The Marcus Grönholm Rally Thread

Salamander · Post by **Salamander** » 24 Nov 2012, 17:43

BlindCaveSalamander wrote:
Wizzie wrote:For those of you that still care about rallying, one Robert Kubica has been cleaning up virtually every major event since the end of the WRC season with some Cirtoen C4 that the works team found at the back of the museum and decided to give him to wring the neck out of.

In the latest event Kubica's in, the Rallye du Var, Latvala warned him that he might find it a big challenge. Kubica's leading it by about a minute and a half. After day 1 of 3.

Did I say one and a half minutes? I meant 5.

WaffleCat · Post by **WaffleCat** » 24 Nov 2012, 23:01

I can see Kubica making a permanent switch to rallying if Sportscars,touring cars and F1 don't work out for him.

And,dare I say it,should he move to WRC,he can be quite successful.

Post by **DemocalypseNow** » 24 Nov 2012, 23:03

Maybe Kubica will run part-time with Ford or Citroen next year in the WRC?

MinardiFan95 · Post by **MinardiFan95** » 25 Nov 2012, 13:54

kostas22 wrote:Maybe Kubica will run part-time with Ford or Citroen next year in the WRC?

Perhaps this is why Loeb's only running a part time schedule in 2013...

Post by **mario** » 25 Nov 2012, 14:34

BlindCaveSalamander wrote:
BlindCaveSalamander wrote:
Wizzie wrote:For those of you that still care about rallying, one Robert Kubica has been cleaning up virtually every major event since the end of the WRC season with some Cirtoen C4 that the works team found at the back of the museum and decided to give him to wring the neck out of.

In the latest event Kubica's in, the Rallye du Var, Latvala warned him that he might find it a big challenge. Kubica's leading it by about a minute and a half. After day 1 of 3.

Did I say one and a half minutes? I meant 5.

Unfortunately, he went and blew it on the penultimate stage by crashing out, although he was nearly six minutes clear at the time he crashed. Still, he has drawn some very flattering comments from Citroen for his efforts, so perhaps they are somewhat interested in him... http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/104559

On another note, it doesn't look good for Solberg - he is now offering his services for free to Wilson if they offer him a seat for 2013, such is his desire to retain a seat for 2013. http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/104566

RonDenisDeletraz · Post by **RonDenisDeletraz** » 16 Jan 2013, 22:52

LOEBWINSLOL

I miss the early to mid 2000s level of manufacturer involvement so much. And a lot of the drivers.

dr-baker · Post by **dr-baker** » 16 Jan 2013, 22:56

Reject of the Rally Monte Carlo after day 1: the timing systems...

TomWazzleshaw · Post by **TomWazzleshaw** » 16 Jan 2013, 23:01

eurobrun wrote:LOEBWINSLOL

I miss the early to mid 2000s level of manufacturer involvement so much. And a lot of the drivers.

Well, if it's any consolation, VW seems to be competitive immediately out of the box.

dr-baker · Post by **dr-baker** » 16 Jan 2013, 23:03

Wizzie wrote:
eurobrun wrote:LOEBWINSLOL

I miss the early to mid 2000s level of manufacturer involvement so much. And a lot of the drivers.

Well, if it's any consolation, VW seems to be competitive immediately out of the box.

Mini were fairly competitive out the box. I'm still waiting for their first win (since the 1960s...).

TomWazzleshaw · Post by **TomWazzleshaw** » 16 Jan 2013, 23:07

dr-baker wrote:
Wizzie wrote:
eurobrun wrote:LOEBWINSLOL

I miss the early to mid 2000s level of manufacturer involvement so much. And a lot of the drivers.

Well, if it's any consolation, VW seems to be competitive immediately out of the box.

Mini were fairly competitive out the box. I'm still waiting for their first win (since the 1960s...).

Thing is they'd probably be cleaning house by now if BMW and Prodrive never fell out. The car was just THAT damn good.

dr-baker · Post by **dr-baker** » 16 Jan 2013, 23:13

Wizzie wrote:Thing is they'd probably be cleaning house by now if BMW and Prodrive never fell out. The car was just THAT damn good.

I know. That's what makes it even more annoying...

DanielPT · Post by **DanielPT** » 17 Jan 2013, 13:15

That timing debacle sure didn't do any favours for the post-Loeb era. Which, incidentally, will most likely start with a Loeb victory...

Post by **mario** » 17 Jan 2013, 13:32

dr-baker wrote:Reject of the Rally Monte Carlo after day 1: the timing systems...

The debacle over the timing system malfunctions is incredibly embarrassing considering that we are dealing with something that is, fundamentally, critical to the running of the event - when the teams are having to pool their resources to sort the time sheets out themselves, you know somebody has really cocked things up. The worst part is that these problems have been occurring in the areas where they should have found it easiest to monitor the cars - i.e. in the opening stages closest to the service areas - so the organisers are going to be in serious trouble if these problems persist into the next stages.

