Rally-eMag 046 2017 WRC Review

Rally-emag

The digital rally magazine Issue 2017 ,46 Review

Round by roun d

W

wrc M-Sport's road to glory

Full WR C 2017 Review

All the best fro all even m ts

Plus Oliver Ciesla: Talks WRC CAlendar STI: time tracking for a week

Mads Ostberg - Ola Floene Ford Fiesta WRC

Erik van ‘t Land/Rallypicture

Merry Christmas !

Rallypicture

d/ Erik van ‘t Lan

- Marc Marti Dani Sordo Coupe WRC Hyundai i20 ico scape of Mex d n la ic p e e Th

Erik van ‘t Land/Rallypicture

Jari Matti Latvala - Miika Anttila Toyota Yaris WRC Jumping over one the biggest, and certainly busiest jumps of the year, Mickey's.

Erik van 't land / Rallypicture

Kris Meeke - Paul Nagle Citroen C3 WRC Flying through Fafe

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Editor’s note Finally, we recap

By Steven van Veenendaal

Dear readers, We've been away for a while. I must admit it's been hard to publish any new issues the last couple of months.

Life has been busy, both professionaly and on a personal level. The daytime job has been exciting but also very demanding, nibbling away at the time scheduled for Rally-eMag. Personally marriage and a honeymoon were of course lifetime highlights, but also made it hard to focus in making magazines.

In the coming year we will continue doing what we love, shooting pictures and writing stories about the best sport in the world. It doesn't look likely that things will become any less busy next year, but we'll do our best to keep publishing on a regular basis. It might go down a bit though to 6-8 issues per year.

Enough about that, we are here now at the end of the year. A time to look back on what has once again been a fantastic year. The dawn of the new breed of WRC's certainly hasn't disappointed.

It's been the most exciting season for a long time. The cars prove more spectacular then ever, Toyota stepped up as a new manufacturer and most importantly, the fights have been close-closer-closest.

When was the last time you had a season where each every rally before the start you had no idea who would be sparying the champagne on Sunday? That's what 2017 has been like. In the end, the champion wasn't a surprising name, but did we really expect him and M-Sport to crush the manufaturers in the way they did? It was an astonishing feat by both Ogier and the whole M-Sport team, so in honor of them, in this issue we look back at the 2017 WRC season.

Also known as - M-Sport's Road to Glory.

Steven van Veenendaal Editor / Rally-eMag Rally-eMag is brought to you by:

Rally-emag / 2017 Review

Words:

Harry van Veenendaal Steven van Veenendaal Tara Hurlin Sven Kollus

Images:

Erik van ‘t Land Tara Hurlin Sven Kollus

Publisher: Issuu.com

Join us via social media!

Facebook: facebook.com/emagrally/ Twitter: @emagrally

This month 2017 Review 14

Editor’s note

18

Quick facts

22

Interview

30

Season review

100

Timing and tracking

106

The World

all

wrc wrc wrc sit

eee

Finally, we recap

Crunching the 2017 WRC numbers

100

Oliver Ciesla talks WRC calendar

M-Sport's Road to Glory

A rally week for SIT

Erik’s Epic Encounters Best of

Rally-emag / 2017 Review

30

22 18

106

Rally-emag / 2017 Review

Quick facts

World Rally Championship 2017 Kings of The Old World

Atlantic Alliance

1 1

Fastest rallies Finland Sweden Poland Australia Germany

125,66 kph 123,90 kph 113,54 kph 104,94 kph 104,35 kph

Mexico Spain

1 Monte Carlo 1 Portugal 1 Italy 1 Germany 1 Wales

1 1 1 1 1

1 1

Average speed 2017 season 102,30 kph

*Average speed for the event

Slowest rallies Mexico Italy Monte Carlo Argentina Corsica *Average speed for the event

Rally-emag / 2017 review

82,79 kph 90,30 kph 92,52 kph 92,59 kph 93,63 kph

Closest finish Argentina 0.7 Seconds Neuville took the win from Evans on the live-televised final Powerstage

1 1

Rulers of The North

1 1

Sweden Finland

1 1

13 ROUNDS 4 WINNING MANUFACTURERS 7 WINNING DRIVERS

ONE CHAMPION Southern Hemisphere Invasion

1 1 1 1

26

Corsica Poland Argentina Australia

1 1 1 1

Most stages Finland Fewest stages Corsica

10 Rally-emag / 2017 review

Statistics Teams & Crews CitroĂŤn

Toyota

2

2 5

Wins

M-Sport

CitroĂŤn Toyota

3 4

Podiums

4

Hyundai

20

M-Sport

12

Hyundai

7

6

Different Rally winners

Ogier, Latvala, Meeke, Latvala, Tanak, Lappi, Evans

Neuville, Latvala, Tanak, Sordo, Ogier, Lappi

Stage wins Hyundai

91

M-Sport

79

Toyota Citroen

50 26

Car graphics by: ChristanCazalet http://www.christiancazalet.com/2017/02/les-wrc-2017.html

Rally-emag / 2017 review

Different PS winners

16 Different

Stage winners Neuville, Tanak, Evans, Latvala, Ogier, Meeke, Lappi, Sordo, Paddon, Mikkelsen, Hanninen, Sunninen, Breen, Ostberg, Kopecky, Lefebvre

Wins

Podiums

4

9

N e u vi l l e

N e u vi l l e

Mee

k

Tanak

8

e

Ta

N e u vi l l e

O gi e r

O gi e r

nak

PS Wins PS Points

evans

Latvala

O gi e r

N e u vi l l e

4

34

Latvala

Latvala

3

27 Tanak

sordo

Tanak

2 3

2

22

Stage wins

Non-Scores

Retirements

As for raw speed, Thierry Neuville was clearly number one this year. He won about a fifth of all stages, while eventual champion Ogier only won 22 stages, a remarkable low number. It just shows that rallying really isn't just about speed.

Noteable appearances for Elfyn Evans who made the most of his tyres when conditions suited them and Latvala who paced the new Toyota to 27 stage wins in their return season.

Consistency is the key to succes. Ogier was there, nearly always. Only in Finland did he really mess up, but there he was aided by an equal disappointing outing by the Hyundais. Neuville also managed to score on most rounds, but too often that was just in the way of Powerstage points.

Kris Meeke takes the dubious honor of being crowned 2017's retirement king. Sure Kris made mistakes, but it surely wasn't all his doing. The Citroen C3 WRC was jumpy from the start and from time to time looked like a todler throwing tantrums as it bumped across the stages. It led to numerous crashes, the desparation move of bringing in Andreas Mikkelsen and the benching of Meeke in Poland.

Neuville Tanak Evans Latvala Ogier Meeke Lappi Sordo Paddon Mikkelsen

56 30 27 27 22 20 16 15 12 10

Ogier Sordo Neuville Tanak Evans Latvala Lappi Hanninen Paddon Mikkelsen

1 1 2 2 2 2 2 4 5 6

Meeke Paddon Latvala Lappi Breen Hanninen Ogier Neuville Tanak Evans

5 4 2 2 2 2 1 1 1 1

Rally-emag / 2017 review

SIT

Developing the new calendar WRC Promoter Oliver Ciesla

E

very now and then we get to sit down and talk to Oliver Ciesla, General Manager of WRC Promoter GmbH. After the release of the new calendar for the 2018 season, there has been a lot of discussion about the 2018 calendar, therefore in this issue of Rally-eMag we start with the part about the development of markets, and especially the new events. This is one of the strategic pillars the FIA wants to see developed.

Though the interview took place before the release of the new calendar we think it is still interesting, if only to show that a lot of thought has been going into developing the calendar. Here is what Ciesla had to say about the development of markets for the WRC. words: Harry van veenendaal Images: PR - Red Bull Content Pool

INTERVIEW

I

n relation to the development of markets it’s not a secret that at the moment with 10 of a total of 13 events being run in Europe, the development of the World Rally Championship in markets outside of Europe is quite poor.

