal Malcolm Wilson was also full of hope and enthusiasm: "With Mads and Eric I think we have a very strong team going into 2016. Mads is a proven podium contender and one of the most consistently quick drivers in the championship. As for Eric, I honestly can’t remember the last time that I was this excited about a new driver. “A lot of thought has gone into our driver signings and I think a very exciting season lies ahead. The team are more motivated than ever and we are all looking forward to discovering what success our new signings can deliver.” Personally, I think the appointment of Mads Ostberg was brilliant but Eric Camilli remains a massive question mark. M-Sport clearly felt they needed to take a gamble to produce an absolute gem rather than stick with Elfyn Evans. I suppose they don't really have much to lose as Ostberg looks like the safe points and pace outlet, but I can't help but feel sorry for Evans as he has made definite progress in 2015, despite an elongated mid-season blip. He may of course still be in the team's plans, but I hope for their sake that Eric Camilli is all they believe him to be.
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Photo Credit: M-Sport News has broken this morning that Estonian Ott Tanak will compete in a fully fledged 14 round WRC campaign 2016 with DMACK, who are for the first team entering the fray of the WRC with the support of M-Sport. Tanak raced for the team in 2014 doing rallies in both a Fiesta RS WRC and an R5, before signing for M-Sport for his second full season in the WRC for 2015. DMACK are also the team Tanak drove for on his impressive WRC debut on Wales Rally GB back in 2011. Ott said, "“I’m very excited to be joining DMACK again and extremely motivated to carry on the hard work and get closer to the top. We have many good memories from 2014, the team is very hard-working and I know things have moved forward even more since then. We had a tough season but the speed was there and, now that we have much more WRC experience, we will only get better in the future." "This is a perfect programme for me, a chance to help DMACK progress and an opportunity for me to demonstrate both my and DMACK’s pace. I can’t wait to start the season in Monaco.” This news means a step up for the DMACK team, who have ambitions to be at the very top as managing director Dick Cormack explained. "We’ve been working on this programme for around six months as part of our three-year development plan. I genuinely believe the combination of M-Sport and Ott is the best platform to help us develop our WRC products and push for leading stage-times when the opportunity arises. " "DMACK has a clear strategy to challenge for the WRC title in the future and the only way to achieve this is to focus hard on product development and undertake a full WRC programme with the correct partners to prove our performance." Photo Credit: M-Sport The WRC rumour mill continues to turn, and today's news has further fueled the rumour that Mads Ostberg will be returning to M-Sport for 2016 after Tanak's seat has become vacant and the Norwegian stated he wanted a full WRC campaign for 2016, effectively ending his stint with Citroen Racing.
Neither of M-Sport's 2016 drivers have been confirmed, but Ostberg is a strong option and Elfyn Evans who has been with the team for 2 seasons now remains in the running. Personally, I predict those two will be M-Sport's factory pairing for 2016, but what do I know? Stick with This Is Rally for all the latest in the WRC off season. It's November 2015, and what's the relevance you may instantly be wondering? A month until Christmas? True, but this month marks a special and not so special anniversary for Britain's greatest ever rally drivers Colin McRae and Richard Burns. The 22nd marked the 20 year anniversary of Colin's 1995 World Championship win, the first ever for a British rally driver and to this day McRae still holds the record as the youngest ever World Rally Champion. The 25th tragically marks the 10 year anniversary since Burns lost his 2 year battle with a brain tumour. This juxtaposition of anniversaries got me reflecting on two of the greats of my childhood, who I so sorely wish were still around today. In today's WRC we have Kris Meeke and Elfyn Evans, but McRae vs Burns was something else. Between them they took 35 WRC victories in a period up against WRC legends and fellow World Champions such as Marcus Gronholm, Tommi Makinen and Carlos Sainz. At the same time Britain had two top drivers capable of winning the championship, something we have not seen since. But what's interesting is the two could not be more different. There are some very basic similarities beyond the fact they are both from the British Isles. Both won the British Rally Championship on their way to the WRC, both were World Champions once in their career and both drove for one of the WRC's most iconic teams: Subaru. But in many ways Colin and Richard were like chalk and cheese. Colin McRae was blindingly fast, there is absolutely no doubt about that. Always on the edge, never happy to settle for second, the Scot was one of the WRC's finest talents, and was a definite fan's favourite due to his gung-ho attitude behind the wheel of a rally car. Throughout his career he racked up an incredible 25 wins (fifth on the all time winners list) but surprisingly only took the one world title. He came very close on two occasions in 1997 and 2001, but perhaps his "fully-committed" (to use the phrase of childhood friend Robbie Head) driving style led to him achieving a great number