Photo Credit: Volkswagen Motorsport Round 11 of the 2016 World Rally Championship saw the world's toughest motorsport head to one of its toughest challenges: the mixed surface Rally RACC Catalunya. Friday on gravel, Saturday and Sunday on tarmac, Spain's WRC round challenges the drivers, co-drivers and service crews in equal measure.
Torrential rain made Friday's gravel stages a nightmare, but Saturday and Sunday were predominantly dry, and the sun was certainly shining on one particular Frenchman. Sebastien Ogier headed to Spain with a strong chance of becoming a quadruple World Rally Champion, needing just 16 points from the weekend to take the crown. Friday's rainy stages hampered his cause, but he still came through second overnight behind the charging Dani Sordo who put in a sublime performance to send the home crowd onto cloud nine. However, Ogier began chipping away the seconds stage by stage on Sordo's preferred surface of tarmac, before reeling the Spaniard in and not looking back. Ogier and Ingrassia joined an elusive club containing Juha Kankkunen, Tommi Makinen and Sebastien Loeb in becoming four time champions, and the Volkswagen crew have yet to take the title down to the final round. Quite some achievement. It will be interesting to see if somebody can consistently challenge Ogier in 2017, as we have never seen the now 37-time rally winner in a proper title fight. As for Sordo, despite missing out on a dream home win, second was a strong result and he was the only man who was able to realistically live with Ogier on a consistent basis. With Ogier now wrapping up the drivers title, the focus switches to the battle for second in the championship, and what a battle this could be. Andreas Mikkelsen, who held the position after Corsica, was the only man who could have stopped Ogier taking the title in Spain, but he over-committed himself on SS12 and clipped an armco barrier, rolling his Polo R into retirement. This handed the final spot on the podium to Thierry Neuville, and subsequently with Mikkelsen out and unable to Rally2 handed the Belgian a fantastic shot of overhauling the Norwegian in the championship table. Any Power Stage points would have done the job for the Hyundai man, but he could only manage fourth and is therefore dead level on points with his good friend. Hayden Paddon was expected to shine on Friday's gravel stages, but instead impressed heavily on the race-circuit-esque tarmac roads of Catalunya. Anti-lag issues dogged the Kiwi from the off on the opening leg which prevented challenging at the very front, but when the cars switched from gravel-battering monsters to corner-hugging racers Paddon managed to stay on the coat-tails of his team mate Neuville, who is a fine asphalt driver. By far the best tarmac performance of his career on the event he claimed his first WRC stage win back in 2013 for M-Sport, which all bodes well for the final two rallies of the year. He could yet steal second in the championship from the clutches of Mikkelsen and Neuville. One man who is not in that fight is Mads Ostberg, but the Norwegian did claim his first top five since Rally Argentina in the spring. Mads was adapting his new tarmac driving style in Spain which began to pay dividends on the final day, but once again he was a long way from the leaders pace. Ostberg reminds me of Mikko Hirvonen in the latter part of his career, not as fast as he was but there just to pick up the points. Ostberg's future is far from secure, but he claims he has more than one option for 2017. For me, the 2012 Portugal winner would be a perfect fit for Tommi Makinen's Toyota, with his vast experience, knowledge and solid level of consistency meaning he is incredibly likely to bring the car home in the points. Sixth place in Catalunya went to DMACK driver Ott Tanak, who struggled to match the pace all weekend, even on the gravel, despite getting his rally off to the best possible start on the rain-soaked streets of Barcelona, claiming the stage win and overnight lead. Rumours suggest Tanak has signed a deal to drive for the main M-Sport squad for next season alongside Eric Camilli. Seems like a good decision from Malcolm Wilson. Personally, I hope he sees Elfyn Evans in a third car as the Welshman has done plenty to prove he deserves a seat in a factory World Rally Car. Taking a career best seventh overall on round 11 were Kevin Abbring and Seb Marshall in the 2015 specification Hyundai i20. The Dutchman's rally wasn't without its niggles, but he drove sensibly and consistently to profit when others suffered set backs. He will be hoping he's done enough to convince Hyundai or anyone else he is worthy of a larger WRC campaign as the sport heads into an exciting new era next year. WRC2 winner Jan Kopecky put his name in the mix for that championship with eighth overall, while his Skoda Motorsport team mate Pontus Tidemand behind in ninth overall and second WRC2. Craig Breen and Scott Martin rounded out the top 10 after suffering various setbacks throughout the weekend, chiefly driveshaft issues. But Breen won't be too bothered as he is staring at a 2 year contract with one of the sport's most successful teams. Team mate Kris Meeke, who has been incredibly impressive in 2016, had a fairly quiet and incident-packed event in Spain. The slippery conditions caught him out on SS2, pitching his DS3 into a roll and dropping him over half a minute. Saturday's switch to tarmac saw him on the pace, but a puncture curtailed his progress before an engine failure at the very start of Sunday sidelined the Ulsterman. Jari-Matti Latvala who was another who could count himself unlucky after the WRC's only mixed surface event. The Finn struggled to get into his rhythm at the start of the rally, but he quickly slipped back into it with a couple of stage wins. But a rather innocuous kiss of the barrier on SS5 damaged his VW's front suspension and ended his day prematurely. He once again underlined his tarmac skills with some quick times and a Power Stage win, but it could have been so much better for Finland's finest. Let's hope for pretty much everyone's sake Latvala's confidence stays high, he gets a slice of luck and we can see him involved in a title scrap next year in his fifth year with Volkswagen. Finally, Eric Camilli suffered mechanical issues after driving within himself, firmly in the points on the Spanish roads. He returned on Sunday to gain valuable experience. Up next, the World Rally Championship heads to Deeside, Wales for the penultimate round of the championship and the first full gravel event since July. I fully expect all three VW's, at least two of the Hyundai's in Neuville and Paddon and Kris Meeke to be well in the fight for victory in the classic Welsh forests, and don't discount Craig Breen or Ott Tanak either. I always get excited for a WRC event, but the second to last event for this generation of WRC machinery will be a particularly special one for me as I will be attending my first ever WRC event. I have been asked to travel down to cover the exploits of the Scottish crews in the National rally as part of my Scottish Rally Championship Press Officer role, but I fully intend to get up close and personal with the WRC event. You could say I'm just a little bit excited...
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January 2018
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