So we there is a job to be done in that area. Our objectives are manifold. On the one side of course is the idea to bring the sport and ignite the passion in new areas. The idea however is also to find new rallies that bring a new form of entertainment and to change the pictures that you know already. In this way you can also change the sporting challenge that the more experienced drivers know already. In this way there would be a better balance between the young drivers and the old ones, because the young drivers don’t have the benefit of this knowledge, of course. Furthermore we also try the existing events to change their itinerary from year to year so that the sporting challenge changes. (ReM: Like the Safari Rally?) No at the moment from a sporting point of view, I’m more referring to the sheer changes of roads, roads that you have not been driving on before. That just happened for example with moving from Karlstad to Torsby, or moving from Trier to Saarbrücken where big parts of the itinerary will also be new for all the drivers, so we take away the advantage for the experienced drivers and make the sport more fair and a bit more favourable to the young drivers.

Rally-emag / 2017 Review

Bringing WRC to new markets

(ReM: But we still need iconic stages don't we?) That is true, it’s important we keep iconic stages, so we don’t want to make a hundred percent change. No we want to keep the iconic stages and build new stages around them from year to year. We do this to deliver new perspectives from the sporting side, but also from the storytelling side. This could be something like the Safari that we don’t have today, or a dessert that we don’t have today, or eh, well I don’t know it might even be a rainforest or an ice lake. So there are still opportunities to increase diversity for us to deliver. But also to go to new car markets to markets for new sponsors that have a commercial relevance.

Also to make the sport attractive for brands that would like to sell in let’s say China, United States, Brazil or Russia. So there are many many ideas that support the idea of bringing the WRC to new markets.

Global impact

Apart from that, it also has a sheer quantitive aspect for me as a promoter. With a product being ready why don’t we roll it out more often? At the moment if we achieve an audience of 60 million global TV households per rally, of course it is also an element of growth if I make it 60 million times 14, 15 or 16 instead of only times 13. So this

also means growth and in the end it’s not something that we invent new, if you see successful sports series they come with a much higher frequency, which we do not today. Formula 1 for instance is having an impact twenty times per year, in football it is even more with thirty or forty times a year. This is also an element of success to promote and to be visible in a higher frequency, more continuous and more permanent. This is a part of the success and here we still can improve.

The benefits

On the other side we have to acknowledge what are the costs of acquiring these benefits. So forget the 16, because that is the vision for the medium long term.

But you have to start somewhere, so a first step, growing from 13 to 14 is what we are actively discussing now under the precondition that the costs to achieve all these benefits I just mentioned are reasonable. I also say that in our own interest because it also means variable costs for another TV production, traveling with 70 people to another country or continent to produce a rally weekend. And the same is viable for the teams: each additional event means additional variable costs so we now ask ourselves, can we create a scenario where these additional efforts that we need to deliver are in reasonable relation to the benefits it would bring. This is the job we are doing.

So where do we go?

Now we can come back to the concrete countries that we are now considering. It’s not a secret that we had the opportunity to see the possibilities in Croatia. Last year we were also visiting New Zealand. There is not so much to tell about that because it is well known as a country where we have to acknowledge what are the costs of acquiring these benefits? So forget the 16 (rounds), because that is the vision for the medium long term.

But you have to start somewhere, so a first step, growing from 13 to 14 is what we are actively discussing now the rally is very well at home now they even have a new hero with Hayden Paddon. He could tell a good sporting story in a great environment. Then we still have an open door for Turkey to invite the WRC to come. So these are three candidates that could be potential events in 2018.

(ReM: But these are not all overseas events?). First of all, we shall not mix the vision and the long-term strategy with the first step that we can realize on that way. It is quite demanding to organize a rally in the WRC so

we can of course dream of having another Safari Rally but that does not mean that we can turn the switch and go there tomorrow. It will take time to build those events in order to have the safety environment, the sporting environment and also to have the infrastructure and logistic facilities in place for a big circus like the WRC to come. In other areas like Turkey, New Zealand and Croatia, these things might be quicker achievable. Of course we cannot immediately tick all the boxes of growing outside of Europe but we tick all the other boxes: like additional events, new markets etcetera. I don’t want to sell all the benefits of all the events I just mentioned, but the number of spectators that come from 6 or 7 countries around Istria would be tremendous. We would have more Italian fans than we have in Sardinia. The infrastructure is amazing we have seen fantastic roads that we did not expect so there would be many many beneficial elements. However this is not growing outside of Europe.

But why not take the first step for a couple of years and in the meantime develop non-European events and then move on. But that does not mean that we don’t remain very interested in developing rallies in other countries like China and Kenya. We are in concrete talks with several non European events so we have very concrete targets that we started working on but it’s much to early to communicate in this regard so because we also need to as-

sure that whatever we propose is on the level of a WRC event.

Helping organizations

(ReM: Do you actually help organizations in setting up their event?) Yes we help them in that planning period. If you are observing today you’ll notice that national events or continental events do not fulfil the needs of a WRC event. Whether it is GPS tracking or other safety aspects, the mileage, the quality of the documentation and the paperwork that we get before and even logistic support and the likes.

Of course we have a very broad experience in all those aspects.

So what we do in the first place is to provide potential new candidates with an overview of the needs. And together with them we identify which kind of Infrastructure they have in place to deliver on their own and where do they need external support. If external support is required we set up a competent team consisting of representatives of the FIA the local event organizer, the WRC promoter and very often a small external team from existing established WRC events that help the new rally in the year of the candidate event and in the first year of being on the calendar to make sure that all the requirements that we have are delivered in time and of the right quality. So we don’t leave them alone and have great expectations but we help them as a team to deliver.

Rally-emag / 2017 Review

INTERVIEW

Procedures

(ReM: So are these teams active in the countries you mentioned?)

Not yet because we have not agreed yet on a candidate for next year. We hope to reach that phase in the summer. (ReM: Isn’t that a bit late if you are aiming at inclusion of the event in 2018?) Not really that is the same every year. We propose the calendar in the course of September when it goes in the WRC commission, then to the World Motorsport Council at the end of September and then with some fine-tuning for the last council in November-December. That is the same procedure every year. It all comes down to one event more or less so all the others have their safety and planning for the 2018 event in place. Anyway the inclusion of the new rally depends on the successful running of the candidate event in September or October so any approval of proposal would be submitted under the precondition of a successful candidate event to follow and then they still have another year to prepare their first event. So we feel quite comfortable that it is all in time.

(ReM: Does that mean the existing rallies will stay and that you add a new event?) It’s too early to say. More than half of the existing events are up for prolongation of their contracts between Promoter and event, respectively FIA and event. I’m quite optimistic those prolongations will all happen but as long

Rally-emag / 2017 Review

it is not signed I cannot communicate that all rallies will be there again next year. Anyway the intention would be to grow the calendar by one event, which means the existing events plus one.

Back to back rallies

(ReM: Why don’t you put Australia and New Zealand together to save costs?) That is a mistake many people make. There is no cost saving if you put the two events together. Back to back rallies in one week are not possible in WRC, so to make that work you would have to ask your personnel to take an almost

two week holiday, that wouldn’t work and also cars will be flown back to Europe for repairs so no cost saving there. The truth is, we now have a September slot that we want to sell to an additional event, so whatever the new event will be, it will run in September. From the logistic side that fits perfectly the overseas material would come from Mexico to, let’s assume, New Zealand and then to Australia and then back to Europe. So it doesn’t make any difference if you organize two events in November or one in September and one in November.

What about China?

Well the strategic objective to hosting a WRC event in China has not changed. It would be fantastic to do that. At the same time, we learned from last year that you need to invest an over proportional amount of effort and money to make that happen with the likelihood that the outcome will not be as satisfactory as expected. So at the moment we are a bit undecided whether it would be better to go for some low hanging fruits with a reasonable investment and have a great event in a country that from its culture is a little bit closer with their culture and passion to rally sport, compared to start from ground zero in a country where the demand and appetite for our sport at the moment is barely visible. We are undecided; that does not mean we are not talking to potential local event organizers whether it is the old one or a new one; we also keep talking to the Chinese Motorsport organization to find possibilities. It’s still a confirmed interest from the WRC manufacturer teams, the sponsors, and the Promoter to have an event in China, but not at all cost. The expectations have always been reasonable. We have not been dreaming of a super outcome in the first year.

