2017 WRC is becoming an all-out war
John Floyd
Coming to this weekend’s ADAC Rally Germany, the 2017 World Rally Championship is proving to be a hard fought title chase.
There is a points tie at the top of the table and two protagonists just behind waiting to pick up the points should the title leaders slip in their battle.
Hyundai Motorsport’s Thierry Neuville and M-Sports Sebastien Ogier both have 160 points but Neuville leads, having one extra win to his name.
With four rounds of the championship remaining it is going to be an epic struggle.
Any mistakes by the leaders could allow third placed Ott Tanak of M-Sport on 119 points and Toyota Gazoo’s Jari-Matti Latvala just five behind on 114 to steal the glory.
The Toyota team following their first and third places on the Finnish Rally, thanks to Esapekka Lappi and Juho Hanninen, are on a high and could well reduce the points gap.
On the team front the championship is still headed by M-Sport on 285 points with Hyundai Motorsport 34 points behind on 251, Toyota Gazoo third with 193, over the 135 points of Citroen Total Abu Dhabi.
Tomorrow, round ten of the 13-rally season, the Rallye Deutschland, gets underway, an event that could change that leader board.
Renowned as one of the toughest rallies on the calendar the all tarmac event starts from a new venue this year, centering on Bostalsee.
The start will be tomorrow night from the state theatre in Saarbruken and goes straight into a city street stage. Competitors face 1 220km in total with 21 special stages covering 311km.
The Neste Rally Finland, renowned for those incredible jumps, did not disappoint this year.
Mads Ostberg topped the rankings at the legendary Yellow House Jump in the Ouninpohja special stage against some serious competition.
With four rounds of the championship remaining it is going to be an epic struggle.
Esapekka Lappi flew his Toyota Yaris over 42.5 metres followed by the Ford Fiesta of Ott Tanak at 49 metres but it was the Norwegian who hit the magic 50 metres in the air.
Ostberg was the longest jumper in both the Swedish Rally and the Rally Portugal this year, an amazing display of skill and courage. But, with a name like Mads, what do you expect ...