[ERC] Rally Serras de Fafe 2023

[Jarek Z]

Yes, a very interesting event!

Man of the rally was Heikkila, of course. I'm sure we will see big things from this "sisu driver" this year

But Paddon had a very good rally, too. He seems to regain the speed that was missing last year.
It must be the first time in the history when an Aussie wins a ERC event! Congratulations!

Silent heroes were for me Georg Linnamae and Miko Marczyk. Both not the fastest, but still fast enough and very consistent to get the 3rd and 4th positions.

Disappointments:
Llarena - no speed throughout the whole rally

Big disappointments:
Tidemand and Wagner - no speed at all throughout the whole rally

[Fast Eddie WRC]

The new Skoda is by design made to be better than old one one fast gravel/snow and smooth tarmac. It has shown as much in Monte and Sweden.

The big question is if then is worse on medium/slow gravel and different tarmac types.

Imo this is the first rally that could give some answers and my read is same as yours. It is not significantly faster (yet?). Which is good for the competition.

Maybe we should be happy that the new Skoda is not totally dominant. A chance for all drivers in all cars is the dream.

Ditto with tyres, and in ERC it's good that MRF has thrown a lot at it but hasn't taken over with results.

[Jarek Z]

Great. You never stop learning.

Sisu is a mental state the finns have https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sisu

Thank you guys! One is never too old to learn

[Negaiss]

* Sesks, won 1 stage - "has a real speed and future potential"
* Virves, won 2 stages - "I don't believe he is talented"

Logic is... where?

I hope to see bright future for both of them.

I mean - if Fiesta rally 2 is the worst car but Virves wins stages against Breen, Otsberg and Paddon with 10 times less expierence, then he must be the best of all drivers ever. What I actually mean is that Fiesta Rally 2 might not be that bad.

Yes I agree, I would like to see Sesks and Virves succseed. I just hope more for Sesks , because he is Latvian

[cali]

* Sesks, won 1 stage - "has a real speed and future potential"
* Virves, won 2 stages - "I don't believe he is talented"

Logic is... where?

I hope to see bright future for both of them.

Yes, and Virves was in a Fiesta while Sesks was in the (almost) best car possible. We can debate of which Fabia is better, but Fiesta being the slowest seems to be unilateral.

Still, I'm rooting for both of them and actually Sesks disappointed me. Virves too, until today.

But what a rally guys! Wow

Sent from my DN2103 using Tapatalk

[sidrun]

Yes, a very interesting event!

But Paddon had a very good rally, too. He seems to regain the speed that was missing last year.
It must be the first time in the history when an Aussie wins a ERC event! Congratulations!

I believe he’s very proud Kiwi not Aussie😉

[Jarek Z]

I believe he’s very proud Kiwi not Aussie😉

Sorry! Of course a Kiwi!

I guess he's been away from the European rally scene for too long

[Jarek Z]

Haden Paddon writes history. It is the first ever win for a Hyundai car in the history of European Rally Championship.
Congratulations!

https://www.fiaerc.com/images/redakt...f_1400x788.png

[Sardalense]

Just a small historic comparison. The Lameirinha stage from today was very similar comparing with the WRC stage from Rally Portugal 2000. Today's stage started 100m earlier and ended maybe 300m before. The surface was wet and in 2000 was dry. Now the stage has 2 km in tarmac comparing to 2000.

Best Time in 2000 - Colin McRae (Focus WRC) - 9m52s
Best Time in 2023 - Craig Breen (i20 N Rally2) - 9m23s

[Mk2 RS2000]

Sorry! Of course a Kiwi!

I guess he's been away from the European rally scene for too long

18,000 km and a couple of years away A very serious effort made by Hayden to overcome that