Our objective was to get started on an OK level. It was a big disappointment that even that start could not happen. And the learning from the question ‘Why couldn’t even that happen? We believe that one of the biggest contributors to a success for such a big event in a country like China is government support on the highest possible level. We thought we were reasonably well equipped with government support by that time but we had to learn that we were not. So that was the learning. If you should ever try it again any efforts would include seeking the highest possible support from authorities in China before we do anything. We have to admit we have not been able to get that support in our first attempt.

it was a very strong candidate, but it These are not the events we choose for (ReM: Let’s move to Croatia, what do proved impossible to organize an event increasing the number of spectators on site. That must come from the top you think of an event there?) Croatia in the September slot.) five countries in Europe. But the othis an excellent location. A tremendous er events have to bring a very unique amount of motorsport fans could easily Turkey sporting challenge, different from all Except for the political environment go there. From Italy, Austria, Southern Germany and then all of the eastern we have the same situation in Turkey. the others, like the roads in New ZeaEuropean countries attached to former There we also found really good roads land are; plus it gives us the opportuYugoslavia, all possible motorsport and great infrastructure for all of our nity to deliver diverse pictures to the fans that cannot enjoy world champion- needs in the region of Marmaris. It fans if New Zealand would be in. So ship level motorsport throughout the ticked many many boxes and we have again this shows the mosaïque of what year. So we see a minimum potential to see how our possibilities develop to an event can deliver to the championfor spectators on site in the range of go there. (Editor: Turkey was added ship. We are not seeking that every Rally Germany. Which would be very to the provisional calendar. Its candi- event delivers the same. Events can good from the start. The infrastructure date event in October ran smoothly so it tick different boxes and New Zealand in hotels and restaurants is undisputed. seems certain the rally will be included would tick boxes of particulars sport, particular roads, great scenery, plus a It’s an amazing tourist destination and in the 2018 calendar.) national hero. This does not carry us to when we were there the quality of what a ten-year contract but is would be nice was on offer for the tourists has tremen- New Zealand for a couple of years. (Editor: NotwithThe last option on our short-term stratdously increased in the last few years so it would be very enjoyable. We have egy remains New Zealand. We had the standing these favourable words New been talking to the president of parlia- opportunity to see the organization last Zealand for uncertain reasons was not ment, the prime minister and a repre- year in Auckland and there is tremen- included in the proposed calendar for sentative of the Ministry of Sports. So dous passion to bring the sport back to 2018.) the highest level of authorities con- New Zealand, in particular with having firmed to be committed and support Hayden Paddon at the moment. For Change the event in all we need. That is what me personally that is a big momentum In the eyes of the promoter the WRC we want to hear. Then last but not least because if we have a local hero, which calendar needs more change, more together with FIA World Rally Cham- admittedly we don’t have in so many diversification more fresh impulses. I pionship Commission president Jarmo countries it’s a strong accelerator for think even for us, the WRC family, inMahonen we were driving a number us to go with that hero to the country cluding the journalists, traveling from of potential roads. We were positive- and bring back the passion so that it ig- one event to the next one, it Is much ly impressed by the variety of options nites the passion for many many years more refreshing to have at least every that we found for a mixed event. One and even if we don’t have the possibili- second year a fresh impulse on the moment you’re close to the sea then ty of staying there in the long term, on WRC calendar it is nice to have them you’re up in the mountains with really the short term we can create so much this year with the new servicepark in beautiful panoramas. We could host passion that it helps for a longer peri- Sweden and a new environment in Gerpodium and opening ceremonies in the od if we are gone again. Looking at the many but on top of that a completely old Roman Coliseum in Pula. So there market in New Zealand, the country is new country would even be better. This are so many fantastic pictures that not big enough, both in the number of country could tell the stories that we could be delivered embedded in really spectators on site and on the potential need and we at least want to offer these world-class sport. In all fairness I would car sales, there is no discussion about options and opportunities to the stakeconsider it as a very reasonable option that. But that would be the same if we holders. Whether our current proposfor the championship. (Editor: by now were driving in let’s say the dessert or als fulfil the need of a majority is undecided but it is our job to keep coming we know that Croatia did not make it, in a Safari or on an ice lake. up with the best of them.

Croatia

Rally-emag / 2017 Review

M-Sport's

Road to Glory Rally-emag / 2017 Review

y

Words: Harry van Veenendaal Images: Erik van 't Land Rally-emag / 2017 Review

Rally-emag / 2017 Review

o n t e M C e y l a l r a l o R

A new era was about to start in Monte Carlo. On Casino Square the new cars were presented and everyone was anticipating a great battle; the question was who would be the fighters? Kris Meeke was the bookie’s favourite but is his C3 up to the battle?

The line-up The three Fiesta’s built by M-Sport hold numbers 1, 2 and 3 on the doors of. Reigning World Champion Sebastien Ogier of course had the Red-Bull liveried number 1 car and Ott Tänak had the number 2 car. Elfyn Evans was entered by M-Sport but DMack funded his drive so he was the only one in the team to have DMack tyres. Hyundai also had three 2017 cars, for Thierry Neuville, Dani Sordo and Hayden Paddon. The Citroën squad only had two 2017 cars for Meeke and Lefebvre. A third entry was for Craig Breen but he had to drive the ‘old’ DS3 WRC. After 17 years Toyota was back in action again they brought two Yaris WRC’s for Jari-Matti Latvala and Juho Hänninen.

Dramatic start for Paddon When talking to Hayden Paddon before the start, he was confident. Only a few hours later he had a horrific accident. On the first stage a sheet of black ice, the great nightmare of every rally driver in the Monte caught him.

From that moment on the crew became passengers of their own car and slammed into the mountain wall, hitting a spectator. Later that evening the dramatic news crossing the social media channels was sadly confirmed: The spectator had died. Paddon was devastated and posted a message on these media and the team pulled back Paddon from the rally.

Rally-emag / 2017 Review

17

STAGES

Rally-emag / 2017 Review

The Road to WRC Glory

Round 1: Monte Carlo

T

hierry Neuville immediately showed the potential of the 2017 spec Hyundai i20 Coupé He clearly built a one-minute gap between him and Ogier. But at he end of Saturday, on stage 13 (!) fate struck and the Belgian’s suspension broke ‘touching something’ in an innocent looking corner. He had to make temporary repairs and lost quite some time. Ogier was happy to fill in the gap. Though he had a somewhat shaky start, he was the best in managing the tricky conditions. He was delighted to win his first event in his new team and so was Malcolm Wilson, this victory being the first win in a very long time. M-Sport’s victory was more or less a surprise but the runner up position of Jari-Matti Latvala was no less than a sensation. He brought Toyota their very first podium since their WRC exit 17 years ago. He finished second in the brand new Yaris. A fairly big disappointment was Citroën’s result. Meeke had an early off when caught by a sheet of black ice. On Saturday he suffered from numerous technical glitches and that evening en route to Monte Carlo he was in a road traffic accident that broke his car beyond immediate repair.

Winner: Sebastien Ogier

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

Sébastien OGIER Thierry NEUVILLE Ott TÄNAK Jari-Matti LATVALA Elfyn EVANS Dani SORDO Kris MEEKE Hayden PADDON Juho HÄNNINEN Craig BREEN

Championship leader: Sebastien Ogier

1,421 KM Rally-emag / 2017 Review

Life is full of surprises, in the 2017 WRC season we started with a small surprise: Ogier winning n his first rally for M-Sport. In Sweden there was another surprise, a surprise that already started in Monte Carlo but that continued in Sweden: Jari-Matti Latvala! But we come to that later. Another thing that became very clear in the only snow real snow rally of the season was that new World Rally Cars are fast. Scaringly fast. The FIA even cancelled one stage as the average speeds were considered to be too high! Also we found out that the aero package is not just there for good aggressive looks. Ask Mads Østberg, he lost his rear wing and it instantly made his Fiesta ‘undriveable’ as the Norwegian said.

Rally-emag / 2017 Review

Line up There was not m Toyota all had th At Citroën they s Lefebvre had to Fiesta in the han own team this ye

Words: Harr

much change in comparison to Monte Carlo. M-Sport, Hyundai and he same drivers as in the previous rally. All drivers were in 2017 cars. still only had two C3’s available, this time for Kris Meeke and Breen, start in the 2016 DS3. There was another 2017 car. It was the fourth nds of Mads Ă˜stberg. Though entered by M-Sport, Mads runs his ear, together with Martin Prokop.

