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F1, WRC, motorsport 2021 - making it up as we go along

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    F1, WRC, motorsport 2021 - making it up as we go along

    So, to no one's great surprise, the first and third GPs of the year have been postponed (Australia) and cancelled (China) respectively, and Imola gets another unexpected visit from the F1 circus. I'm sure there'll be plenty more rescheduling to follow.

    In WRC, Monte Carlo is hanging by a thread and has already shortened and amended its route to take account of regional 6pm curfews, with some pre-dawn starts in icy conditions that could make things very interesting if a National announcement doesn't put paid to it altogether. Round 2 in Sweden has already been cancelled, but there is hope of a snow rally as the Finns are hoping to run an event out of Rovaniemi on some of the same roads that the famous Arctic rally uses. Later in the calendar, GB has lost its provisional date as Northern Ireland cannot justify the expense of funding it in Covid times. Ypres is fantastic substitute, but it'll feel very strange not having the WRC on these shores for the first time ever.

    Drop your motorsport news and thoughts in here. We'll get on to the teams and drivers before the season begins.

    #2
    Big news (for me at least) is that the brother-in-law has sold his BTCC team with immediate effect. Obviously I cannot give exact details but he's at least a 7 figure number in his pocket...

    Be interesting to see how the season pans out with no new teams allowed in and the number of licences being given out possibly reduced as the overall plan is to reduce starting grid numbers. I'll still keep a watching brief on BTCC but without the direct involvement of before, I can see my interest declining.

    BriSCA Stock Car Racing still seems to be running in a parallel universe of its own. Belle Vue (Manchester) is almost certainly a dead duck and with only 4 venues in 2021 the death knell seems to be approaching. All hopes are pinned on Odsal reopening again, though how practical/viable this will be goodness knows. With driver numbers in decline, at least those who drive regularly rather than the hire car ones who are increasing, and with an increasingly ageing supporter base, it doesn't seem possible that Odsal will be able to thrive, let alone do the impossible and kick start the sport again. We'll see.

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      #3
      That's big news in BTCC-land regardless, Foxy - Motorbase seem to have a fixture there forever. Looks set to be an interesting season, two Toyota's and Cicely switching to BMWs will add a bit of spice to an already super-competitive series. I've got a season pass for the five MSV tracks so I hope to get to see the BTCC at least once, even if the early season meetings are behind closed doors.

      Which 4 Brisca venues did you mean by the way? I had 6 in my mind but don't follow it that closely so may have missed news on that front. I had Sheffield, Skeggy, KL, Hednesford, Northampton and Hi-Edge as likely venues. Presume you've seen the updates from Steve Rees on his site showing the fence posts going in at Odsal.

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        #4
        Hednesford and Northampton are run by Deane Wood and therefore not running any F1 in 2021 after his falling out with the other promoters. The other 4 are still hosting for 2021 but obviously nothing definitive as yet because of Covid. I wasn't aware of the fence posts at Odsal, so hopefully it will be going ahead at some point in the year, though it's hard to see how financially viable it can be, especially as the Bulls missed out on the available SL slot.

        Motorbase will continue as Motorbase, at least for the forthcoming season, with just a minor tweak to their name. Interestingly they have 4 TOCA licences for the new season, 1 more than usual, so it'll be good to see what drivers they have lined up. I do know that one of last years line-up is moving on and David was able to negotiate with the new owners for one of the 2020 drivers to stay, so there could be 3 new faces at the team. On the former drivers got in contact with the new owners on the day of the announcement to see if he could drive again for the team (having somewhat burnt his bridges with the old owner in the past!) but one of the conditions of sale, that for 2021 at least, he wouldn't be allowed to race for the new team...

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          #5
          Ah, didn't realise the promoters had been squabbling - that happens a lot, sadly. Startrax have provisional dates for Odsal reopening with F1 on April 3rd, also pencilling in the big banger meeting they used to run at Stoke at Odsal on April 24th. They've also been selling tickets for both, limited to 2000 on the assumption that we'll be in some kind of Tier 2 style restricted environment.

