World in Motorsport, Volume 1

World in Motorsport Volume 01 // November 2018

The Man Who..?

Thierry Neuville:

From the Editor

Contents Thierry Neuville: The Man Who..?

Sebastien Ogier: The Return of the King Elfyn Evans: Coming Around Becs Williams: The Long Talk Citroeën C3 R5: Joining the Fight

04 13 20 29 54

Hello readers, Welcome to the inaugural edition of World in Motorsport – a feature-based magazine dedicated to delivering in-depth interviews and technical analyses that will bring you closer to the drivers, teams, cars and championships that drive international motorsport.

Rather than split various articles about various championships across the magazine, World in Motorsport will dedicate each issue to a different theme or category of racing, ensuring that each form of motorsport covered gets the coverage it deserves.

With the curtains closing on the 2018 World Rally Championship in Australia next weekend, Issue 1 of World in Motorsport is a WRC special. Inside these pages, you will find interviews with the main title contenders Thierry Neuville and Sebastien Ogier, as well as a piece with Ogier's M-Sport teammate Elfyn Evans.

The latter portion of the magazine contains the first of 'The Long Talk' - a fascinating chat with The Queen of Rally and WRC's lead commentator Becs Williams. Lastly, it finishes with an analysis of Citroen's new R5 project, the C3 R5, which is competing in WRC2.

World in Motorsport is funded through pledges on Patreon, with a cost of USD $5 (GBP £3.90, €4.40) for the digital version of the magazine and USD $12 (GBP £9.25, €10.55) for a limited run of physical copies.

Through funding, the goals for World in Motorsport are as follows: • Cover the cost of producing 3 issues per year, each with 64+ pages of content; • Employ a designer to create an attractive and legible template; • Introduce additional specialist contributors.

This publication employs a policy that all contributors, designers and additional personnel shall be fairly compensated for their works.

For now, enjoy this issue of World in Motorsport.

I do hope it is the first of many.

Leigh O’Gorman Editor WIM.1 Patreon.com/WorldInMotorsport Photo credits: Cover, Leo Francis/Red Bull Content Pool; Page 6, 10, 13, 15, 18, 26 & back cover Jaanus Ree/Red Bull Content Page 4, 8, 20 & 23 @World / Red Bull Content Pool; Page 17 & 19 Hoch Zwei/DTM; Page 29 Justin Neumann; Devised and produced by Leigh O'Gorman Page 35, 39, 42, 52 & 53 WRC Promoter; Page 54-57, 59, 61 Citroën Racing; World in Motorsport Page 2, Red Bull Content Pool

Issue 01 // November 2018

Contact: E: leigh@themotorsportarchive.com T: @WorldinMSport F: @WorldinMSport

© 2018 Leigh O'Gorman. All rights reserved. Neither this publication nor any part of it may be reproduced or transmitted in any form, or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without the prior permission of the publisher.

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The Man Who...?

Thierry Neuville is the man closest to dethrowning a "Sebastien" since 2003, but with the finalĂŠ drawing close, can he take the fight to Ogier?

Words: LEIGH O'GORMAN

Let’s start a scary thought.

The last time a driver not called “Sébastien” won the World Rally Championship, was back in 2003 and even then, the almighty nine-time champion Loeb only lost out to Petter Solberg by a single point.

but frustrating results at both Rally GB and Spain have all but castrated the Estonian’s challenge.

For all intents and purposes, this one is between Neuville and Ogier.

----

If one were to put that further into perspective, Thierry Neuville, the main most likely in 2018 to break the spell of “Sébastien”, was a mere fifteen-years-old. Even the current five-time champion, M-Sport pilot Sébastien Ogier, was still just a teenager.

Now in his 30th year, the season ending Rally Australia represents the closest Neuville has yet been to ending the ‘Reign of Sébastien’ at the hands of his Hyundai i20 and after twelve hard fought world rallies beginning at Monte Carlo in January, the Belgian sits on the coattails of his French rival.

Theoretically Toyota’s Ott Tänak also occupies the periphery of the championship,

In conversation, Neuville’s voice is assured and confident throughout, despite the ferocity and pressure of the title fight.

This translates finely when aboard his i20 machine, identifiable by its mostly sky blue and black livery. Neuville has nothing but praise for an i20 WRC series that has come a long way since its introduction in 2014, wiith the current coupe model debuting at the beginning of last year. ‘It is a very easy car to drive, quite competitive and I feel very comfortable in it.

‘The car has been developed around our three drivers, especially [as] Dani [Sordo] and me have similar driving styles.’ It certainly has worked well for Sordo, as well as Neuville, with the former having claimed four podiums since Monte Carlo WIM 1.5

2017, to go alongside Neuville’s seven wins and seven podia. Neuville adds that he tries ‘to keep the car as straight as possible; sometimes less, sometimes more due to the settings, but I think it is quite optimised.’

---For many motorsport competitors, the passion tends to be something that has been passed from one generation to the next, as elders turn the young from curious to wideeyed, dropped jaw permitting.

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The excitement that comes from watching rally cars at full tilt near the verges is feverish and the sound enthralling; although unlike circuit racing, at rallies it is easier for one to get close – very close – to the machine at speed.

The majority of those on the sidelines tend to remain passionate viewers, safe in the knowledge that a lack of funds or skill – or both – will always keep them on the other side of the safety tape. Others, however, tune that obsessiveness a little more, desperate to find ways to compete. Neuville falls very much into the latter. ‘I was a

spectator and got a passion about it. Living close to SpaFrancorchamps gave us the opportunity to see a lot of nice cars very often,’ he says, remembering earlier years.

Even those who come from motorsport backgrounds need assistance along the way and knowing the right people at the right time can help you go far, but not everyone has that luxury.

From his record, it is evident that the Belgian’s initial forays into competition did not necessarily adhere to the modern or conventional route.

If anything, Neuville’s entry into the world of motorsport was decidedly old school. ‘Nobody [in my family] was doing any rallying, nobody was doing any racing. I was always interested and when I started getting some money, I decided to buy a racecar and just go and enjoy myself.’

Following a couple of events in 2007, Neuville began rallying in earnest in the Belgian Rally Championship a year later, with support from the Royal

Automobile Club Belgium.

Amidst all this, Neuville had completed his studies and was working in Luxembourg as a CNC machinist, before his expanding rally commitments made it impossible to continue to do both.

It was a strategy that Neuville happily admits worked out very well, with the keen racer taking victories in the Fiesta Sport Trophy and N3 classes, while accepting the recognition that came with it.

But where Neuville had plenty of speed, the St. Vith native suffered plenty of accidents along the way, as occasionally raw pace overtook experience. This too has been tamed with time.

Such was Neuville’s trajectory; he would make his WRC debut in 2009 at Rally Cataluña in the R2 class and while some elements of that event remain familiar, Neuville admits much has changed. ‘It was my first time racing outside of Belgium or France and my first time with the big cars. It is really difficult to remember. Some stages are still familiar to me from that time, but WIM 1.7

a lot has changed.’ The following year saw him add more international events to his roster and behind the wheel of a mixture of Citroën’s and Peugeot’s, Neuville’s star began to shine.

‘I was with a manufacturer team and getting a lot of help and [this made] me a better driver for sure, with more experience of the roads. I had become WRC junior […] as well,’ remembers Hyundai man.

---The turn of the decade saw a WIM 1.8

critical development for Neuville. For a time, Nicolas Klinger and Achim Maraite acted as co-driver, but at two events toward the end of 2009, Neuville was joined in the co-driving seat

by Nicolas Gilsoul for the first time, having being introduced by former WRC competitor Bruno Thiry. ‘I would say that from the beginning, it was a simple relationship – I needed him to do a job and he was available.’

It would not be until Rally Canaria in 2011 that Gilsoul would join Neuville full time, but the pairing kicked it off with an IRC podium at that first event {note 1} , before taking their first victory

together at the following event, the Tour de Corse. Another victory at that year’s Rallye Sanremo helped Neuville and Gilsoul to 5th in the IRC standings, before the WRC beckoned.

Although Neuville admits that the pairing do not have much contact outside of events, it is a relationship that that delivered plenty of success. ‘It is a pure professional level, much more professional now and we spend so much time together within the period of a race,’ adds Neuville. ‘He brings his job and I do mine and together we are competitive.’

---From the Citroën Junior team to a stint piloting a Ford Fiesta RS with the Qatar World Rally Team, Neuville’s confidence grew and with it, attention grabbing results followed. In a breakout season in 2013, he secured seven podiums, taking the runner-up spot in the championship, albeit a long way adrift of the dominant Ogier/Volkswagen pairing.

It was an impressive feat and one that captured the attention of Hyundai Motorsport, as they prepared for their return to the WRC, but Neuville admits the early running with the Korean manufacturer brought some frustration. ‘In the first year, it was a bit complicated,’ he remembers.

Although completing the whole season in his own right, the other two i20’s saw five drivers dropping in and out through the year resulting in a year dogged by instability and inconsistency. There was one very bright moment however, when Neuville led home a fortuitous Hyundai 1-2 at Rally Germany, after previous leaders Ogier, Jari-Matti Latvala and Kris Meeke all retired following accidents. It was an astounding result, but one that neither Neuville nor Hyundai could repeat in 2015, as Volkswagen reasserted their dominance by winning twelve of the thirteen events that year, while Meeke and Citroën took the other one.

