Monte Carlo 2011, finish.

What a rally! One of the best I've watched for a long time, and even better as I got to watch 12 of the 13 stages live on TV. The live coverage that Eurosport is able to broadcast is very impressive, and years ahead of the WRC. It looks likely that it will stay that way too after it was announced that the WRC will be screened on ESPN this year, which is a subscription only channel. On the face of it this seems like a poor choice but I assume someone must know that they are doing, for the future of the WRC I hope.

Bryan Bouffier's name topped the time sheet at the end of the Monte Carlo, but that doesn't give you the full picture. A good tyre choice, or rather a poor tyre choice by other crews moved him from 7th overall to leading the rally in just one snow covered stages. I think if the weather hadn't intervened he would have had trouble breaking into the top 5. The real star of the show was Juho Hanninen. Up until stage 7 it looked like no one would be able to catch him. His turn of speed for a man who isn't considered a tarmac expect was remarkable. It is clear to see that he has lifted himself above the IRC regulars and that he fully deserves his chance in the WRC.

I was pleased to see that the 207 is still a match for the Fabia. I had worried that the championship wouldn't be that exciting this year if it was just between the Skodas, but it looks like there will be a good battle. Guy Wilks had a good event, set some quick times and didn't put a foot wrong to finish with 3rd place points, which gets his 2011 campaign off to a good start. Andreas Mikkelsen only made it 4 corners into stage 1 before sliding wide on cold tyres and hitting a wall. Let's hope that his luck changes before the next round.

Chris Patterson and Petter Solberg were having a great run until it snowed and with the chance of victory gone it seemed to knock the wind out of Petter sails. Petter was fully on the pace up till then, running as high as 2nd and leading Peugeot which just goes to show the man's class. Unfortunately the car let them down on the road section after the last stage and they were not classified as finishers. Eamonn Boland had a good rally, consistently running in the top 5 in Group N and finishing 28th overall and 6th in class. Daniel Barry was also setting some good times in Group N, until he got caught out on the wrong tyres in the snow on stage 8 and put the car off the road.

Results:
http://www.acm.mc/ramc/ramc_main.php

Monte Carlo 2011

The Monte Carlo rally start tomorrow and it looks like it could be a classic. The weather has been very mild so the route is almost totally free of snow and ice making the event a much more normal tarmac rally and the entry list is swollen with talent. Petter Solberg makes his debut in the IRC series and if things follow a similar path to the last two years then it should be Petter who is standing on the top step of the podium come the end of the rally. However I'm not sure that Petter will have the machinery to climb that high, the 207 is no longer a match for the Fabia. I don't think the Peugeots will be able to stop a Skoda pilot from taking the victory but there are so many top class drivers taking part that it could go to any one of the top 15 starters.

It will be interesting to see how Guy Wilks gets on compared to Andreas Mikkelsen, who took Wilks vacated seat in the Skoda UK Fabia. I hope they both have a good clean run but I think Mikkelsen will finish ahead in the final standings.

From the photos I've seen so far of the Citroen DS3 R3T it is a fantastic looking car, if I had the money it would be my current car of choice.

People of interest for Irish motorsport fans are Chris Patterson navigating Petter Solberg at No.2, Eamonn Boland in his Evo 10 at No.36 and Daniel Barry in his Evo 9 at No.47.

IRC website:
http://www.ircseries.com/html/

British Rally Championship goes 2wd for 2012

It was announced this week that for 2012 the BRC will only be open to 2wd cars up to 2000cc and I have to say that I support this change. A lot of people will be disappointed at the lose of the 4wd cars but it should help to put a cap on costs. It might not seem like that now, when a competitive Group N car can be built for much less than a new R3 class car like the Citroen DS3 R3, as a rough estimate £50k compared to £100k. But, if a talented driver was to find the budget to compete in a top level S2000 car like the Skoda Fabia then it would force the other drivers to come up with similar machinery or get left behind. The Fabia at over £250k is way beyond even a well funded BRC team.

The move to 2wd also opens up the BRC to a much larger range of cars which could potentially bring back some manufacturer support. The basic spec of the cars, is similar to the spec of the F2 cars that were used in the heyday of the BRC in the late 90's when it was regarded as the best in the world for developing new driver talent. If the rule changes can get the BRC back to that level of competition and recognition I for one will be very pleased.

Press Release:
http://www.rallybrc.co.uk/news-stories/514-04012011-brc-spells-out-its-future-from-2012.html

1997 Ulster Rally, just as a reminder of how good F2 was:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5DJEdUt8X6E