With the 2014 championship already in the bag, Ogier was willing to take up any challenge bright eyed and bushy tailed teammate Latvala threw at him during the 2014 Rally Britain.
Unfortunately for us, this challenge came to naught when Latvala slid off the road in SS1 and lost three minutes in the over eager process.
Conditions were so slippery I am not sure, how the hell, anyone came through any stage without sliding off somewhere. By now, I know that the more you worry about rally cars being able to cope, the easier they make things look, in the right hands, of course.
This rally was also the last for Mikko Hirvonen before he would eventually call an end to a career filled with second spots.
Hirvonen was always good, but goodness knows he was unlucky to land in an era when the “super species” popped up from nowhere.
This time around – he seemed determined to end his career with the best he could do and held off a determined Meeke and a fiery Mads Østberg especially during the early stages to claim his natural spot – second overall some 37.6 seconds behind Ogier who tapped of to such an extent that he posted times as low as 13th in stages.
Hirvonen, driving a Ford Fiesta RS, finished 26.0sec clear of Mads Østberg’s Citroen DS3 on this 13th and final round of the FIA World Rally Championship after Kris Meeke lost his chance of second when he skidded into a ditch and damaged his DS3’s tyres.
Jari-Matti Latvala won the rally-closing live TV Power Stage in a Polo R to take maximum bonus points. Thierry Neuville claimed two points for second in a Hyundai i20, with Østberg taking one point for third.
Citroen will be announcing their driver line up for 2015 during the next couple of weeks and it will be interesting to see how they will approach the “super” problem Volkswagen has caused every one.
To choose “fast” or even exceptional drivers these days is simply not good enough, you need a driver who does not peck in front of the pearly gates during stages, but one who enters the gates at the start of every stage and manage to pop out at the end of the stage again – in one solid piece.
Unfortunately, I see only three, maybe – very, very maybe – four such candidates available to fill about 8 driver seats.
Their names – well seeing that I am always on thin ice – I will remain on solid ground for the time being and mention only the two obvious super drivers – Ogier and Latvala and refrain from mentioning ……