S W E D E N

ry van Veenendaal Images: Erik van't Land Rally-emag / 2017 Review

17

STAGES

The Road to WRC Glory

Round 2: Sweden

M

uch to the delight of the many fans that travelled to Sweden, Latvala won the first stage on Thursday night. Though he did not sit still Friday was Neuville day. Going into Norway he won almost all stages. Just Latvala and Tänak also took a stagewin, but the Belgian was leading the rally at the end of Friday holding a comfortable 28 seconds lead to Latvala and Tänak, another 20 seconds behind. Kris Meeke was desperate to make up for the Monte disaster was fourth. Ogier was next. On Friday Tanak started to win stages but Neuville was building a solid 48 seconds lead when they reached the penultimate stage of the day the Karlstadt stage. In one of the last corners Neuville steered into a concrete barrier, breaking his front suspension.

Latvala was leading again. He was followed by Tänak at 3.8 and Ogier at 12.8 seconds. Though bot M-Sport drivers were doing their utmost, Latvala was on a high and won all stages on Sunday handing a very welcome first win to Toyota.

Winner: Jari Matti Latvala

Championship leader: Jari Matti Latvala

4 cars For M-Sport - the first manufacturer to field four 2017 WRC's, Mads Ostberg drove the fourth

Rally-emag / 2017 Review

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

Sébastien OGIER Thierry NEUVILLE Ott TÄNAK Jari-Matti LATVALA Elfyn EVANS Dani SORDO Kris MEEKE Hayden PADDON Juho HÄNNINEN Craig BREEN Rally-emag / 2017 Review

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Rally-emag / 2017 Review

OTT TANAK - MARTIN JARVEOJA FORD FIESTA WRC M-SPORT RALLY MEXICO Image by: ERIK VAN 'T LAND

The Road to WRC Glory

Round 3: Mexico

A

fter the Mexico City adventure the competitors started for their first loop and immediately the cancellation of morning stages proved to be blessing in disguise as temperatures in the new cars started to go through everyone was complaining about the hazard lights blinking from the dashboard. The Hyundai’s encountered another problem when their cars started sputtering. Later diagnosed as a blocked fuel pump. Any way Meeke was the proud leader after Friday. Apparently the Citroën’s were less affected by this phenomenon. Another driver does suffer from hazard lights but simply chooses to ignore them. This brings Ogier in the runner up spot. A spot he successfully defends on Saturday Stiil, man of the day is Meeke. He builds on his leas over Ogier that is now over half a minute. Bertelli rolls out of contention and Lefebvre slides of the road, undamaged but trapped. So everyone thought: Piece of Cake for Meeke. Just two stages to go and the it’s in the bag. But at the end of the last stage Meeke, coming out of a fast righthander, suddenly feels his car lifted. Not being able to regain command for some seconds, he lands in a parking lot, zigzags between parked cars, smashing some of them and all of the time Paul Nagle makes clear it is not over yet and steering his pilot back to the road side where Meeke can still pass the finish line victoriously keeping the margin at 13 seconds.

Winner: Kris Meeke Championship leader: Sebastien Ogier

Meeke's Mexican Miracle Mexico has always been a special rally. This year was no exception. The opening superspecial stage (in this case two stages as the opeing )street stage was run twice. The stage was situated on Plaza de la Constitución in the center of Mexcio city almost 400 kilometres away from Léon. The stage itself was a success but a road accident caused the caravan consisting of four large trucks got stuck and arrived in León far too late to start the Friday leg in time. So the morning stages had to be cancelled.

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Line up The number of competitors in Mexico was low. Just 29 made it it onto the entrylist and only 24 teams actually started. Eleven of these teams had a 2017 spec WRC. M-Sport and Hyundai had a three car line up with the usual drivers. Toyota had two Yaris WRC’s ready for Latvala and Hänninen and at Citroën they also had two cars for Meeke and Lefebvre. Breene had to sit this one out, waiting for his C3 to be ready. Lorenzo Bertelli made his debut in a Fiesta 2017, entered by M-Sport. Also entered by this team was Eric Camilli but he ‘only’ had a Fiesta R5.

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Sébastien OGIER Thierry NEUVILLE Ott TÄNAK Jari-Matti LATVALA Elfyn EVANS Dani SORDO Kris MEEKE Hayden PADDON Juho HÄNNINEN Craig BREEN

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Number of cars scratched by Kris Meeke during his parking lot excursion

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Tour de corse

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Neuville at last How would the new cars perform on tarmac? This rally’s date had been changed to create a more even mix of tarmac and gravel events over the season. So only half a year after the last event the whole WRC family is back in Corsica again.

The number of stages has not changed, however some of the stages have been shorter, consequently the total distance dropped from almost 400, to just under 317 kilometres. Rally HQ was in Bastia but the ceremonial start was in Ajaccio, the capital of the island.

Line-up A really pleasing amount of 80 competitors had had entered the rally. There were very few surprises in the constructor’s line-ups. All teams, with the exception of Toyota, now have three 2017 cars, all with the usual drivers. Mads Ă˜stberg had been on the entry list but he preferred not to compete as he did not have the opportunity to do any tests on tarmac and consequently did not feel competitive enough. We did see Andreas Mikkelsen again, but again not in a 2017 World Rally Car but in a WRC 2 Skoda Fabia R5. All kinds of rumours were there for a future WRC drive, but nothing was concrete yet.

endaal n e e V n a v ry Words: Har Images: PR

Image: PR

Rally-emag / 2017 Review

The Road to WRC Glory

10

STAGES

Round 4: Corsica

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hree different winners in three different cars won the previous three events. Still there was one driver without a win. We’re talking of course about Thierry Neuville. Though fast and in a seemingly good car he has not been able to climb the highest step on the podium yet. So he was obviously quite eager to win. However there is a difference between being fast en winning, especially if competition is so fierce. Kris Meeke was on a high and leading after day one. But it was a small margin and on day 2 Neuville really started to attack. It was a close fight until Meeke retired due to an engine problem. With a comfortable lead Neuville began the last day and was able to keep the lead bringing in the first Hyundai very welcome victory this season. Now all teams have scored a win! Ogier’s quest for the 2017 crown was helped by a good second place. In the constructor’s fight M-Sport ‘just’ scored 22 points (second place overall and 4th for Ogier in the PowerStage) neither Tänak nor Evans scored for M-Sport. After Tanak had to temporarily retire after an off and Evans had been hampered by technical issues.

Winner: Thierry Neuville

Championship leader: Sebastien Ogier

Image: PR

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Sébastien OGIER Thierry NEUVILLE Ott TÄNAK Jari-Matti LATVALA Elfyn EVANS Dani SORDO Kris MEEKE Hayden PADDON Juho HÄNNINEN Craig BREEN

Image: PR

Image: PR

Image: PR

Image: PR

Image: PR

Rally-emag / 2017 Review

Neuville vs Evans This is perhaps one of the most exciting events of this season. Unfortunately not many competitors were there. Just 22 teams actually started. But all the top drivers were there. As usual they were in for a bumpy ride. The well known itinerary included many jumps, bumps and compressions. And they can easily take you out. Kris Meeke can tell you about that just like Craig Breen. Both were caught out by the same compression. Meeke rolled and Craig Breen just went off, but a piece of rock decided to dent the bottom of the car. Unfortunately his

Rally-emag / 2017 Review

gearbox got stuck in fifth gear. Hayden Paddon also rolled but could miraculously continue.

Line-up In the WRC2017 category we had 11 contenders. M-Sport and Hyundai had entered their usual three drivers; Toyota still only has two cars available and Citroën only entered Kris Meeke and Craig Breen. Mads Østberg also had taken the trip to Argentina in his JipoCar/ Onebet entered Fiësta WRC17.

Argentina Words: Harry van Veenendaal mages: PR

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The Road to WRC Glory

0.7

The gap between Neuville and Evans, the smallest gap in the 2017 season

Round 5: Argentina

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he initial battle was between Elfyn Evans and Kris Meeke. Evans urgently wanted his first WRC win and Meeke knew his car performed reasonably well in the rocky terrain. Still the reason for his tour of the Mexican spectator parking was nagging him: The C3 is unpredictable under certain circumstances. This did not help his self-confidence. The first two stages brought a nice battle between Meeke and Evans resulting In a two seconds advantage for Evans. But then Meeke rolls his car makes after a compression. Evans did not look back and kept the lead. Latvala is now second but Neuville, having been delayed by a broken damper comes back strongly. Still it is an M-Sport Fiesta ‘Fiesta’ at the end of the day. Evans is first and Østberg a surprising second. On places four and five we see Tänak and Ogier. In between is Neuville having found back his rhythm after his damper issues. The next day Evans kept on charging and built a one-minute lead, that was however reduced to 11.5 seconds by a puncture. Sunday therefore had to decide. Neuville was in ‘all or nothing’ mode and at the end of a breath-taking finale he won, just 0.7 seconds before Evans. For M-Sports’ championship battle it was again a good rally. Behind Evans, Ogier grabbed third and so there was another double M-Sport podium.