of rally wins, but not the consistency required to win world titles. That brings us on to Richard Burns, who in contrast was a very methodical driver, very precise and very technical champion, much unlike the flamboyant McRae. Testing to McRae was a bore, but for Burns it was vital, as it let him fine tune his car's setup and experience the conditions of the upcoming rally. Richard always chose consistency over an all out attack for victory, and nothing demonstrates that more than the title showdown dubbed "The Battle of Britain" at Rally GB in 2001. McRae started the rally at an incredible pace, blitzing his opposition averaging an incredible 78 mph in one of the forest tests. But he crashed heavily at 100 mph and his title dream was over. Burns on the other hand paced himself and took the 3rd position he needed to become England's first World Rally Champion. It would be wrong to assume though that Richard wasn't fast, because he was. It was just his approach was much more controlled and restrained. Arguably more boring, but equally effective. In 1999 and 2000 he was as fast as ever in the infamous Subaru Impreza WRC. He took 7 out of his 10 WRC wins in those two years alone. In contrast Colin (in the new and developing Ford Focus WRC) only took 4 wins in those two years. Colin McRae and co-driver Nicky Grist on the 1997 Rally Australia What I find sad is that the media painted out these two drivers to be fierce rivals, and of course to an extent they were, but they were more friendly than it may have appeared. An example of this is after Burns' admission to hospital, McRae was often seen by his hospital bed, which I think is really nice. And ultimately they both were trying to do the same thing - knock the Finns of their perch. McRae's biggest battles were with Tommi Makinen, whilst Burns' found himself fighting Marcus Gronholm (who took over the mantle from Tommi) more often than not. It would be truly fascinating I believe to see the two of them today. Would the McRae legacy still be as strong if he were still alive? Would Burns' return to Subaru have ended in fairytale fashion like it promised? How would the two get along? These are questions that will unfortunately never be answered, but their names will never be forgotten by any true rally fan, especially for me as these two were at the peak of their powers in the years I was growing up, so they will always have a very special place in my heart. Rest In Peace Champs. Richard Burns and co-driver Robert Reid on the 1999 Rally Catalunya
Photo Credit: Citroen Racing Yesterday the speculation regarding Citroen Racing's participation in the WRC beyond 2016 was ended, as the division announced their plans for the future. The exciting news for us rally fans is that Citroen are going to compete in the WRC from 2017 and beyond, but in order to develop their new car for 2017 that will meet the new technical regulations, they will not compete as a works outfit in 2016. They will however continue in the WTCC for 1 final year, in which they have been drivers and constructors champions for 2 years running in their first 2 years. However, more big news has broken, as the Citroen WTCC team has now been cut to just 2 entrants for defending champion Jose Maria Lopez and 4 times champion Yvan Muller, meaning WRC legend Sebastien Loeb has been left without a place in the team. Subsequently he has now gone from red to blue and has signed with Peugeot to compete in rally raid. Quite frankly, it will be very strange seeing Sebastien represent another manufacturer other than Citroen for a full year of competition. The big question though that may be on your mind is what does this mean for the 2015 Citroen works WRC drivers Kris Meeke, Mads Ostberg and even Stephane Lefebvre who looks on the fringes of a fully fledged WRC campaign. Photo Credit: Citroen Racing Well the honest answer to that question is nobody knows. It has been well documented that Kris and Mads' future within the team was not secure, but little did we know that the team would be disappearing for 2016! We all laughed when Kris Meeke commented at the end of Wales Rally GB that his garden is overgrown when Julian Porter asked him about his WRC future, but he may be out with the lawnmower more often than he was expecting. It is expected that Sebastien Loeb will have some kind of test and development role for the new 2017 WRC Citroen given his experience and relationship with the Citroen engineers, but will the team retain the services of Meeke and Ostberg to chip in as well? And if so, will the two be happy with a year away from competition on the sidelines? It is hard to know, and with the emergence of Stephane Lefebvre too, Citroen have a potential pickle on their hands regarding drivers. The team will still have presence in the 2016 WRC though, with the Junior WRC category being for Citroen DS3 R3's and the 2015 winner of that series Quentin Gilbert will contest the 2016 WRC2 at the wheel of a DS3 R5. Photo Credit: Wikipedia Of course, it is worth remembering that this isn't the first time Citroen have skipped a season to develop a new car. In fact it was exactly 10 years ago, in 2006, that the team pulled out as a works outfit to develop the C4 WRC for 2007. Sebastien Loeb and Dani Sordo were picked up by Kronos Racing who ran a team of 2 Citroen Xsara WRC's in that year, so it isn't beyond the realms of possibility that Meeke and Ostberg may yet be in the 2016 WRC in a Citroen, but I personally don't see anybody that's likely to step in and run a couple of DS3's but I may be proved wrong.
