WRC, ERC and national rallying 2024Rally 

OGIER IS OUT. He is angry, 600 meters in the penultimate stage and he is off the road. Under the new points rules, he loses his Saturday points.

Only Tanak can take the championship to Japan now. Both he and Neuville gain 3 with Ogier losing his Saturday points.
 
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Ott Tanak is the overall rally winner, Katstuta wins super Sunday with a full 12 point haul. Elfyn Evans scores the most points this weekend.

26 point gap between Neuville and Tanak going to Japan, Tanak needs a maximum haul to win and Neuville to have issues. Neuville needs just 5 points to win the title. Hyundai will have their first drivers champion come what may.

21 points between Hyundai and Toyota going to Japan, it's Hyundai’s to lose but Toyota are strong at their home event so it's definitely not over yet.
 
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Lets be honest, It's been an odd season. I feel like Toyota have given this one willingly away. Any combination of Elfyn and Ogier/Kalle full time would probably made it a different story. Still Hyundai won, Nothing against them. Hopefully it may make them commit to the WRC long term and put those Hyundai Out? Rumours to bed.
 
We all know the result. Still I always enjoy these when they finally come around.

 
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I'm sorry for this slight off topic post, but I had to share this amazing interview of Panizzi for all rally fans and I couldn't find another thread for it. Unfortunately it's in French, but the auto translated captions are pretty good.

He goes through his entire career, from very humble beginnings, when his father told him he had 2 years to make it or he had to give it up, starting in an Opel Manta he had to build himself, all the way through becoming a Peugeot factory driver and the 106, 309, 206, and his difficult time with the underfunded and underdeveloped Mitsubishi and Skoda. It's full of incredible anecdotes of almost being arrested on recce in New Zealand, finding out Delecour lied about going on early recce because he hit a truck that was delivering trout to his aunt's restaurant, how he lost the Monte because he lacked 5000 euros of funding to be able to communicate with his gravel crew... But also so many interesting tidbits of how he "learned" to drive in rally school, how he adapted to different cars, how he developed new cars for Peugeot, how he sets up cars for rallies, how asphalt rally driving changed after him, Delecour, Loeb & co brought their experience from French championships.

It's honestly an incredible capsule of how rallying was and has evolved and his experience of it all. He also talks about what he thinks is wrong with rally today at the end. I highly recommend it. :D


 
Chris Ingram, Alex Khourani and Castrol MEM are BRC champions!!! ❤️💚❤️ Well done to William Creighton and M-Sport for the great fight.


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Nice to see the bossman Mel and Nicky Grist there at the celebrations.

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(All photo's from https://x.com/BRCrally on X)
 
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Yeees!!! So happy for them. Melvyn and Meirion are such hard workers with MEM and their regular Derwen Garage business. Chris Is a supremely talented driver too.

It's funny that when I posted about them winning the BRC I was thinking in my head surely it might make Castrol support them a tiny bit more to allow them a WRC or further ERC entries next year.

We were talking a about the possibility of a MEM WRC 2 entry opening the door for the livery to be put into the game. Looks a decent possibility now.
 
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Lots of drama across the opening 2 days of rally Japan, firstly, Toyota's pursuit of Hyundai faces an uphill struggle with Ogier and Katstuta suffering punctures in the opening full leg of the rally, losing 2 and 1 minute respectively to drop them down the order significantly. Evans is still up there, but it won't be enough as it stands.

However, it isn't plain sailing for leaders Hyundai, with Mikkelsen crashing out on SS6 and drivers championship leader Neuville having electrical gremlins which have cost him 8 minutes and put him 15th in the standings. With the new points system though, all is not lost for him, Tanak needs 25 points to secure the title whereas Neuville needs just 6, with 12 points up for grabs just on Sunday as well as any points he can pick up on day 3. It is still very much Neuvilles to lose, but fate is doing all it can to give Tanak the title with him comfortably leading.

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A dramatic final day with Ott Tanak crashing out of the day and the rally meaning Neuville was confirmed as champion before the finish.

Tanaks crash also hands Toyota the constructors championship, coming from 15 points back to win it by 3.
 
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