Following on from our Best of 2014 WEC gallery, we’ve trawled through our 2014 WRC image archive and picked out the best 13 pics from the 13 rallies.
And here they are!
Category: WRC
M-Sport will be tackling the 2015 WRC season with one of the most youngest driver line ups in the field. Elfyn Evans returns to follow his rookie season with M-Sport and will be joined by Estonian Ott Tanak.
Both drivers have shown good pace on the WRC stage, but neither has much experience. Maybe that’s why Malcolm Wilson has decided the 2015 livery should hark back to Hannu Mikkola’s 1979 Ford Escort RS 1800 MKII and the later 1989 Ford Sierra RS Cosworth of Colin McRae.
You’ll get your first chance to the the new-look 2015 Fiesta, along with all the other WRC machines when Rallye Monte Carlo kicks off on 22 January.
Kiwi driver Hayden Paddon will extend his WRC career with Hyundai Motorsport in 2015 driving a minimum of nine rallies. In 2014 the 27-year-old and co-driver John Kennard competed in six WRC events, with a best result of P6 in Rally Australia.
“I am very excited to continue working with Hyundai Motorsport with an expanded programme, starting with round 2 in Sweden,” Paddon said. “I learnt a lot and built some really good partnerships within the team this year and it was an obvious choice for us to develop more and chase better results in 2015.”
Paddon clearly impressed team boss Michel Nandan during his limited running this season, explaining his feedback to engineers has been very helpful.
“He had a great first WRC season with us, putting in some eye-catching performances and helping us a lot in the development of our team and car,” Nandan said of Paddon. “He gives excellent technical feedback and works very well as part of a close-knit team with the engineers and mechanics.
“He has already proven himself more than capable of rallying with the best drivers in the world and his personal development was evident as he reduced the gap to his more experienced colleagues.”
Australian driver Chris Atkinson drove for Hyundai at Rally Mexico and Rally Australia in 2014 and it’s unclear what role he will play with the team next year.
Spanish ace Dani Sordo is confirmed for at least 10 of the 13 rounds in 2015, so opportunities for Atkinson may be thin on the ground.
Categories
2015 WRC calendar confirmed
The FIA World Motor Sport Council approved the 2015 WRC calendar last week.
As usual the WRC season starts with Rallye Monte Carlo, to be held on the last weekend in January. Rally Australia maintains its mid-September date and the 13-race calender ends in Great Britain in mid-November.
Check out the calendar in full after the break.
Mads Ostberg will remain with Citroën Racing next year, meaning the French outfit will continue with the same driver lineup as this year. Also making a one-off appearance at Rallye Monte Carlo will be nine-time world champ Sebastien Loeb.
“I’m very happy to be able to keep working with the Citroën Total Abu Dhabi World Rally Team,” Ostberg said. “I have learned a lot just by being in contact with this fantastic team and I feel that I’m a better driver.
“With the DS 3 WRC, I had to adjust my driving style. The work I put in has enabled me to discover new techniques, and they have helped me get to grips with certain surfaces and conditions more easily.
“I’ll be using this experience to go even further in 2015. I’m really looking forward to seeing the upgrades that have been made on the DS 3 WRC.”
The 27-year-old Norwegian has a single rally victory to his name, Rally Portugal in 2012 at the wheel of a Ford Fiesta RS WRC.
Sebastien Loeb and Daniel Elena will be making a one-off return to the WRC by taking part in the 2015 Rallye Monte Carlo.
Under the guise of promotion for Citroën’s DS brand the seven-time winners of the event have been nominated, along with Kris Meeke, to score championship points for Citroën’s WRC manufacturer’s title campaign.
“I didn’t hesitate for a second when I was offered the chance to compete at the opening round of the 2015 World Rally Championship in the DS 3 WRC,” said Loeb. “I think Daniel and I would agree that Monte-Carlo is one of our favourite events. The beautiful roads, the fact of having to gamble when it comes to tyre choice and the party atmosphere that you get on the stages: we can’t wait to experience it all again!
“Obviously, it’s going to be a personal challenge for me, as I haven’t competed in a rally for over a year. A few days from now, I’m going to take part in the Rallye du Var and that will give me the chance to reacquaint myself with the car. We have also managed to find a few available slots in my schedule so I can take part in testing. I’m absolutely delighted about this opportunity to meet up with the big rallying family during the FIA WTCC off-season!”
Loeb and Elena last competed in Rallye Monte-Carlo in 2013. It was the start of their WRC swansong and they won the event for the seventh time.
Put Kris Meeke in a rally car and you’ll soon learn he has raw pace. Consistency is where Meeke struggles and, of course, he’s partial to the odd spectacular crash. Yet, after his full WRC season in a top team he has progressed enough to keep his job. And that’s good news for the WRC, because as well as pace Meeke is great to watch.
“When we chose Kris Meeke for this season, we took a bit of a gamble,” said Yves Matton, Citroën Racing Team Principal. “But he has improved with pretty much every race and has now become a complete driver.
“The real turning point was at Rally Finland. He adopted the right approach. He has managed to acquire experience throughout the season. He has shown that he not only has real pace, but that he can be more patient sometimes as well.”
Meeke’s ability to perform well on numerous surfaces impresses his bosses and helped his cause. He scored podiums in Monte-Carlo, Argentina, Finland and France.
