2008 Rally of Turkey - official thread

[jonkka]

according to atkinson its good on straight roads yes.

drag (racer) - (good on) straight - they need a drag queen to drive it? then it'd go fast!

[Tomi]

drag (racer) - (good on) straight - they need a drag queen to drive it? then it'd go fast!

dont you think 1 is enough.

[Brother John]

EDIT: Then again, shouldn't Loeb's tyres heat up more due to wheelspin? Then again and again, Citroen has always been famous for it being easy to the tyres.

Wrong jonkka, Citroën has not always famous for being easy to the tyres. They had luck that nobody could proof that they had special tyres developed for Citroën. Has nothing to do with tactics but that is deceive. :s mokin:

[Viking]

according to atkinson its good on straight roads yes.

Maybe they should sign Janne Ahonen then, if you want to win...and so on :)

[Brother John]

somebody said yesterday that the roads dont fit the new subaru, too many corners, and too much uphill and downhill. :)

I told it in 2006, they have to move to WTCC. ;)

[Tomi]

Maybe they should sign Janne Ahonen then, if you want to win...and so on :)

he better stick to babysitting :)

[CABAIO E'LONA]

ANDERSSON P.-G. / ANDERSSON J. Reported stopped close to stage start

[witto6]

So please, just do it, and don´t tell aus all again and again and again and again that you don´t like it ! ;)


Well said!

[John V]

He has more grip due to cleaner road

EDIT: Then again, shouldn't Loeb's tyres heat up more due to wheelspin? Then again and again, Citroen has always been famous for it being easy to the tyres.

Yes, that is exactly I had on mind ;)

[wwbroe]

Sandell really close to Aigner now, only 0,7" behind in overall classification in Production cars. :D

[Helstar]

Heck another disaster for Suzuki, it's really looking bad now, we are in the middle of the championship and they still have zero reliability ... (and let's not talk about speed).


Wrong jonkka, Citroën has not always famous for being easy to the tyres. They had luck that nobody could proof that they had special tyres developed for Citroën. Has nothing to do with tactics but that is deceive. :s mokin:
Come on Brother ... now you have the proof that Citroen/Loeb can win even without Michelin tyres (5 victories over 7 rallies !), Loeb until now only 1 puncture overall, and with his special 'clean' drive he also not wears the tyres like Latvala or Sordo ... so nothing to say more ... Loeb + Citroen + Pirelli = winning package

[Daniel]

Come on Brother ... now you have the proof that Citroen/Loeb can win even without Michelin tyres (5 victories over 7 rallies !), Loeb until now only 1 puncture overall, and with his special 'clean' drive he also not wears the tyres like Latvala or Sordo ... so nothing to say more ... Loeb + Citroen + Pirelli = winning package

:up: Well said.

[Sulland]

Heck another disaster for Suzuki, it's really looking bad now, we are in the middle of the championship and they still have zero reliability ... (and let's not talk about speed).

Maybe they are putting all effort into the new 2009 car ?

[cut the b.s.]

C'mon, nobody balmed Ferrari for winning due to their brilliant pit-stop strategies! But it's just the same - they won so many races by tactics, not on the circuit. And yet those victories were called brilliant! Tactics now is an important part of the game, we must accept this and applaud to those (Fords) who use it effectively!


Idiotic comparision, when Ferrari used these strategies it was a level playing field, everyone was able to sit down and work out their own, here what we are seeing is the 1st man on the road setting a time which everyone else has access to and the the rest drive to the stop watches to make sure that they fail to beat this time. Its simple if you can be bothered to try to understand...

[White Sauron]

If you think that losing 30 seconds and than making up 45 is that easy, than yeah, my comparison is idiotic and the Fords must be ashamed. They made their life so much easier for them by losing so much time, oh yeah!

[John V]

Heck another disaster for Suzuki, it's really looking bad now, we are in the middle of the championship and they still have zero reliability ... (and let's not talk about speed).


Come on Brother ... now you have the proof that Citroen/Loeb can win even without Michelin tyres (5 victories over 7 rallies !), Loeb until now only 1 puncture overall, and with his special 'clean' drive he also not wears the tyres like Latvala or Sordo ... so nothing to say more ... Loeb + Citroen + Pirelli = winning package


Maybe is better to say Loeb+his brain+his hands and legs is best package for rallying human ;)

[White Sauron]

SS12 must have started, but I don't see any times...

[jonkka]

Aye, me neither...

[White Sauron]

Yeah, it works!

[Helstar]

But only Loeb split time 'til now :D

This is the 'last' SS which Loeb will sweep, the others are all already sweeped, more or less (yesterday or earlier today)

[jonkka]

Jay jay...

[jonkka]

Perhaps stage was late to start...

