74th PZM Rally Poland

[AnttiL]

If Neuville hadn't thrown away 2 wins and Tanak made crucial mistakes in TdC and Poland he would have been 3rd.

Rallying is firstly about finishing, secondly about speed.

[JoostSchouten]

What a rally it was, sometimes very difficult to spectate, but most of the time a pure boost of adrenaline watching the 2017 WRCs on the best stages of the world. Really enjoyed this one!

Watch all the highlights of our rally in this video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QqBt2jE3uys

[SPKen]

SS23 Paprotki 2 (Power Stage)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=12M1JnvOu-Y

[A FONDO]

SS23 Paprotki 2 (Power Stage)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=12M1JnvOu-Y

this is surely the slowest corner of the whole rally.

[EstWRC]

https://twitter.com/torsteineriksen/...23365764366336

[mknight]

Ok, the Polo was really flattering Ogier and Mikkelsen. They are not sick dogs (©NOT) but they aren't the drivers VW made them to look.In retrospect, it seems like the German car was much better than we thought it to be. Weirdly, JML who looked the worst of the 3, has adapted very well to the new conditions. The Norwegian and the Frenchman need to get their heads down, work through the summer with the Fiesta and the C3 and come back very improved, because what we have seen so far isn't really satisfying. And please don't play the Ogier leads the WDC card. If Neuville hadn't thrown away 2 wins and Tanak made crucial mistakes in TdC and Poland he would have been 3rd.

What an incredibly biased argument. Ignore WDC (which is after all what they actually fight for) and "ignore" Latvala, then use him to prove he is good, while at the same time ignoring he has been slower than Ogier on most rallies this year. But hey let's do this properly:

Monte: Neuville fastest, Ogier best of the rest by far, Latvala clearly 4th, Mikkelsen class above anything else in WRC2 (he was 2nd in shakedown in R5 ffs)
Sweden: Neuville fastest with road position advantage, Latvala fastest on Sunday, Ogier 3th, Power stage: Latvala, Ogier
Mexico: overheating issues for most, Ogier faster than Neuville, Power Stage: Neuville, Ogier
Corsica: Meek fastest before technical, Ogier and Neuville same speed with technical issues for Og,Power Stage: Latvala, Ogier; Mikkelsen again far ahead everything in WRC2
Argentina: massive roadcleaning, Neuville fastest, with Evans having tyre/road adv. , Power Stage: Neuville, Evans, Tanak
Portugal: Ogier fastest, Tanak about same but off, Power Stage: Tanak, Neuville, Mikkelsen clearly fastest in WRC2, including Sunninen
Sardinia: Massive roadcleaning, on Saturday about same speed from Neuville, Tanak, Latvala, Paddon, PS: Lappi, Sordo, Ogier...
Poland: Neuville and Tanak, fastest, Latvala and Ogier after, Power Stage: Latvala, Ogier, Mikkelsen (complete VW podium)

Overall this season Ogier has been 2nd fastest driver, Tanak closing in now though, Latvala close to Tanak again, so 2 of the top 4 are ex. VW drivers (Mikkelsen obviously drove too little with Citroen)
Using the same argument you just did about VW we can say that Hyundai is flattering to Neuville. Can use Sordo (who is about as consistent as it gets), last year he was quite a bit slower. Also Ogier has been cleaning on all gravel events except Mexico. Yes it's just one day, but while other drivers get to adjust and drive on clean roads for a day it's like a new rally for him every Saturday.

VW was clearly faster that anything else for the first 3 years (2013-2015), last year in second half of the season, not so much. Sure those 3 drivers are probably not much faster than everyone else, but they certainly are not any slower.

I also still fail to see how the fact that positions 1. and 3. in WDC are ex. VW drivers does not count in World Rally Championship , but that's just me.

If Neuville had not thrown away two wins he would have been cleaning all gravel rallies since then, and would not get as good results. If Ogier didn't get car trouble in Corsica he would prbly beat Neuville. Tanaks 4-5th possible place in Corsica would not get him ahead of Ogier even with Poland win... then again he also had car trouble in Monte and we can keep like this forever. if if if

[Rallyper]

Veiby the surprise of the rally for me. Had the upper hand on Tidemand the whole race.

Tidemand drives for title. Not Veiby, or he must charge to have possibilities.

[BigWorm]

Tidemand drives for title. Not Veiby, or he must charge to have possibilities.

I still expected Tidemand to win here.

[dimviii]

Tanak crash with better view
https://www.ewrc-results.com/video/2...ss21-paprotki/

[Rallyper]

I still expected Tidemand to win here.

He´s better in tactics than you are.