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8 Jun 2018, 11:02 (Ref:3827635) | #176 | ||
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The decision made to axe Meeke was nothing to do with car development, it was to do with him crashing massively for many years on multiple rallies every year out of leading positions!
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11 Jun 2018, 08:19 (Ref:3828299) | #177 | ||
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I am yet to see any footage from the last day of the rally, but I was following the final stages via the live timing and it was a great finish.
I was actually hoping Ogier win in order to close the Championship back up, but impressive driving from Neuville and Ogier. Both of them are fantastically entertaining to watch when they are pushing hard. |
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11 Jun 2018, 13:23 (Ref:3828409) | #178 | ||
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So far this season Neuville has been very impressive - he seems to have cut out some of the errors of previous seasons (and the Hyundai looks like a well balanced car). The Toyotas look quick but do seem to be a bit fragile - Tanak retires again after a hard landing and you get the impression Latvala is holding back a bit.
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11 Jun 2018, 14:22 (Ref:3828421) | #179 | |||
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13 Jun 2018, 15:40 (Ref:3828933) | #180 | ||
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The big question for me after Sardinia is where do Citroen go from here?
Breen has had his moments but he has rarely looked like worrying the top drivers. Four and half minutes off the pace puts you in a different county in the modern WRC. The jury is out on Ostberg but it would be a major shock if he came close to actually winning a rally this year. Perhaps the truth is that the Citroen isn't very good and Meeke has had to take big risks to get anything out of it. Yes, he has made foolish mistakes but the harder the car is to drive, the more mistakes you are going to make. Sadly, it wouldn't surprise me if this is Citroen's last year in the WRC for now. With a poor car and second-division drivers, are the suits going to want to keep spending the big bucks? Or is Loeb going to be offered silly money to come back on a more regular basis? Who else can make that car a winner...? |
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13 Jun 2018, 15:58 (Ref:3828946) | #181 | |||||
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Quote:
Quote:
Quote:
http://www.wrc.com/en/wrc/news/june-...8--12-12-.html On the plus side he's saying Citroen are in for the next two seasons at least. But "We know that we have a good car" - really? The Citroen has consistently looked to be the weakest of the current crop of WR cars - hence being massively overdriven by Meeke in a desperate attempt to wring a result out of it. Even Loeb binned it. I think Citroen need to face facts - the car is a pig - if they can't see that then they're in big trouble. |
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13 Jun 2018, 16:15 (Ref:3828960) | #182 | |
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Impressive from Neuville to snatch the win at the final moment and take maximum points to increase his lead. This could be his season
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He who dares wins! He who hesitates is lost! |
13 Jun 2018, 16:35 (Ref:3828974) | #183 | |||
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14 Jun 2018, 12:17 (Ref:3829265) | #184 | ||
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Loeb did well this year. The big problem at Citroën isn't the car, but the drivers.
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Nitropteron - Fly fast or get crushed! by NaBUrean Prodooktionz naburu38.itch.io |
14 Jun 2018, 12:41 (Ref:3829272) | #185 | |||
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The other drivers haven't shown the same speed but also haven't binned it as often. Where do you think the Citroen stands in relation to the other cars? In my opinion the Citroen looks to be the slowest of the cars and the hardest to drive. |
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14 Jun 2018, 13:07 (Ref:3829278) | #186 | ||||
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Perhaps I am biased because of the driver involved, but I still think that the C3 WRC is a dog... Quote:
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15 Jun 2018, 08:49 (Ref:3829603) | #187 | |
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Latvala, Ogier and Neuville have questioned the decision to drop Meeke. Seems everyone thinks it's a bad decision, apart from Citroen
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He who dares wins! He who hesitates is lost! |
15 Jun 2018, 10:17 (Ref:3829632) | #188 | ||
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Simply put, he has been a crasher for his entire career. IN every car.