[jonkka]

Loeb off to a good start

[Helstar]

Loeb flat-out totally, I think I can even imagine his car surrounded by its own dust (a cloud which moves FAST ! lol)

[jonkka]

JML speeding up

[pettersolberg29]

None of the top 8 drivers except Atko have retired!

That has to be a first this season.

[dimviii]

good morning guys!!

from wrc.com about ss10

The stage was stopped after one of the P-WRC competitors went off the road close to the start line. The rest of the cars completed stage as a liaison section and were given the same notional time.

which crew?

[jonkka]

By the way, I noted that this is yet another DNS for Edith Weiss. She has entered 20 WRC rallies that I know of and started only five or six of those. Non-starting is the way to go...

[JCarlosPP]

good morning guys!!

from wrc.com about ss10

The stage was stopped after one of the P-WRC competitors went off the road close to the start line. The rest of the cars completed stage as a liaison section and were given the same notional time.

which crew?



Number 42, Red Bull Rallye Team driver Bernardo Sousa with Mitsubishi Lancer Evo 9 had an accident on SS10. Just after 200 meters from the start of SS10-Chimera 2 stage, Red Bull driver Sousa hit a spectator. The spectator has a broken leg and suspected head trauma, and has been sent to the hospital. Chimera 2 stage has been cancelled and crews will run it as a road section. SS11, Silyon 1 stage will run as programmed. Further information will be released soon.

...

[Roy]

Stobart cars can not fight with Loeb on this stage.

[Helstar]

Number 42, Red Bull Rallye Team driver Bernardo Sousa with Mitsubishi Lancer Evo 9 had an accident on SS10. Just after 200 meters from the start of SS10-Chimera 2 stage, Red Bull driver Sousa hit a spectator. The spectator has a broken leg and suspected head trauma, and has been sent to the hospital. Chimera 2 stage has been cancelled and crews will run it as a road section. SS11, Silyon 1 stage will run as programmed. Further information will be released soon.
Ouch... bad

[dimviii]

thanks JCarlosPP :)

[pettersolberg29]

Henning and Galli are pretty slow aren't they?

Looks like JML and Mikko are going to beat Seb though.

[jonkka]

Henning and Galli are pretty slow aren't they?

Henning's pace (or lack of it) doesn't surprise me, he is doing well on 5th but Galli was way faster earlier. I wonder what's gotten to him now...

[jonkka]

And results froze? :eek:

[pettersolberg29]

Have the splits frozen?

[Tom206wrc]

Let's hope the spectator will quickly recover :(

[kleisj]

...

ohhh damn! Bernardo did this? Well the car is more wide with him on the steering wheel....!
I hope the spectator recovers.

[jonkka]

Vysledky has Latvala's time, he's been slower than Loeb... :eek:

[Roy]

Latvala +0,4 at finish

[jonkka]

Could have been spectator standing on wrong place too, knowing the mediterranean mentality...

[pettersolberg29]

Great time for Loeb - beats JML and thrashes Henning!

[pettersolberg29]

Loeb thrashes Gigi too.

[jonkka]

Nothing - anywhere

[pettersolberg29]

Any times after Gigi?

[jonkka]

Wilson got through but no sign of Mikko?

[jonkka]

Or Petter

Ah... there is Mikko

[Roy]

Mikko -5 sec. according WRR

[pettersolberg29]

Times on swrt.com

Good time for Petter

[Mirek]

Prokop was 19 minutes lates in time check. Some say they run out of fuel but who knows... :(

They write on ewrc that Sousa hit that spectator by a rock thrown by the wheels not by a car body.

[Helstar]

Ahh the stones..... so dangerous (see Latvala pic early in this thread)

http://img231.imageshack.us/img231/7168/12358ep1.th.jpg (http://img231.imageshack.us/my.php?image=12358ep1.jpg)

Gigi surely some problems with the car, like slow puncture or technical ... even slower than Rautenbach in this stage

[jonkka]

SS13 should be on...

[Wim_Impreza]

Prokop is really unlucky this year. :(

[COD]

there is only Loebs time from ss12 and nobody else...

[Helstar]

Ahhhhh damn .... engine problems for Gigi, so unlucky :'

[Mirek]

There are 11 times on SS12 on http://www.vysledky-rally.cz/vysledky... ;)

[Wim_Impreza]

It seems the new Subaru is the same disaster.

[Roy]

aava wins again :eek: Wow

[jonkka]

Aava fastest on SS12

[pettersolberg29]

Wim - you're right - but a silly time to say it after Petter just beat JML, Gigi and Henning and drew with Loeb!

[Roy]

Wim - you're right - but a sill time to say it after Petter just beat JML, Gigi and Henning and drew with Loeb!
Another still time? Why not direct?

[Mirek]

pettersolberg29: But he is more than one and half minutes down. One stage says nothing...

