Rally Italia Sardegna 2015

[nafpaktos]

but before referring to him as a possible Ogier-beater we will have to wait.

No one said that.

[N.O.T]

Curb your enthusiasm with Paddon. He showed great stuff today and I'm very happy for it, but a good rally happens to everyone. The day before yesterday he was lying in 7th-8th positions.
Don't misunderstand me, I'm very happy to see a guy with so little experience leading a rally, but before referring to him as a possible Ogier-beater we will have to wait.
I'm pretty sure the posts about Paddon tomorrow night will be different than today.

someone has to tell Paddon to be as nose first as he was today and then everything is easy...

[nafpaktos]

someone has to tell Paddon to be as nose first as he was today and then everything is easy...

True

[kirungi okwogera]

Didn't read the whole thread but I didn't see anybody say that Paddon could challenge Ogier - I think there's excitement whenever someone new leads. He's performing above expectations of 7th-8th, which means it looks like he's still got room for improvement, unlike, say, almost every driver on the top level.

[stefanvv]

Paddon is still learning. Too early for any challenge. Only time will tell...

[EightGear]

The onboard's on WRC+ won't work on my phone. Is anyone else experiencing problems?

[WRCfan]

Anyone know where to watch Day 1 highlights? People upload them on the motorsport torrent sites although 4GB is excessive, online streaming link anyone knows of?

WRCfan

[GigiGalliNo1]

WRCfan, you cheap and can't buy a season pass of WRCPlus?!

Also, only two stages this weekend are LIVE. Isolated island and SIT having timing issues...

[WRCfan]

WRCfan, you cheap and can't buy a season pass of WRCPlus?!

Also, only two stages this weekend are LIVE. Isolated island and SIT having timing issues...

No because I don't want to sit up at crazy hours watching 'live' WRC. Also I torrent it for nothing, today's urgency is I want to see Paddon. Any other rally I am happy to wait.

[Lundefaret]

All good points Lundefaret. I'm not sure if I can see/analyze driving style in as much detail but it sounds about right from what I do see.

I disagree with Rallye Jeunes FFSA needing to be banned - I would rather other countries did a "proper talent scout job". Motorsport (not just rally) has for a long time always been based on money/access to money/family name, and for a long time that was enough for success, and even if only one country is investing in getting talent from a larger pool of people than the moneyed classes, it means an improvement in the overall quality of drivers. I'd rather see one country with a semi-meritocracy in motorsport than no countries. If that means French WRC champions for a while then I can live with that.

Speaking of that - Paddon is showing that a guy without much money (and therefore without much consistent training, time to test, etc.) can excel even from outside France. I'm really impressed by his pace, obviously in the morning with the sweeping advantage, but in holding it consistently when he wasn't the only person benefiting from roadcleaning, and indeed holding it through the afternoon when he didn't have much advantage. That seems like less of a fluke than a newcomer randomly winning the occasional stage.

While it felt to me that it was sooner than I thought he would perform so well (and more sudden, not much buildup) I think it is no coincidence that his (basically) one-year anniversary in a WRC car is showing him to jump from 7-8th positions to higher contention - this is an established pattern with frontrunners who don't have the advantage of five year plans. We shall see though.

To Kirungi Okwogera, the suggestion of banning the Autos de Junes was a joke I STRONGLY support Your point regarding that these kind of talent competitions should be present in more countries!

Loeb and Ogier and the total French domination for the last 10 years has proved that talent wins over money (off course it has to be talent in combination with money, opportunity, and dedication.)

The "problem" for Ogiers competitors is that Rally is off course highly professional from the technical side - but an amateur sport regarding the athletes.
I do not mean that the atlethes them selves are at fault, only that there has been an extreme focus on the technical side, and almost no focus on the athletes, except having them physically fit.

Lets say You where an investor, and that You just bought a Premier League Soccer team.
And lets say You immediately started practicing the same strategy as is common in the WRC.
And lets say You had 100 million pounds to spend in one season.
This is what You would do:

- You would use 99.5 millions developing the shoes, the shirts and the shorts.
- You would only arrange 10-14 practice sessions a year.
- Those practice sessions would be 80-90% about the performance of the shoes, the shirts and the shorts.
- The athletes input would only be about how the shoes, the shirts and the shorts could be changed to work better for the individual soccer player.
- The trainers would be engineers.
- The trainers would only be present during the practice and the games.
- You would play 12-14 matches a year.
- The only thing You would demand of Your soccer players is that the should use some of their free time staying in shape.
- You would take Your team around the world on marketing events, taking up almost as much time as the soccer playing.

So, now You have soccer players with specially made shoes, shirts and shorts worth 400.000 pounds EACH, that practice 10-12 times a Year, and plays 10-14 matches, have engineers for trainers, do A LOT of PR work, and keep fit.

How well do You think they would perform in the Premier League?