With the Hyundai project moving into year three, Neuville up stepped a gear, with a victory WIM 1.9

in Sardinia, but it was not until last year when a championship charge came together. Despite four victories and Ogier’s move to the semi-works M-Sport team following the withdrawal of Volkswagen, Neuville’s hopes of breaking the Frenchman’s run faded following a trio of poor results in the latter stages of the season, but notice had been served.

Yet Neuville outlook was undimmed and the Hyundai leader kicked off his 2018 title push with victory in Sweden in February. ‘Now we are moving constantly and have a more

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competitive car as well, which brings more success because obviously the car is very important.

‘There is the motivation to fight every turn when you know you have a chance of victory. We are more and more reliable as well. It motivates everybody to push and push the whole team forward and push to the main goal, which is the manufacturer and driver titles.’

There is little doubt that many eyes will be focussed squarely on the driver’s title, but for Hyundai – and every other constructor –

the manufacturer’s championship is very important and for the Korean squad to succeed, it will be necessary to have their trio of drivers firing on all cylinders. ‘It is good to have a good relationship with your teammates; it can bring the team forward,’ contemplates Neuville.

But there is more to the structure of a team than just delivering titles, and Neuville is a firm believer that stronger teammates will push one’s own efforts. ‘Your teammate is the first guy to beat, because you have the same material and the same car,’ he says. ‘It is a much bigger motivation as well to keep ahead of them and do things better than them.’

Alongside their leading man, Hyundai have placed Volkswagen refugee Andreas Mikkelsen, while Sordo and New Zealand’s Hayden Paddon have shared the #6 car.

Neuville believes it is a combination that works. ‘We are very young, motivated and we keep pushing each other and the whole team as well.’

---Struggles in Finland and Turkey, as well as relatively middling scores from Rally GB and Spain have allowed Ogier to retake the WRC lead, but with thirty points up for grabs in Australia, the gap between the M-Sport and Hyundai men is a mere three points. ‘I think we are a very complete team. I have the necessary experience of the tracks now to go faster. I think we have everything we need… In the end I am running against Sebastien in the championship and I need to focus on him.’

Ogier may be leading, but don’t count against Neuville. Although 2nd in the championship, he will enter Australia with the advantage of road position, as Ogier will be committed to road cleaning. While he will only starting one place further along, it may be enough to propel the Belgian along.

There is little doubt that we may be about to see the tightest WRC title battle in over a decade.

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Notes {note 1} Created in 2006, the Intercontinental Rally Challenge (IRC) was designed to offer opportunities for young and amateur rally drivers, the category ran to Group N and Group A regulations. Before merging with the FIA European Rally Championship in 2013, the IRC brought attention to the likes of Thierry Neuville, Andreas Mikkelsen. While the opening season was won by Giandomenico Basso in a Fiat Punto Abarth, the following six campaigns were dominated by drivers piloting Peugeot 207s and Škoda Fabia machines.

Spare time? What spare time..?

Drivers in the WRC tend to have full calendars. According to Neuville, aside from competitions, much spare time is spent studying upcoming events. ‘There’s not so much relaxing in between [rallies] to be honest. There’s a lot of stuff to do and work [out], and go back to the factory or working on private projects.’

However that does not stop the Belgian from enjoying private pursuits from time-to-time. ‘I’m very into helicopters and am flying a bit around is some of my passion,’ he says.

Neuville also believes there will be plenty of avenues to explore in when he stops rallying, but unsurprisingly they mostly involve motorsport of some level.

‘Obviously I love everything that has to do with an engine and four wheels. I will always find time to have something to do. The 24 Hours of Le Mans or the 24 Hours of Spa, things like this. Moto GP I like a lot and I have friends in Formula One as well, so I try to catch up when I can.’

Away from his WRC commitments, Neuville drove in the untimed Legend Boucles à Bastogne earlier this year, piloting a version of his first rally car, an Opal Corsa A Gsi – a machine he rebuilt alongside his brother Yannick. ‘It was really great. It was good to run the first one, the first car I ever competed with, but nothing to compare anymore with what we experience now.’

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The Return of the King Sebastien Ogier may be a five-time World Rally Champion, but despite tales to the contrary, his motivation hasn’t dimmed. If anything, it is burning brighter than ever before.

Words: LEIGH O'GORMAN

It is very easy to tell when Sebastien Ogier becomes a touch excited. When speaking, the animation is his voice steps up notably, as the architecture of his words gain additional leverage. Even his shoulder’s – which already move rhythmically under the impression of speech – dance and jerk with a more telling flow.

Alas, this was one of those mornings with peaks and troughs. On one hand, Sebastien Ogier appeared relaxed and happy with his lot and yet on the other, he could come across a touch frustrated.

It really depended on the subject matter.

---Palying furiously with a drinks bottle in a hospitality tent at a bright and sunny, but cool Red Bull Ring, the reigning World Rally Champion was on hand to compete as a guest driver with Mercedes for the penultimate DTM round of the season – so the various subject matters WIM 1.14

really were triggers for his mood.

Ask the Frenchman the DTM and his preparation and he was open and keen; talk about the WRC and his shoulders would tense slightly and his breaths a touch more laboured.

We both should have expected this though – although playing the role of the guest, people were curious to discuss his thoughts on regarding DTM and the Mercedes C63. However it was inevitable that he would be questioned about the WRC – he is, to be fair, the category’s biggest name at the moment and he is (again) fighting for the title.

Yet this time it is different. At the time of our conversation, Ogier had fallen to 3rd in the standings behind Thierry Neuville and the resurgent Ott Tänak, but it was close. Indeed within two events, Ogier was back on top of the standings, albeit by just three points; however during his championship years, the M-Sport pilot has been used to more comfortable advantages.

He is defiant though. That much

is certain. ‘I think the most important thing is that it’s not over. It’s still close. As long as the chance is there, you can be sure that I am going to be fighting for it.’

Both Ogier and M-Sport have suffered from frustrating events, whether caused by tricky Friday road position (Sweden), a bizarre lack of overall pace (Finland) or updates that haven’t quite come together (Germany). ‘We had a bit of hard luck; it is part of the game. Often there have been a few little details not going our

way, but I don’t give up and I believe in my chance and in my head, I still believe that I am going to make it.’

They have also pulled important results out of the bag at the right time – victory in Rally GB and 2nd place in Spain (behind part-timer Sebastien Loeb) certainly helped, particularly when aligned with early season wins at Monte Carlo, Mexico and Corsica. ‘I had some lucky times in my career. When you win championships, there were many situations where I had a bit of luck with me. I know that, and I have no problem to say it.’

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The above is not to say Ogier doesn’t enjoy the challenge; he does, in fact he finds it quite thrilling, but like all competitors, he enjoys it all a little more when the odds are at least slightly in their favour.

‘It’s exciting to have the challenge,’ Ogier exclaimed.

‘The victory you enjoy the most is the one where you have competition and I think it is great for the championship that this fight is going on. They have pushed me to my limit even more and recently I tried to make an extra effort to be better.

‘It’s good for the sport, the fans love it. It’s quite long ago since there was a finish like this in the WRC, so let’s try to make the best of it and for us, the best would be to come as a winner of the championship. It is still my plan and I believe in my chance.’

With five titles under his belt, one might be forgiven for thinking Ogier’s motivation could be waning, but the 34year-old is quite content, as WIM 1.16

exemplified his recent announcement that he is to return to Citroën in 2019. If anything, Ogier seems to greatly enjoy the current cars and that visceral feelings keeps him coming back.

‘It’s still about the pleasure of driving fantastic cars,’ he says, adding, ‘Since last year, we have had the fastest WRC ever produced and they are very exciting to drive. Also this competition with four teams, which are not far from each other [in performance], so every team has a chance to win does make a really good competition. So that’s one of the reasons that I want to continue and as long as take pleasure doing that, it’s good to continue.’

---Meanwhile, Ogier is at the Red Bull Ring in his usual racing driver undergarments with some Red Bull logo’s and dots of Mercedes wear around. But why and how..? With a sly smile, ‘It started a little bit like a joke discussion.’

For those who didn’t realise, Ogier’s wife – Andrea Kaiser – is

one of the presenters of DTM for German television and he is also good friends with Mercedes CEO Toto Wolff.

One thing led to another and, ‘It started because [DTM] wanted to have a guest driver. Then I started to think about it and thought it would be an exciting opportunity.

‘On the other hand, there were many drivers telling that I shouldn’t do it, it’s going to be very difficult and I thought it’s true that I have very little chance to make a performance, but it’s not every day that you have the opportunity to race in DTM. First I had to ask my

team and my sponsors to [ensure] everyone was happy and then we went for it.’

At the beginning of August, Ogier tested the C63 DTM at Vallelunga, while fellow DTM guest driver, Alex Zanardi, completed numerous laps in the BMW M4. ‘It felt a little bit like school days, but on something you like to learn. It was very exciting, and I loved it, but I know there is much more a challenge to race with the others and have a starting procedure and pit procedure.’ Ogier did not have simulation time to bed himself in to the realities of racing alongside his fellow competitors, but at the WIM 1.17

same time was not overly concerned with getting himself in too deep, adding that he was not there to play for his future of his career.