[dimviii]

Aava stage win!! :eek:

[Helstar]

Awwww Gigi started the stage late... he's going to lose a lot, hope he can make it to the service park and crew can fix the engine :s

[jonkka]

Vysledky says:
Gigi going slowly through SS13

[Roy]

Vysledky says:
Gigi going slowly through SS13

If you listen WRR you know it earlier ;)

[jonkka]

If you listen WRR you know it earlier ;)

And be forced to listen to horrible music and inane chatter... no thanks, I prefer Vysledky...

[Helstar]

Yes Gigi probably put engine in safe mode... to avoid serious damages

[dimviii]

yes Roy but you didn t inform us :p

[jonkka]

splits are back and my, is JML fast!

[Viking]

"Split times are available on many - but not all - of the stages in the WRC. If they are being recorded we'll show them here."

Yeah, right :mad:

OK, they are back :)

[COD]

Where do you find results? WRC.com still has only Loeb on SS12

[N.O.T]

http://www.vysledky-rally.cz/vysledky/?rz=787&filtr=

[N.O.T]

LOEB S. / ELENA D. "Sometimes it was worst than during fist run. It was very slippery."

[jparker]

SS13
Seb - 21:52.7
Henning - 21:54.1

[COD]

Latvala 21.40.3 !

[jonkka]

Ouch, that hurts... Interesting because SS13 was run earlier today and yet Loeb loses that much... :eek: was that decisive, we'll see?

[pettersolberg29]

Jml - 21:40.3

[jparker]

SS13
Latvala - 21:40.3 WOW

[jonkka]

How many times you gotta post JML's time here? :eek:

[N.O.T]

Ouch, that hurts... Interesting because SS13 was run earlier today and yet Loeb loses that much... :eek: was that decisive, we'll see?

my guess is he prefers to have a disadvantage going into day 3 than cleaning the road...at least with the disadvantage he does have a chance to beat the fords if he goes flat out.

remains to be seen if the scared kids at ford will employ tactics again.

[pettersolberg29]

Petter loses a lot on final split - overtaking Gigi perhaps?

[COD]

Well, the tactics are starting to pay off for the Ford boys

[pettersolberg29]

No - just bad! Galli already finished.

[jparker]

Don't you like that jonkka?

[Helstar]

Unbelievable, same problem for Gigi like in 2005 with the Mitsubishi ... Turkey is doomed for him xD

[jonkka]

remains to be seen if the scared kids at ford will employ tactics again.

It starts to be rather borderline case really, Leg 3 is so short and Mikko is over half a minute ahead now: 36 kilometers of new stages tomorrow and Mikko's lead over Loeb is 35 seconds so it's touch and go . They'll drive the remaining stages today before making any decisions but if gap stays the same or increases, I don't expect tactics today. It is shrinks, then perhaps. Or maybe JML will slow down to get Mikko-Seb-JML running order for tomorrow, worsening Loeb's chances to catch Mikko but improving JML's chances to secure the second. Who knows...

[jonkka]

Don't you like that jonkka?

It just gets rather repetitive. Ad infinitum, ad nauseatum...

[jparker]

20 sec are usually enough for Loeb to win when first on the road during last day. Don't know about Mikko, but I don't see him throwing it away this time.

[cut the b.s.]

If you think that losing 30 seconds and than making up 45 is that easy, than yeah, my comparison is idiotic and the Fords must be ashamed. They made their life so much easier for them by losing so much time, oh yeah!


You are going of topic here, I explained to you why comparing F1 pitstop strategies to WRC fu ck the friday strategies was nonsense

Regarding you 30sec 45 sec comments, Ford obviously thioght this was a good trade and easier to do than running at the front, they answered this for you!!

[dimviii]

from wrcturkey.com
Information about the incident on SS10Following the incident on SS10 this morning, the organizers can confirm that the 45 year old Belgian spectator is in a stable condition and receiving treatment for leg injuries..

[COD]

from wrcturkey.com
Information about the incident on SS10Following the incident on SS10 this morning, the organizers can confirm that the 45 year old Belgian spectator is in a stable condition and receiving treatment for leg injuries..


Good to hear. So much for the mediterranian style of spectating.....

[ZequeArgentina]

Battle in PWRC is going great, Aigner and Sandell always very close, Nittel slowly closing his gap to them, after a bad start.

It is surprinsign to see Al Attiyah times, while he comments he has no power and water at a120 degrees.............

Subaru N14 still has heating problems..................

[bennizw]

Why doesn't somebody complain about the way the regulations are this year? If I don't remember wrong, the teams sat down and made up a solution to revise the starting order for the second leg of Rally Australia 2000? Gravel rallying is unfair the way things are now.

[jonkka]

Why doesn't somebody complain about the way the regulations are this year? If I don't remember wrong, the teams sat down and made up a solution to revise the starting order for the second leg of Rally Australia 2000? Gravel rallying is unfair the way things are now.