Thinking more about the future of the drivers, it's also worth considering the 2017 return of Toyota, and the current M-Sport situation. Toyota have test and development drivers but no rally drivers signed for the 2017 season, so Meeke, Ostberg or Lefebvre may fancy facing a brand new challenge and jumping ship to Tommi Makinen's outfit should that opportunity arise. And neither Elfyn Evans or Ott Tanak are secure at Malcolm Wilson's squad either, so could we see either Meeke or Ostberg driving for the blue oval? Only time will tell, but as we know it their future for 2016 at least looks even more uncertain perhaps than it did this time last week, despite Citroen's long term commitment to the sport. So that's it for another season in the World Rally Championship. But no need to despair because Rallye Monte-Carlo is only 2 months away, and there's plenty of driver news, hype, speculation and 2015 reviews to come from this blog and elsewhere until then! And of course there is Christmas and New Year to take your mind off your WRC withdrawal symptoms! This piece is going to look at the top 10 WRC drivers' performance over the course of the season, with me giving them a rating out of 10 based on how they performed mixed with how they were expected to perform. Sound intriguing? Just keep reading! Photo Credit: Volkswagen Motorsport Sebastien OgierIt's almost an expectation that Ogier will win the World Championship, and that is truly a mark of the man. Came into 2014 as a double champion with 24 wins, left as a triple champion with 32 wins, claiming the crown with 3 rallies to spare. He was helped by Latvala suffering early setbacks early in the year, but he barely put a foot wrong all year, apart from pushing for domination needlessly on the final stage in Spain costing him a victory. The highlight will probably be either Sweden where he defeated Neuville and Mikkelsen in an epic climax, Wales where he soldiered on despite being visibly stunned by the Paris attacks or Germany where he finally won his team's home rally. The target will definitely be a 4th world title in 2016, and I don't see many being able to stop him. Rating: 10/10 Photo Credit: Volkswagen Motorsport Jari-Matti LatvalaAll things considered, a slightly disappointing season for Jari. He still claimed 2nd in the championship, but never really challenged Ogier after a run of 3 non scores at the start of the season. However, he still claimed 3 victories however, with a 3rd win in his homeland Finland undoubtedly being the highlight. A second tarmac win also came in Corsica, and he came very close in Spain. But it is consistency that Jari will need to focus on for 2016 to seriously challenge Ogier. He can do it on his day, but whether he can do it throughout the whole season remains to be seen. Rating: 8/10 Photo Credit: Volkswagen Motorsport Andreas MikkelsenAnother stunning year for the young Norwegian in the best car in the WRC service park. Backed up last year's 3rd in the championship with a stronger 3rd this year, only 12 points behind team mate Latvala. Andreas came mightily close to his first WRC victory in Sweden, where on the final live on TV power stage he dug his Polo into a snowbank and relinquished the win to the imperious Ogier. But Ogier repaid the favour on the penultimate round of the season in Spain where he crashed and hit the barriers, handing Mikkelsen that win he craved for. Emotional stuff, and thoroughly deserved. Now he will be looking for more wins, and although the consistency is impressive, he will want to not constantly end up 3rd. He finished 3rd 7 times in 2015. Rating: 9/10 Photo Credit: Citroen Racing Mads OstbergAnother decent season from Mads who came another strong fourth in the championship, made more impressive when you bare in mind he missed the Australian event due to an accident on recce. However, it was another winless season and he had a mid season blip where he struggled for form. Only 3 podiums may come as a disappointment to him, and both he and team mate Meeke are not safe in the Citroen stable. The low point must be Sweden, where as a proven expert on the ice he made mistakes that left him in 10th place. Rating: 7/10 Photo Credit: Citroen Racing Kris MeekeTo be honest, a typical Kris Meeke season: blinding speed coupled with a struggle for consistency. Season started badly with mistakes in Monte-Carlo, Sweden and Mexico but in Argentina, due to VW's torrid weekend, a controlled drive led to his maiden WRC victory. Emotionally, he dedicated it to Colin McRae, the man who helped him throughout his early career, live