He has never managed to reign it in and I think the only way he can do what he did is to drive this way. Wilkes never got the same chances and he was the same as a kid. It is silly, because all you are doing is writing your own CV. Duval was the same and lasted nowhere near as long, and Meeke should not have either. His problem is that to be on the pace of Ogier etc he is on and over his limit, Ogier, Neuville, Tanak are able to do it and still have some in reserve. To not have learned that by now is the reason why he has gone, plus he must have been costing Citroen millions in terms of wages and cars written off. I don't care what you say, it has been coming for a while. |
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15 Jun 2018, 12:05 (Ref:3829657) | #189 | |
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Seems you are on your own here, with a personal axe to grind. Crasher for his entire career? Are you forgetting he won the 2009 IRC title? He did that in style, with several wins. And he is the only driver to have won several rallies with Citroen the past few seasons, despite the crashes. The other Citroen drivers haven’t been close
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He who dares wins! He who hesitates is lost! |
15 Jun 2018, 12:36 (Ref:3829667) | #190 | |||
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Over at Toyota you've got Tanak and Latvala breaking the car (and Latvala admitting he's now holding back and not driving at 100%). In that case though it looks like the car just isn't strong enough and the dnfs are as a result of fragility rather than driver error. |
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15 Jun 2018, 17:39 (Ref:3829717) | #191 | ||
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Nitropteron - Fly fast or get crushed! by NaBUrean Prodooktionz naburu38.itch.io |
15 Jun 2018, 18:15 (Ref:3829722) | #192 | ||
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Sorry, but Meeke has always been bad at dropping it.
yes he is on the pace, but with the downside we all now know. That is simply too much to bear, remember he has previous form of being dropped and warned by Citroen. People seem to forget that point |
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15 Jun 2018, 20:09 (Ref:3829757) | #193 | |
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No, we just know the Citroen isn’t a very good car and Meeke has had several great wins in spite of that and the team slating him in public
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He who dares wins! He who hesitates is lost! |
16 Jun 2018, 12:11 (Ref:3829897) | #194 | ||
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He was exactly the same in the DS3. Always has been, C2, 207, Opel Corsa, everything he has ever driven
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16 Jun 2018, 14:27 (Ref:3830091) | #195 | |
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So how did he win the 2009 IRC title then? Get over your obvious hate for Meeke
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He who dares wins! He who hesitates is lost! |
18 Jun 2018, 12:47 (Ref:3831628) | #196 | ||
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Over his career Meeke has probably wrecked more often than his teams would have liked, but you could say that about McRae too.
Bottom line is that, even with the current Citroen, Meeke might just win you rallies. Breen might just get you fifth place. |
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19 Jun 2018, 08:31 (Ref:3831824) | #197 | ||
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I think on balance you have to look at it overall as a decision based around what they said, safety and money. He was very close to hurting himself and his pal in Portugal. Look at Mexico last year, a pathetic error.
Do you not think, that if they improve the car, Breen and others might get better results? You could also say if they did Meeke would win easily, but he has only ever had one speed, and that speed means he has crashed out of winning positions many, many times. And would do the same with a better car, the notion that he only crashes coz he is pushing a naff car is garbage as he has always done it! You have seen Neuville learn to temper the speed, Tanak too. Latvala is always prone to errors, but not as big as Meeke. Ogier simply has pace over everyone as Loeb did. Comparing with McRae is silly, as Col often was in the best cars at Subaru. Once in them he was better. But it has to be said DR was very close to getting rid of him as Citroen have him with Meeke. The best comparison is Duval, and ironically, who got rid of him? Citroen. And why? Coz they risked losing the manufacturers title as Duval could not be trusted to finish behind Loeb. I think Meeke has had a more than fair crack of the whip and I don't blame Citroen at all for getting rid. Yes it means they might struggle to win, but that is their call, they clearly feel it is a better solution than scrapping 4 or 5 million pound cars a year. |
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19 Jun 2018, 12:13 (Ref:3831863) | #198 | |
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I would have few complaints if they had made this decision at the end of the season. However, you just don't get rid of a driver mid season; unless it's a disciplinary reason.
If Citroen are happy with safe 5, 6,7th place finishes, then good for them..... |
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20 Jun 2018, 09:07 (Ref:3832050) | #199 | ||
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Ostberg has secured Meeke's seat for the rest of the season:
https://www.autosport.com/wrc/news/1...r-rest-of-2018 Great news for Ostberg (I actually really like him as a personality), but I still think we are highly unlikely to see a C3 on the top step of the podium. |
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20 Jun 2018, 09:21 (Ref:3832053) | #200 | |||
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For next year do you think Citroen will try and lure Ogier? Or are they going to stick with Ostberg, Mikklesen and Breen? |
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