Rather than complaining, someone should come up with an alternative proposal. Whining isn't the way forward but unfortunately it seems that there aren't good alternatives either.

[jonkka]

Loeb on stage

[Roy]

Loeb now 2nd seconds faster comparison first loop.

[jonkka]

And Latvala slightly slower at 1st split

[ZequeArgentina]

good start, Loeb on the pace (I really want him to beat tactics).
I have nothing against tactics, it is fair play.
Which are not fair are the rules, but any other rule will also make some unfairness.
But objective of the rule was to gain fighting till the end of the rallies, and considering that, it is successfull, just not very sportier!

[jonkka]

Considering that throughout the history of the WRC the leader has started first, this is nothing new. New is that the use of tactics are so blatant and with short routes of today, there is no alternative other than retorting to use of tactics.

[jonkka]

Just imagine if there wouldn't be no repeated stages? Rally leader would sweep all day and end up in deep time deficit!

[COVENANT]

what will happen if loeb start today fourth or fifth
how much time would have won by others?

[jonkka]

Today? More than Mikko has won so far...

[cosmicpanda]

Just imagine if there wouldn't be no repeated stages? Rally leader would sweep all day and end up in deep time deficit!

Day 2 of Rally NZ should be interesting, only swept stage on that day will be the superspecial.

[jonkka]

Day 2 of Rally NZ should be interesting, only swept stage on that day will be the superspecial.

Really? But if it's wet again, sweeping shouldn't be such a problem anyway.

[jonkka]

Can Sordo win the stage?

[cosmicpanda]

Really? But if it's wet again, sweeping shouldn't be such a problem anyway.

Who knows. The weather will be interesting, but personally I hope it's fine. It's not that spectating in the rain isn't good, but it's rather a lot more cold, muddy and windy than spectating in the sun.

Also interesting is that the last stage of Day One is the superspecial, so if the cars are going to slow down they might have to do it then - and it would just be strange to drop massive time on a super special. That means that they might do it instead on the last country stage of Day One, and then because that tends to compress the field it could all change again on the superspecial. I can't wait already. :p

[jonkka]

Slowing down on superspecial does not have effect on running order of the next day, it's based on rally classification after final proper stage.

[jonkka]

And it seems that splits froze again

[Mirek]

Maybe banning in-car splits and communication with team while beeing on stage would be enough.

[jonkka]

]Maybe banning in-car splits and communication with team while beeing on stage would be enough.

It is good idea except it would be impossible to police. Teams can measure splits themselves and communicate those into car in some clandestine way so it wouldn't change anything.

[jonkka]

Sordo takes 5th, Petter drops one place

[Roy]

Sordo passed Solberg in overall time table

[jonkka]

And being just 23secs behind Henning, Sordo will move to 4th soon... Manu championship gets tighter for Ford again...

[cosmicpanda]

Slowing down on superspecial does not have effect on running order of the next day, it's based on rally classification after final proper stage.

well, in that case, it's going to be like that.

NZ has a strange superspecial though... it's more like a 3.5 km normal stage, the cars go one at a time.

[jonkka]

Now, will Villagra finally get past Rautenbach?

[jonkka]

NZ has a strange superspecial though... it's more like a 3.5 km normal stage, the cars go one at a time.

Like Ireland last year? There should be more Super Specials like that, these stadion mickey mouse over-and-under stuff are way too common these days. The one in Japan is also nice.

[jonkka]

Now, will Villagra finally get past Rautenbach?

No, he's got a problem... shame

[Mirek]

Like Ireland last year? There should be more Super Specials like that, these stadion mickey mouse over-and-under stuff are way too common these days. The one in Japan is also nice.

Agree. I prefere if superspecial has some kind of classic stage look.

[COVENANT]

does ford follow the same tactic in the next stage
are 36 sec enough for tommorow?
today loeb lost 33 secs in ss silyon which was 27 +27 km
tommorow we'll have 31+31
i think it is possible for loeb to catch them

[jonkka]

We will see soon...

[cosmicpanda]

Like Ireland last year? There should be more Super Specials like that, these stadion mickey mouse over-and-under stuff are way too common these days. The one in Japan is also nice.

It goes around the service park, and you can see the route here:

http://www.rallynz.org.nz/images/stories/2008/RG1/rg1_service_park_layout.pdf

Ireland's one is better - you can't see the river from this superspecial. You can get a good view of most of the stage from the hill where the main entry is but it's not very scenic and most of the corners are at 90 degrees.

[jonkka]

Ireland's one is better - you can't see the river from this superspecial. You can get a good view of most of the stage from the hill where the main entry is but it's not very scenic and most of the corners are at 90 degrees.