Winner: Thierry Neuville

Championship leader: Sebastien Ogier

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The number of competitors that actually started the rally, two less than in Mexico. Also the gap between M-Sport and Hyundai in the manufacturers’ standings

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Sébastien OGIER Thierry NEUVILLE Ott TÄNAK Jari-Matti LATVALA Elfyn EVANS Dani SORDO Kris MEEKE Hayden PADDON Juho HÄNNINEN Craig BREEN Rally-emag / 2017 Review

P O R T U G A L Fans

Atmosphere

Passion

Words: Harry van Veenendaal Images: Erik van 't Land

facebook.com/emagrally

@emagrally www.rally-emag.com

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issuu.com/rally-emag

Positive sounds From Portugal

Portugal lived up to all expectations. No less than 14 WRC’s of the 2017 generations and another 20 R5 cars were entered to run the 19 stages over just under 350 kilometres. So the Portuguese fans had ample possibilities to see their heroes in action. Many thousands of them for example lined the Braga street stage, much to the delight of WRC Promoter’s Oliver Ciesla. This is what WRC needs. Not everyone can travel into the mountains and in this way we can deliver the spectacle to their doorstep.”

Line-up M-Sport entered four 2017 WRC’s for their usual drivers Ogier, Tanak and Evans. Mads Østberg also had 2017 Fiësta but though entered by M-Sport it was run by his own One Bet Jipocar team. For the first time we also saw Martin Prokop. He is driving in the same Jipocar team but is running an ‘old’ 2016 Fiesta. Citroën entered no less than four C3’s also. Driving them were Meeke, Breen, Lefebvre and Sheikh Khalid Al Qassimi who made his debut in a 2017 car. Toyota finished their third car too, this one for Esapekka Lappi, the other ones of course for Latvala and Hänninen. Hyundai entered their usual three drivers. Also present again was Andreas Mikkelsen but ‘only’ in a WRC2 Skoda Fabia, het still did not find a factory drive in a WRC 17 car.

Rally-emag / 2017 Review

JARI MATTI LATVALA - MIIKA ANTTILA TOYOTA YARIS WRC TOYOTA GAZOO RACING WRC Image by: ERIK VAN 'T LAND

Round 6: Vodafone Rally Portugal

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xcitement simply continues after the earlier rounds of the 2017 season. There were fierce battles between no less than seven different drivers all leading the event at some point. Both Neuville and Østberg were the first two to lead the event by both scoring a scratch on stage 1. Paddon was the second leader But Latvala soon followed him as the third leader. Meeke was next after Friday’s midday service but he broke a damper and was thrown out of contention, Ott Tanak was next and he stayed in front until halfway on Saturday when Ogier took over, not to leave this position until the finish. In the meantime Latvala rolled his car but could (if barely) continue, holding up Neuville. The Belgian however was given back some time and could continue his fight. It all ended at the drama packed PowerStage. Ogier was still leading the rally and Neuville did his best to come back. Paddon drove scratch just before the PowerStage but was stopped by technical troubles in the last stage. Mikkelsen went off but the battle in the top continued. Tanak won the PowerStage and Ogier won the rally increasing his championship lead to 14 points and M-Sport’s Manufacturer’s lead is now 26 points.

Winner: Sebastien Ogier Championship leader: Sebastien Ogier

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Sébastien OGIER Thierry NEUVILLE Ott TÄNAK Jari-Matti LATVALA Elfyn EVANS Dani SORDO Kris MEEKE Hayden PADDON Juho HÄNNINEN Craig BREEN

7

Different Leaders

--50-Years ago the first Rally Portgual took place

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Tänak’s first Somewhere at the back of his mind he will still be thinking about Poland 2016 when he just missed out on victory in the final stages of the event. In Sardinia he was one of the survivors in the fight for the bigger points. One incident will be solved next year. Latvala was furious about the dust raised

by Mads Østberg who had to change a puncture. A similar incident took place in Portugal when Latvala himself delayed Neuville. In 2018 the new timekeeper RallySafe will show the drivers where other competitors are so that they know when they are being chased at a short distance.

Line up The biggest surprise was Andreas Mikkelsen. He landed a deal with Citroen. First it was only for one rally. He replaced Lefebvre who would drive in Poland again, but after Meeke rolled in Sardinia Mikkelsen was offered a drive in Poland, to (temporarily) replace Meeke, who was ‘offered’ a cool down period. The rest of the teams had their regular drivers, including Esapekka Lappi who will drive again here.

WORDS: HARRY VAN VEENENDAAL IMAGES: ERIK VAN 'T LAND Rally-emag / 2017 Review

ITALIA

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SARDEGNA Rally-emag / 2017 Review

KRIS MEEKE - PAUL NAGLE CITROEN C3 WRC CITROEN TOTAL ABU DHABI WRT Image by: ERIK VAN 'T LAND

The Road to WRC Glory

Round 7: Italy-Sardinia

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e are almost getting used to it but again the lead changed six times with five drivers (Neuville, Meeke, Hänninen, Meeke, Paddon, Tänak) It all started with Thierry Neuville Then Meeke followed by Juho Hänninen. Meeke came back strong but saw Hayden Paddon approaching rapidly and rolled his car in stage 5. Paddon took over for a very long stretch of 8 stages until he made a ‘schoolboy’ mistake and broke his suspension. From then on it was Tanak who led the rally. Latvala who did everything to reduce his 12-second gap heavily attacked him. But Tanak retaliated and at the end of Saturday he held a comfortable 24-second lead. On Sunday’s first stage however he lost 25% of that lead, but on the next stage he took it all back. In the last two stages the Estonian kept his cool and did not push anymore. By the end of the day his advatgae was only 12 seconds, but more than enough for his first win. Ogier again finished, this time he was fifth, enough to keep his lead over Neuville, but it did grow smaller to 18 points. M-Sport of course faired well

by Tanak’s victory and increased their lead to 40 points.

Winner: Ott Tanak

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Championship leader: Sebastien Ogier

VI

The number of stages Esapekka Lappi won on his first WRC outing

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Sébastien OGIER Thierry NEUVILLE Ott TÄNAK Jari-Matti LATVALA Elfyn EVANS Dani SORDO Kris MEEKE Hayden PADDON Juho HÄNNINEN Craig BREEN Rally-emag / 2017 Review

POLAND

A Polish Autumn

Elfyn Evans - Dan Barritt Ford Fiesta WRC

Words: Harry van Veenendaal Images: Erik van 't Land

Thierry Neuville - Nicolas Gilsoul Hyundai i20 Coupe WRC

Poland is always known for it’s summery conditions.

This year it looked more like Rally Wales. There were enormous amounts of water and the water was combined with heavy storms that even caused the cancelation of the ceremonial start because the weather simply was to bad. The weather influenced the rally by it’s changeable nature and everyone was complaining about the slippery conditions and especially about the unpredictability of the grip levels Still ‘only’ seven teams retired. The weather did not prevent large crowds of spectators to come to the stages. Unfortunately they caused quite some problems, as they couldn’t be persuaded to stay within the safe zones. We now know this had serious consequences as it cost Poland it’s spot on the 2018 WRC Calendar.

Line-up The most significant absentee was Kris Meeke. His team ordered hi to get some rest and send Andreas Mikkelsen to race the number 7 Citroën. Stéphane Lefebvre, who had to give up his seat for Mikkelsen in Italy, was back again and so was Craig Breen. In the M-Sport team we saw Teemu Suninen who had a test for his Finland appearance. No changes in the other teams, so again there were 14 WRC’s at the start, including Mads Østberg.