What worries me more, though, were the complaints that the emergency GPS systems - which are supposed to warn the organisers and the team if a car has stopped out on the stage in case medical assistance is required - broke down entirely on some cars. Timing issues are awkward, but now we are talking about potentially critical warning systems failing on a car - that, to my mind, is a far more serious issue.

Post by **DemocalypseNow** » 17 Jan 2013, 13:43

Who is in charge of deciding contracts for these things? If they ditched S1T to save a few quid, whoever made this choice should be kicked out of motorsport for good, it was such a pathetic decision :evil:

Post by **mario** » 17 Jan 2013, 16:41

Stramala [kostas22] wrote:Who is in charge of deciding contracts for these things? If they ditched S1T to save a few quid, whoever made this choice should be kicked out of motorsport for good, it was such a pathetic decision

According to Autosport's reports of the event, the Automobile Club de Monaco have claimed that it was a direct deal between Sistemas Integrales de Telecomunicacion and the FIA, with both of those bodies saying little more than they are investigating what has happened and hope to rectify the problems ahead of the next stages.

Event organiser the Automobile Club de Monaco declined to comment on the situation, underlining that the agreement is between the FIA and SIT - both of whom said the problems were being investigated.

SIT's Pedro Cieza said: "We are studying with the FIA, there have been cumulative problems and we are studying everything."

FIA rally director Jarmo Mahonen added: "We need to establish what happened today. Once we have all that information, we will be in a position to comment."

http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/105149

As to the reason behind this deal, that was because Stage One Technology, who used to provide the timing information, was sued by the remnants of North One Sport, the former media rights manager, as a counter suit over claims that N1S hadn't paid S1T, with N1S impounding S1T's equipment in an attempt to force S1T to drop its legal action against them. Although they were later able to recover their equipment, it looks like N1S's non payment of debts effectively bankrupted S1T in the process, which is why the FIA seems to have turned to new partners.
This Spanish company, it seems, were the only party who agreed to provide the tracking and timing information when the FIA put its contract out to tender - and it looks like it is paying the price in more than one sense for going with these guys.

And, just to add salt in the wounds, it looks like the problems with media coverage is still persisting - there will be no UK TV coverage because there has been no agreement over licensing terms.

Post by **DemocalypseNow** » 20 Jan 2013, 13:23

I want the old WRC back

Meanwile, in other news, Loeb won Monte Carlo. Again.

Shadaza · Post by **Shadaza** » 20 Jan 2013, 14:21

This season could be better, with VW in and Loeb out there could be a potential 3 manufacture race for the title.

VW have the best drivers but not the experience. (Ogier and Latvala)
Citroen have the multiple title experience, a reliable car and drivers that won't crash out too often. (Hirvonen and Sordo)
and M-sport Ford have some promising youngsters (but no real big names) and possibly a really fast car, though will probably face a repair bill more than the other two teams put together. (Ostberg, Novikov etc.)

An interesting season for once, if not the highest standard. Loeb will probably win all four of his entries without batting an eyelid! BUT WHERE THE HELL IS SOLBERG.

dr-baker · Post by **dr-baker** » 20 Jan 2013, 14:22

Stramala [kostas22] wrote:Meanwhile, in other news, Loeb won Monte Carlo. Again.

Yep. In the first rally since Loeb went part-time... Loeb wins and takes the lead of the championship. Not sure whether I am

or

about this...

Shizuka · Post by **Shizuka** » 20 Jan 2013, 15:06

Stramala [kostas22] wrote:I want the old WRC back

Panizzi almost hit himself with that :lol:

Gardemeister's and Rautianen's were pretty neat!

dr-baker wrote:
Stramala [kostas22] wrote:Meanwhile, in other news, Loeb won Monte Carlo. Again.

Yep. In the first rally since Loeb went part-time... Loeb wins and takes the lead of the championship. Not sure whether I am or about this...

Hopefully he won't win this year's title by winning all rallies he enters!
If he does, now THAT will be something that WRC will be ashamed of.

dr-baker · Post by **dr-baker** » 20 Jan 2013, 15:12

Shizuka wrote:
dr-baker wrote:
Stramala [kostas22] wrote:Meanwhile, in other news, Loeb won Monte Carlo. Again.

Yep. In the first rally since Loeb went part-time... Loeb wins and takes the lead of the championship. Not sure whether I am or about this...

Hopefully he won't win this year's title by winning all rallies he enters!
If he does, now THAT will be something that WRC will be ashamed of.

Unfunnily enough, that did actually cross my mind...