I don't mind the lack of river, but it'd be good to see the action over whole stage from one vantage point (somewhat difficult to arrance unless on a stadium) but 90 degree corners are somewhat unimaginative. Anyway, I like that it isn't a stadium, that's a refreshing change. Viva la Nouvelle Zealand.

[jonkka]

No splits for Latvala, impossible to say what he does... :eek:

[jonkka]

Either Seb is pushing a lot or Fords are not...

[jonkka]

Latvala is slowing down, Hirvonen is not (at least yet)

[Roy]

Latvala +2.6 on sector 4. Hirvonen -0,8 on sector 2

[COVENANT]

i am sure that latvala will slow down in the end of this
stage

[jonkka]

Wait a minute, Latvala's pace is up again... hmmm...

[jonkka]

i am sure that latvala will slow down in the end of this
stage

If I was to decide, I would go for Mikko-Seb-JML for tomorrow's stages...

[Roy]

Latvala is slowing down, Hirvonen is not (at least yet)


i am sure that latvala will slow down in the end of this
stage

Are you sure? Let's wait and see.
Malcolm about tactics:
“To be honest we want to get 18 points from here for the Manufacturers’ Championship; that’s the key for us in the second half of the season because we know it’s going to be difficult on the asphalt against Sebastien and Dani. If we can get 18 points in Turkey we’ll be very happy, and that will make the drivers happy I would think.”
“Okay, we’re never won the drivers championship before, but the priority is the 18 points for Ford.”

http://www.wrc.com/jsp/index.jsp?lnk=101&id=1670&desc=Manufacturers%E2%80%99%20points%20the%20prior ity%20for%20Ford

[Wim_Impreza]

I think it is not a good idea for Latvala to slow down, but we will see tomorrow.

[jonkka]

Are you sure? Let's wait and see.

No, I am not. As I noted, JML's speed is up again.

[COVENANT]

So i had mistake

[jonkka]

JML did not slow down

[Roy]

Hirvonen fight hard

[jonkka]

Hirvonen fight hard

He has to if he wants to beat Seb and be champion some day...

[Roy]

same time. Eccelent!

[jonkka]

Interesting day, tomorrow... :D

[N.O.T]

Hirovnen is not catchable...latvala is.....the thing is all 3 have to push tommorow...can they do it without punctures and mistakes ???

Hirvonen is difficult to catch...Latvala is possible....in any case...hirvonen will have a 3 points lead max after this round and will be the sweeper and the sad thing for him is scared dogs are losing about a month per km when sweeping

[Roy]

sweeping in Finland is not a big problem, (even) not for Mikko. ;) Finland is next 18 points for Ford.

[N.O.T]

sweeping in Finland is not a big problem, (even) not for Mikko. ;) Finland is next 18 points for Ford.

About the sweeping yes....about the 18 points i don;t think so.

[ARF]

Like Ireland last year? There should be more Super Specials like that, these stadion mickey mouse over-and-under stuff are way too common these days. The one in Japan is also nice.

This year the superspecial in Japan will be indoors. New location for the rally. And last year the superspecial was at a stadium, if you don't count the short Rikubetsu stage, which is also more like a superspecial.

[Mirek]

Maybe it was here... Russian disaster at one place:
http://project-t3.kiev.ua/albums/wrc_turkey/DSC_3097.jpg

[dimviii]

Novikov and Aksakov at the same corner? :eek:

[JCarlosPP]

update on the the accident on stage 10:


Bernardo Sousa: “200 metres after the start of the stage I drove over a stone that flew and hit a spectator. As I saw the fan go to ground I stopped immediately to check what had happened. It was a real shock for me which left me feeling really sick. After talking with the team I decided to quit the rally as there would have been no point driving further in my condition.”


http://autosport.clix.pt/users/0/51/3cdcc6e9.jpeg

[Daniel]

That's horrible for him. Also for the spectator of course....

[tmx]

Okay I just woke up and looking at all the split times, I don't want to hear anyone defend Latvala. They (top 3) are all seconds within each other and Latvala has good road position like Hirvonen, which mean both the Fords are both trying very hard to stay ahead of Loeb. It's shows here that Hirvonen is driving at his best.
Although it's probably more likely Malcolm would ask Latvala to stay on position tonight.

[c4]

That's horrible for him. Also for the spectator of course....

Unfortunately the incident was similar to a terrible tragedy that took place on the Donegal Rally today.
http://www.highlandradio.com/news.php?articleid=000002245

[AndyRAC]

The tactics just sum up the current state of the WRC - A farce. While nobody is doing anything wrong - it's extremely artificial. I'm all for an exciting Championship - but not like this.
Why not let the Championship leader choose his position on the road.
Run the PWRC/JWRC first on the road.
Don't have the hot gravel Rallies one after the other - why can't they run a Tarmac Rally in the summer? Run Turkey or Sardinia in October....