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Thierry Neuville - Nicolas Gilsoul Hyundai i20 Coupe WRC Page right Stephane Lefebvre - Gabin Moreau Ford Fiesta WRC

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The Road to WRC Glory

Round 8: Poland

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hough Ogier was on the podium he couldn’t prevent Neuville from coming closer again and as there was a Hyundai 1, 2 on the podium their advantage in the manufacturers championship dropped to 22 points. It all started well by Evans taking the lead in the first stage, but soon Neuville and Latvala started battling for the lead. Until stage 7 Latvala was leading the pack. Then Neuville passed him and Tanak was the next driver to pass him. At the end of Friday the situation was that Neuville was leading before Tanak and Latvala. Ogier was fourth. On Sunday Tanak passed Neuville for the lead. They kept on playing this game and they changed places 6 times. In the end things went wrong for the Estonian. While leading he went into stage 21 (2 stages before the end) and was caught by the changing grip. Coming out of a fast corner there was suddenly no more grip and he slid off the road into retirement. Neuville won but kept quiet during the PowerStage, and only got one bonus point.

Winner: Thierry Neuville

MC

SWE

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Championship leader: Sebastien Ogier

MEX

COR

ARG

POR

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POL

FIN

GER

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OZ

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Sébastien OGIER Thierry NEUVILLE Ott TÄNAK Jari-Matti LATVALA Elfyn EVANS Dani SORDO Kris MEEKE Hayden PADDON Juho HÄNNINEN Craig BREEN

85.1% The percentage of competitors that reached the fiffiinish despite the horriffiic weather conditions

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FINLAND Neuville cathces Ogier Words: Harry van Veenendaal Images: Erik van 't Land

Rally-emag / 2017 Review

Earlier this year a stage in Rally Sweden was already cancelled and Finland is generally considered to be one of the faster events on the calendar. In Poland, also a very fast rally, the average speed this year had been 113.54.

(Last year the average was 113.68, but the weather was much better then.) Last year the speed in Finland was 125.66 km/h so the organizers tried to decrease the speed by installing chicanes. At the end of this year’s rally the average speed was 123,9 km/h, still a blistering speed in the Finnish forests, especially if you include some of the slow street stages. The fastest stage was the second running of Ouninpohja where Esapekka Lappi drove with an average speed of 135,1 km/h.

Line up Again we saw 14 2017 spec cars. No Mikkelsen this time, but Meeke was back in his C3. No changes in the other teams but Mads Ă˜stberg was present again just like Teemu Suninen. Both had Fiestas WRC 17.

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TEEMU SUNINEN-MIKKO MARKKULA FORD FIESTA WRC M-SPORT WORLD RALLY TEAM Image by: ERIK VAN 'T LAND

MC

SWE

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COR

ARG

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OZ

On Toyota's semi-home event, the Yaris was dominant and a new Flying Finn emerged. Esapekka Lappi claimed his maiden WRC victory.

The Road to WRC Glory

Round 9: Rally Finland

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Sébastien OGIER Thierry NEUVILLE Ott TÄNAK Jari-Matti LATVALA Elfyn EVANS Dani SORDO Kris MEEKE Hayden PADDON Juho HÄNNINEN Craig BREEN

25 The highest number of stages in this year's season, were run in Finland

nitially Ott Tanak got the lead, but after a puncture on stage 4.

He dropped down the leaderboard. Latvala felt really at home and was the next leader. Though heavily attacked by Esapekka Lappi he stayed in the lead until stage 9, halfway Friday afternoon. Lappi took over and he was the overnight leader with a 4.5 second gap. On Saturday morning he held the lead on the first stage but from this stage onwards Latvala started to win al stages. Until the second running of Ouninpohja.

The Yaris suddenly slowed down in the middle of the stage.

Latvala parked his car and started to work on it frantically.

Not much later he had to retire with a technical glitch. Lappi did not want to win this way but obviously continued and won the rally. A dream result in such an early stage of your career. Sebastien Ogier did not have the rally he wanted. In the fourth stage he went off and landed in the trees. Unfortunately The FIA Medical Officer did not want the team to start again as Julien Ingrassia had to rest. So the team retired and did not bring any points. Thierry Neuville could not take full advantage, as the Hyundai’s were not heir usual fast self in Finland. He finished sixth and now has an equal amount of points as Ogier. As he has more wins, he now officially leads the championship and will be running first in the next event.

Winner: Esapekka Lappi

Championship leader: Thierry Neuville Rally-emag / 2017 Review

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ADAC Rallye Deutschland Words: Harry van Veenendaal - Images: Erik van 't Land

We’re back to where we begun. In the first event of this year, the difference between Ogier and Neuville was zero points. Now at the beginning of round nine, the difference is again zero points. So Germany is an important rally. Apart from Neuville and Ogier there are several other teams who want to impose in the vineyards. The rallyroute has changed a bit and the number of vineyard stages has dropped, just like the former host town of Trier. There is quite a bit of criticism about the new stages, especially about the ne new Saarbrücken street stage is not very popular. (Ask Kris Meeke who damaged his C3 in such a way he could not continue during that leg.) Also the servicepark was not as expected. Heavy rains had made the grass fields quite muddy and though the organizers did their best to improve the situation, the service park continued to be a problem. The bad weather was not helping. But something needs to be done next year.

Line up At Citroën Kris Meeke, Craig Breen and Andreas Mikkelsen had been entered. So Lefebvre was not present. All the other drivers were there including Lappi with Toyota. Armin Kremer found money to race one event and rented a Fiesta WRC 17 for this event. Mads Østberg had withdrawn his entry in an R5 Fiesta. In a test event he had some mechanical troubles that could not be solved in time.

LEFT: With the momentum on his side Neuville looked ready to pounce in the title battle, but you know what they say about momenum and its ability to shift in an instant...

TOP: With Tanak's first win in the pocket, he now says he 'know how to win'. It proved true in Germany.

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SEBASTIEN OGIER-JULIEN INGRASSIA FORD FIESTA WRC M-SPORT WORLD RALLY TEAM Image by: STEVEN VAN VEENENDAAL

Round 10: ADAC Rallye Deutschland

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he first (surprise) leader was Jan Kopecky in his Skoda R5. He had been fastest on the opening street stage in Saarbrücken. On Friday morning former winner Dani Sordo took an early lead only to be passed by Tanak one stage later.

Then Mikkelsen showed the C3’s potential on tarmac. It lasted three stages till Friday afternoon. Then Ott Tänak took the lead and kept that to the finish. But what about the BIG fight? Ogier did well, he struggled a bit with the new stages that were quite slippery and dirty but he managed to stay out of harms way and did not try to catch Mikkelsen, who drove an excellent rally an finished second. Neuville did not have a good rally. He was third of day one and prepared to launch the big attack. On the first stage on Saturday however he cut a corner a bit too deeply snapping his suspension. He was out for the day and could only watch Ogier gathering points.

The double podium of M-Sport was a blow to Hyundai. Sordo went off in stage 4 and couldn’t motivate himself to go faster. On the PowerStage he showed what he is capable off by winning it. Neuville couldn’t even do that and did not score any points.

Winner: Ott Tanak Championship leader: Sebastien Ogier

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Sébastien OGIER Thierry NEUVILLE Ott TÄNAK Jari-Matti LATVALA Elfyn EVANS Dani SORDO Kris MEEKE Hayden PADDON Juho HÄNNINEN Craig BREEN

--0.3-SECONDS

The lead Jan Kopecky took into the first overnight halt over winning the opening stage, making him the first overnight leader this season not driving a '17 spec WRC

Rally-emag / 2017 Review

Season review

Meeke rises again

SPAIN Words by Harry van Veenendaal Images by Erik van 't Land

The event Catalunya is the only event in the season to have both gravel and sealed surface. This always makes the overnight service exciting.

The service crews change te cars from gravel to tarmac specs in just over an hour. Of course the battle of the day would be between Ogier and Neuville. Will the Frenchman raise the gap or will the Belgian come closer?

Everyone was looking for Hyundai anyway as Andreas Mikkelsen was called for the rescue to perhaps salvage some extra points in the battle for manufacturers honour.

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Line up As already said Mikkelsen joined the Koreans.

He wil be in the Hyundai for the remaning three events. In Spain he will be driving Paddon’s car. But Paddon will come back in GB. The Mikkelsen deal includes a permanent seat for the 2018 season, so finally the last victim of the Volkswagen exit has found a new seat. Next year’s consequences for Sordo and Paddon were not yet clear. At Citroën we find Meeke, Lefebvre and Al Qassimi. Mads Østberg was present again in his Fiesta WRC 17.

