2021 Crystall Ball Predictions

[KiwiWRCfan]

5 predictions per person (please exercise some self-discipline in sticking to just 5)
Maximum 1 prediction related to Covid event cancellations/postponements/substitutions
Predictions need to be specific/measurable
Award for most of 5 predictions correct
Honour for the most extreme prediction that turns out to be correct

Predictions close 11.59 am French time on Thursday January 21st i.e. a few hours prior to Monte Carlo SS1

Tip - always shine your Crystal Ball to get clearer predictions

[Sulland]

1. Corona will play a part in the full season.
2. Rally2 will create the best series, Rally1 will have too few cars competing, with only 2 manus fighting.
3. Rally3 class will have 3 different cars homologated by end 2021.
4. Rally1: Evans will win the drivers title. Rally2: Mikkelsen wins title here.
5. Current 2022 hybrid car plans will be ditched, Rally1 in current format will be top class till 1 jan 2025.

[Rallyper]

1. At least one round will be out despite Corona (except for Rally Sweden).
2. Oliver gets at least one drive in WRC car (in wrc rounds).
3. Kalle wins his first WRC-round.
4. Tanak takes WDC title.
5. Toyota wins manufacturers championship.

[TheFlyingTuga]

1 - The Champ will be only 7/8 rounds like this year.
2 - After problems with ERC Fafe, WRC Portugal will not take place (this one I hope doesn't happen).
3 - Ogier will be Champ again and retires at the end of the year. Hyundai will snatch the Manu's title again
4 - Latvala will not handle the pressure and leave Toyota Gazoo Racing around summer
5 - Oliver will drive at least one round with a Hyundai WRC car after winning the WRC2 title.

[skarderud]

1 Toyota WTC
2 Tänak WDC
3 Neuville free to leave after season
4 Subaru and Mitsubishi back in WRC
5 M-sport get solid sponsorship and Ford more involved


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[TWRC]

1. Both titles to be decided on the last round
2. An R5/Rally2 car will finish top5 in one of the rallies.
3. Internal problems will surface at Toyota around mid-season.
4. Sordo to win again.
5. Mikkelsen almost completes his clean sweep, but falls short on the last round.

[EstWRC]

1. Ogier will win the first and last rally of the season
2. Tänak and Rovanperä will have huge battles for the win on the fastest rallies of the calendar (Arctic, Estonia, Finland)
3. Lappi will drive a rally or some rallies with Toyota and at the end of the season is announced back there full time.
4. M-sport will win 1 rally.
5. Formaux will get stage win with main class machine.

[AnttiL]

1. Rovanperä will get maiden win this season
2. Huttunen will get a start in a WRC car in a WRC event
3. There are only two stages (not counting repeats) with 30 km or more in length
4. FIA and WRC Promoter will manage to run 10 events this season.
5. Ogier will win the title and lead the series for most of the year.

[Eli]

1. Neuville to leave Hyundai by the end of 2021.
2. Ogier will lose his title, while Toyota will reclaim theirs.
3. Sub 300km rallies will become (unfortunately) a standard with the FIA giving it's official stamp for 2022.
4. Mikkelsen will have a factory WRC seat back by the end of the season.
5. COVID-19 will continue to wrack havoc among the service park (Crews, drivers, teams, and events), will effectively impact next season as well as this season.

[Mk2 RS2000]

1. COVID-19 will cause the cancellation / postponement of an event
2. Sordo will win at least one event
3. Neuville will not with the WRC drivers championship
4. Ogier will win more WRC events in 2021 than any other driver
5. Paddon will drive a WRC car during 2021

[pantealex]

2021:

1. Pirelli tyres are faster than Michelin last year

2. Suninen will start more rallies with WRC21 than Formaux

3. Lappi will start in WRC event 2021

4. We will see Rally3 car starting in WRC

5. MSport isn´t making any TOP4 results

[AnttiL]

2021:

3. Lappi will start in WRC event 2021

With no comment on the machinery? :)

[pantealex]

With no comment on the machinery? :)

or Class ;)

[RS]

or Class ;)

i wouldn’t be surprised to see him involved in testing of the new Fabia Rally2.

