Motorsport Magazine, January 19 2017
Rallying returned to the world roads today, as the enormous field of 20 works drivers made their way to the streets of Monaco for the beginning of the 2017 World Rally Championship. The crowds in Casino Square were enormous as the 8 world championship challengers for what is sure to be an extremely exciting 2017 campaign were gathered in one space for the first time ever.
Lancia were one of the stars of the show, as the spotlight was dropped on the new Omega WRC, a car that is a clear spiritual successor to the all-conquering Delta, with its innovative new aero package and some interesting cooling systems such as the ducts built into the front and rear for the engine and brakes. A lot of attention was also on the return of Prodrive to the championship, after David Richards' marquee failed to make the mark on Formula 1 that he had hoped. Prodrive have teamed up with BMW this season to create the BMW M WRC, a car based on the BMW M235i. Many insiders question if the car, with the longest wheelbase in the championship by a large margin, will be able to be competitive on the tighter stages of the championship, such as the ones in Monte Carlo. However, with an interesting line-up of 2012 WDC Matthew Wilson and the up and coming Briton Elfyn Evans, it will definitely be a campaign to watch for BMW.
It was a somewhat odd start for the championship, as it was not the world champion who led the cars from the ceremonial start in the iconic venue, but rather his replacement. It is no news to anyone reading this that Sebastien Loeb announced his retirement in Turin last month after finally clinching a World Driver's Championship at the final chance at Rally GB. It was instead Nico Rosberg, the former Skoda driver and DTM champion, whom led the field off the line and into the streets of Monaco.
The now traditional special stage around the Monaco harbors took on a special meaning this year, as it would be the first ever qualifying stage in a World Championship rally. The concept of these stages is simply that they will allow the driver with the fastest time to select their place in the running order for the following day, with each driver then selecting in the order that they finished. The idea has been run in the FIA European Rally Championship the last two seasons to good success, and the top dogs hope this will put an end to the running order drama which plagued the three-way battle for the title last season. Rosberg, thanks to his circuit experience, set a brilliant pace through the streets of Monaco, but it was Kris Meeke in the M-Sport Fiesta that put on a blistering performance to take the 'pole' and be allowed the road order of his choice. The concept went down brilliantly, being live-streamed to the world on the WRC's online 24/7 channel RallyLive[1], with an also new preview show which featured distinguished guests such as Juha Kankkunen, Miki Biasion and Henri Toivonen, as well as F1 star Sebastien Ogier, whom tried his hands at rallying prior to his circuit racing experience.
The 'draw' for running order was also shown live on the service, with Japanese rookie Takamoto Katsuta having the unenviable task of leading the field into the mountains around the small principality tomorrow morning.
Rallye Monte Carlo 2017 Standings after SS1/QS
#1: Kris Meeke/Glenn Patterson (M-Sport Ford WRT)
#2: Nico Rosberg/Kaj Lindstrom (Lancia Racing)
#3: Thierry Neuville/Nicolas Gilsoul (M-Sport Ford WRT)
#4: Dani Sordo/Marc Marti (Lancia Racing)
#5: Travis Pastrana/Robbie Durant (Subaru America WRT)
#6: Andreas Mikkelsen/Paul Nagle (Toyota Gazoo Racing)
#7: Jari-Matti Latvala/Miika Anttila (Toyota Gazoo Racing)
#8: Craig Breen/Gareth Roberts (M-Sport Ford WRT)
#9: Hayden Paddon/Julien Ingrassia (Mitsubishi Ralliart)
#10: Ott Tanak/Raigo Molder (Skoda Motorsport)
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BetweenTheDitches.com, a Rallying Fansite
The Great Fire of Corsica
In June 1986, the world of rallying changed forever when Henri Toivonen's Lancia Delta S4 was involved in an accident during the Tour de Corse, which badly injured both the Finn and co-driver Sergio Cresto and raised huge questions over the continuation of the Group B class. Many debate the impact that the event had on rallying. What if the FIA had made a snap decision there and then? Just how different would the world of rallying be then? Well, in this recurring series we'll be looking back through the archives to see just how much of an impact that day had on rallying, motorsport and the world at large.
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For those unaware, OTL, Toivonen was killed when his S4 left the road, which led to the end of Group B there and then. This timeline proposes his accident occurs a corner earlier and that it is not quite as severe. How much has rallying through the years changed?
Next post will be a full review of the 1986 Tour de Corse. Not all rallies will be put up in as in-depth as I'm hoping to with Corsica '86, probably just the most important events, but I hope that this will be interesting. I'll likely be taking the format of covering at the very least the remainder of the 80s in various lengths of news articles, with some flash forwards to the present such as the beginning piece here. Questions/Feedback etc. are welcome!
[1]- I basically see this as an online version of Sky Sports F1, with similar content. Classic rallies, documentaries, full weekend coverage etc.