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!
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