REVIEW: WORLD RALLY

Continued from page 33 What’s undoubtedly annoying for the top drivers is to see Ogier’s car off the road and at some fairly strange angles, yet he always gets away with it. But for Ogier, the risk seems somehow calculated; you just get the feeling that he’s got a little bit of margin. Yes, that margin might be in the trees, but the trees will be small trees and the sort of trees that won’t significantly redefine the profile of his Fiesta. Apart from that tree in Jukojarvi. Which certainly put M-sport’s side-impact safety work through its paces.

That then, is how the drivers’ title was won and lost.

Coming into this season on the back of four titles, Ogier was always going to be among the favourites to retain it. But his new team, M-sport, was not at the top of the list as the most likely to pick up where Volkswagen had left off.

After a year away from the coal face, Citroen was expected to come back and pick up the kind of dominance it had enjoyed through the 2000s. And then there was Hyundai, which had been on the brink of a major breakthrough – and the i20 Coupe WRC was the car which carried over the most parts from 2016.

And then there was Toyota. And, after such an apparently stormy time preparing the Yaris WRC (that’s the Finnish Yaris, rather than the aborted German version), nobody genuinely knew what to expect from the world’s biggest car maker.

But M-sport for the manufacturers? No. Not even Malcolm Wilson believed that. Yes, he’d got Ogier, but the champ was backed up by a brace of youngsters not long off the naughty step in Ott Tanak and Elfyn Evans. Hyundai, however, had three world rally winners. And when everybody saw that early Neuville speed, there were fears of a walk over once Hayden Paddon got into gear and the Korean’s own WRC points machine Dani Sordo got going. Except the latter two didn’t really happen.

In Hyundai team manager Alain Penasse’s own words: “We were missing a second Thierry.”

Paddon suffered the season from hell. Involved in a fatal accident with the spectator on the opener, he understandably struggled through the early part of the year. A planned co-driver change was brought forward with Seb Marshall stepping in to take over from John Kennard after Argentina. Twelve months on from celebrating his first WRC win in South America, Paddon cut a lonely figure as he waited to drive his Hyundai over the ramp in sixth place.

It would be unfair, however, to lay the blame for the lack of a crown solely at the drivers’ doors. The i20 was the fastest of the 2017 cars, but also the most fragile with the wheels coming off this one – quite literally – quicker than the others. Add to that powersteering problems and more than the odd engine issue and there’s another load of points gone south.

Hyundai’s speed made up for some of the disappointment and always allowed for optimism. Early doors at Citroen and it looked like a nightmare. The first two rounds were nothing short of a disaster for the C3 WRC, which looked ill-at-ease in the Alps (where it was beaten by Craig Breen and an older 2016-spec DS 3 model). By Sweden, Kris Meeke’s onboards gave a graphic demonstration of a car with a mind of its own.

Early radar work showed the team’s touring car turbocharging experience had paid dividends under the bonnet, but when it came to the corners, a lack of suspension and transmission development was hurting it badly.

But then came Mexico and an unexpected Meeke win. The Northern Irishman made good use of a cleaner road on day one, but in all honesty, nobody could touch him on the highaltitude stages around Leon. But that suspension issue was never far from anybody’s mind – especially not when the car was pitched out of the ruts and into a car park on the final stage.

It was more of the same in Corsica. On the consistent, abrasive French island roads, the C3 absolutely flew and was only halted by an oil-related engine problem. At that point in the season, Meeke was seventh in the championship and 61 points down on Ogier. The game was up. Instead of accepting it and driving for development, Kris tried to force himself back into the game. What followed was exceptional speed which left Meeke first or second in the early stages of the next three rallies. But ultimately Argentina, Portugal and Italy were the undoing of his season. Despite the speed, broken bits, bent panels and no points were the only return. Astonishingly, Meeke was dropped for the following round in Poland.

