First and foremost I hope everybody had a very merry Christmas and is looking forward to the new year. Once 2016 arrives, soon our attention will be diverted towards the historic Rallye Monte-Carlo. So, I just wanted to give my opinion looking at each works team of the 2016 season. The World Champions VW head into the 2016 season as the team to beat. Ogier has 3 titles in the bag and 2015 was arguably his most successful and impressive. I expect the main championship battle will be between Ogier and Latvala, but surely Ogier will edge it won't he? The only change for 2016 at VW is in the passenger seat of Andreas Mikkelsen's car. Out goes Ola Floene and in comes Anders Jaeger. I don't expect this will make a difference to the Norwegian's fortunes but it remains to be seen Citroen will not be participating in the full season, but will be present on several events, with Kris Meeke, Stephane Lefebvre, Craig Breen and Khalid Al Qassimi driving the outgoing DS3. The full programme has not been revealed but it's expected they'll be present on several European rounds. However if I were Citroen I'd want my cars in China, so data can be gathered and I won't be on the back foot in 2017 as nobody has any Chinese experience. For Meeke, who is the only driver to have signed for 2017, it will be absolutely vital for him to remain competition sharp. As for Lefebvre, he has the opportunity to impress Yves Matton and convince him he deserves a full time drive. Personally I'm delighted to see Craig Breen has been handed this opportunity as he has been on the fringes of the World Championship ever since 2012. He now has to prove his worth. Hyundai are heading into their third season after their return with a brand new car, the New Generation i20. It is rumoured to be much faster than its predecessor. The same drivers as 2015 remain in Neuville, Sordo and Paddon, but all of them will be rotating in the main team with no clear number 1. The biggest challenge for the team will be internal politics, with the relationship between Neuville and Paddon a tad frosty. However, especially with no Citroen, I expect Hyundai to be the best of the rest behind Volkswagen, and despite a poor 2015, Neuville to finish the highest in the championship. The last of the works teams is M-Sport, who have an all new line up.
Mads Ostberg returns from Citroen after leaving for them in 2014, and will be partnered by Eric Camilli who joins from Toyota's driver programme. Malcolm Wilson has a reputation for spitting rising talent, and Camilli represents a gamble as he has minimal experience. Granted, he knows more than me but I personally would have stuck with Elfyn Evans who has 2 years experience and would be a solid number 2 to Ostberg. Then perhaps give Camilli some one off drives to gain experience and prove himself. Evans is still within the M-Sport fold, but for Monte-Carlo at least has been demoted to WRC-2 to develop the updated R5 model. All that aside though, Mads Ostberg is a brilliant signing and could be the man to prove the real potential of the new evolution Fiesta WRC. So that's what I think. What do you think?
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Photo Credit: Citroen Racing Following the news that Kris Meeke has signed for Citroen until the end of 2018, details of the marque's participation in the 2016 World Rally Championship have been revealed. The team will be represented in 2016, with cars prepared by PH Sport, and will be competing under the Abu Dhabi Total World Rally Team banner. The programme will act as a "transitional stage" before Citroen Racing returns as a works outfit for 2017. It is therefore very similar to the situation that occurred 10 years ago, with Kronos running Citroen Xsaras for Sebastien Loeb, Dani Sordo and Xevi Pons and on occasion Colin McRae. The team are to compete in "several rounds" in 2016 in Europe, and we already know who will be driving for them in January's Rallye Monte-Carlo and February's Rally Sweden. Kris Meeke will naturally drive in both events, but three other drivers have been handed the opportunity to