on TV. After that another strong result followed in Portugal, but after an early exit in Sardinia his season began to slide. Disappointing rallies in Poland, Finland and Germany followed until he rescued himself with a string of top 5 results including an impressive 2nd on Wales Rally GB. Future isn't safe but in my opinion he deserves the drive. Rating: 7/10 Photo Credit: Hyundai Motorsport Thierry Neuville6th place in the championship is not what he or the team were wanting or expecting. Thierry needs a strong 2016 and will want to forget 2015 quickly. The season actually started brilliantly, with a decent 5th place in Monte-Carlo and an excellent 2nd in Sweden, coming very close to victory. His speed was good in Mexico but he binned it on a fast left hander. A podium followed soon after in Sardinia, but from then on in the pace just didn't seem to be there. The confidence was drained and this will probably be in part to the uprising performance of Hayden Paddon across the garage. A first stage exit of Corsica probably best sums up his second half of the season which ended a day early after a crash into some logs in Wales, driving for the second string Hyundai team. However, a new car next year may just be what he needs to revitalise his form. Rating: 6/10 Photo Credit: M-Sport Elfyn EvansThe young Welshman tied on points with Dani Sordo to take 7th in the championship, after a relatively strong season that netted a debut podium in Argentina and a sensational 2nd place in Corsica. Elfyn was very strong in the pre-Portugal old spec Fiesta in which he claimed his maiden podium, but struggled to get to grips with the new car. Mistakes and mechanical failures followed, but his season picked up when the WRC hit the tarmac rounds. He took the only fastest stage time that wasn't set by a VW in Germany and was leading the Corsican event in extreme conditions. Ultimately he had to settle for 2nd, but valiantly held off Andreas Mikkelsen to take that position. His position at M-Sport is not secure, but he looks to have done all he can. Rating: 7/10 Photo Credit: Hyundai Motorsport Dani SordoA decent season from the experienced Spaniard, finishing only 1 point behind Neuville having done 1 less rally after he was injured in the pre-event run in for Sweden in February. Season highlight was most definitely his home event in Spain, where he was best of the rest behind the VWs on the two tarmac days and netted his only podium of the season. Often in and around the top 10 he had a fairly consistent season, but will be hoping the 2016 spec i20 helps prepare the team closer to VW. Rating: 7/10 Photo Credit: Hyundai Motorsport Hayden PaddonBreakthrough season for the talented New Zealander, in which towards the end of the season he arguably became Hyundai's strongest contender. He finished only 15 points shy of team leader Thierry Neuville after missing the first round in Monte-Carlo. It was in Sardinia though when it became clear a new star of the WRC had been born. With a favourable road position, Hayden stormed into the lead which he held for a long time on Saturday too. Unfortunately the mite of Ogier was too strong to resist, and mechanical issues threatened to end his rally, but Paddon came home 2nd to claim his maiden WRC podium. From then on in the confidence was running high, and with the exception of a crash in Finland he finished the season very strongly. A new 3 year deal has been signed, and the future looks very bright for him. Rating: 9/10 Photo Credit: M-Sport Ott Tanak2015 was Tanak's second full season in the WRC and with M-Sport after a two year break in 2013 and 2014. It started brilliantly coming 2nd in the opening stage of the season behind Sebastien Loeb who was back for a one-off rally. But consistency and silly mistakes plagued his season and subsequently has put his future with Malcolm Wilson's outfit into jeopardy. The definite season highlight was in Poland, where the fast and flowing gravel roads suited him down to the ground. A mightily impressive performance where he could arguably have won netted him a 3rd place and a 2nd career podium. The most memorable moment though was Mexico, where he crashed his Fiesta RS into a pond after he broke it and couldn't steer to avoid. He and co-driver Reigo Molder both quickly managed to escape from the car which began to sink very quickly. In an escapade that was dubbed #TiTanak, the Fiesta was retrieved that night and miraculously returned to rally on Sunday! Rating: 6/10 That concludes my 2015 WRC season review. Keep an eye out on the blog for more posts!