[AnttiL]

https://dirtfish.com/rally/wrc/dirtfishs-predictions-for-the-2021-rallying-year/

[polomayu]

1. Sordo wins 2 events.
2. rovanpera wins 1 event.
3. Toyota wins manufacturer.
4. Ogier wins wdc.
5. Neuville doesn't win any events.

[steve.mandzij]

1. Rovanperä scores his maiden win
2. Neuville wins the power stage in Sardinia, but not the rally
3. Gus Greensmith will fail to finish higher than fifth all year, and will finish behind Suninen and Katsuta at the end of the year standings
4. Toyota WCC
5. Ogier to fail his title defense

[denkimi]

1. Ogier winst the drivers title
2. Hyundai wins the constructors title
3. Neuville will have the most stage wins
4. At least one of the wrc drivers will have to be replaced temporary due to something corona related
5. Rovanpera will not win any rally

[mknight]

1. Hyundai wins manu title
2. Evans won't be top 2 in drivers champ
3. Rovanpera will get at least 2 podiums, but still wont be better than 5th in drivers champ.
4. Loubet will be better than Greensmith but worse than Katsuta over the year
5. There will be max. 2 rallies outside of Europe (Turkey counts as Europe in case it magically re-appears)

[atsiotras79]

1 Rovanpera will take his first win.
2 Ogier WDC.
3 Monza and Turkey will be again in the calendar in 2021.
4 Mikkelsen will finish top 5 in a rally with R5.
5 Toyota Manufacturers Champions

[meh]

1. drivers title - Tänak takes it back
2. manus title - Toyota takes it back
3. we will have new rally winner (someone who have not won yet), Rovanperä or Breen
4. Solberg is best in R5 category in some rally (edit: Rally2 or whatever way you call 2020 WRC2+WRC3)
5. Additionally to already announced WRC drivers, there will be at least 2 new drivers (gentleman drivers excluded)

not that well measurable:
* WRC2/WRC3 will be more interesting and competitive than WRC
* Ogier may want to get team-orders, because Evans and Rovanperä are taking valuable points away and this is the reason why he loses title

[AnttiL]

4. Solberg is best in R5 category in some rally

This is again one of those "there will be jumps in Rally Finland" predictions :D

[EstWRC]

but there werent any jumps in Rally Finland last year ;)

[T16]

1 Evans WDC
2 Winning margin more then ten points
3 Toyota WMC
4 non- WRC car to take overall podium
5 Breen will win one event.

[rp]

1. Kalle Rovanperä will take his 1st WRC win
2. Toyota will win Manufacturer´s title
3. Ott Tänak takes the drivers title
4. Jari Huttunen will drive at least 1 event behind the wheel of the World Rally Car
5. Thierry Neuville will leave Hyundai at the end of the season

[Jewy46]

1 - Rovanpera will win his first event
2 - Breen will get at least 1 podium
3 - Paddon does 1 event in a WRC car and shows great speed
4 - Mikkelsen or Solberg will finish in the top 5 in a event in a R5 car
5 - Andrea Adamo fires/does not renew contract of Neuville with a big fall out and war of words after

[pantealex]

This is again one of those "there will be jumps in Rally Finland" predictions :D

Especially because only Hyundai and VW are R5, Citroen/Ford/Skoda are Rally2

[meh]

This is again one of those "there will be jumps in Rally Finland" predictions :D

Not really, there are quite many to beat to achieve that. If we compare with "who is the manu winner", it's already 50:50.

[Katvala]

1. Rovanperä will win at least one rally
2. At least one former WRC driver will make an appearence
3. Neuville will have another disaster year
4. Ogier will be champion again
5. It will be a very tight fight for the championship title, the winner will not be certain before final rally

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[Humber]

1 Toyota to win manufacturers
2 Pirelli tyres get some complaints on more than 1 round
3 Paddon makes at least one round appearance in Hyundai R5
4 Katsuta makes podium on one round
5 Hybrid cars delayed even more at end of year

[jparker]

WRC+ out of service most of the time


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[rv65]

1. Evans to win WDC while Hyundai continues their manufacturers title dominance.
2. Spectators will continue to be banned throughout the season.
3. Rovanpera to win a rally.
4. Breen to earn at least 1 podium.
5. M-Sport to have a disappointing season.

