The language used and the way we communicate is so fraught, so prone to error and misinterpretation.
Wandering around the Travelodge with my GF last century when the Rally of NZ was based there, we ended up talking to Juha Kankkunen in the house bar. Nothing unusual in that, those were times when the likes of Hannu Mikkola, Stig Blomqvist and others were still ‘rehydrating’ well after midnight on any given rally. You’d get your bourbon and coke and turn away from the bar and find yourself in conversation with Michele Mouton. Cherished memories? You bet.
But imagine my disquiet when Juha misinterpreted my innocent question – would he like to buy some photos?’ – as an offer to loan him my GF for the evening. He was like ‘no, no, I have a girlfriend…’
Once I worked out what he thought I was asking there were blushes all round. Bit of a laugh, eh Juha. Though the GF of the time would probably have been fairly keen. Scandinavian warrior genes and all that. And yes, he did buy all but two of the prints I had with me and yes he did order some 16×24 reprints of a couple of goodies.
So back to the twists and turns of tricky language. On behalf of rally tragics everywhere, I am once more outraged at the news Citroen is leaving the WRC. Not because they are leaving but because of the blamestorming happening.
Autosport in the UK this week got an exclusive interview with Citroen lead driver Sebastien Ogier, who is leaving the team with a year left on his contract. Ogier, of course, is headed for Toyota, who have been having a bit of success of late. He will fill the seat vacated by Ott Tanak, who has gone to Hyundai, thus closing the door on our own WRC hero Hayden Paddon.
Ogier is still at the peak of his talents; he wants to score more rally wins and mount viable championship campaigns, and who would blame him?
Citroen in turn blames him for forcing them to can the team, which sounds less than totally plausible. Motorsport media around the world have been chewing over the hints that this would happen for more than a month.
The likely course, given the company also lags behind in road car EV development , is that they would continue in Formula E and might look at the PSA group’s proposed entry into the 2022 World Endurance Championship as a test bed for full electric drivetrain design.
The six-time champion admitted he was surprised at the wording of Citroen’s communication, but refused to comment on speculation that he first read the press release on the internet.
Locally, what was in the regular news in NZ? Questions over whether it is ethically okay to resign or fire someone by email or text. Tres moderne.
Ogier told Autosport: “Maybe communication hasn’t always been the strongest point for Citroen…”
And perhaps this world champion was simply in a vicious circle of nothing being said.
A slap in the face
More to the point, as Hayden Paddon starts to think he may not be back in a WRC car again and contemplates a summer in a TCR car, is the insult backhanded to the driver cohort by this team.
You be the judge – is it arrogance or English as a second language that prompted the team to include this ripper in the tail end of its media release and repeated out on twitter: “Following the decision of @SebOgier to leave Citroën Racing after 2019 World Rally Championship season, @Citroen decided to withdraw from its @OfficialWRC programme in 2020 due to the absence of a first-class driver available for 2020 season.”
For those who recall the classic British comedy ‘Allo ‘allo you might like to read the above in the faux French accent of the dodgy Gendarme.
Ogier is a special talent, one of those almost machine-like drivers who are millimeter precise and have analysed their stage performance long before they arrive at the time control to have cameras stuck in their faces. He leaves nothing to chance on stages, never pops a wheel into a ditch for a faster line or to crop an apex.
He had left the team before to go win WRC titles with VW, but to claim there are no ‘first class’ drivers available in the sport when the silly season is in full swing is laughable.
First up, perhaps the first class drivers are looking for first class teams, outfits with development budgets and engineering programmes and objectives that include winning rallies. Hence Ogier’s interest in the Toyota WRC operation.
Second, what a slap in the face for the many drivers currently re-negotiating their contracts. I can hear their thoughts: “so what are we, chopped liver?”
Ogier was also concerned about the message Citroen had sent to other competitors in the WRC, adding: “When they say there is no other drivers available, in this moment, I feel this is disrespectful for my colleagues in the sport.”
Au revoir, and thanks for the memories
Citroen have been rallying since 1965. They have been a first class team in WRC on several occasions since the current Citroen Racing operation entered WRC in 2003.
Over that time they have had the talents of the two most talented Sebastiens in the sport – Loeb and Ogier – and won nine drivers’ and eight manufacturers’ WRC titles.
They have foisted some of the unloveliest cars in the history of rallying on us, and also some of the most stunning. Who can forget the dreadful BX4TCgroup B hash-up, so awful the company tried to buy them all back and crush them? Or the committee-designed shopping trolley aesthetic and squashed-frog headlight arrays of the XXL-sized Xsara?
But also, we should remember the phwoarr factor that built up through the later years: the C4, DS3 and now C3 family of ever quicker WRC cars, slowed only by a lack of development and budget as the Toyota Yaris, Ford Fiesta and others took over the limelight.
The C4 won 36 of 56 WRC-level events entered; the C3 has scored just six wins from 40 starts. Three wins this year. Six in three years. Sacre bleu, zis is not first class, surely?
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