Personally speaking - it would be like making Ferrari, McLaren and BMW start from the Pit lane every GP - just to even competition. Gimmicks are fine for sports entertainment, i;e WWE Wrestling - but for a proper sport World Championship, it just isn't on.

[duff]

Although it's probably more likely Malcolm would ask Latvala to stay on position tonight.

Loeb is too close to JML. They will have to fight it out on the final day, at least over the first few stages.

[duff]

The tactics just sum up the current state of the WRC - A farce. While nobody is doing anything wrong - it's extremely artificial. I'm all for an exciting Championship - but not like this.
Why not let the Championship leader choose his position on the road.
Run the PWRC/JWRC first on the road.
Don't have the hot gravel Rallies one after the other - why can't they run a Tarmac Rally in the summer? Run Turkey or Sardinia in October....

Personally speaking - it would be like making Ferrari, McLaren and BMW start from the Pit lane every GP - just to even competition. Gimmicks are fine for sports entertainment, i;e WWE Wrestling - but for a proper sport World Championship, it just isn't on.

Agreed.

[ST205GT4]

Not sure why people are crying about the road position games. It's nothing new. It happened all the time back in the 90s. Hell Sainz was excluded in Australia for trying to slow down at the wrong point in an attempt to secure a better road position.

[grugsticles]

In a way I dont mind the idea of slowing down to gain a better road position.
But, I think that each team should have one 'wild card' where they can allow one driver to drop, say up to 20 seconds on a stage, but any more the time is penalised somehow. If a team tries this tactic mroe than once an event, then they face exclusion from that day (allowing them to SuperRally).

Thoughts?

[tmx]

Why not let the Championship leader choose his position on the road. If I was the leader and I get to choose my position, unless its a lot of rain on gravel, I would have no reason to choose anything but be the last car.


Not sure why people are crying about the road position games. It's nothing new. It happened all the time back in the 90s. Hell Sainz was excluded in Australia for trying to slow down at the wrong point in an attempt to secure a better road position. Exactly, I think this point has been repeated several times, it has been like this in the past.

[TG]

Sweeping is nowadays is much more difficult than in the past, because now it's forbidden to cut tyres.

Hirvonen made a brave, but not so clever, decision not to slow down yesterday.

If top guys doesn't have any technical or driver errors today, I'll be surprized if Hirvonen can be better than third. He doesn't have enough experience and confidence to drive fast as a first car on the road. (yet).

[Roy]

Lets the battle start! A nice final day we see not a lot in rally. :bounce:

[Roy]

Stage summaries by Henning Solberg and Cato Menkerud:

SS17/SS19 Olympos, 31.03km
It’s strange but even though this is definitely the longest stage of the rally it doesn’t feel anywhere near 31km to drive. It feels more like 15; on the recce we both got to the end and couldn’t believe it. It’s twisty at the start, then faster in the middle - with some big drops by the side of the road - and twisty again at the end. I think a lot of drivers will be troubled by stones here. The road has been graded but we could see lots of rocks and stones lying by the side by on the recce. With a stage like this on Sunday, the leader of the rally through the morning pass might not be the one who goes on to win overall. On the second loop the conditions will be much rougher.

WRR: Hirvonen stalled on the startline!!!!!

[tmx]

Sweeping is nowadays is much more difficult than in the past, because now it's forbidden to cut tyres. Good point. But I hope they re-open that rule later on.

Hirvonen isn't naive either. He is 34 seconds ahead of Loeb, there are only two long stages today. It would be stupid for him (or anyone in this circumstance) to lose all of it and then drive very hard to catch Loeb again, two stages are too close to risk it.

What I would like to see is Latvala to drive like crazy in this last too stages and win, but I don't think that is the team plan.

[CABAIO E'LONA]

first split for Hirvonen...1:28.0

[White Sauron]

Oh thanks God. I was afraid he lost that much only due to sweeping! If it was a stall, than it's Ok, he's driving very fast.

[jonkka]

Seb not faster on split 1... :eek:

[jonkka]

Nor on 2nd split... :eek:

[Roy]

Petter also problems at the startline

[Roy]

Nor on 2nd split... :eek:

Now Loeb is 0.3 sec faster comparisson with Latvala

[dimviii]

good morning to everybody!

from wrc.com
Galli out of Turkey

Stobart VK M-Sport Ford driver Gigi Galli has withdrawn from the Rally of Turkey because of ill health.
The Italian decided not to restart this morning on the advice of his team doctor, who treated him yesterday for exhaustion and dehydration.
The Stobart team said Galli had been affected by the intense heat and demanding rally conditions during the previous two days and had been asked to rest and rehydrate.

[wwbroe]

Sordo fastest man on th stage for the moment. :eek:

[jonkka]

Loeb giving up?

[tmx]

mikko stalled on the startline apparently.