[KiwiWRCfan]

1 Neuville will use 3 or more codrivers during 2021
2 Latvala will use rules in a way that frustrates Adamo but Adamo accepts it is within the rules
3 Sordo wins an event he has not previously won
4 Paddon gets at least one round in a WRC car
5 Tanak claims drivers title, Toyota claims manufacturers title

[Tauri_J]

1. Tänak WDC by less than 5 points
2. Hyundai to leave WRC (Rally1) after 2021
3. Greensmith/Formaux with a podium, obviously with luck
4. Neuville to have a fall out with Adamo
5. Mikkelsen will not win WRC2

[AnttiL]

nobody had Oliver starting in a WRC car in their predictions

[EstWRC]

i have 0.5 points already, haha

[AnttiL]

3. There are only two stages (not counting repeats) with 30 km or more in length

We got the first one of these in Arctic Rally. Let's see if there will be a second one. If Safari is run, I think they will have one. Chile could also have El Puma. The canceled Rally Japan 2020 also had one 31 km stage.

[MartijnS]

nobody had Oliver starting in a WRC car in their predictions

Rallyper does :)

[Rallyper]

1. At least one round will be out despite Corona (except for Rally Sweden).
2. Oliver gets at least one drive in WRC car (in wrc rounds).
3. Kalle wins his first WRC-round.
4. Tanak takes WDC title.
5. Toyota wins manufacturers championship.


nobody had Oliver starting in a WRC car in their predictions

I did. ;) At least one point saved... :)

[AnttiL]

Rallyper does :)

damn, I just searched through the topic with "Solberg" :D

[KiwiWRCfan]

more cristal balls
https://twitter.com/SebOgier/status/1365740328540663808

[steve.mandzij]

1. Rovanperä scores his maiden win
2. Neuville wins the power stage in Sardinia, but not the rally
3. Gus Greensmith will fail to finish higher than fifth all year, and will finish behind Suninen and Katsuta at the end of the year standings
4. Toyota WCC
5. Ogier to fail his title defenseLooks like my most specific prediction turned out to be the only confirmed one so far!

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[EstWRC]

1. Ogier will win the first and last rally of the season
2. Tänak and Rovanperä will have huge battles for the win on the fastest rallies of the calendar (Arctic, Estonia, Finland)
3. Lappi will drive a rally or some rallies with Toyota and at the end of the season is announced back there full time.
4. M-sport will win 1 rally.
5. Formaux will get stage win with main class machine.

5. Done

[pantealex]

5. Done

It was quite big surprise that he was 1st MSport to do it this season.

[AnttiL]

3. There are only two stages (not counting repeats) with 30 km or more in length

Already gone, there has been four such stages (Sarriojärvi, Amarante, Kedong and Sleeping Warrior)

[steve.mandzij]

1. Rovanperä scores his maiden win
2. Neuville wins the power stage in Sardinia, but not the rally
3. Gus Greensmith will fail to finish higher than fifth all year, and will finish behind Suninen and Katsuta at the end of the year standings
4. Toyota WCC
5. Ogier to fail his title defenseBit miffed that none of 3. will have been correct and 5 looks to be quite certainly wrong at this point!

Hoping for 1. Next month...

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[EstWRC]

1. Ogier will win the first and last rally of the season
2. Tänak and Rovanperä will have huge battles for the win on the fastest rallies of the calendar (Arctic, Estonia, Finland)
3. Lappi will drive a rally or some rallies with Toyota and at the end of the season is announced back there full time.
4. M-sport will win 1 rally.
5. Formaux will get stage win with main class machine.

half the season is passed, time to review some

1. So far 50%
2. Unfortunately hasnt happened so far, Kalle had troubles in Arctic, Tänak in Estonia. My fingers are now crossed for Finland for epic battle, like in 2003 between Märtin and Grönholm.
3. It seems the first part of prediction isnt gonna happen, about the announcement im 100% sure but not full time, sharing the car with Ogier.
4. Cant see it happening but you never know :D
5. Has happened.