compete with the DS3. For Monte-Carlo, Meeke will be joined by 2014 JWRC Champion and rising star Stephane Lefebvre. The Frenchman competed in Monte-Carlo in a DS3 R5 last year, and now has a few WRC drives under his belt so will be looking to continue his progress. For Sweden, Meeke will be joined by Khalid Al Qassimi (chairman of Abu Dhabi Racing) and Irishman Craig Breen. This marks a potential break through for Breen who has been on the fringes of the WRC for a good few years now. A statement from Khalid said, "After a successful three-year partnership with Citroen, we are pleased to maintain our presence in the WRC. It's a programme that has been approved by Citroen Racing and which benefits from the expertise of PH Sport. As lead driver, Kris Meeke will contest several rounds, whilst prioritising his development work with Citroen Racing." “We will also be aiming to provide opportunities for talented young drivers from the PSA Peugeot Citroen group. Supported by the expertise of the team, they will be able to add to their experience and show what they can do.” Kris Meeke, who will also be spending 2016 developing Citroen's 2017 challenger, said, "Being able to contest a certain number of rallies in 2016 was important when deciding about my future. I would therefore like to thank Abu Dhabi, Total and all the partners who have made it possible for us to compete in very good conditions at these events. This programme will enable me to keep my hand in as regards racing and continue to learn about the WRC events." “From that point of view, it seemed essential to compete at Monte-Carlo. It is such an unpredictable rally, where experience counts more than anywhere else. I can't wait to get back into the car for pre-event testing to prepare for this first race.” The remainder of the 2016 programme is yet to be confirmed, but this marks a fantastic opportunity for Lefebvre and Breen in particular to impress boss Yves Matton to put their names in the ring for a 2017 works drive.
Photo Credit: Citroen Racing After growing speculation that Kris Meeke had a choice between Citroen Racing and Tommi Makinen's Toyota operation to pursue his dream of becoming World Rally Champion, the Ulsterman has plumped for the team he knows best, Citroen. He today signed a 3 year deal stretching his time with the French marque until the end of 2018. Kris has consistently been one of the only men over the past 2 years who has been able to match the dominant Volkswagens for outright pace, and in Argentina 2015 he took his maiden WRC victory. There is still room for improvement, but Citroen are well aware Meeke is one of the hottest prospects in the WRC. “In terms of our new programme, above all else we wanted an experienced, top-level driver, with sound technical knowledge,” said Yves Matton, Citroën Racing Team Principal. “Kris was undoubtedly the best choice and we are delighted that he has decided to stay with us." For 2016, Kris and co-driver Paul Nagle have the task of developing the all new Citroen WRC challenger for 2017, but will also compete on a handful of WRC events too in the outgoing DS3, the details of which will be revealed in due course. Meeke is understandably delighted to, for the first time in his WRC career, be heading into a season with a secured future for the following one. “Various options were available to me to pursue my career, but I chose to stay with Citroën Racing to reap the rewards of the work done over the last two years or more,” commented Kris Meeke. “It’s also a way of thanking the team for the faith they have shown in me." "Obviously, all of this work is geared towards me being able to fight for more wins and for the world title. Citroën Racing is team with a winning mentality, with fifteen world titles, eight of which were won in the WRC. I am extremely pleased to be part of this new chapter in the history of such a prestigious Brand." From a patriotic point of view this was fantastic news to wake up to this morning, and above all else Kris really does deserve this as his talent is incredible. Best of luck to him and Citroen.
