Wittenberg

"What if we took TCAT and made it faster, and threw in some dirt roads here and there?"

This was surely the thought of Talossan racing's greatest minds, assuming they're Talossan racing's only minds.

Anywho, presenting the Ceampiunità Talossan del Rälli, in which up to eleven possibly-lucky participants will compete to see whose drivers are the best.

How It Works:

For the 2025 World Rally Championship season, there are 11 teams at the top level "Rally1" who are eligible for points in the manufacturer's championship.

Team	Car	Driver	Co-Driver
M-Sport Ford WRT	Ford Puma Rally1	Grégoire Munster (LUX)	Louis Louka (BEL)
		Josh McErlean (IRE)	Eoin Treacy (IRE)
Hyundai Shell Mobis WRT	Hyundai i20 N Rally1	Thierry Neuville (BEL)	Martijn Wydaeghe (BEL)
		Ott Tänak (EST)	Martin Järveoja (EST)
		Adrien Fourmaux (FRA)	Alexandre Coria (FRA)
Toyota Gazoo Racing WRT	Toyota GR Yaris Rally1	Sébastien Ogier (FRA)	Vincent Landais (FRA)
		Takamoto Katsuta (JPN)	Aaron Johnston (IRE)
		Elfyn Evans (UK)	Scott Martin (UK)
		Kalle Rovanperä (FIN)	Jonne Halttunen (FIN)
Toyota Gazoo Racing WRT2	Toyota GR Yaris Rally1	Sami Pajari (FIN)	Marko Salminen (FIN)

Other teams do exist; I believe 23 different teams have actually earned points at some point so far this season. However, for the sake of keeping things fair, let's limit ourselves to the teams that can earn points in both categories.

Similar to TCAT, each driver/co-driver team can (but is not guaranteed to) earn points each week depending on where they finish. Similarly, each manufacturer team earns points based on their best two finishes. For CTR scoring purposes, each driver pair will earn their points for the week and their equal "share" of their team's points.

As an example, I'll claim the pair of Rovanperä/Halttunen (We'll be team "Talossa on talossa!" -- Finnish for "Talossa is in the house!"). As one of four pairs on the Toyota Gazoo Racing WRT team, my drivers will earn their own points, plus 1/4 of whatever points the team earns for the week.

Amusingly enough, like the inaugural TCAT season, we're already partway through the 2025 WRC season, so we'll only count points earned going forward. The first round will be the Acropolis Rally, which will be held in Greece June 26 - 29. As a result, the deadline to claim a team is Wednesday, June 25. Let me know who you want to pick and we'll go from there!

Driver/Co-Driver Pair	Claimant
Munster/Louka	The King
McErlean/Treacy
Neuville/Wydaeghe
Tänak/Järveoja	Gluc
Fourmaux/Coria
Ogier/Landais
Katsuta/Johnston	Lenxheir
Evans/Martin	A. Roibeardet
Rovanperä/Halttunen	Autofil
Pajari/Salminen

Maybe I'm missing something, but how do we choose teams?

-Txec R

Quote from: King Txec on June 20, 2025, 09:16:53 PMMaybe I'm missing something, but how do we choose teams?

-Txec R

Just claiming them in this thread is fine, I have a scoring spreadsheet set up. We're not as high-tech as the folks at Velogames...

Ok I'll take Munster/Louka.

-Txec R

Don't know anything about any of this but if you still need someone to claim teams I will take Katsuta/Johnston

I'll take Evans/Martin.

I'm not a big fan of automobiles or auto racing but if I choose to watch any car racing it's rally. Way more fun than NASCAR or F1.

Quote from: Audrada Roibeardet on June 23, 2025, 07:39:00 AMI'll take Evans/Martin.

I'm not a big fan of automobiles or auto racing but if I choose to watch any car racing it's rally. Way more fun than NASCAR or F1.

One would think I would enjoy most forms of racing more than I do. this is not an attempt to get myself more into rally by coupling it with something else I already enjoy

I'll adopt the Estonians. For no particular reason.


Edit: oh eehm I just realised the deadline had passed already when I said this. Oops. Sorry :(

Edit edit: ok I just checked the results of the Acropolis rally and I realise nobody is gonna believe me saying "for no particular reason" 🤣
(Even though its true. I genuinely had no idea)

I'll get Rovanperä as I vaguely remember his father featuring in an old WRC videogame for the PS2 I was very fond of.

