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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