WRC '14 - The fat lady has yet to sing

Rally France was an odd mix of the inevitable and the unexpected. And there was a liberal sprinkling of chance thrown in for good measure. So for the fans and the teams, there was sufficient in the event to keep everybody interested.

That Jari-Matti won should surprise no-one but the man himself - his form has been outstanding and looks to be getting better, if that's possible. Until this rally, Latvala had never taken the top podium spot on a tarmac WRC rally, so winning in France has finally broken his jinx. Of course, Ogier's mechanical misfortunes and a couple of driving errors certainly helped the Finn's campaign but J-ML's sheer speed and precision over the weekend were udeniable and awesome to see.

So the championship competition for drivers lives on for another round, Ogier's 3 points from the power stage being his only reward from his home event.

Bouffier was noticeably uncompetitive on his favourite surface, never looking like a challenge to the top five drivers. It's difficult to understand why but his performance is unlikely to have impressed his team in France. I doubt that he'll take further part in Hyundai's WRC programme. 

The change of fortune for the top level of the WRC continues. SebO no longer necessarily carries the mantle of the best driver and there are now real contenders for the driver's crown. Latvala, Mikkelsen and Meeke are looking strong and confident, and not too far back, Neuville, Paddon and Evans also show promise.
 
This is good news for the championship, and will only be further enhanced when new manufacturers (ahem - Toyota - ahem) come on board. And maybe, just maybe, Ford will "officially" return as well. We live in hope.

The driver-go-round that appears at this time each year is in full swing and a picture of the future is beginning to coalesce from the mists of obfuscation that the teams seem to enjoy employing. What we kinda know at the moment...

Ford
Evans definitely, Tanak likely, Hirvonen... unsure

VW
Ogier just about certain, Latvala for sure and Mikkelsen highly likely to remain

Citroen
Meeke unlikely to be moving, Ostberg, despite an unusually poor showing in '14, should also be staying with the team

Hyundai
Neuville is a definite and Nandan has categorically stated that his remaining team member(s) will emerge from the pool used this year. That doesn't clarify much, but the likeliest choices are Hanninen, Paddon and Sordo. But if there will be no rotation for '15 as Nandan has alluded to recently, the final two picks are hard to make - your guess is as good as mine

Toyota
Pundit speculation is that the Japanese manufacturer won't take part in WRC 2015, preferring to wait for the new regs to take effect for 2017. But there's a case to be made for a VW-style prototype year where initial development work is done with a mule and which competes at WRC2 level to get the process underway.

I wouldn't be surprised, but I also wouldn't hold my breath

KUBICA KORNER

Some bloody awesome stage times throughout the event, including fastest, but yet again a driver error destroyed his chances for a good finish and championship points. Only a minute into the power stage while fourth overall, Kubica got out of sequence for a left/right combination, slid wide and rolled into retirement.

A pity, but it seemed to be another example of pacenote misreading. Perhaps a better result awaits the rapid Pole in Spain.

 Roll on Spain, and Paddon's return to the WRC.


(Edit: Thanks to Gary Boyd for spotting the typos)