---When comparing the Mercedes DTM to his M-Sport Ford machine, Ogier felt that they had their differences, but they were not hugely significant. ‘I think the way to be fast, at the end of the day, is not so different. You still target the same things,’ he considered.

‘The biggest difference is the

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environment – on a track, you can go a little bit wider and drive that way,’ Ogier added, acknowledging that when you go on a rally special stage, you are likely to hit something. Hard.

‘At the end of the day, it’s still about braking as late as you can, carrying the maximum speed that you can and be as early as you can on the throttle. It’s nothing really different, but the cars behave differently; the technique you have to apply to make it happen is a bit different. It’s not a switch; you need to walk a bit at the beginning and try to learn this way of doing it. In rally, one of

the abilities you need is to adapt to new things and new situations and I think it’s something that I have always been pretty good at.’

It was clear that Ogier was up for the challenge and certainly enjoyed his outings in the C63, but he is a rally man that still enjoys the extreme challenges of the WRC and will remain so for the next two years at least.

‘Honestly, I still think it’s harder to make a 60km stage in a rally than a one-hour race here. We have some very long stages sometimes, around 40

minutes, but we have much more corners. Here you have some straight lines, you can relax a little bit, which you don’t have so much in rally.’

By the end of the weekend, Ogier had acquitted himself well, particular during Saturday’s wetto-dry race, during which he took a solid 12th place. For the following day’s race, Ogier came home 17th, after he took an additional pit stop to clear an oilsprayed windscreen. For now, his focus is on the WRC and his quest to become a six-time world champion.

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Last year’s Rally GB really seems like a long time ago now, particularly if your name is Elfyn Evans.

Signed on for an extra year with the Ford-powered M-Sport and with a switch from DMACK tyres to Michelin’s, much has been expected of the 29-year-old Welshman. But the delivery has been far from smooth.

Words: LEIGH O'GORMAN

Coming Around

‘Obviously there is a really special feeling to have that first win at home, but by now the only thing that really bothers me is that I want to get there more often.’

With two podiums, 70 points and 8th in the WRC standings after twelve rounds, it would be fair to say 2018 has not been a year where we have seen the consistent best of Elfyn Evans – a fact of which he is well aware.

‘It’s always a great feeling to be on the podium at a WRC rally, so I’m pretty hungry to get back on the podium and the top step.

It’s been a while since Rally GB and basically I could do with a few more of them.’

It is made even starker when one considers his teammate Sébastien Ogier is on top of the championship pile with only Rally Australia remaining.

---Evans has noted on previous occasions that he is not necessarily a fan of big media commitments; however, in a

one-on-one interaction (or in this instance a phone-to-phone), he relaxes somewhat, and his thoughts and words flow with greater ease.

Indeed, the only interruption came when he received another call mid-interview. ‘Just a sec,’ he said. For a very brief moment, there was tap-tap, as the flow of footsteps fell away from the speaker, replaced by a rumbling mumble and a distant ‘I’ll call you back’, before the tap-tap of steps returned. ‘Where were we…?’

Ahhh yes. Committed. That’s Evans.

Well, that’s his description at least; especially when it comes to the 2017 regulation cars that have allowed for far more downforce and higher speeds. ‘I think… everybody has to be smooth to an extent,’ he says. ‘At this point, it is a fairly committed style. In the fast sections of a stage, I’d say there are normally not many people who are faster, so it is a pretty committed style. That is the best way to describe me.’

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And yet for one reason or another, the season has not come together for the M-Sport man, but his response in occasional times of crisis have been credible. A huge crash in Mexico sidelined his co-driver Dan Barritt, while some stunning pace in Sardinia counted for naught thanks to silly crash early on Friday morning. This in turn has led to events where he has had to accept team orders to help Ogier’s title challenge – something that clearly irked Evans.

Yet despite this, Evans has accepted his share of responsibility for what he admits has been a mixed year. ‘I have to take most of the blame for having such an inconsistent year,’ he says with a sigh. ‘It didn’t start off to well to be honest; I thought we were quite unlucky with two punctures in the first two rounds and then we had an accident in Mexico and straight away there’s three poor results to start and you are already under a bit of pressure.’

Portugal was something of a WIM 1.22

turning point for Evans. Taking 2nd place behind Hyundai’s Thierry Neuville, Evans’ drive was a confident one and the Welshman showed that last year’s GB win was not some oneoff result and Evans took another podium in Spain. ‘We had been to Argentina and had a pretty poor showing and realising where you lose time. Also, just concentrate on driving flat out – that’s where the result in Portugal came from basically.’

In between those results, Evans suffered occasional setbacks, as inconsistency reared its head again. The aforementioned mistake in Sardinia was followed by a silly fluff of an off in Germany while running hard in the top-six. Amidst all this, there have been occasions where MSport as a whole – Ogier included – have struggled for pace, most notably in Finland. ‘All three cars seemed very, very close together, but unfortunately none of us winning stages. For sure I was fairly happy with how I had driven in Finland, especially compared to when I finished on the podium just twelve months ago.

‘Driving wise, we are on the right path, but let’s see. We need a little bit of luck on our side; it would be nice as well to be honest.’

He does consider the current Ford Fiesta WRC to be relatively easy to drive at the limit; however the competitive nature of WRC means the challenge comes from extracting every last bit of performance from the machine, as Evans explains. ‘It’s about being fast on every stage and pushing all the time. That’s the challenge that I love so much.

The cars have a lot more downforce and a lot more grip than they have ever had and that’s a very rewarding feeling when you are pushing to the limits of that car with such a high capability. It’s a pretty big step.’

Amidst the trials and tribulations of this season, Evans has taken time to adapt from the DMACK tyres he used previously to the Michelin’s he uses today and there is some thought that the changeover added to his early season struggles.

He acknowledges that where the Michelin rubber delivers more consistent grip over the course of WIM 1.23

an event, whereas the performance of the DMACK tyres can be ‘peaky’ in certain places and conditions.

---It wasn’t always rallying though, and Evans admits he was something of a late bloomer in the sport, having only began his rallying career at the ripe old age of 17. Prior to that, the Welshman raced motocross bikes, but that was always more of a hobby. His father, Gwyndaf, was the 1996 British Rally Champion and also runner-up on four occasions, but he was wrapping up his driving career just as Elfyn was coming of age. ‘I spectated on rallies with family and what have you, so I was very aware of what [his father] was doing and followed with quite a lot of interest, but the older I got, the less he was doing. I was very aware, but it was not something that was forced or pushed on me.’

In his time in the WRC, Evans has only ever driven a Ford.

Actually, throughout most of WIM 1.24

his career Evans has mainly driven Ford’s of one kind or another. Apart from a stint running a self-prepared Nissan Micra in 2006, Ford have always been the motor of choice, although that came, in part, via his father who runs a Ford dealership in family’s home town of Dolgellau in North-west Wales. ‘At the age of 16 all you want to do is get behind the wheel, not necessarily of a rally car, but obviously for myself being involved in the family dealership, I grew up around cars and it was always something that I had been interested in, but not had the opportunity to try. As soon as I was old enough to go rallying, it was something that I definitely wanted.’

The younger Evans received support from the family dealership, but there was much more to his formative years that just that. The 29-year-old remembers how competing in one-make Fiesta championships helped a great deal. ‘There was always a decent prize. It could be a car or a kit to go with the car and that always gave a big help

toward the following year if you could win and that was very much the mentality we went with. Basically you had to finish by winning on one level if you wanted to progress.’

His programme improved to the point where in 2008 Evans entered two championships and won both, earning two road cars; however that was followed by a year out of competition; however the desire to race was undimmed. ‘I had a year out and two road cars to sell and I still had the rally car, so I sold the road cars to generate £20,000, which went a long way to running.’

On the back of that, Evans won the Pirelli star driver programme, ensuring a fully funded drive and a combination of sponsors. ‘We took the plunge and a really big risk to go on the J-WRC at the time. It was a one-shot only thing and fortunately I managed to win it.

‘There’s always costs involved in motorsport, but I’ve always been quite fortunate. I won five rallies with M-Sport in that following year, so I was in a pretty fortunate position to be

able to have the physical cost of the rally more or less covered. I don’t think I’ve paid for an actual rally since.’

Although his move to the WRC proper did not come until 2013, and even then, it was not a full programme, Evans did make his world championship debut at Rally GB in 2007, with that event also forming part of the British Rally Championship. Evans won his class at that event but admits being taken aback by the size and scale of the event.

‘It was just the format and the length of the event that was the biggest shock, having come from one-day, 45-50 mile event formats to go to 400 km event in the space of a weekend was a big jump,’ he remembers. ‘There was one guy from Sweden [Victor Henriksson] who was very fast; I think we were trading time with, but he crashed or had an issue, which allowed us to go ahead and win quite comfortably.’

Evans continued to take wins in the British Rally Championship and eventually secured the WIM 1.25

runner-up spot in 2011, before making the faithful jump to the WRC Academy in 2012. It was a canny move, with the Welshman taking four victories from the six events, ensuring a dominant win the category, before moving to WRC2 the following year.

For that move, Evans was joined a face that would soon become quite familiar, when he teamed up with co-driver Barritt. ‘It’s worked pretty well,’ Evans cheekily admits.