[Eli]

1. Neuville to leave Hyundai by the end of 2021.
2. Ogier will lose his title, while Toyota will reclaim theirs.
3. Sub 300km rallies will become (unfortunately) a standard with the FIA giving it's official stamp for 2022.
4. Mikkelsen will have a factory WRC seat back by the end of the season.
5. COVID-19 will continue to wrack havoc among the service park (Crews, drivers, teams, and events), will effectively impact next season as well as this season.

For now it seems everything I predicted is wrong (thankful about number 3 about that), and since Neuville signed for 2 years, the only thing I can still get right is Mikkelsen and if by some miracle Neuville or Evans snatches what now is Ogier's title to lose.

[rp]

1. Kalle Rovanperä will take his 1st WRC win
2. Toyota will win Manufacturer´s title
3. Ott Tänak takes the drivers title
4. Jari Huttunen will drive at least 1 event behind the wheel of the World Rally Car
5. Thierry Neuville will leave Hyundai at the end of the season

At least the 1st was right, probably also 2nd. The other predictions are not looking good...

[Rallyper]

1. At least one round will be out despite Corona (except for Rally Sweden).
2. Oliver gets at least one drive in WRC car (in wrc rounds).
3. Kalle wins his first WRC-round.
4. Tanak takes WDC title.
5. Toyota wins manufacturers championship.

Would say 4/5 is possible... :)

[EstWRC]

1. Ogier will win the first and last rally of the season
2. Tänak and Rovanperä will have huge battles for the win on the fastest rallies of the calendar (Arctic, Estonia, Finland)
3. Lappi will drive a rally or some rallies with Toyota and at the end of the season is announced back there full time.
4. M-sport will win 1 rally.
5. Formaux will get stage win with main class machine.


unfortunately my hopes didnt live up....

[Eli]

1. Neuville to leave Hyundai by the end of 2021.
2. Ogier will lose his title, while Toyota will reclaim theirs.
3. Sub 300km rallies will become (unfortunately) a standard with the FIA giving it's official stamp for 2022.
4. Mikkelsen will have a factory WRC seat back by the end of the season.
5. COVID-19 will continue to wrack havoc among the service park (Crews, drivers, teams, and events), will effectively impact next season as well as this season.

I think it's fair to say at this point I got (almost) everything wrong. I am glad though, that prediction No. 5 didn't do as much damage as I thought at the start of the year. I truly hope all crews will be vaccinated until next year so it will be a bit safer for all of the WRC to travel. Also, I hope we get back more night time stages and longer rallies.

[AnttiL]

1. Rovanperä will get maiden win this season
2. Huttunen will get a start in a WRC car in a WRC event
3. There are only two stages (not counting repeats) with 30 km or more in length
4. FIA and WRC Promoter will manage to run 10 events this season.
5. Ogier will win the title and lead the series for most of the year.

1. Correct
2. Incorrect
3. Incorrect (five)
4. Incorrect (full 12 rounds)
5. Correct

[EstWRC]

1. Ogier will win the first and last rally of the season
2. Tänak and Rovanperä will have huge battles for the win on the fastest rallies of the calendar (Arctic, Estonia, Finland)
3. Lappi will drive a rally or some rallies with Toyota and at the end of the season is announced back there full time.
4. M-sport will win 1 rally.
5. Formaux will get stage win with main class machine.

1. Correct
2. Didnt happen unfortunately
3. Well partly correct.
4. Uncorrect, but i really hoped for this
5. Correct

[TheFlyingTuga]

1 - The Champ will be only 7/8 rounds like this year.
2 - After problems with ERC Fafe, WRC Portugal will not take place (this one I hope doesn't happen).
3 - Ogier will be Champ again and retires at the end of the year. Hyundai will snatch the Manu's title again
4 - Latvala will not handle the pressure and leave Toyota Gazoo Racing around summer
5 - Oliver will drive at least one round with a Hyundai WRC car after winning the WRC2 title.