The inaugural Ceampiunità Talossan del Rälli kicks off in Greece! The Acropolis Rally, regarded as one of the toughest on the World Rally Championship stage due to the rocky, dusty roads through the mountainous Greek terrain, regained its status as a championship fixture when it returned to the WRC lineup in 2021 after nearly a decade of featuring "only" within the European Rally Championship. Sometimes known as the "Rally of the Gods", Acropolis starts with a single stage in Athens (a so-called "SSS" -- "Super Special Stage") on Thursday evening to ceremonially open the competition. And competition there was: the pair of Sébastien Ogier and Vincent Landais achieved an impressive 1:18.1 -- which was then matched exactly by the Estonians, Ott Tänak and Martin Järveoja. Ogier and Landais claimed sole possession of the lead after Stage 2 Friday morning, clipping out the pair of Sami Pajari and Marko Salminen by 0.7 seconds and Tänak/Järveoja by 6.7. Defending Acropolis winners Thierry Neuville and Martijn Wydaeghe, who were the fastest in the Shakedown phase, managed to briefly hold the fastest overall time after a second-place finish in Stage 3, while the French pairs of Ogier/Landais and Fourmaux/Coria traded wins most of the day and Neuville/Wydaeghe took the fastest in Stage 7, the final run on Friday.

Unfortunately for all of the above -- as well as the other pairs that weren't faring as well -- by the end of Stage 6, the Estonians had taken hold of a lead that they would not surrender, which is why Glüc is correct that no one believes his selection was random. The pair were the fastest in five of the six stages on Saturday (all except Stage 10), and took the first two of Sunday's four stages. That Ogier/Landais were the winners of all three of the stages not won by Tänak and Järveoja was not quite enough to help them, though they did manage to pick up some extra points: five for having the fastest time among the Sunday stages, and five more for having the fastest time on the "Power Stage" (which, as is usually the case, was the final stage here).

Unfortunately, prior to the claiming deadline, no one had picked either of these two teams! The best finish for a CRT team was the fourth-place showing for Elfyn Evans and Scott Martin. While the top five finishers on the weekend were all Rally1 participants, a good showing by some of the Rally2 teams meant that the next-best CRT team was that of Kalle Rovanperä and Jonne Halttunen, who finished eighth among Rally1 teams, 26th overall, and only managed four points after finishing second-fastest in the Power Stage. 30th overall and ninth in Rally1 were Takamoto Katsuta and Aaron Johnston (0 pts.), and the pair of Grégoire Munster and Louis Louka retired after Stage 14 due to mechanical problems.

Driver Team Points Earned:
* Evans/Martin: 17 (12+3+2)
* Rovanperä/Halttunen: 4 (0+0+4)
* Katsuta/Johnston: 0
* Munster/Louka: DNF

Manufacturer Team Points Earned:
* Hyundai Shell Mobis WRT: 50 (16.67 per team)
* Toyota Gazoo Racing WRT: 46 (11.5 per team)
* M-Sport Ford WRT: 10 (5 per team)
* Toyota Gazoo Racing WRT2: 9

Driver/Co-Driver	Manager	Manu. Team	Pts.
Evans/Martin	A. Roibeardet	Toyota	28.5
Rovanperä/Halttunen	M. Autófil	Toyota	15.5
Katsuta/Johnston	T. Lenxheir	Toyota	11.5
Munster/Louka	King Txec	Ford	5

Quote from: Glüc on June 29, 2025, 04:52:06 PMI'll adopt the Estonians. For no particular reason.


Edit: oh eehm I just realised the deadline had passed already when I said this. Oops. Sorry :(

Edit edit: ok I just checked the results of the Acropolis rally and I realise nobody is gonna believe me saying "for no particular reason" 🤣
(Even though its true. I genuinely had no idea)

I'm happy to give you the Estonians moving forward if you'd still like them!

Quote from: Sir Lüc on June 30, 2025, 09:29:41 AMI'll get Rovanperä as I vaguely remember his father featuring in an old WRC videogame for the PS2 I was very fond of.

Rovanperä/Halttunen were already claimed, but if you're looking for Finns, I have a gently-used Pajari/Salminen duo that may interest you?


For all, I am accepting additional team claims that will take effect for Rally Estonia, which starts July 17. You will not be eligible for any points your drivers earned during the Acropolis Rally, but I wouldn't consider that an insurmountable obstacle either!

Quote from: Mic'haglh Autófil, O.Be on June 30, 2025, 10:36:07 PM

Quote from: Glüc on June 29, 2025, 04:52:06 PMI'll adopt the Estonians. For no particular reason.