‘Dan was already at a very high level when I started working with him, he had already competed in the world

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championship, with the likes of Conrad Rautenbach, who was a privateer. He already had the experience of being in a works team environment and all that type of thing, so he had a lot of experience at that point, because he had being co-driving for many years. Outside the car, we get on very well as friends as well as driver and co-driver and he reads the notes like nobody else has ever been able to do for me and that’s a key thing for me.’

The pairing took a win and two podiums in WRC2 in 2013, and were quickly promoted to the WRC proper. ‘I’d say he was more experienced than I was, but

perhaps actually being in a world rally car fighting for higher positions, then maybe we were both lacking in experience and in a way. We have sort of grown together from that point, especially with our understanding of how the whole industry works, what you can and can’t do, all that type of thing. We have probably learned the hard way in some ways together.’

And they did learn the hard way. Over the following two seasons, Evans scored a brace of podiums, and numerous points finishes, but the hard truth was that he fell shy of the leading order and when it came to a choice between retaining Evans or Ott Tänak for 2016, M-Sport chose the latter. The relationship did not end there, however, and the team offered Evans a slot back in WRC2, as well as a full-season entry to the British Rally Championship, but no matter how one paints it, the demotion hurt. ‘It was a difficult step down to take at that point, going from a fulltime world rally drive to being

told, effectively at the start of the year, that there is BRC programme if you want it and WRC2. It was basically that or go back to the dealership. From a wanting-to-do-it perspective, there was no question, but it damaged the pride a bit to take a step back.’

The step back – temporary as it turned out – shifted Evans’ perspective somewhat, with the driver taking some valuable lessons. ‘I definitely think it was a case of realising that there was no tactics in rallying anymore; it was a case of getting the absolute most you can out of every weekend to show how fast you are, because nowadays speed is almost held in a higher regard than consistency. If you are a fast driver, then there is almost more room for you in a works team than a very consistent average driver.

That was probably the biggest realisation and the biggest lesson that was learned in that end of 2015/start of 2016 period.’

---At this stage in 2018, it is unlikely that Evans thought he would be WIM 1.27

looking at 8th in the standings, but that is the reality his season so far. In taking the 2016 British Rally Championship and finishing as runner-up in WRC2, Evans secured a return to the top-flight, where he has partnered Ogier and WRC newboy Teemu Suninen. But both he and Suninen have struggled to match team leader Ogier – but is that really a shock? Ogier is a five-time world champion after all.

Despite this, M-Sport still has a shot at taking the manufacturer’s title, but it is something of a stretch. The Cumbria-based team are 3rd at the moment and both Hyundai and Toyota are (just) in reach. It is expected that Ogier, Thierry Neuville (Hyundai) and Tänak (Toyota) will perform and score big points, so the manufacturer’s crown could end up being decided by the driver in the 2nd seat…

‘There is pressure from the start to do the best you can and naturally you want to do the best for yourself as a driver and do that for the team, but

overthinking it too much doesn’t do the best for anybody,’ says Evans. ‘Collecting positions in the lower parts of the top ten is all well in good, but the reality is that there is very few points in terms of the championship. In terms of helping the team, the best you can do as a driver is to the absolute best you can for you and normally that works out well for the team as well. Whatever the highest place you can finish, then the more benefit that is for the team.’

---As it stands, Evans does not have a drive for 2019, but with Ogier leaving the Welshman will be looking for secure a big result in Australian to remind team bosses that he is a world class driver.

However he will need to deliver consistently next year if he is to stay at this level. ‘We just want to do the best job we can everywhere. Our championship position is not great and we are quite a long way behind, but the goal now is to achieve the most that we can. We have to try and extract the best we can at every round...’

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Rallying, healthy eating, Thierry Neuville, dance classes, Ott Tänak, fitness classes, Kris Meeke, endorphins and All Live.

It wasn’t exactly how World in Motorsport saw the first edition of The Long Talk developing, but when Leigh O’Gorman spoke to Becs Williams recently, that was exactly what he got.

The Long Talk

Where in his day Murray Walker was the voice of motorsport, there is no doubt that Becs Williams is the voice… no, not that… The Queen of rally.

After seventeen years at the helm of Rally Radio, Williams’ voice now leads its all-singing, all-dancing successor, WRC All Live – an online project that sees every stage of every WRC event broadcast live and in full – and it just may be the motorsport revelation of 2018.

In this first edition of The Long Talk, Williams discusses at length the introduction of All Live, whether the success of “Sebastien’s” will ever end, Ott Tänak’s resting face, WRC2, Malcolm Wilson’s musical tastes and the happenings at Citroën.

But before all that…

--Hello Becs Williams – what’s going on, how have things been?

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I’m going through a healthy eating and fitness thing at the moment and I’ve started going to a dance fitness class. I have to say that I’ve never been a ‘feel the burn’ type-of-person, but I’m actually feeling the benefits of it.

Not just from a physical ‘I feel a bit fitter’, but also, I feel a bit happier – hello endorphins, which have been dead and buried in my body for years.

I’ve started doing Parkrun recently. Luckily enough, I live near a park and do a 5km run at 9am every Saturday morning, which is great on paper, but horrible when I actually go and do it.

Especially outside…

when

it’s

30°C

Well, I hope you don’t mind, but I’m having my evening salad right now… Meanwhile, WRC All Live went live this year. Do tell all about the concept of All Live and how it all began.

They [WRC Promoter] have had this ticking around at the back of

their mind for a number of years. Last year at Rally Portugal, they did a very soft test of it for internal staff and we witnessed a morning of what All Live is now and they then put into motion bringing it about on every single event.

It was a massive undertaking, because it was a huge amount of budget which they had to take on board. It hasn’t come from anywhere else, but the confines of the promoter, so was a huge investment for them, but they knew this was where the sport was going. People want to see everything, even to the point of how All Live is now, people still want more. It is like a machine, you need to keep feeding constantly.

Extra All Live!

Yes! Around the mid-point of last year, it started to get pieced together, but it didn’t get the absolute rubber stamp until the back end of last year, so they have put it together exceptionally quickly. The thought process had been there

as to how they would do it for a year, but actually going into motion and making things happen from October-time, to get everything they needed technically and people-wise to be able to do it.

Where did you come into all of this?

They approached us, as WRC Live Radio, last year to say “we can’t do this without you guys, because basically this is radio with pictures, which is what we are trying to achieve. We want you front and centre, we want to bring you in, collaborate with this product, so that we can keep both products running at the same time”, so that’s how we got integrated into it all.

Then we lost the radio after Corsica, and that is purely down to budget. The radio was funded by all the manufacturers, plus the promoter and when the manufacturers saw the All Live product... They used it as an information source, they used it for their social media, it helps with the press release writing, WIM 1.31

because you know what’s going on, you get quotes, etc… but of course, any way to save money for them and I completely understand their perspective.

If they have All Live and they can see everything as well as hear everything, why would they want to fund radio any further? So even though it was devastating to lose something I had worked on from the very beginning – seventeen years of radio – I could understand it.

Times are changing, things are moving on and that was it.

The promoter told me after Rally Sweden that this was the case and immediately offered me a full-time position with them, working on All Live as their commentator, so that’s how I’ve kind of come into it.

Seventeen years, just saying it… it’s a person, a teenager! [laughs] A Formula One journalist recently told me that if the song ‘Wannabe’ by The Spice Girls was a person, they’d be 22-year-old by now…

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Oh, that’s even worse!!

The All Live set-up must seem like a massive logistic shift as well.

It changes on all kinds of levels.

First of all, and this might sound like the most petty of changes, but on radio – and this is not a diva thing – but I’ve always looked after my own technical resource.

I’ve always made sure that my internet line is in, that I have electricity wherever I am, make sure that I have a portacabin, set up the studio myself and test it; I’ve always done all of that. Now I just turn up and put some headphones on and that’s the extent of my technical input and I feel like I might lose some technical knowledge now.

From a presentation and commentary point-of-view, you do have pictures now and am no longer relying on a timing screen and a GPS tracker.

For me it’s similar, because I’m in a studio, but I have pictures. I have spent the past seventeen

years telling people all around the world what’s going on during a rally based on my thoughts on what I can read from the splits and the tracking system and information I get in from teams.

Every team manager has my number, they message me or members of a team message me.

It’s funny, but it varies from team-to-team. Citroën’s PRs will message me, but then Malcolm Wilson [Team Principal, M-Sport] will message me with info about their cars or tell me I’m playing rubbish music, or whatever.

That used to be some of texts I would get in from him – if it’s not Dire Straits, he’s not happy…

Tell me about Monte Carlo.

From the outside, that seemed like an adventure all its own.

Monte Carlo was a baptism of fire for everyone involved at All Live. I think me, Colin, Emyr [Penlan] and Lisa [O’Sullivan] knew exactly

what the All Live crew were going to be facing. Even though we were part of it, we knew it was the worst rally to do on the championship calendar in terms of covering, because of the wide expansive distance that you have to cover logistically and also, it is a royal pain in the arse for some reason, it always has been.

It’s the first rally of the season, it’s got the biggest listenership, it will be the biggest viewers I’m sure we will have on All Live all year, because everyone is interested in that first event an because it’s Monte Carlo.