“This first full season has been spent learning about the WRC,” explained the 35-year-old Meeke. “In the second half of the year, I was able to show part of my potential.
“There’s room for improvement, but I now have some decent foundations to build on next year, in order to keep progressing.”
Mikko Hirvonen retired from the WRC after Wales Rally GB. Via his personal YouTube channel he’s released this thank you video, which includes footage from his final rally and a few short interviews with his colleagues and competitors.
One of the nice guys is leaving one of world motorsport’s best most exhilarating categories. Let’s refelect for a moment and say thanks.
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2014 Wales Rally GB in pictures
Will you just look at all that bloody mud! It’s the signature look for the Wales Rally GB and, for once, being first on the road was a nice advantage for rally winner Sebastien Ogier who made the most of the wet conditions before the stages became too rutted and dug up by all the cars.
There’s some great photos below and we trust you will enjoy your last gallery of rally pics for 2014. Until Rallye Monte Carlo… if in doubt, flat out!
Sebastien Ogier and Julien Ingrassia have capped off a stunning WRC season with their eighth victory of the year at the Wales Rally GB. It’s the twelfth win for Volkswagen from the 13 race calendar and a season of success like this has to be savoured, for you can never expect it to be repeated.
“That is obviously the best way to end a season: with a win,” said Ogier after the rally. “We really had to go flat-out on Friday and had a close battle for the lead with my team-mate Jari-Matti Latvala. That allowed us to open up a big lead over the rest of our rivals.
“When Jari-Matti made a mistake on Saturday, it obviously completely changed the character of the rally for us. I just had to get the car to the finish line. However, that is anything but easy given the typical conditions here in Wales. All in all, it has been another magnificent season for Julien and me, with a fantastic team behind us.”
In perhaps his best achievable result in his final WRC start Mikko Hirvonen ended his career on the podium, a bit over 37 seconds behind Ogier. It was a great way for the popular Finn to say goodbye to his fans.
“I couldn’t really think of a better way to end my career,” Hirvonen said. “We had a great fight all through the weekend and to finish with the second place is absolutely fantastic.
“Today it was a bit emotional for sure. Before this morning I manage to be pretty on it and concentrate on the rally, but today it was a bit more difficult!”
Mads Ostberg finished third, meaning the healthy sight of three different manufacturers on the podium was a pleasing way to end the WRC season, dominated by Volkswagen.
Ostberg’s points proved valuable for Citroën and allowed them to claim second place in the manufacturers’ championship, just two points ahead of M-Sport (Ford).
Given their all-conquering season Volkswagen might have hoped the final event could end like the championship standings, with their drivers filling the first three places. But for some minor errors by Jari-Matti Latvala and Andreas Mikkelsen that might have been the case too. The Polos certainly had the pace in the muddy conditions, but not the consistency from the men behind the wheel.
Still, 2014 has been a great season for Volkswagen and we hope Citroën, Ford and Hyundai can raise their game in 2015.
The Volkswagen Polo R WRC has taken the rally world by storm. Since making its debut in Monte Carlo last year it has won 20 out of 24 rallies entered. Even with the resources Volkswagen is throwing behind its WRC team, that’s quite a remarkable achievement.
Heading into the 2015 season you’d think Volkswagen Motorsport would be confident its dominance can continue. According to Volkswagen technical chief Francois-Xavier Demaison that’s not the case at all.
“I am more nervous with the new car,” revealed Demaison. “When we started with the current car, we did not really have pressure—we had a three-year plan to be champions.
“The idea was to do the first car and then make a second step to improve it, but when we see the results we had with this car… it’s a bit more complicated now!
“We have to be better or at least as good. It’s really hard for us for next year.”
Perhaps adding to Demaison’s concerns is the fact Hyundai will have an all-new i20 WRC next season, whereas Volkswagen will be racing an evolution of the current car with up to 80% of the 2014 championship winning Polo R WRC to be kept.
[Source: Autosport]
Not everyone in the WRC can be a good bloke, but we can’t imagine there’ll be too many people willing to say a bad word about Mikko Hirvonen. And that’s why, at the age of 34, it’s a real shame to see the likeable Finn announce his retirement from top level motorsport. The upcoming Wales Rally GB will be his final WRC event.
Hirvonen and long-time co-driver Jarmo Lehtinen have started 162 rallies together, collected a total of 15 wins, 68 podium finishes and but for an incredible run of championships from Sebastien Loeb could have hoped for more than being four-times runner up in the WRC.
“I have so many incredible memories from the last thirteen seasons,” Hirvonen said. “I have had the chance to achieve my childhood dreams!
“I have travelled all around the world, met some fantastic people and have loved every rally and every fight that I have had with some exceptional drivers. I won some and I lost some but, for sure, I will look back on these moments to the end of my days with a great big smile on my face.”
Co-drivers often get left in the background and Hirvonen’s thoughts on sharing a car with Lehtinen are worth sharing: “‘Privilege’, because it has been a privilege to work with Jarmo. None of this would have happened without him.
“We met for the first time at Helsinki airport in 2001, before flying to Italy where we were meant to be competing in our first rally together. It was the beginning of a great friendship.
“In these thirteen years, full of laughter, adventures, wins, losses and passion, we have experienced everything together. And I know that it’s not over yet! We’ll share many more experiences, because there are still a few great pages to be written in our notebook!”
Whatever the future holds for Mikko and Jarmo we wish the very best of success.