Three rallies earlier, he’d been on the crest of a wave. And now Andreas Mikkelsen would take his car to Mikolajki. Sitting at home watching Mikkelsen and Breen slip-sliding their way through the mud, it must have been impossible for Meeke not to have a wry smile. In inconsistent conditions, the C3 was all over the place. Mikkelsen said little, Breen was “petrified”.

Finland was more of the same. Back in the saddle, Meeke was never going to have the faith to fling the thing between the trees in top gear in the way he had to win this rally 12 months earlier. And just when things couldn’t really get any worse, KM crashed on the superspecial in Germany. The dream had officially become a nightmare.

Instead of turning in on themselves, Meeke and Citroen got together and worked. And worked. Crucially, Ohlins had taken over the suspension and the car was coming. Meeke won in Spain and was at the races in Britain and Australia to bring him towards the end of the tunnel. The big question for next season is the one about the light ahead of the C3…

There must have been moments last season when Meeke rued the day he left Tommi Makinen’s piece of paper unsigned following their latest meeting in Helsinki in 2015. But who in their right mind at that point would have taken a wayward and apparently unstable Toyota effort over a tooled-up and apparently ready red army? Nobody. Volkswagen’s departure at the end of 2016 dropped Ogier, Mikkelsen and Jari-matti Latvala onto the market at the last minute. The big surprise was that Citroen didn’t make room for Ogier – the lack of budget would become clear as the French firm’s season unfolded – so when he signed for M-sport, that left a Toyota free. Right up until the last minute, that seat had Mikkelsen’s name on it. And finally, it was Latvala’s, completing an all-finnish line-up (alongside Juho Hanninen and Esapekka Lappi) for the Puuppola-based team led by a four-time champion flying Finn.

Latvala had just over a couple of weeks before the Yaris would be homologated. He spied his chance. He’d gone home a broken man, demoralised and confused by his time chasing Ogier atvw, but now he had an opportunity to make his team. He got his head down and worked. There was a chance. A Monte podium was fortuitous, but the Sweden win was absolutely deserved – and rarely has there been a more popular success.

And Latvala deserved more from the year. He drove superbly, only to be let down by the car. Seeing him beating the steering wheel after an electrical problem robbed him of the lead at home was tough, but ultimately inspiring to see the fight that this new opportunity had brought out of J-ML. With Tanak and Lappi alongside him next season, Toyota has a real opportunity to deliver

next year. If the car’s right, the big question will be about team management and guiding three forceful individuals in the direction of the collected glory.

Arguably themost exciting thing about this year is the season it’s set up in 2018. It’s going to be even better. With Mikkelsen joining Hyundai and immediately showing searing pace, it’ll be fascinating to see how Neuville manages a power-sharing agreement. The two are famously best mates; how long will that last? And then there’s the undercurrent of disquiet from Paddon and Sordo who have been forced to share a motor to make room for the Norwegian.

Hyundai’s subplot is going to be almost as exciting to watch as the season itself.

As discussed, Toyota’s strong, but the darker horses will be M-sport and Citroen – the makes’ race is likely to demand three front-line drivers next season. Ogier starts the year as jointfavourite for the title and if Evans can continue the sort of consistency of pace and improvement he’s shown through 2017, there’s no reason why he shouldn’t be right there with him. The Welshman’s been brilliant this year, and his home win should be the springboard to even bigger and brighter things. Whoever gets that third Fiesta will have plenty of pressure to bring points. Citroen’s position is a strange one. Meeke and Breen have potential for pace and points, but their third team-mate could range from the non-existent to the nine-time world champion that is Sebastien Loeb. A Citroen title in 2018 would be some achievement. Then again, we said the same about M-sport this time last year. ■

10

Tommi Makinen showed admirable loyalty to his number one test driver by rewarding him with his first full season in the WRC. And, after three events, Juho looked hopelessly lost and maybe not up to the task. But he persevered and showed that in rallying, experience and maturity count for perhaps more than in any other form of motorsport. Stuck to his task, ignored the doubters and delivered some very solid and creditable results as the year progressed. You can’t underestimate the value of Juho’s contribution to the debut year success enjoyed by Toyota.