We knew that everyone would be faced with difficult circumstances there and I knew I would be, because it was a different role. I wasn’t making it up, not that I was making it before. [laughs] How different was the process from radio to All Live?

Radio is making pictures in people’s heads and you have to fill and faff and talk about all kinds of different things to fill time. Dead air is awful, but on WIM 1.33

television you have pictures to back you up, you don’t have to talk over everything.

First and foremost, I didn’t want to talk at all, because I just wanted to watch – I was just sat thinking, ‘oh shit, I’ve got to talk! C’mon, get a grip of yourself woman,’ because it was so fantastic – but not on the Thursday night [of Monte Carlo].

I think everyone will put their hand and say Thursday was a disaster from the start. We barely had coverage, onboards sometimes didn’t work, static cameras didn’t work, stage cameras didn’t work, or they did work on one stage, but didn’t work on another. It was only two stages, both were at night and we all envisaged it would be really tough and everyone at the end of it, after hours and hours or work, was really a bit flat, but then the next day picked everyone up, because everything started to work.

There were a lot of people who said, ‘you should do Monte Carlo behind a test wall; just WIM 1.34

test it, don’t put it live’, but the promoter was bold [by deciding] ‘no, we start now. We’ve got the technology, let’s just do it. Just put it on.’ And they did.

Fair play to them, they took a lot of flak for various elements of that Thursday, but it redeemed itself as it went on, but it was a very different process for me, but also a double process, because I was taking my headset off from television commentary and picking my radio [headset] up and carrying on with the radio, because we were running them at the same time, so Colin would have two mics at stage end – one for television, one for radio – and once the television [interview] was done, he would carry on for radio and I would then carry on with him and go back and forth the whole weekend. That was quite a juggle.

It has noticeably improved since Monte Carlo – there are still hic-coughs here and there – because there’s not just you on the ground, but there are also choppers in the air and everything else as well.

Yes and I think people forget that there are so many different factors to it and sometimes I can forget, because it was a fourperson team maximum and that was it. That was all we could afford – three people on the ground at the event and one person back in London in our studio and that was it, but this is multi-faceted.

First of all have the aeroplane that goes up, which is full of all kinds of lovely technical equipment. The cars are transmitting and sending signals to the plane, which is

then giving us the images from the onboard cameras and that’s how we get our timing and everything as well.

Then the chopper flies and that gives us the beautiful aerial shots.

Both these things have to refuel and the chopper moreso than the plane, [because] the plane has a bigger tank, so sometimes we won’t have aerial shots, because the choppers have had to land, refuel and then go back up again and then we’ll get complaints like “why no helicopter coverage?”

Well, he’s refuelling, he needs to do that, it’s important. [laughs] WIM 1.35

Also we’re up against other little problems like in Sardinia, there was an air traffic control strike and that affected the plane and what time the plane could go up and all the rest of it, so there are all these little things, which you kind of don’t think about.

I would be sat in the commentary box, a room right along the studio that we have, and the producer will be talking into my ear, saying “we’re just waiting for images to come in, as soon as we have images, we’re coming straight to you” and that’s why sometimes we start and I start talking as the car comes off the line, because that is the first time we are getting images. It’s not that we are pausing or waiting for the guys in the studio to finish talking, it is literally then that we have images.

The footage that we have seen has been stunning.

I’ve been blown away by what they have been able to achieve with the images and how much action we have been able to WIM 1.36

pick up as well, because you have sometimes up to fourteen cars on the stage at a time and who do you choose, when you’re a producer, to be with? They have, in the production gallery, a bank of screens – they can’t watch every single car, so they will follow some cars. The heli will follow some cars and the producer will have maybe three onboards that he is watching for anything that is happening.

Unless the stages are live TV stages, there is no static camera within the stage, for the majority of stages, we’re relying on heli and onboard only. When you hear Jon [Desborough] and Julian [Porter] commentating, that’s a television stage, but otherwise about 80% [of the stages] you are looking at onboard and heli and that’s all the producers have to go on to make the stage look the way it does.

Occasionally when the screens do go down, as happened in Argentina due to heavy fog, do you flick back into your radio mode again?

Yes, absolutely. We never know when the pictures are going to go. The producers are concentrating hard on trying to get them back, but when that map comes up, it can be annoying.

One thing they have made a change on is when the map came up, there was some music behind it, which was… muzak.

You would hear it in a lift and in Monte Carlo, we were [thinking] “what the hell is that sound?” I’ve only really noticed it at the past few events, but they have put on a soundtrack of crowds cheering in the background – it’s very slight, but it’s not the music.

When the map comes up, we know the pictures have gone, so I switch totally back into radio mode then and I can talk for as much as I want.

I am really aware that when the pictures are on, you have to give out information and I am really hot on giving out split times, because people want to know who is doing what and as soon as I get them, I will give splits out, but I don’t want to drown the pictures either with constant

talking, especially when there is great onboard of co-driver voice – sometimes the onboard will have a voice, sometimes it won’t.

As soon as we flick to an onboard, I have a quick listen and if there isn’t a voice, then I can talk; if we have, then it’s “let’s hear the notes,” because that for me is a complete art form and everyone has a different style to it. It’s great to hear how they’re read, I love hearing drivers make little changes or hearing bizarre things like Kris Meeke’s notes, because Paul Nagle’s style is quite aggressive at times.

He would say things like “90 right, 500 metres, Latvala” and it’s probably somewhere where Jari-Matti [Latvala] has gone off previously and he has just called his name as a reminder to Kris that it is where Latvala went off or he randomly shouted “cactus” in Mexico, when there would be a massive cactus on the side of the road. No one else would mention it, but he would.

I love all those little words that we are picking up now. This is all WIM 1.37

new. If you were watching the television coverage after the event, you would hear snippets of it, but we can hear it for durations of up to three or four minutes and now-and-then you can pick it out.

Also when the guys get to the flying finish and they are winding down to the stop line, they start having a little chitchat forgetting that we can hear them, which is epic.

Except Meeke and Nagle, they switched it off.

Paul will switch it off almost immediately, but he did forget sometimes and some of them are becoming a bit savvy to it now and they are switching it off, but there are others who don’t care.

I’m rapidly having to improve my language skills to be able to pick up on the French, the Spanish and what’s great about the people who are watching is that if we say “they’re having a great chat, I wonder what they’re saying?,” two minutes later we get a translation and sometimes I can’t read it out, WIM 1.38

because it could be derogatory to the team and I am not going to put the driver in the shit.

That’s happened a few times with Tänak this year, with Ott being one of very few Estonian competitors in world motorsport, although – again – it may not necessarily be something you wish to read out.

I think you can tell immediately when Tänak is pissed off, although a lot of people will say that he’s just got a resting bitch face, he just looks like that the whole time. He isn’t, he’s actually one of my favourite people in the championship.

Ott has changed a lot over the years. When I first came across him, was when he was doing WRC2 and in interviews, he would look down at his feet and kind of mumble and now he looks at you… …he talks now! He is a completely different beast from a few years ago, he’s completely different, but you can tell when he is in a good mood or a bad

mood and I think throughout most of [Rally Sardinia] he was in a pretty bad mood, which was evident at stage end. He’s one of my favourite people.

Moving onto the current state of WRC itself, Volkswagen may have left and there have been persistent question marks regarding the longterm future of Citroen, but

from the outside, the rest of the manufacturer and team presence seems in relatively good shape.

How would you characterise the health of the championship and international rallying at the moment?

I think the health of the championship is good. It’s thriving in the sense that it’s a WIM 1.39

healthy championship in terms of competition, there’s a lot of new rallies that want to come onboard, WRC seems to be hot boyfriend all of a sudden – everybody wants it – and you’re getting some great countries who are coming forward and putting some brilliant pictures together as part of that.

It would be great to have more manufacturers. When VW announced that they wouldn’t compete any more, it was a huge blow, and everyone thought “oh, what is the championship going to be like now?” and then 2017 came along and it was this incredible year, which was like no other and everyone forgot about VW not being there. No disrespect to VW, but it was a case of “we’ve moved on” and I think the health of championship is good.

My question now for the future is where does it move to in the next few years, because we are seeing lots of different championships that are moving forward into green energy and WIM 1.40

manufacturers are championing that and pushing that forward.

Although the mere thought of anything changing and losing what rallying is about, in terms of the engine power, the sound and the smell, to be a realist we have to have some sort of green energy in the championship at some point, somewhere in the future. I know M-Sport are already building a prototype with that in mind.

Sustainability is important. We can’t cherish the heyday that we are having right now, we have to look to what comes next.

In terms of the drivers as well – we’ll get to Meeke in a while – but Kris is 39 at the moment, both Latvala and Ogier have been around a long time. You have Suninen, Evans and Lappi, but in terms of younger talent coming through, is it looking positive for you at the moment?

I think it’s looking very positive.

If you just look back a few years ago and it didn’t seem as if Finland would have anyone to offer, when you look back the

Hirvonen and Latvala days around 2008 to 2009, there seemed to be no one coming through from Finland at all that was going to take over the mantle from then. And then, holy shit, we are inundated with Finns right now, with the brilliant Esapekka Lappi and Teemu Suninen.

Lappi for me is great now; I can’t begin to imagine how good he going to be in two years’ time when he puts all of his building blocks into place and makes the perfect driver that he is creating, because his learning capability is so quick.