Photo Credit: Volkswagen Motorsport As is normally tradition, Wales Rally GB brought the curtain down on the 2015 World Rally Championship season, a season dominated by Sebastien Ogier and his VW team. It seems only fitting then that it should be Ogier who controlled the muddy, windy, treacherous affair from start to finish. However, it was anything but straight-forward for the now 32 time WRC winner. It wasn't his WRC rivals giving him a particularly hard time though. Latvala ditched his Polo R on stage 2 and suffered transmission problems on day 2 so was never in the reckoning for a top finish. Team mate Mikkelsen drove a solid rally, but he came his customary position of 3rd, behind a great performance from Northern Ireland's Kris Meeke. The reason it was far from straight-forward for Ogier was due to the horrific events that unfolded in Paris on Friday night. It was clearly playing on the Frenchman's mind, as he revealed that he almost considered pulling out of the rally altogether, but decided it was a better sign of strength to carry on and win for the people. That he did, and there wasn't even an ounce of celebration from him as he claimed his 8th win of the season. Instead, he simply held the French flag with co-driver Julien Ingrassia across the windscreen of his Polo. Quite beautiful in a way, and was interesting to see as it's a side of a sporting champion we don't often get to see. Photo Credit: Citroen Racing Despite the dampened atmosphere and muted podium celebrations, there was still plenty to smile about for Kris Meeke and Citroen Racing, who courtesy of the Brit's first ever 2nd place finish at world level, held off Hyundai Motorsport for 2nd in the Manufacturers Championship. The battle looked to be easily won after Friday as Mads Ostberg held 4th position, but a puncture and a costly mistake for the Norwegian meant he finished 7th, behind the Hyundai's of Sordo and Paddon, but it was still enough for the French marque to slot in behind VW in the table. There are still plenty of positives for Hyundai though. The disastrous late season form of lead driver Thierry Neuville aside, it has been a solid season, going toe to toe with the best team in the WRC of the last 10 years, and of course there has been the rise to stardom of second team driver Hayden Paddon, who looks to be one to watch in the next few years. As for M-Sport, it was another rally of mixed fortunes with a sense of what might have been. Ott Tanak held 4th place on Sunday morning, only to lose it when he clipped something on the edge of the road which damaged his Fiesta RS beyond repair. Home hero Elfyn Evans suffered a puncture on Friday, and if it weren't for that could easily have finished in the top 4. He still held onto 6th place though to finish just 1 point behind Thierry Neuville in the championship. Photo Credit: Subaru Rally Aside from the main WRC action, there was the small matter of celebrating Colin McRae's World title success, which of course came exactly 20 years ago in 1995. I say small loosely however, as there was a collection of Colin's cars, race suits and other exclusive memorabilia in the service park at Deeside and a unique entry from Subaru USA, who entered David Higgins in a brand new NR4 spec Subaru WRX STI in the iconic livery McRae had in 1995 (pictured above). It is the newest rally car in the world, so you can see why I'm tracking back on describing it as small! It was a sight to behold on the stages to see a Subaru with such a distinctive and classic livery, and it was quick too as Higgins claimed 20th place overall, winning the Group N class by 5 minutes! So that's WRC 2015 over, but in little over 2 months we will be back again for 2016 on the historic Monte-Carlo Rally! A few drivers are yet to be confirmed, so keep an eye out on this blog for updates and features when that news comes!
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