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irish drivers in catalunya

2581 Views 18 Replies 15 Participants Last post by  Clan
Does anyone know of any good web pages or sources of info, specifically on progress of irish drivers in catalunya? Not wrc.com please.
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brill web site - www.rallycatulunya.com

Thanks, this web site is very very good. See you can view all the offical communications from rally organisers to competiors and specators guides etc. See who had GPS fitted for recce etc!!
Split times very interesting. Boland and White seem to be going very very well all considered. Meeke had a puncture this morning. Good luck to them all.
Went to Catulunya last year, great few days, the pace of the top lads is unreal. Its actually quite easy to get to the stages, though the crowds are big. What was interesting was the contrast between the Irish lads (Boland, O' Sullivan, White) and the world champ boys. We were at the famous bridge on Viladrau Sunday morning and the cars were running in reverse order so Boland was 1st on the road. By the and of the stage, Warmbold had him caught and since cars start at 2min intervals, thats 2min down in one stage.. It was Eamons first visit on such a specialised event though. But Warmbold is by no means the cream of world rallying, however Eamon isnt the cream of Irish rallying either. Id like to see Andrew, Eugene and Tim try some of the world events.
Boland doing well after day 2..15th

Eamon up to 15th overall after 12 stages.. very impressed. Would be great to see him get a great finish.
Fair play to him.He seemed to have upped his pace in the focus.What kinda machinery is behind him thou is he beating anything significant?
14th - grondholm out - Fair play to boland - he always seems to drive within himself and keep it on the road.......
Solberg is behind him! (with a penalty)

[Edited on 29-10-2005 by cannyboy]
fair play to boland great result. hard luck to paddy white but he did start the rally with a early penalty into first control.
Boland - brilliant result. Well done. Some driving to achieve a result like that.
What about Hirvonen's excellent 3rd in an older car than Boland's?
Hirvonen has been the star of the year. He's utterly humilated Kresta on a couple of occasions - and Gardemeister should look out too. To score a podium on tarmac in a '03 is incredible. Perhaps Subaru were a litle hasty in dumping him. Then again, perhaps Hirvonen is driving like a man who's hungry.

A Hirvonen/Gronholm Focus team would be a serious threat for next year. New car problems notwithstanding.

I suspect that the Focus Mirko was driving in Corsica is not the one he had in Acropolis. It was different colour for a start. Perhaps Uncle Malc made sure he had a proper tarmac car.
Originally posted by pcmotorsport
fair play to boland great result. hard luck to paddy white but he did start the rally with a early penalty into first control.
Oh my, after irish navigators building up such a good reputation abroad i hope its not starting to go downhill, id say Paddy wasnt too happy :p:p:p:p:p:p:p:p:p:p
Bolands car is an 03 with a few 04 bits on it. Same with Ray Breens. And fair play to him, excellent result.
Catch a grip

Typical of this forum, instead of recognising Bolands brilliant result, a comparison is made to Hirvonen, who finished 3rd.
1. Anyone who travels to WRC and even gets anywhere near the top 20 deserves massive credit and congratulations.
2. Hirvonen is an ex works driver. Bolands achievement, although brilliant should not be in any way compared to Hirvonen. Hirvonens result is very very good, but he is a young ex works driver who probably still travels the world competing every other weekend to a very high level.
3. From Eurosports coverage, it looked like M-Sport were providing major support to Hirvonen. I doubt M Wilson was spending all his other time hanging around Eamon Bolands service area with all his mechanics climbing all over the car.
4. Remember this is the world championship with the best in world. Any of these guys could easily come to Ireland and wipe the floor with the Irish top guys. Even the JWRC + PWRC guys would cause some embarrassment to top guys here in WRC cars. Example: Mark Higgins destroys everyone on BRC / ITC rounds. Marks Higgins comprehensively beaten on PWRC !!! (Although he does do very very well getting close, on stage times - see sprinter standings - and I have massive respect for him) Lying 16th O/A in Championship, (Natalie Barrett is 15th!!).

Catch a grip
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What a waste of a works Kresta is,i have followed is progress all year and his times are rather average-poor.Last weekend was another prime example losing 30sec+ on stages to other drivers (not including the top 3men) its just not WRC standard.
I had hoped he would improve through out the year but not so.
I know people will disagree but its my 2cents worth
Your absolutely right. He's one of the worst drivers ever to have a works drive
He is a total waste of a seat, he never even showed anything prior to this year to make anyone other than Malcolm think he was worth the seat.

I firmly believe that Loeb could have been champion last year in a Focus, hopefully next year the car is good as for the 1st time since 02 they will ahve a proper No.1 driver in the team

[Edited on 1-11-2005 by DavidN]
Kresta and Toni have the same management team. It was a two meal deal plus they brought money with them and when this decision was made Malcolm did not know if he would have had a proper budget for 2005. This year was always going to an Interim year after losing Markko and Duval. The new car which has been tested over the last few weeks(common knowledge before I get grief) is actually faster then the 2005 car(again put in the open) without all the fancy electronics and Diffs and this apparently is the same for Mitsubishi and Skoda.
So next year you will see a different Ford team, better equipped driver wise and a new car which looks a bit tame compared to the 05 car. But it will just take some getting used too. But you could say Ford will be back, just a pity our French friends are taking time out. And the Japanesse will be the ones to watch.
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