[wwbroe]

Hirvonen doing very well, considering he stalled on start line. He is now not loosing any more time on the rest.

[jonkka]

Loeb has given up...

[Roy]

:eek: Loeb is not fast. Ford tacticts pay off, even on this stage.

[wwbroe]

Looks like Loeb in choosing to keep third place and the points, instead of taking too much risks to try and catch JM and Mikko.

[Roy]

Hennig loose time and his place

[dimviii]

Latvala 7,5 secs behind Miko.
do you think that Malcolm will give orders? :rolleyes:

[Roy]

SS1/SS16 Camyuva, 5.5km
This one is the shakedown stage we drove on Thursday but run in the reverse direction. It’s very loose. Not like the mountain stages at all. The surface cut up badly during shakedown and became rough like hell very quickly so we only did a few runs. The organisers will run the grader through it before Sunday to make it smooth again, but I still expect it will get rocky very quickly.
(Hennig and Cato)

[jonkka]

Latvala 7,5 secs behind Miko.
do you think that Malcolm will give orders? :rolleyes:

Counting off Mikko's stall (say 6.6 sec he lost to 1st split), JML gained only 1.3secs on this long stage. It's reasonable to assume that without any drama JML can't catch Mikko, there is only rerun of this stage and short 5.5 km new stage left.

[dimviii]

both citroens gain 2-3 secs at last split :eek:

[Roy]

Nice third split for Mikkelsen :eek:

[dimviii]

also Aava very fast split!! :eek:

[dimviii]

Atkinson must have big problems..

[jonkka]

Mikkelsen is gunning for stage win

[Timole]

hi. Great battle ahead of us, specially nice to wake up on your birthday and see the great effort from all of the guys.

[dimviii]

Mikkelsen -3 secs at last split!!! :eek:


edit Happy birthday Timole!!

[Gard]

If starting order is 2 min. Mikkelsen will be very close to Clark at the end of the stage

[dimviii]

Aava faster 1,1 sec at split number 5 from Mikkelsen!! :eek:

[jonkka]

Aava is coming faster still

[Glee]

Mikkelsen did win the stage!

[Glee]

Mikkelsen did win the stage!

(If Ava don't catch him...)

[ProRally]

Aava fastest

[Glee]

(If Ava don't catch him...)

Witch he did...

[jonkka]

Aava did it...

[dimviii]

Aava have quick progress rally after rally.
think that must be the driver with best progress for 2008 so far.

[Sulland]

What has happened to Gallis health situation ?

[jonkka]

He suffers from heat exhaustion and dehydration.

[jonkka]

JML 5 seconds slower... hopefully just backing off...

[Doon]

JML 5 seconds slower... hopefully just backing off...

Or Mikko was just 5 seconds quicker ;)

[N.O.T]

Loeb tries but its going to be hard......

[Daniel]

good morning to everybody!

from wrc.com
Galli out of Turkey

Stobart VK M-Sport Ford driver Gigi Galli has withdrawn from the Rally of Turkey because of ill health.
The Italian decided not to restart this morning on the advice of his team doctor, who treated him yesterday for exhaustion and dehydration.
The Stobart team said Galli had been affected by the intense heat and demanding rally conditions during the previous two days and had been asked to rest and rehydrate.

Hope he gets better soon.

[pettersolberg29]

Sordo is a bit slow for him.

[pettersolberg29]

And Petter even slower. It seems that running first on the road may be advanatageous this stage.

[jonkka]

Most drivers have little to gain at this point and are just driving safely to the finish.

[jonkka]

Final stage underway, it's now or never...

[N.O.T]

a clean no misatke run by Hirvonen is enough i think....i don;t think he needs to risk.....Latvala has to keep an eye on Loeb.

[N.O.T]

Hirvonen 9 seconds quicker in just 1 split from his morning run....

[jonkka]

JML trailing him, let's see Loeb's first split...

[jonkka]

Loeb only marginally faster

[Viking]

Aava have quick progress rally after rally.
think that must be the driver with best progress for 2008 so far.

I agree :up: but after looking it up I am removing him from my young guns list cince he is 10 years older than Mikkelsen and 4 years older than Sordo.

[jonkka]

Loeb 5 sec faster on split 2! :eek:

[N.O.T]

Amazing second split by Loeb....

[jonkka]

9,3 secs to JML and 20.4 to Mikko

[jonkka]

Putting a little bit of extra pressure to youngster to see if they make a mistake...

[jonkka]

Wow, what a 3rd split!

[N.O.T]

-11 on 3rd split !!!! LOEB FLIES !!!! but this is also the point he started to lose time on the first run

[jonkka]

5,3 secs to JML and 14,4 secs to Mikko

[Sulland]

Loeb is flying; 11 sec faster on split 3, can he pull it off ?