Post by **DemocalypseNow** » 20 Jan 2013, 15:16

Let's say he does a programme of Monte Carlo, ADAC Rally Deutschland, Rallye de France Alsace, RACCRally Catalunya and Wales Rally GB. That's 125 points total. Which, in last year's championship, would have been enough for 4th in the championship if you removed Loeb's original position. 1 point ahead of Petter Solberg.

As much as I like Solberg, he did have a pretty woeful season. Ostberg, Novikov and Hanninen is actually a good lineup for M-Sport.

Myrvold · Post by **Myrvold** » 21 Jan 2013, 00:15

Shadaza wrote:VW have the best drivers but not the experience. (Ogier and Latvala)

Both drivers have a fair amount of races. And the team do have experienced people in place.

Warren Hughes · Post by **Warren Hughes** » 28 Jan 2013, 16:08

Did anyone watch the Colin McRae documentary with Sir Chris Hoy last night? It made me sad for the current state of WRC, after remembering how great it was little more than 10 years ago. Also, Hoy appeared to have a natural aptitude for rally driving - a possible new career direction when he hangs up his lycra?

FullMetalJack · Post by **FullMetalJack** » 28 Jan 2013, 16:45

Warren Hughes wrote:Did anyone watch the Colin McRae documentary with Sir Chris Hoy last night? It made me sad for the current state of WRC, after remembering how great it was little more than 10 years ago. Also, Hoy appeared to have a natural aptitude for rally driving - a possible new career direction when he hangs up his lycra?

Yeah, I watched it. I don't follow Rallying anywhere as near as much as I follow Formula 1, but I saw it on and I had to watch it.

I can't believe it's been over 5 years since he passed away, it's gone so quick.

AndreaModa · Post by **AndreaModa** » 28 Jan 2013, 18:00

Yeah a great programme, I had it on whilst the F1RWRS coverage was running so I had one eye on each! :lol:

I used to have a massive Subaru WRC poster on my wall when I was younger with McRae, Sainz and Piero Liatti on it, my Dad got it as his company did the electric motors for the wipers on the rally cars for Prodrive. McRae along with Damon Hill were the two sportsmen I idolised as a young boy, such a shame he's with us no longer.

RonDenisDeletraz · Post by **RonDenisDeletraz** » 28 Jan 2013, 22:40

I miss the manufacturers in WRC so much, The early 2000's were a great time and now it's a bit crap

Chives5150 · Post by **Chives5150** » 28 Jan 2013, 23:23

eurobrun wrote:I miss the manufacturers in WRC so much, The early 2000's were a great time and now it's a bit crap

Still, it would be even better if SPEED in the United States actually cared about WRC, instead of showing a 2 minute highlight reel and showing the rest at like 9 or 10 at night.

Also, I had a sad when WRCforeva took down his Monte Carlo Rally videos from his YouTube channel.

Benetton · Post by **Benetton** » 30 Jan 2013, 07:36

Well the coverage of Monte Carlo was a step in the right direction but it was still lacking something, but I'm sure Red Bull will get there production wise by the seasons end. However, finally we got a incar camera where you can see in what gear Hirvonen was on! That has been sorely missed!

This new season should be atleast okay with VW in the mix. I thought M-Sport was going to be horrible but they did okay with Novikov and Hanninen. It will be nice to see these two push the car on the limit in the fight to VW and Citroen. Novikov is coming along great by the way.

However, I feel Ogier will at some point run away with the title. Hirvonen is no match for him these days and Latvala, don't get me started, he is fast yes but this is his 7th season in a full time Manufacturer seat, that is well over 80 rallies and he still hasn't found his limits and keep on crashing... he is done already at VW, Ogier is their favourite son and Ogier is far superior than Latvala when it comes to playing the mental game.

Post by **DemocalypseNow** » 30 Jan 2013, 13:37

Benetton wrote:Well the coverage of Monte Carlo was a step in the right direction but it was still lacking something, but I'm sure Red Bull will get there production wise by the seasons end. However, finally we got a incar camera where you can see in what gear Hirvonen was on! That has been sorely missed!

This new season should be atleast okay with VW in the mix. I thought M-Sport was going to be horrible but they did okay with Novikov and Hanninen. It will be nice to see these two push the car on the limit in the fight to VW and Citroen. Novikov is coming along great by the way.

However, I feel Ogier will at some point run away with the title. Hirvonen is no match for him these days and Latvala, don't get me started, he is fast yes but this is his 7th season in a full time Manufacturer seat, that is well over 80 rallies and he still hasn't found his limits and keep on crashing... he is done already at VW, Ogier is their favourite son and Ogier is far superior than Latvala when it comes to playing the mental game.

Olivier Quesnel always referred to Ogier as "Seb Two" for a reason.

dinizintheoven · Post by **dinizintheoven** » 31 Jan 2013, 20:18

Warren Hughes wrote:Did anyone watch the Colin McRae documentary with Sir Chris Hoy last night?