When he does something wrong, he changes it and then he hones it to make it absolutely perfect and he has only been in the championship for a year!

He’s already won an event. He has blown me away with what he is doing now, so I can’t imagine where he is going to be in a few years.

Then we look into WRC2 and you see all of these strong drivers coming through and not just in WRC2, but the junior championship is already throwing up interesting drivers.

There’s a driver called JeanBaptiste Franceschi who is an FFSA [Fédération Française du Sport Automobile] driver and has come through the same kind of stepping stones as Ogier and Loeb and the FFSA are putting a lot of backing behind him. He won a round in the junior’s this year and he won a round of WRC3 in Italy and he is still very young, but is putting himself through both of the championships this year to give himself the development and the character he needs to move forward.

Even down at that level, there is huge commitment to making it up. I think there is a healthy amount of drivers now coming through.

Suninen is so similar to him in temperament. With more testing and more rallies in a rally car, he could possibly be on the same level.

Just on WRC2, Pontus [Tidemand] won it last year [but lost out to Jan Kopecký this season]; what potential road does he have? He is a WIM 1.41

member of the Skoda team and Julian mentioned the possibility of a Skoda team in WRC, but what is potentially available for Pontus?

Pontus is a difficult one. First of all, the Skoda thing – Skoda have been brilliant in WRC2 and they have been doing in WRC2 what they did in IRC [now the ERC], which is a full domination. They’ve come into WRC2 and brought a car which is incredible and they seem to have always picked the right drivers; they have a canny

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knack of picking really talented drivers.

It would be great to see them stepping up to world level, but they’re in the same [automotive] group as VW and I’m pretty sure electric is where they’re going, but it was said that there needed to be some green energy in WRC before they came in. It would be great to see them step-up, but I’ve not heard of them building a car or anything, but there seems to be a bit of talk about it at the moment.

Is Tidemand in danger of being

forgotten?

Yeah, I think he is in danger of being forgotten. He is doing as much as he can to stay relevant in the fact that he is staying fully competitive; he has been testing with Volkswagen as well, with their R5, so he’s looking outside. I had an offthe-record chat with one of the team bosses in the service park and told me that Pontus needs to show a little bit more. He just doing enough at the moment and he needs to show more for them to be interested.

In terms of WRC2 manufacturers, there’s lots coming with the new VW [Polo] R5, the Citroën C3 R5 – I think it’s a total of seven model in the R5 regulations at the moment. It seems very healthy, but is it sustainable, low cost enough and viable to keep this up?

It’s a good question. It seems to be that what WRC2 is becoming now is the option, rather than going down another championship route. We are

finding drivers that would have been going to the ERC are going WRC2 instead and putting their money there, because – and this is not me talking, this is general [paddock] chit chat – the championship has more visibility. Even if it isn’t televised, it has more visibility within the WRC, so team managers and team bosses are seeing what they can do by competing within WRC2.

Every single [WRC] manufacturer has a car in WRC2 [apart from Toyota] within that class, then you are seen, but also the championship is phenomenally exciting.

With all due respect to the ERC, from what I have seen this year, it is still struggling a bit, whereas WRC2 – from an R5 perspective – is working.

Yes, I think it is working and I think there are facets of the ERC that work, like the junior category is particularly strong. OK, at the top flight in ERC, we are not seeing the names, even though there are great performances still in the ERC and [Aleksey] WIM 1.43

Lukyanuk is still crazy, but it’s not the championship it was before.

Moving back to WRC, I spoke with Neuville recently – he has been championship runner-up on three occasions, do you think he and Hyundai finally have the package that will do the job?

him, he wasn’t going to back off one inch and if it goes off the road, so-be-it and even though you were gasping at the risks he was taking, you still had this faith, this trust that he wasn’t going to bin it, because you knew he wasn’t that driver anymore [Neuville took the win by 0.7s, jumping Ogier on the final stage].

I think they do. I think he has stepped up another level as well. He seems to make these noticeable steps every now and again and he’s more of an allround competitor now than I think I had ever seen him and a complete force of nature and that was evident on Sunday morning in Sardinia.

He was not letting it lie with that battle, he was going for the win no matter what. To be honest, it was one of my stand-out days of working on the championship as a commentator – I’ve never been so excited watching rallying as I was that day and being able to see it and watch Neuville’s onboards and see the risks he was taking to get this win. Nothing was going to stop

It was an odd combination of feelings that day from my perspective of watching him. For knowing him for such a long time, from seeing his career in rallying start off and go through the days of IRC at his home event in Ypres when he threw it off on the very stage, came back under Rally 2 and threw it off on the first stage of the next day again and thinking ‘this guy is such a hothead. Really talented, but he can’t keep it on the road’, to now where he has this supreme confidence.

He is the most self-assured driver in the service park without question, he has no doubt in his ability whatsoever and I think that could win him the championship this year. This

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Thierry Neuville version 3.0 could be the winner.

Something I’ve noticed from Thierry as well is if something beyond his control does happen – as we saw in Mexico – he’s a lot more upset about it, he’s a lot more annoyed or frustrated about it, whereas previous years if something happened, he might have just shrugged his shoulders a little.

Yes, he’s passionate when things go wrong, especially if it’s a technical issue. If it’s a technical issue and beyond his control, he gets really quite angry, because he knows it will have a detrimental effect on the result that he wants to achieve and he is so incredibly focussed – and not just him, but Nico [Gilsoul, co-driver] as well is incredibly focussed on the goal and anything that very slight deviates from the path riles him.

It does seem a bit more aggressive when something goes wrong, but it’s very

quickly gone and I think maybe this year, because we are absolutely seeing everything through All Live, we are seeing every reaction. You notice far more about what the drivers are doing and those reactions, maybe more intensified, because we are seeing them live and we are seeing more of them. It’s no longer little glimpses on highlights on the television package; it is full twelve-hours per day of the emotions they are going through, whether high or low. I think that it just intensifies it.

I’ve seen him be irate before, but I think this year he knows this is the best chance with the lead he has. This is it and everything hinges on it and I think because he is so focussed, we are seeing this emotion come out of him more.

In terms of Hyundai, it’s not just Neuville performing – Dani Sordo has mostly shone when entered, Hayden Paddon has done well and [Andreas] Mikkelsen has shown some good form occasionally. Unlike some of the other teams, Hyundai have multiple drivers WIM 1.45

consistently performing.

I would say Sordo has been the stronger in the team so far. We have seen him on the podium twice and when he hasn’t been on the podium, he’s been 4th.

He’s had a brilliant start to the season and he’s really showing again like he did in his Citroën days what a strong second driver he can be.

Mikkelsen has had a lacklustre start to the season, he hasn’t been able to bring the performances that we expect from him and reach the potential that we know he has, although it changed in Sardinia when he was leading the rally on the first morning – we saw it in him, he was back, the old Mikkelsen and the pace that he set there, but he had a tough start.

For Hayden having to sit out three or four events in a row, that’s a tough call on a driver.

Sharing the car with Sordo this year, for me it seems like the pressure is off Sordo – he’s got seven events and they are events that he likes as well, it’s WIM 1.46

a bonus and he is enjoying his driving more, whereas maybe for Hayden, the pressure is on more now, because he has to perform, he has to show us is he want to continue: a) in the team and b) in the championship.

And where Hyundai look a little more sorted, there are times when M-Sport have been looking a little off-balance.

Ogier has been his usual ultrafast self, but he’s also had incidents, for example in Portugal and in Sweden he was clearly frustrated, but he hasn’t necessarily had the back up of Evans or Suninen.

It’s been interesting for them this year. Last year, winning the Manufacturer’s and Driver’s [titles] it was magic time, but the 2nd year in with these brand new cars, everyone has stepped up a level in terms of development.

Hyundai also got their credit card out and got Mikkelsen, who is a tried-and-tested rally winner and who has pace and all of a sudden, Hyundai has four drivers.

M-Sport are always going to come from a place of

backfooting, because they haven’t got the budget that the others have. In terms of development on the car, now they have extra money from Ford, which is fantastic to be able to take the car forward, but they haven’t got the money to be able to get the drivers they need and you can’t win a championship on one driver alone.

For Elfyn Evans, same as Mikkelsen, it’s been lacklustre, Portugal aside – obviously a great result for him there on the podium and it was like ‘right, are we going to see a change now?’. It was a difficult start to the year and Malcolm [Wilson] wasn’t happy with what was happening and Elfyn couldn’t put his finger on what was wrong. He had a huge accident in Mexico and we have to factor that in, but that was a massive high speed accident, which can shake anyone’s confidence. He then had to sit with Dan [Barritt, co-driver] and had Phil Mills on board for the next rally – difficult circumstances around that, as well as being a tough start to the season. As well as

being lacklustre, it’s been a tough one, so you have that doublebarrel side to it.

I hope he shows us what he’s made of, because he’s got more testing this year and he is number 2 in the team. Last year he had hardly any testing and he was doing a brilliant job out there and I think a lot of people had some very high expectations. But it hasn’t been the case so far.

It’s a slightly similar-ish situation at Toyota – Tänak is in his first season as a factory driver and Lappi there as well, but surprising it’s actually Latvala – the most experienced of the three – who has a mix of speed, good luck, but also lots of bad luck.