1 - Nope, almost a full year with only Japan not happening
2 - Good I was wrong
3 - Half of it corrected. Shame Hyundai was disappointing through out the year
4 - Latvala is ruling. Shame on me for saying this
5 - Well, no WRC2 title, but a lot of rounds in a WRC Car

[rp]

1. Kalle Rovanperä will take his 1st WRC win
2. Toyota will win Manufacturer´s title
3. Ott Tänak takes the drivers title
4. Jari Huttunen will drive at least 1 event behind the wheel of the World Rally Car
5. Thierry Neuville will leave Hyundai at the end of the season

Not so good this year. Only 1st two correct...

[Rallyper]

1. At least one round will be out despite Corona (except for Rally Sweden).
2. Oliver gets at least one drive in WRC car (in wrc rounds).
3. Kalle wins his first WRC-round.
4. Tanak takes WDC title.
5. Toyota wins manufacturers championship.

4/5 :)

[mknight]

1. Hyundai wins manu title
2. Evans won't be top 2 in drivers champ
3. Rovanpera will get at least 2 podiums, but still wont be better than 5th in drivers champ.
4. Loubet will be better than Greensmith but worse than Katsuta over the year
5. There will be max. 2 rallies outside of Europe (Turkey counts as Europe in case it magically re-appears)


1/5 = epic fail, specially since I got 4/5 the last two years.

In my defense, first 3 are all related to Hyundai failures this year.

[AnttiL]

1 - Nope, almost a full year with only Japan not happening

Or actually it was a full 12 round calendar with replacements of Sweden to Arctic, GB to Ypres, Chile to Acropolis and Japan to Monza.

[Eli]

1. Neuville to leave Hyundai by the end of 2021.
2. Ogier will lose his title, while Toyota will reclaim theirs.
3. Sub 300km rallies will become (unfortunately) a standard with the FIA giving it's official stamp for 2022.
4. Mikkelsen will have a factory WRC seat back by the end of the season.
5. COVID-19 will continue to wrack havoc among the service park (Crews, drivers, teams, and events), will effectively impact next season as well as this season.

Well I got pretty much everything wrong although they did need to replace Chile, UK & Japan due to COVID (mostly), but funny statistic or actually quite sad when you think about it, opening round in MC was 254kms and here in Monza it was 253 with most of it being circuit based, hopefully this won't become a regular thing in the championship next year & beyond.

[Sulland]

1. Corona will play a part in the full season Correct, but more rallies done than I thought.
2. Rally2 will create the best series, Rally1 will have too few cars competing, with only 2 manus fighting. Well, both series have been ok.
3. Rally3 class will have 3 different cars homologated by end 2021. Wrong, still only Fiesta.
4. Rally1: Evans will win the drivers title. Rally2: Mikkelsen wins title here. 50%
5. Current 2022 hybrid car plans will be ditched, Rally1 in current format will be top class till 1 jan 2025. Wrong.


Have to improve next year! :arrows::beer:

[TWRC]

1. Both titles to be decided on the last round -> 50% true, although in reality it wasn't even that much chance.
2. An R5/Rally2 car will finish top5 in one of the rallies. -> Happened, Huttunen in Sardegna.
3. Internal problems will surface at Toyota around mid-season. -> nope, completely wrong.
4. Sordo to win again. -> nope.
5. Mikkelsen almost completes his clean sweep, but falls short on the last round. -> well, I don't remember what I meant by this, but clearly he has not won every round, and clearly has won both titles, so either way, i was wrong.


Well, I have to do better next time. :D

[WRCStan]

Who had driver, co-driver and teams of different crews for champions in WRC2 and WRC3 (and ERC)?

[Jewy46]

1 - Rovanpera will win his first event Correct
2 - Breen will get at least 1 podium Correct
3 - Paddon does 1 event in a WRC car and shows great speed No!
4 - Mikkelsen or Solberg will finish in the top 5 in a event in a R5 car Close, Huttunen did it instead
5 - Andrea Adamo fires/does not renew contract of Neuville with a big fall out and war of words after No

Not bad, but not great :p