I haven't, but I will in due course. I saw the one over That Festive Period that was about Stirling Moss, so this should be well worth a look.

dr-baker · Post by **dr-baker** » 08 Feb 2013, 16:25

Sebastian Loeb not leading a rally that he's entered on and has won previously?!

FloProAct · Post by **FloProAct** » 08 Feb 2013, 16:54

dr-baker wrote:Sebastian Loeb not leading a rally that he's entered on and has won previously?!

To be fair, he's never been THAT quick in Sweden (at least by his usual standards). He only won it in 2004 because Martin went off (and Gronholm was quicker than both of them in the dog of a 307). What's more of a surprise is Ogier's comprehensive lead, given that he's never even had a podium on snow before.

DanielPT · Post by **DanielPT** » 08 Feb 2013, 19:27

FloProAct wrote:
dr-baker wrote:Sebastian Loeb not leading a rally that he's entered on and has won previously?!

To be fair, he's never been THAT quick in Sweden (at least by his usual standards). He only won it in 2004 because Martin went off (and Gronholm was quicker than both of them in the dog of a 307). What's more of a surprise is Ogier's comprehensive lead, given that he's never even had a podium on snow before.

Which leads me to say something I never thought possible: Loeb semi retirement ruined WRC this year...

Post by **DemocalypseNow** » 08 Feb 2013, 21:51

DanielPT wrote:
FloProAct wrote:
dr-baker wrote:Sebastian Loeb not leading a rally that he's entered on and has won previously?!

To be fair, he's never been THAT quick in Sweden (at least by his usual standards). He only won it in 2004 because Martin went off (and Gronholm was quicker than both of them in the dog of a 307). What's more of a surprise is Ogier's comprehensive lead, given that he's never even had a podium on snow before.

Which leads me to say something I never thought possible: Loeb semi retirement ruined WRC this year...

I think I mentioned this a few times just after he announced his semi-retirement. Finally we would see Ogier vs Loeb on even terms. Finally Seb One had an equal in Seb Two. But Loeb decided to make sure he was forever remembered as the best ever undefeated driver by retiring when he did. Sure, Solberg beat him in 2003, but he was pretty much a rookie back then. But after 8 world championships, wouldn't he look a little bit bad if he was beaten by his former protege in a head-to-head fight?

You have to congratulate Ogier already, even if he doesn't go on to win the championship. He was willing to spend a year derping around in S2000 so he could become team leader at a manufacturer team, rather than fight against his own team as he would have done at Citroen. It looks like the Polo R WRC is the real deal and this will pay off nicely for him. It was a smart choice.

Benetton · Post by **Benetton** » 11 Mar 2013, 21:20

I haven't even watched the highlights from Mexico but I can already tell that it was the same old story:

What is the point of this championship any more? Al-Attiyah finished 5th over 8 minutes behind the winner...

BTW, can we change the thread title to

Marcus Gronholm WRC Thread

AndreaModa · Post by **AndreaModa** » 11 Mar 2013, 21:56

Ostberg was going really well in second before his Ford packed up, that was a real shame, he could have had an easy podium. But yeah apart from that, not much to say really.

DanielPT · Post by **DanielPT** » 11 Mar 2013, 22:33

I think it speaks volumes about this championship that the bloke currently sitting in 2nd, after 3 races, isn't even competing for it... :roll:

dr-baker · Post by **dr-baker** » 12 Mar 2013, 11:58

DanielPT wrote:I think it speaks volumes about this championship that the bloke currently sitting in 2nd, after 3 races, isn't even competing for it...

AND didn't show up for one of the three rounds held so far...

DanielPT · Post by **DanielPT** » 12 Mar 2013, 15:49

Ken Block wants bigger WRC programme. This after his best ever WRC result. I think it is quite easy to persuade his team doing just that. It will just suffice them to take this car and race it somewhere else. It is probably quite weird for them to not having to pick up pieces of his smashed car from a ditch and rebuild it in order for him to compete again. The team probably even fired some mechanics because they had nothing to do in the next month or so...

Wallio · Post by **Wallio** » 12 Mar 2013, 18:05

DanielPT wrote:Ken Block wants bigger WRC programme. This after his best ever WRC result. I think it is quite easy to persuade his team doing just that. It will just suffice them to take this car and race it somewhere else. It is probably quite weird for them to not having to pick up pieces of his smashed car from a ditch and rebuild it in order for him to compete again. The team probably even fired some mechanics because they had nothing to do in the next month or so...

As an American, I can say what you're all thinking. Block is so damn overrated. The worst part is, he's not even the best rallye driver in the US. Tanner Foust and Travis Pastrana are MUCH better. Travis has gone to NASCAR sadly, and Tanner just gets no love, despite back-toback FIA Global Rallyecross titles against good competition.