So that makes 13 WRC 17 cars again. The total number of competitors was a very reasonable 70.

Spain

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SH. KHALED AL-QASSIMI-CHRIS PATTERSON CITROEN C3 WRC CITROEN TOTAL ABU DHABI WRT Image by: ERIK VAN 'T LAND

3

Andreas Mikk for Hyunda different ca (Skoda, Citro

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kelsen started ai, his third ar this year oen, Hyundai)

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The Road to WRC Glory

Sébastien OGIER Thierry NEUVILLE Ott TÄNAK Jari-Matti LATVALA Elfyn EVANS Dani SORDO Kris MEEKE Hayden PADDON Juho HÄNNINEN Craig BREEN

Round 11: Rally RACC Catalunya Rally Espana

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he opening stage was for Ott Tänak, followed by Mads Østberg. Thierry Neuville clearly was In attack-mode and was third; seven seconds clear of his rival Ogier in fifth. Kris Meeke started his climb u the leaderboard by winning the next stage Tanak however kept the lead, With Østberg in second. In stage 3, Terra Alta, Andreas Mikkelsen was the surprise leader, the next stage there was another surprise leader: Mads Østberg. Mikkelsen came back however and was the remarkable overnight leader. Østberg is complaining about dust coming into his car. They haven’t found the entrance hole yet, so his performance is hampered by it. By the next day however Kris Meeke took the lead until the finish. Juho Hänninen (2 scratches) Thierry Neuville (1 scratch) and Ogier (3 stages) try to do something about it but the last Saturday stage we can witness a Meeke resurrection, he wins all but the final PowerStage (Sordo did win that one) and stays there to ascend the finish podium. He is happy about it and philosophical at the same time, like the true fighter he is: “It’s not so important how many times you’re knocked down, it’s more important how many times you stand up again...” For Neuville this was a very difficult event. After both Sordo and Mikkelsen had suffered a broken suspension it was Neuville’s fate to repeat that in the final Sunday stages, so no points for him. Ogier eventually was second. Together with third place in the PowerStage this earned him 21 points creating a near insurmountable gap to Neuville. M-Sport gathered 33 extra points (Ogier 2nd and Tanak 3rd) So the chance for Hyundai to win the manufacturers title was only a mathematical one.

Winner: Kris Meeke

Championship leader: Sebastien Ogier Rally-emag / 2017 Review

WALES RALLY GB Words: Harry van Veenendaal Images: Erik van 't Land

The arithmetic was easy. Ogier needed 13 points to be the champion and M-Sport ‘only’ needed 4 points to be sure. With this season’s track record this should not be very difficult, but to finish first… So it was a really exciting weekend in Wales. Would the Frenchman be able to clinch his fifth crown and would the (semi-) private M-Sport team be able to beat all the official manufacturers?

Line up The usual 13 teams (including Mads Ostberg) were present in Deeside. Not among them Daniel Sordo (whose car has been taken by Andreas Mikkelsen) and Stéphane Lefebvre who was replaced by Citroën’s main benefactor Sheik Khalid Al Qassimi.

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JARI-MATTI LATVALA-MIIKKA ANTTILA TOYOTA YARIS WRC TOYOTA GAZOO RACING WRT Image by: ERIK VAN 'T LAND

Round 12: Wales Rally GB

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ne man most desperately wanted to win in his home country and that was Elfyn Evans he proved he matured a lot, but he knows that, in order to be a real top driver, you need a win. He’s been very close in Argentina this year with only 0.7 seconds difference, but runner up is not what you want. Ott Tanak already broke the jinx and won twice this season so why not win here the Welshman must have thought. On the first Visit Conwy Tir Prince stage Ogier won and Evans was following him at just over 1 second. Ogier-challenger Neuville was following his opponent at half a second. He however dropped down the leaderboard due to a 10 second penalty for being a minute late at the time control. On Friday morning Evans took his chance, won Meherin and lead the rally. Ogier, Tanak and Meeke were his early challengers but Evans showed them the way. He was fastest on no less than 9 f the 21 stages. His nearest challenger was Neuville who won 5‌ The Belgian was handicapped a bit by his co-driver Nicolas Gilsoul who suffered from a bad cold that made him lose his voice every now and then. Still Saturday was a good Neuville day. Ogier is still second but Neuville is near (less than five seconds) This is enough for the titles, so Ogier does what he does best: controlling the situation! And at the end of the day M-Sport wins almost everything there is to win. Elfyn Evans finally gets his first victory. Neuville’s charge ends in second; Ogier is third and gains more than enough points to celebrate his fifth championship. Ott Tanak is sixth, so all M-Sport cars finish in the top ten.

Winner: Elfyn Evans Champion: Sebastien Ogier

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5

The number of titles Ogier and Ingrassia hold after Wales Rally GB

Sébastien OGIER Thierry NEUVILLE Ott TÄNAK Jari-Matti LATVALA Elfyn EVANS Dani SORDO Kris MEEKE Hayden PADDON Juho HÄNNINEN Craig BREEN Rally-emag / 2017 Review

A u s t r a l i a CAUTION

LEFT HAND DRIVE

Words: Harry van Veenendaal - Images: PR

Image: PR

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Ogier's last?

The season finale

The championships being decided the last rally of the year is always difficult.

It is very far from homebase of most of the teams. The championship has been long and people want to get a rest. What made Australia interesting this year is the fight for second place in the driver’s championship and the question, what is Ogier going to do; to start with the last question. No none knows, not even Ogier himself! At the end of the rally I don’t want to keep you in the dark, but please don’t ask me the question anymore. I will not answer it, as I simply I don’t know! There are still two possibilities: I can stay with M-Sport, or I stay at home. It won’t be long anymore but right now I can say

nothing. He had to repeat it quite often, but as we are writing this, still no word about his future.

But looking at this rally we couldn’t help thinking Is this the last time we see him competing? It is very hard to believe that but you never know Line up A total of 33 teams had found their way to Australia, that is 16 of the teams were from that part of the world so for them it was a bit easier. Eleven of the rest were regular WRC competitors. Not present was Dani Sordo, who had been replaced here for Andreas Mikkelsen and Juho Hänninen, whose car was now running in the hands of Esapekka Lappi.

Rally-emag / 2017 Review

Round 13: Kennards Hire Rally Australia

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hat do you do if you have the championship in the bag, so there is nothing more to prove? If your name is Ogier you do your best. Just because you always want to win. But bringing up the motivation and at the same time contemplating about your future is still very difficult. Great Britain had almost been a fairy tale, ‘this is th best and most hard fought championship I won.” Well basically this was a Hyundai event. Last year’s winner Andreas Mikkelsen won the first four stages, and kept the lead until stage 10. Coming out of a bend he went wide and smashed into a bank. Both his left hand tyres were punctured and at the end of the stage he looked at the shredded tyres and could only conclude “This car is not going anywhere anymore. The damage of course could have been solved, had he had two spares on board but he only had one…

Neuville took over and won. So that was it? Well not quite Three drivers rolled or crahed their car out of the rally. Breen and Lefebvre made it easy on the Citroën salvage trucks as they both parked their cars in stage 18. Neither of the two C3’s was capable of moving on it’s own. Latvala was second just eleven seconds separating him from Neuville, so in the PowerStage he launched a final attack. The he brushed a tree stump Something in the front suspension snapped and the Toyota ended it’s fight on the other side of the track. “Sorry guys, I tried something but it did not work!” the Finn told his team. The final verdict: Neuville won and ended second in the championship. Ott Tänak ended his M-Sport career and was second in Australia and third in the driver’s title. Paddon ended quite a miserable year in third making this rally a Hyundai success.

Winner: Thierry Neuville Championship leader: Sebastien Ogier

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Image: PR

Sébastien OGIER Thierry NEUVILLE Ott TÄNAK Jari-Matti LATVALA Elfyn EVANS Dani SORDO Kris MEEKE Hayden PADDON Juho HÄNNINEN Craig BREEN

--13--

Image: PR

This was the 13th and final rally of the 2017 WRC season. A season that will go into the history books as one of the most exciting championships in years.

Everyone is entitled to have some rest now, but we’re already anticipating another exciting season in 2018.

Rally-emag / 2017 Review

order the 2017 calendar now! action pictures of the wrc teams driving all over the world!