How often can someone have bad luck? Jari-Matti has said it himself, he is too experienced to put it down to bad luck. When things like this happen, and it was three rallies or four rallies in a row where he has run into problems, then you have to look at the way you’re driving, you have to analyse everything and that’s what he has gone away and WIM 1.47

done. He came to Italy, changed his driving style, being less aggressive and even on the recce, he was stopping and moving big rocks from the road, worried that he would hit them when [the Toyota] suspension is fragile it seems.

It’s built like a tank in other areas, but they’re hitting rocks and breaking the suspension.

That’s happened at times with Tänak and Lappi, when they seem to pick up punctures with greater ease or maybe knocking the wheel rim out with greater ease than any of the other manufacturer cars, which on a number of the gravel events would be a fundamental issue.

Absolutely and the team are doing all they can. They are looking at what they can do, but it will be interesting to see what they come back with, but it is definitely a weak area.

For the team themselves, they’ve pulled a bit of a blinder this year by taking Tänak. He has been a star in the making for WIM 1.48

a long time and I feel he has really come into his own this year and his win in Argentina was nothing short of astonishing. To have the whole service park, very single driver shaking their heads, wondering how he had that pace.

And that followed the incident he had on stage 2 as well, when he went off and lost about 20 seconds…

Yes, exactly, which makes it even more incredible when you consider that even I thought when that happened ‘well, that’s game over for the win now.’ How wrong was I? I can’t remember if it was stage 10 or 11, but going up the mountain, he just looked so completely on it, but it was never reckless, it looked perfect and never over the limit.

It was defying belief. I couldn’t understand his pace, nor could anyone else. It just wasn’t translating for any of the other drivers or team managers. At the end of every day, I host a ‘Meet the Crews’ session, so the top

three drivers and all four manufacturer’s team managers. The team managers came up first and every single one of them commented on Tänak’s performance throughout the day, it had been that special and that’s a rare thing.

Can’t really go any further without mentioning Citroën, for whom I think – apart for very few peaks – it’s been pretty awful.

[Ed. – Citroën would eventually win at the penultimate round in Spain with Sebastien Loeb.]

Yes, but they will also be the first team in the service park to put their hands up and say, ‘it’s been nothing short of a disaster.’ Sweden aside – a brilliant 2nd position and a confident and assured 2nd position from Craig Breen – that’s the highlight of the season. Other than that, it’s been hard and sometimes difficult to watch them struggle.

There had been a lot of talk after the Meeke/Nagle situation following Portugal.

Without necessarily going into the why’s and wherefores’ of their sacking – that has been covered deeply elsewhere – what are your feelings about how Citroën handled the situation and the fallout afterward?

It was difficult, and it was unusual first of all to receive a statement of that nature. We’ve seen it before when Colin McRae and Nicky Grist parted company and my friends who were the Ford PRs at the time had to work long into Sunday evening to come up with a press release about the parting of the ways, but thanking Nicky for all he had done and contributions and blah, blah, blah…

This was very different, this was a statement which had no PR honing about it whatsoever and it was like a legal statement in effect, rather than a press release.

It’s not a press release, it’s something of a completely different nature. I don’t know why that is and what the WIM 1.49

implications of that are.

Citroën haven’t been great, Kris hasn’t been an easy rider either. For as much as I think Kris is a fantastic talent, a brilliant driver, and when he’s switched on he is absolute magic to watch, he is something special and we have lost that from the championship now and that is a huge shame to lose talent like that, because you can create a driver, but you cannot give that man speed. That is natural, that is something which is within you or it is not and it’s there; it is a natural thing for Kris, but he is the man, the kind of driver, the kind of character who will never be tamed and that makes him the character he is.

Is there a place for him next year? That’s an interesting question, because I know there are a couple of team manager’s in the service park that appreciate what he does.

Tommi Makkinen [Team Principal, Toyota] is a bit of a fan I believe. Is there room for him at Toyota? Who knows…

[Ed. – Meeke has since been WIM 1.50

announced for Toyota for 2019 season.]

What are the expectations for Breen and Ostberg?

What is interesting for me now is where do Citroën go next with it?

They got two drivers right now.

They’ve got Craig who we know has huge potential and can be a very strong 2nd driver at the moment – has he got the potential to go off and be a world class winning driver? He’s still very young, the potential is there, but he still needs to build up that confidence.

And Loeb has just been parttime as well.

A lot of people thought he would come in for Germany, because is a natural break in the rally cross calendar and he told us that he would rather be on a beach. I know for a fact he will not do a full season – he doesn’t want to do a full season; he doesn’t want to do the testing; he can’t be arsed with that level of travel – one of the reasons he left the championship in the first place

[was] because it was so monotonous. He had had it, but a handful of events, maybe more than what he has done this year could be possible.

Pierre Budar [Team Principal, Citroën] mentioned earlier this year that he is not interested in Loeb just coming back for a part-time campaign.

You can understand that very well from his perspective – it’s good for the brand, and it’s good for team moral, especially if he does well and having a nine-time world rally champion in your team boosts everybody up and you could see that as soon as he put his foot through the door in Mexico, the team just raised themselves another notch. It gave me Goosebumps going into the service area.

His first rally back [in Mexico] and he was in the lead, incredible. He hasn’t changed a bit, he’s exactly the same as he ever was; if anything, he’s more chatty now than he ever was,

but he was kicking himself when he stopped to change that puncture, just because he had his Dakar head on. He’s been out of the championship for a number of years now, he wasn’t sure of the strength of the Michelin tyres and naturally he just popped out and changed it when he could have driven to the end.

Who do you think will eventually emerge triumphant of WRC in 2018?

I’m going to put my money on Thierry. I put my money on him last year and he let me down [laughs], so I’m going to put my money on him again. I think after what I have seen in the first half of the season, I believe that he can win the title this year and he will do it.

You can find out who will finally be triumphant in the 2018 WRC title race by following Rally Australia on WRC All Live (plus.wrc.com/ en/live-stages/live/) from November 15th - 18th.

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WRC All Live. A revolution?

Launching at the beginning of this year, WRC All Live has revolutionised the manner in which rallying is broadcast.

With more than 300 hours of live coverage across the 2018 season, the format sees almost every stage of every event covered in ways never before thought possible.

The service has proven valuable for parts of the paddock and media, as well as fans, as teams and journalists use the system to better understand how events unfold of the stages.

Alongside primary commentator Becs Williams,

WIM 1.52

the commentary team is generally made up of well-known WRC journalists Julian Porter, John Desborough, Colin Clark, Emyr Penlan and Molly Petit. In the studio, presentation duties swapped between Kiri Bloor, Abi Griffiths and Alexandra Legioux.

Although WRC Promoter has not revealed exactly how many have signed up to the its All Live service, it does reveal that with subscribers from 120 territories, the highest percentage comes from the UK (12%), the USA surprisingly in 2nd spot (10%).

Next is France (9%) and Finland (8.5%), while the Ott Tänak effect has prompted Estonian’s to make up 8% of the consumer field. Italy, Germany, Belgium,

Spain and Sweden all reside in the top ten.

Certainly M-Sport’s Elfyn Evans sees the positive in WRC All Live’s introduction, even if it does place some slightly higher demands on the driver’s patience at times. ‘From what I’ve seen on the replays the coverage has come on a long way and having access to everything live including services is, I think, great access for the hardcore fans who want to watch it to that level.

‘It makes it a little more demanding – there is always a microphone and camera in your

face the moment your helmet comes off at the end of every stage; it’s difficult to think of something to say all the time, especially if there is not too much going on. Overall for the sport, it is a great thing.’

Like all the other competitors, Evans does not necessarily want to be watching the rally live however, as that probably means he has retired from the event, with the Welshman acknowledging, ‘When you are sitting on the other side of the fence you don’t have so much time to watch.’

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Joining the Fight Citroën’s decision to enter the second-tier rallying market with the C3 R5 has further bolstered WRC2 and ERC fields.

But will it be the machine that finally topples the dominant Škoda Fabia? Citroën are confident.

Words: LEIGH O'GORMAN

Another time, another place and perhaps even a slightly higher profile and the shot could have been iconic.

With his damaged and dented Citroën C3 R5 crumpled on one side, while a distraught Stéphane Lefebvre sat on a rock with his head in his hands.

Of course, accidents happen in rallying, but this was the Tour de Corse and the first WRC2 outing for the new C3 R5.

Lefebvre had only completed four stages before a mishap ended his rally on the spot – and it was not even 9am on Friday.

It was not quite how either

Lefebvre or François Wales – the Development Director of Customer Racing Vehicles at Citroën – expected the Tour de Corse to finish.

Up until that point, the signs had been relatively promising, although there were clearly issues to be examined and resolved. Brake problems on the opening stage left Lefebvre over one minute behind the WRC 2 lead, but a brace of wins over the twice-run Piedigriggio-Pont de Castirla stages offered Citroën some comfort.

Only then on stage five did Lefebvre go off the road and hit the side of a house…

WIM 1.55

---In a privately entered C3 R5, Yoann Bonato took a podium for the car on its debut, albeit 1’51s behind Škoda Motorsport’s Jan Kopecký.

That might sound disappointing, but Citroën needed the C3 R5 to finish, if only to prove the car.

