WRC (World Rally)

One of the most underrated and undervalued motorsport championships of all! These guys have skills that are right up there with the very best (including F1) and in my opinion should receive much more exposure with appreciation shown on forums such as this! Gone are the days of Group B unfortunately, but the contest for the overall championship is as fierce as ever - albeit with only 4 teams at present. If you are a fan (or even just appreciate what these guys do) jump right in!

As unpredictable as ever in Chile. Championship leader Neuville rolls in stage two today already, and is out (subject to joining rally 2) Our boy (Ulsterman Kris Meeke) mangles his Toyota too, but is driving on minus windscreen and quite a few other bits missing from the car. You just can't predict this championship. So many variables!! Credit to BT Sport for carrying every stage live behind the red button. They have to tell people about it though. I came upon it by accident, and it doesn't feature in the run down of up coming sports presenters of other sports give details of during those programmes.

Rally Portugal this weekend. Scene of Latvalas' infamous disappearance over the Armco and down a ravine. It was horrifying to watch (was it really 10 years ago??)….yikes After Chile - must stay on the Calender..fantastic - this may well be the time for Citroen to start their road back to being competitive. Ogier needs to start seeing improvements quickly.

Yet another thriller - this time Portugal!! Simply couldn't predict what was going to happen next! particularly with K Meeke binning it on the final power stage. Not sure how I feel about all the road order manipulation that goes on tbh, It is within the rules, but maybe a different set of regulations are now needed to prevent it. Surely leading the championship should bring with it a benefit, instead of a penalty of having to sweep the road clean on the initial stages of the following event.

Ott Tanak and the Toyota team showed quick thinking - no question - in slowing down enough in the power stage to ensure Ogier lead overall, and therefore starts first next time around. Maybe shakedown quails is the way to go then reverse starting order - fastest going last of the WRC teams (or able to choose starting position)

Anybody who believes that this Championship should be run only on dry benign conditions ie tarmac, have to be barking mad. This isn't F1 (thankfully) or world touring car championship, so the loose gravel. dust clouds and wet/damp conditions is the WRC's very dna! Put rally GB back where it belongs, in the middle of the UK winter in November.

So mid - season breaks comes with yet another surprise finish to an event! Seems Toyota have a bit of a busy time during the break to fix once - and - for - all the dif issues that have plagued both Tanak and Latvala in particular! Sordo showed a lot of class when reacting to the turn of events that gave him his first win....Long overdue, but not as he would have wanted to get it!

…..and we are (thankfully) back after the summer break (too long) Toyota have picked it up in Finland, where they left off! Ok it is their home event effectively, so should be performing well! Meeke is storming this afternoon so far - long may he continue!!

M-Sport, on the other hand, seem to be going in reverse gear this season after 2 back - to - back championships with Ogier. Just goes to show - love/like/loathe the guy, he has something special when it comes to driving teams forward to achieve best results!

A race to the finish now for the season........should be thrilling!!

Tanak again! Has found a rich vein of form this season. Reliability could be the only thing to stop him, although Toyota should have dealt with diif iisues during the break!

Look where M=Sport are now without Ogier!! Struggling to figure at all.

Are we witnessing the crowning of a new first time champion this year in Ott Tanak?? After a solid performance in Germany, it seems that momentum is with him (this is the WRC though so never count those chickens) Seems Ogier just can't get the Citroen to perform, so he may have to fight Neuville for runner up!!

After a decade or so of titles being swapped between the same to drivers - Ogier and Loeb - it would be refreshing to see a new face/crew lift the crown!

Still not enough competitors and manufacturers in the mix. Might have to wait for WRC Electric for that to happen!

I knew I made those comments re Tanak too soon! Along comes Rally Turkey, and the story changes again!! First Neuville crashes (apparently couldn't see a thing - presumably due to dust cloud), and then pictures come in of Tanak stranded by the roadside with an electrical or fuel issue! This obviously plays right into the ands of S. Ogier, and if he can keep it clean from here - Lappi sure to be ordered to fall back if necessary - then he takes over the championship lead, and with a decent margin! A Championship that keeps on giving (F1 you can keep it)

By the way, is anyone having issues with the red button feed from the satellite tv?? I can't access BT Sport Xtra for some reason. Whether you are watching WRC - or not - is your red button working??

Ogier the big winner in Turley - Neuville the big loser for sure!! Not sure Tanak (or any driver in the same position) should be able to walk away with 5 bonus points from the power stage (could be crucial come seasons end) having failed to start a number of stages thanks to an electrical issue with the Toyota that saw him stranded on the road section. Yes he received penalties which took him out of the running for the rally win, but walks away with this bonus for an effective DNF! On to the seasons best rally, Rally Wales GB. Hope she speaks loudly by retaining her almost unique characteristics - Slippery forest roads, rain, wind, fog etc, to spite those who have moved 'her' forward in the calendar, in pursuit of drier, faster more benign conditions! WRC is about 'Survival of the fittest'