[TMorel]

I feel dirty saying this, but damn I'm hoping Loeb and Elana can pull this off.
Unlikely, but if they don't, then I just hope it spurs them on to destroy everyone for the rest of the year.

[Tony goes to his little blue oval shrine and appologises to the statue of his god Malcolm]

[N.O.T]

it doesn;t seem he will pull it off.....-11 on the next one as well the trend from the first run seems to be the same....

[jonkka]

Ford drivers are now alerted, gap didn't shrink much:
5,2 secs to JML and 14,2 secs to Mikko still

[tmx]

He's going flat out. Loeb needs to be 19seconds faster than Latvala by the end to take second. It's a long shot and Latvala is fighting back. But I love to see the onboard of this later on. Hivonen is through, but he said had puncture in last 3km.

[N.O.T]

Loeb losing time on split 5....game over ???

[Viking]

Henning can do it :up:

[jonkka]

Gap is increasing, 6,3 secs to JML and 14,7 secs to Mikko

[N.O.T]

Hirvonen finished the stage and wins the rally....30 seconds faster than his morning run....

[jonkka]

Hirvonen is through

[Rally Hokkaido]

Mikko did last 3kms with a puncture on left front
J-M will catch him?

[jonkka]

Loeb's surprise attack came close but not through...

[Rally Hokkaido]

Mikko wins by a few secs!

[Sulland]

Ford 1-2 !

[jonkka]

7,9seconds of difference, not the closest win (23rd closest to be precise) but thrilling!

[N.O.T]

Loeb lost a lot on the final split.....a mistake? or a puncture....

[N.O.T]

LOEB S. / ELENA D. "I tried again, good start, but I destroyed tyres like everybody. I decided to slow down to avoid puncture. Third place is not bad."

[Xsara Fan]

Mikko said: “Fantastic effort of whole team”. I said: “Fantastic effort of whole cheaters team”...
It`s not good for sport when cheaters takes a win.
From now on the name of this team for me is “BP-Ford Abu Dhabi World CHEATERS Team”

[jonkka]

No, it's not bad but something that Loeb isn't used to.

[N.O.T]

Now Hirovnen leads by 3 points and the season has 3 tarmac rallies to come....

[Kamikaze]

Mikko said: “Fantastic effort of whole team”. I said: “Fantastic effort of whole cheaters team”...
It`s not good for sport when cheaters takes a win.
From now on the name of this team for me is “BP-Ford Abu Dhabi World CHEATERS Team”

Frustrated ?? :D

[N.O.T]

No, it's not bad but something that Loeb isn't used to.

yes but tactics gave hirvonen that win, speedwise he needs to learn a few things...so not bad.

[N.O.T]

Mikko said: “Fantastic effort of whole team”. I said: “Fantastic effort of whole cheaters team”...
It`s not good for sport when cheaters takes a win.
From now on the name of this team for me is “BP-Ford Abu Dhabi World CHEATERS Team”

they didn;t cheat...they just proved that they are inferior to citroen and Loeb....it takes some balls to turn a scared dog into a rally driver and ford lacks them.

[Mauri A]

So, the sick dogs or the scared kids of Ford made it!

[TMorel]

Xsara Fan

What rule did Ford break? Highlight the exact wording of the regulations.
The rules suck but don't blame Ford and don't come out with that petualant child crap about cheating.

I don't think cars should have 4wheel drive, I love the rear wheel drives of old but if I build a team that doesn't take advantage of all the rules that's my own fault.

[jonkka]

Ignore him

[N.O.T]

So, the sick dogs or the scared kids of Ford made it!

your choice..

[Salist]

Congratulations Mikko and Jarri!!!

[jonkka]

--

[Xsara Fan]

Frustrated ?? :D

Me? No. Let`s wait and see what Ford fan`s say after tarmac rallies ;) Will they stop before finish of the last stages or may be they ask some voodoo priest help them...

[Camelopard]

Well done Ford, excellent result, the end justifies the means........

All perfectly legal though.

Xsara Fan, I notice that your signature mentions Toyota, now they were the masters of cheating, except that they got caught!

[Mauri A]

Mikko said: “Fantastic effort of whole team”. I said: “Fantastic effort of whole cheaters team”...
It`s not good for sport when cheaters takes a win.
From now on the name of this team for me is “BP-Ford Abu Dhabi World CHEATERS Team”
Since when the use of brains in tactics has been forbidden?

[Daniel]

I agree it's legal. Congrats to Citroen on 3rd place and not being lame.

[edacurf]

Andreas Aigner on Mitsubishi PWRC!
third victory in a row ???

[N.O.T]

Since when the use of brains in tactics has been forbidden?

the thing is that with the split system Ford put a whole army of cars to clean the road not just Loeb.....tactics are ok up to a point but when they turn dirty its disgusting....