Photo Credit: Hyundai Motorsport Today the wraps were finally taken off the 'new generation' Hyundai i20 WRC, which was originally meant to debut mid way through the 2015 season but will instead start its first WRC event on January's Rallye Monte-Carlo. The car has undergone 8,000km of testing, and is rumoured to be faster than its predecessor. As for the driver line-up, the same 4 drivers as 2015 will compete for Hyundai throughout 2016: Thierry Neuville, Dani Sordo, Hayden Paddon and Kevin Abbring. However, unlike 2015, there is no first team line up set in stone, with Neuville, Sordo and Paddon all being rotated throughout the season so Hyundai can get the most out of each drivers' skill set to boost manufacturer scoring. The lead driver (who will compete for the main team on at least 10 of the 14 rallies) has not been announced, but it's expected to be Belgian Thierry Neuville. Kevin Abbring will once again get a few rallies in an i20 WRC, but his main job for 2016 is to develop the 2017 model and to compete in the new i20 R5. Hopefully, we can see Kevin compete in WRC2, ERC and maybe even the BRC in 2016 in the new R5 car. Photo Credit: Hyundai Motorsport Along with the new car comes bolstered expectations from the team, who almost finished 2nd in the 2015 WRC Manufacturers Championship, as Team Principal Michel Nandan explained. "We have come a long way since our inaugural foundation year, and our performance in last season's Championship gave us renewed optimism for the future," he said. "The New Generation i20 WRC is the product of a full year of development and with a more experienced team of staff, we should now raise our objectives to be more confident to fight at the front." "The competition remains strong and we know our manufacturer rivals will not ease in their pursuit for victory but we want to take the fight to them in 2016." It would be great if we could finally see somebody properly take the fight to the dominant VWs! Photo Credit: Hyundai Motorsport Photo Credit: Hyundai Motorsport
After Ola Floene joined M-Sport and Mads Ostberg for 2016 and beyond, that left an empty seat inside the Volkswagen Polo R WRC of Norwegian Andreas Mikkelsen. That seat has now been filled by 26 year old Anders Jaeger. The agreement was that when Floene re-joined Mikkelsen mid-way through 2014, he would be Andreas' co-driver up until the end of the 2016 season, where Anders Jaeger would come in to replace him. Following Ola's resignation, that switch has happened a year earlier. New co-driver Jaeger expressed his excitement. "I’m really looking forward to start this journey with him, even though it’s a year earlier than planned. I feel both proud and humble to get the opportunity to work with such a professional team as Volkswagen Motorsport. I’m sure that Andreas and I will have a great development together and make each other better." Mikkelsen himself weighed in, expressing his thanks to outgoing co-driver and close friend Ola. “After many great years with Ola in my car, I was looking forward to another successful year with him next to me. There are so many good memories with Ola, together we have come a long way and I have learned a lot with him alongside me. There is no doubt I will miss him! Ola will always have that special place in my heart, and I’m so grateful now that we managed to get that first win in Spain. At the same time I fully understand his move, and I wish him all the best and great results in the future.” Andreas and Anders will drive for the second string Volkswagen Motorsport team in 2016, hoping to go 1 or maybe even 2 places better in the championship than the last 2 seasons.
It's been quite some week for Mads Ostberg! Last Monday it was announced that he was returning to the M-Sport fold after two years at Citroen Racing. But now we have learnt that during his tests for January's Monte-Carlo, a spanner was thrown into the works as he was without his long serving co-driver Jonas Andersson.
On the Tuesday, Jonas called Mads to inform him that he had accepted an offer from EVEN Management, who manage both Pontus Tidemand and Andreas Mikkelsen. Andersson will now be teaming up with Pontus for the WRC2 next season with Skoda Motorsport. Mads was understandably stunned, and quickly sat down and got two different co-drivers to do the test with him. They were Emil Axelsson (Tidemand's outgoing co-driver) and Ilka Minor. Now though it has been announced that Ola Floene will be the man to sit alongside Mads for 2016 and beyond. He leaves behind Andreas Mikkelsen after 2 iRC titles and 1 WRC victory in Spain this season. But why? "My time with Andreas is limited to one year, the 2016 season. I’m not ready to give up my career at top level this early. I feel I have capacity for many years ahead on the highest level. Mads is one of the top drivers in WRC, who may not have been in the most competitive car for the last couple of years. To be honest, I would like to become World Champion, and I believe it is a better chance with a long-term cooperation with Mads, than to achieve it in 2016 with Andreas." It is yet to be announced who will partner Andreas at Volkswagen Motorsport for 2016, but personally I find it quite sad. Mikkelsen and Floene have a genuinely great bond, which has been seen when they won the iRC title in 2011 and Rally Spain in 2015. However, Mads and Ola could be a very strong partnership, and the team will be hoping the pair can prove the potential of the Fiesta RS. |
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January 2018
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