Edit: oh eehm I just realised the deadline had passed already when I said this. Oops. Sorry :(

Edit edit: ok I just checked the results of the Acropolis rally and I realise nobody is gonna believe me saying "for no particular reason" 🤣
(Even though its true. I genuinely had no idea)

I'm happy to give you the Estonians moving forward if you'd still like them!

Quote from: Sir Lüc on June 30, 2025, 09:29:41 AMI'll get Rovanperä as I vaguely remember his father featuring in an old WRC videogame for the PS2 I was very fond of.

Rovanperä/Halttunen were already claimed, but if you're looking for Finns, I have a gently-used Pajari/Salminen duo that may interest you?


For all, I am accepting additional team claims that will take effect for Rally Estonia, which starts July 17. You will not be eligible for any points your drivers earned during the Acropolis Rally, but I wouldn't consider that an insurmountable obstacle either!

Pinging this one as we're already into the first day of competition.

Oh no I forgot to answer. Am I too late again? I'll take the Estonians for any future races if that's still allowed.

Quote from: Glüc on July 18, 2025, 03:58:37 PMOh no I forgot to answer. Am I too late again? I'll take the Estonians for any future races if that's still allowed.

I'll count it on this one simply because you're already not getting their points from Greece. Good luck! They're off to a good start on their home turf.

The inaugural Ceampiunità Talossan del Rälli ran its second leg this past weekend in Estonia. The largest motorsport event in the Baltic countries, Rally Estonia is among the youngest WRC fixtures, first running in 2010 and joining the WRC calendar in 2020. The Estonian and Latvian rallies swapped places between the WRC and European Rally Championship for last year, with the top circuit returning to the Tartu area for 2025.

Not unlike Neuville and Wydaeghe at the Acropolis Rally several weeks ago, defending Estonia champions Kalle Rovanperä and Jonne Halttunen posted the fastest time in this year's shakedown stage. That would be their only stage win until the final, Power Stage on Sunday, however, meaning the Finns bookended what was otherwise largely a three-way fight.

Neuville/Wydaeghe posted the fastest time in the only relevant stage on Thursday, a mere half-second faster than second-place Evans/Martin. In fact, the top four finishers (Tänak/Järveoja in third and Rovanperä/Halttunen in fourth) all finished no less than one second behind the leaders, and this sort of tone continued throughout the weekend. Unfortunately for Neuville and Wydaeghe, however, three additional stage wins (including a direct tie with Katsuta/Johnston on Stage 8, at 1:26.6) meant they were the third leg of the triad vying for the win. Oliver Solberg (SWE) and Elliot Edmondson (UK), who are not eligible for manufacturer points (and thus not CRT teams) took over the fastest overall time on the second stage and didn't look back. They won nine of the twenty stages, with the Estonian pair of Tänak and Järveoja picking up five stage wins en route to a second-fastest overall time.

Unlike in Greece, the Rally1 teams that finished the event all sat atop the overall standings (think of this as the "General Classification"). Only Katsuta/Johnston withdrew, retiring on the final stage due to mechanical issues. Neuville and Wydaeghe finished third overall on the strength of their four stage wins, while Rovanperä and Halttunen finished fourth in overall time and third in points on the basis of an extremely strong Sunday, where they had the second-fastest time on the day, including the aforementioned Power Stage win. Evans and Martin finished in sixth, and Munster and Louka finished in tenth, comfortably faster (to the tune of several minutes) than any of the Rally2 cars.

Driver Team Points Earned:
* Tänak/Järveoja: 24 (17+3+4)
* Rovanperä/Halttunen: 21 (12+4+5)
* Evans/Martin: 11 (8+2+1)
* Munster/Louka: 1 (1+0+0)
* Katsuta/Johnston: DNF

Manufacturer Team Points Earned:
* Hyundai Shell Mobis WRT: 54 (18 per team)
* Toyota Gazoo Racing WRT: 41 (10.25 per team)
* M-Sport Ford WRT: 14 (7 per team)
* Toyota Gazoo Racing WRT2: 11

Driver/Co-Driver	Manager	Manu. Team	Pts.
Evans/Martin	A. Roibeardet	Toyota	49.75
Rovanperä/Halttunen	M. Autófil	Toyota	46.75
Tänak/Järveoja	G. da Dhi	Hyundai	42
Katsuta/Johnston	T. Lenxheir	Toyota	21.75
Munster/Louka	King Txec	Ford	13