For 15â‚Ź (ex. shipping order now at info@rallypicture.nl

SIT

A TYPICAL RALLY WEEK IN TRACKING AND TIMING Behind the scenes at SIT Sports pt. II In the previous issue of Rally-eMag we published a story about SIT, the current timekeeper of the WRC. We then promised you a second part.

In the meantime however the FIA chose a new partner for tracking and timing. Still we would like to present the second part where we can see the day-to-day business of the ‘timekeeper’ during a rally week. We do this especially as we intend to talk to Safety Awareness Systems, the new timekeeper, very soon. The information in the article underneath will hopefully provide information to compare the two companies. words: Harry van veenendaal Images: Erik van 't Land / Steven van Veenendaal

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hen in Portugal we asked Alex Rodriguez what it takes to do the job of Tracking and Timing during a typical rallyweek. Here is what he told us: We have 21 people, well 29 in total with the people supporting us from Barcelona. The other people work on site in several functions. The first team existing of two people arrives on Saturday in the week preceding the rally. They start to download the track data and do the first preparations.

SIT Sunday On Sunday nine more people arrive. Most of them help with installation of the structures like the satellite dish.

On Sunday we also prepare the recce devices. In the French rallies Monte Carlo and Corsica recce collection is on Sunday, so we need to prepare on Saturday.

monday In the other rallies recce collection is on Monday. On that day we also go on site to look at new stages, to check new places etcetera. Like here the Braga stage, we check positions for the satellite antenna with all other technical equipment.

In most other rallies it is usually the same so then we don’t need to check everything.

Then we have to buy local SIM-cards, because in Mexico for example a one-minute call costs 5 euros and believe it or not buying local SIM cards in Mexico costs at least one morning. Then we go for the passes and accreditation and we have a briefing, where we set out the outlines of what is going to happen.

Rally-emag / 2017 Review

Tuesday Tuesday is the first day of recce. There we have one or two people giving technical support from the very early morning. The other people start installing HQ and with the computers there and creating user accounts for race control so that hey can log on to our systems.

Today the teams come to collect the tracking boxes.

For the manufacturer teams we bring them, because there are just a few. But the other competitors should collect and install the tracking boxes themselves. For the manufacturers it is completely optimized. They only need to put the tracking box in a special bay in the car and that is all. But for the other teams we provide a manual telling where and how to install the box, the antenna’s etcetera. We give them everything, the box the antennas and the console with the buttons (SOS and OK buttons). Installing is quite easy and a lot of cars already are specially prepared with things like the holes for the cables to the antennas. That is Tuesday.

wednesday Wednesday is a busy day because first we have the scrutineering of the manufacturer’s to check if everything is working well that the red flag is working etcetera. We always check with every team and every car. Then we install everything in the FIA room, a computer and printer and we help them to use the tracking and timing system. On Wednesday we also have the WRC Manufacturer’s meeting. We attend that meeting because quite often they speak about changes and times and other things we need to know. Attending the meeting are representatives from the manufacturers, and the other teams like Jippocar and Valery Gorban.

We also are present at the non-priority scrutineering.

That is even more important because they have installed the equipment themselves and we have to check if it is working. We have some people who physically check all the cars. Here in Portugal that may take from 14:00 till 22:00. We also prepare the special equipment for Jérome Toquet, the FIA technical delegate and Michelle Mouton, the FIA safety delegate.

wednesday They get special equipment so that they can follow the cars via the tracking system by means of radio connections. The maps are already on the computer and with the radio they get the positions so that they can be painted, so to speak, on the map. On Wednesday or Thursday we also provide the tracking boxes for the organisation cars, the zero, double zero, triple zero and sweeper car. On Wednesday the local time keepers collect their equipment and we give them the course to operate the equipment.

Thursday On Thursday we have shakedown and we also have to prepare the connections for the OB unit. That is the mobile broadcasting centre they use for television. We have to install cables and other connections. That is sometimes very complicated like last year in Porto, the finish line was about a kilometre from the OB van and we had to install cables, view-to-view antennas and WiFi. If you look at it on TV you say “oh that is nice’ but there is a lot of work behind it.

friday On Friday you can guess it’s rally time, everybody is in his place. The timing department is going to the stages; the two tracking engineers are here the whole day. In HQ we also have a person the whole day to resolve problems that might arise.

Here in Portugal it is especially busy with the TV live stages as there are live stages every day.

So that means that sometimes you have to pack all your gear in the evening, then proceed to the next stage, install and test everything in order to be ready in time for the next broadcast, maybe some fifty kilometres away. Then if everything is working you can go to your hotel and have to get up early to be present again next day. In the hotel you have time to take a shower have a croissant and go again.

saturday

Saturday and Sunday are basically the same. On Sunday after the rally we pack everything.

Then we do a check if everything has been brought back.

This includes time keeping equipment from the local time keepers, and the tracking boxes from the competitors.

Sunday Obviously there is a caution they have to pay in case they break or lose something, as we then have to charge them. In cases like for example Wales we need to clean up in the moment because otherwise the travel fee would be much higher due to fifty kilos of mud.

We are also responsible for the start list, final results and everything. Sometimes the classification has to wait because of an issue at technical scrutineering and then we have to wait sometimes for a very long time before we can publish the classification. So the rally is over by two and you have to wait until 23:00 to be able to publish the final classification. If you finish earlier you grab a beer but if it’s eleven you just want to go to bed.

On Monday we fly back home.

In the office we have three people doing the thorough checks on the equipment then there are the telecommunication guys asking for permits of future rally’s Also we have to apply for flight permission So not only for radio but also for flight permission. And for overseas events we have to rent our planes. Then we have to repack everything for transport to the next event.

Rally-emag / 2017 Review

SIT experience is everything Five year ago when we started The FIA decided on a very short notice. If you have to prepare things on such short notice it is very difficult. Of course you have done some work in advance but you can’t start from scratch. If in the coming tender they choose another company it will happen again, because it is impossible to know how to do this for 100 percent.

We did not come from zero, as we did the national Spanish championship but the WRC is completely different. That is what we told others. Maybe your system works very well in Australia, maybe your system works really fine in Germany, but what you use in Germany maybe doesn’t work in Mexico, or the system you use in Australia doesn’t work in Finland. You need to have a system that works in 13 or 14 different rallies all over the world, in differ-

Rally-emag / 2017 Review

ent weather with different geological circumstances. Plus you need to have the right people who are not in it for the money, if you want to make money go somewhere else. You do it because you love it.

Experience is everything One of the things we experienced was that we found our main tracking system in the beginning was overloaded, because we gave the password to too many people and they passed it on and then the system was overloaded. So we conceived a new website where you can actually see the dots on the map but you can’t put any requests you just see what you get. For many people that is enough. This system is now working quite smoothly and you can open it in a tablet or in a mobile phone.

volunteers But there are other things, for example when we arrived in Sweden. In the first year it was -10 till -12 everything worked fine. Next year it was about -21 to -25 and suddenly the glass of the cells got frozen so they were not reading anymore and so we needed to change something to the cells to prevent that from happening. The same applied to the cables: first year working well, the second year they were frozen and if you step on them they crack. As I told you in Mexico you can simply put the antenna on the ground if you do that in Sweden the battery is empty in five minutes because of the cold and you need to protect them. Another thing you should always bear in mind is that the vast majority of the people working here are volunteers. So what you as a professional think is obvious in the world championship, might not be so obvious for those enthusiastic volunteers.

take someone all around the WRC costs quite a bit of money, taking into consideration salary, allowances, hotels and flights. With six more people that amounts to an even bigger amount of money. In F1 it is easier there you have only one track. But in rallies it is quite different. That is a bit like you are on a national championship. The structure is more or less the same, so your team optimizes for that. But in WRC things can change suddenly with for example a complicated SuperSpecial stage or a sudden route change. The main problem for us is that in these cases decisions are taken very late. Then we are sometimes faced with things no timing system in the world is prepared for. What we say to FIA is that they should standardize super special stages and make three or four types. Then in Finland the people would say Harju is SuperSpecial stage type 2 then if something unexpected happens everyone knows what to do. We try to communicate that to the We can’t do without the volunteers, as the FIA doesn’t FIA. Our job is not only to provide services but also try have the budget. We now have six people in our timing to improve the championship itself by showing them department. With twelve people we could do it. But to things they sometimes don’t see from the outside.

Rally-emag / 2017 Review

Erik’s Epic encounters a!

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