          Meanwhile in WRC, Seb Ogier has been tree-felling during his pre-Monte test and has made a right mess of his Yaris. Discussions are ongoing as to whether the French authorities will allow the British contingent to travel (including the entire M-Sport team and quite a few of the leading figures in the service park). If not, that might be enough to hammer the final nail into the event's coffin.

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            #7
            Bugger:
            ​​​https://twitter.com/NASCAR/status/1361049045217632256?s=19

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              #8
              What a ridiculous race (there was a six hour lightning delay)

              https://twitter.com/bubbaprog/status/1361184665114210304

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                #9
                The aptly named F1 Visionary made this comment after the initial 'big one'. I guess it wasn't 100 per cent accurate since this time it appeared that P3 took out both P2 and P1 to set off the fireball and take the win.

                https://twitter.com/F1_Visionary/status/1361050794011856899?s=19

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                  #10
                  The WRC breaks new ground tomorrow when it heads into Lapland for the Arctic rally Finland, a short notice replacement for the cancelled Rally Sweden.

                  I don't think I've been this excited about a rally (at least, not one that I'm not attending) in a very long time. This is a proper snow rally, really fast and with stages run after dark where the ice particles can hang in the air and make visibility patchy. Onboard footage of past regional events in this area shows just how difficult it is to see any kind of definition in the white wilderness with tracks cut through the woods between snow banks.

                  It's incredibly hard to pick a winner, but a lot of people are looking at Toyota's wonderkid Kalle Rovanpera and thinking he might be able to outpace his more experienced rivals. Ireland's Craig Breen gets a run out in the Hyundai, and Oliver Solberg gets a one-off step up to a WRC i20 too - I expect him to be seriously fast but will probably bin it - not helped by a late co-driver change as his regular partner Aaron Johnston has Covid.

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                    #11
                    Good article about Rovanpera and Solberg here - with an embedded link to testing footage if you want an idea of conditions in Lapland

                    Solberg, Rovanper?, and the race to be a generation's best – DirtFish

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                      #12
                      nmrfox and others may be interested in this 90 minute documentary of the 2020 BTCC season:

                      https://motorsport.tv/btcc/video/on-...umentary/72080

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                        #13
                        One of rallying's most widely known drivers from the 70s and 80s, Hannu Mikkola passed away yesterday aged 78. World Champion in 1983 and 4 times winner of the Lombard RAC rally, Mikkola remains the only rally driver to be name checked in a song by Half Man Half Biscuit.

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                          #14
                          The marvellous dexterity of Hannu Mikkola makes me want to shake hands with the whole of Finland

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                            #15
                            Damn, slightly misremembered. Looked it up now and it was wonderful dexterity

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                              #16
                              If I was on family fortunes and had to name a rally driver, Hannu Mikkola would probably be my first response. I can only think of one other even now I'm typing this, the Scottish chap. McRae?

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                                #17
                                Carlos Sainz

                                (he's not the Scottish one, he's just the other whose name pops into my head)

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                                  #18
                                  Ha, was going to suggest that Sainz might be the next one people remember after Colin McRae. He's helped by his son being one of Ferrari's F1 drivers too.

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                                    #19
                                    Sebastien Loeb ring any bells though?

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                                      #20
                                      Paddy Hopkirk.

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                                        #21
                                        Mark Thatcher

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                                          #22
                                          No love for Ari Vatanen? He'd have been the third household name after Mikkola and the original Stig from that era.

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                                            #23
                                            I remember Hannu Mikkola really well, my brother loved him. There's an extraordinary picture of him here, he looks like the most beautiful car salesman in the world.

                                            https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/motorsport/56221414

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                                              #24
                                              Pat Moss Carlsson

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                                                #25
                                                Originally posted by Gangster Octopus View Post
                                                Pat Moss Carlsson
                                                And her husband, presumably.

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