Speaking over the phone after Citroën’s Rally Portugal debrief in May, Wales acknowledged that while reliability is a welcome start, a successful WRC2 campaign requires four elements.

“Performance, reliability, customer service and running costs,” says Wales emphatically when asked about the key features of the Citroën C3 R5.

Naturally reliability, customer service and running costs are important attributes, but they count for nothing if performance is absent. Judging by early outings of the C3 R5, Citroën juniors and customers may have little to be concerned about – as long as progress continues as it does now – but WIM 1.56

despite the competitive runs and testing, Citroën have a steep learning curve.

For now, Škoda sit atop of the pile in WRC2, but with the C3 R5 Citroën must overcome a whole host of other opposition, including those competing with various R5 machinery from Ford, Hyundai and Peugeot – and all this before Volkswagen and Proton arrive with the Polo GTI and the Iriz respectively later this year.

But Wales and his associates knew this going in and opted to create the C3 R5 from a clean drawing board. “We decided to design this car from scratch using our previous experiences.” That is no exaggeration either, for the C3 R5 is a whole new car. Wales adds that, “We tried to exploit the maximum of the R5 regulations and our key points were performance, reliability at the top level, try to have the best-in-class running cost and also best-inclass customer service, which is a key point for a customer car.”

With

some

customers

still

competing at various levels with the aging DS3 R5 machine, selling this new machine is paramount for Wales and his team. The last time Citroën enjoyed overall success in world rallying’s second-tier, one would need to go all the way back to Robert Kubica’s victorious 2013 campaign with Citroën’s junior team, PH Sport {note 1}. Over the past three seasons, Nasser AlAttiyah {note 2}, Esapekka Lappi and Pontus Tidemand have all taken the WRC2 crown at the wheel of the Škoda Fabia.

----

Motorsport at any level is no cheap thrill, but the R5 regulations have been designed to keep costs at a reasonable level. As the maximum purchase price for an R5 car is €190,000, Wales notes that the customer can add options upon request.

Although the C3 concept was used as the same base car for both the R5 and WRC entities, there is very little in common between them, particularly as WRC2 technical regulations are quite different to that of WRC. While the sale point of the car itself may be capped, Citroën – WIM 1.57

along with all the other manufacturers – have been working hard to keep running costs at a respectable level as well. “A key point during the development, we [are] trying to have running costs reduced as [much as] possible,” says Wales. “We can provide for our customers technical support during races and also some assistance for the maintenance schedule for their cars. [Our] target is for customer service at the best level to be able to deliver this customer service worldwide.”

---Wales admits that at this stage chassis development is still very much a work in progress; however Citroën have yet to use its “joker” car, should it wish to upgrade a homologated part, but any decision regarding that will not be made until the ending of the year. “We improved the car from an aerodynamic point-of-view; not a lot, as we went to the max allowed,” he said, acknowledging that “We had in mind when designing the car WIM 1.58

was to have a good aerodynamic balance and also to optimise powertrain cooling.”

Wales and his team have developed two kits for the C3 R5 – one for gravel competition and another tarmac rallying, as he explains. “Height adjustments, wheels and so on are fine-tuning, but there is a key point where the two versions are very different.

This is something we developed for WRC and managed within R5 regulations to have very different kinematics for gravel and tarmac.

“The key with regards to kinematics, there are very different kinematics from gravel to asphalt, so in the suspension system we have shock absorbers provided by Reiger, with aluminium struts,” continues Wales.

“On the front axle, we have a very different suspension kinematic and especially the shock absorber suspension strut – which is positioned in front of the wheel centre for gravel versions and behind for tarmac.” Wales adds that the rear axle contains modifications to the upright/

wishbone mounting point position, the spring, shock absorbers and wheel travel.

“These are three-way shock absorbers – and the springs are classical steel, nothing exotic.”

As a result of Citroën’s different solutions for gravel and tarmac performance, the C3 R5 runs with two wheel dimensions; one for gravel at 15 inches and another for tarmac competition at 18 inches.

---As per the regulations, Citroën used the engine from the mass

production unit, making some minor modifications, which improved thermal performance and durability by including a semi-wet cylinder liner to the base of the unit. “The modification is a variable outlet and inlet timing, which is a new feature on the R5. These are the main points where we have worked from the base unit,” says Wales.

There were also modifications to the engine management system strategies, specifically with regards to transient and dynamic responses, allowing for better drivability than the engines on Citroën’s previous R5 efforts.

WIM 1.59

“We made a big improvement of torque at mid-range RPM and also we have had some additional power performance at high revs.

“We worked a lot on the ALS [anti-lag system], a lot of work on acceleration phases and we tried to have a very strong stability of performance in circumstances, such as altitude or other parametres. Basically, there’s a big improvement in mid-range torque and big work on the strategies to have good behaviour on the dynamics and transitory phases.”

Whereas Wales was open about the engine unit, he was somewhat tight-lipped when it came to discussing the turbocharger, preferring to say that the unit is a twin-scroll turbocharger with a max pressure of 2.5 Bar. Supplied by Magneti Marelli, the SRG engine control unit remains the same unit as developed for Citroën’s previous R5 entries; however the mapping and strategies have been redefined for better performance. “It was a very WIM 1.60

important point,” says Wales.

“What we can say is that we benefitted a lot from the WRC experience on development.”

The transmission is designed and supplied by SADEV, based on the classic R5 unit, albeit with some custom modifications; however the design would eventually lead to some headaches. Having initially designed the gearshift system to be operated via a hydraulically linked paddle, the FIA rejected it as late as last October, infuriating the French manufacturer. ”It was rejected by the FIA. So we will have to respect that,” Wales glumly notes.

“The main issue [afterward] was the planning, because the decision was quite late and we had to redesign a certain number of things that impacted the rear, such as, of course, on the gearbox, on the interfaces with the body and also redesign of the electric wire harnesses for example, which has been quite a strong impact on our development.”

The C3 R5’s clutch system is supplied by Alcon and is a twin-

disc, ceramatallic unit and is the same one that was used on the Peugeot 208 R5. The car also has two mechanically locking differentials with ramp and disc systems, to accommodate the front and rear.

There is also a hydraulic power-steering system based on the mass production steering rack; however custom modifications to the casting and ration are taken into account in order to suit each customer. The brakes are supplied by Alcon and, according to Wales, are quite classical in design, adding “We have new brake calipers, with a better stiffness than before in previous R5 cars.”

A significant amount of testing was undertaken by several drivers, including WRC podium-winner Craig Breen and WRC2 competitors Stéphane Lefebvre and Yoann Bonata amongst others.

According to Wales. feedback was positive, with the drivers claiming that the C3 R5 was easy to drive in all conditions on tarmac and gravel, while also responding well to set-up

changes. “They were quite happy with the reliability of the car – we drove quite a lot of kilometres, 6000 kilometres in tests without any major issues,” says Wales.

---Lefebvre may have gone off the road early on at Corsica, but Bonata hung on to take 2nd in class, before winning the Rallye Lyon-Charbonnières Rhône just two weeks later. At the time of writing, Bonata leads the French Tarmac Rally championship {note 3}.

Continuing, Wales adds that, “The performance so far is quite OK, but we have to wait for more, particularly on gravel to know exactly where we are regarding the competition.”

Regular victories and titles may still be some way off for the C3 R5, but Wales is confident that these will come with time and progression. From a customer platform, the C3 R5 is measuring up nicely, with 20-23 cars currently on order and an expected 40-to-50 sales per year to come, but as noted earlier, success for Citroën will be best defined when the barometres of WIM 1.61

performance, reliability, good customer service and reasonable costs are all hit. “That we confirm that we have good performance, that we can compete with the top cars in the R5 category, that we can confirm our reliability at the best level and to confirm also that we are able to deliver good customer service – a key point for us – and keep running costs at the required level.”

Correction: In an earlier print of World in Motorsport (“Joining The Fight”, page 58), it was incorrectly stated that two different versions of the Citroën C3 R5 had been created – one for gravel and one for tarmac. The Citroën C3 R5 has two separate kits for gravel and tarmac, which can be used on a single car.

{note 1} Kubica’s success in the WRC2 category in 2013 came at the end of the class’ inaugural year of competition, with WRC2 having replaced the S-WRC. Kubica took part in seven events, with only the best six results counting toward the championship standings.

Of those seven events, the former-Formula One driver won five of them (Acropolis, Sardinia, Germany, Alsace and Spain) and scored a podium in Finland. His only other finish was a 6th place in Rally Portugal. {note 2} Technically, this is a bit of a cheat as Al-Attiyah competed with both the Škoda Fabia (under R5 regulations) and the Ford Fiesta RRC (under Super2000) regulations during his 2015 campaign. He also started the year on Michelin tyres, before swapping to Pirelli’s for his next event. {note 3} Bonata currently leads the French Tarmac Rally Championship; however he ran a Citroën DS3 R5 in the season’s opening round, where he finished 3rd behind Lefebvre (in another DS3 R5) and Bouffier.

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World in Motorsport Mission statement ---What World in Motorsport is a mini-book feature-based publication that brings the reader closer to the drivers, teams, cars and championships that drive international motorsport.

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Thank you for pledging to and reading World in Motorsport. We will return in early-2019 with Issue 2. Stay tuned for more news at www.patreon.com/worldinmotorsport