Crystal Ball Time for 2017

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Originally Posted by jparker

You are twisting the facts a little bit, and is too early to sum things up.
Ogier is far from what he was with VW.
Neuville's prediction that Ogier may not be as competitive as in the past still stands true for now. Yes, Ford are making progress, but the game is still on.

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Care to say exactly which fact you think I've twisted?
Mr Neuville's use of English is a little imprecise.
Being 'competitive' means to be able to compete against the opposition with some expectation of success. So far Ogier has as many wins as Neuville in a car he wasn't testing all last year.
While he isn't as dominant as he was in 'his' Polo he is certainly competing well enough to lead the Championship having just given everyone else a lesson (in consistency and /or gravel speed).

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Originally Posted by Mintexmemory

Care to say exactly which fact you think I've twisted?
Mr Neuville's use of English is a little imprecise.
Being 'competitive' means to be able to compete against the opposition with some expectation of success. So far Ogier has as many wins as Neuville in a car he wasn't testing all last year.
While he isn't as dominant as he was in 'his' Polo he is certainly competing well enough to lead the Championship having just given everyone else a lesson (in consistency and /or gravel speed).

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Mr. Neuville's prediction was that Ogier will not be dominant this year, and may be difficult for him to win the title again. This is exactly right at this point in time, and prediction still stands.
Surprisingly, you are admitting the same thing, except that you believe Ogier already won the title.


Edit: About what facts you are twisting, this one "Appears just as quick as ever".

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Originally Posted by jparker

Mr. Neuville's prediction was that Ogier will not be dominant this year, and may be difficult for him to win the title again. This is exactly right at this point in time, and prediction still stands.
Surprisingly, you are admitting the same thing, except that you believe Ogier already won the title.


Edit: About what facts you are twisting, this one "Appears just as quick as ever".

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I doubt any other driver in a Fiesta would have scored top 4 in every round, certainly not scoring 2 wins. If you doubt that Ogier can beat anyone at the moment in equal machinery then you don't know what you are seeing when you watch a rally. It's a huge shame we can't organise a wager on this as I have a 100 quid that says Ogier will be champ this year.
Bottom line - he is able to out perform Tanak in identical machinery because he has 10% in reserve and Tanak is alway on or over the limit. Portugal showed the same for everyone else.

how much reserve Ogier had in Sweden and Argentina then? 50%? more?

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Originally Posted by Mintexmemory

I doubt any other driver in a Fiesta would have scored top 4 in every round, certainly not scoring 2 wins.

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Yep, Ogier did a remarkable job managing to be the series leader, despite starting the season in a totally new team and car. Now that he has the car fitted for him and he feels more at ease inside the team, it'll be hard for competitors to avoid his 5th WRC title...

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Originally Posted by Mintexmemory

I doubt any other driver in a Fiesta would have scored top 4 in every round, certainly not scoring 2 wins. If you doubt that Ogier can beat anyone at the moment in equal machinery then you don't know what you are seeing when you watch a rally. It's a huge shame we can't organise a wager on this as I have a 100 quid that says Ogier will be champ this year.
Bottom line - he is able to out perform Tanak in identical machinery because he has 10% in reserve and Tanak is alway on or over the limit. Portugal showed the same for everyone else.

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I don't disagree with your words above, but obviously you don't understand what I'm trying to tell you. Anyway, doesn't really matter.

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Originally Posted by EstWRC

how much reserve Ogier had in Sweden and Argentina then? 50%? more?

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No, but enough to manage his championship.

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Originally Posted by Rally Power

Yep, Ogier did a remarkable job managing to be the series leader, despite starting the season in a totally new team and car. Now that he has the car fitted for him and he feels more at ease inside the team, it'll be hard for competitors to avoid his 5th WRC title...

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Yes, Neuville mentioned that he had no answer to Ogier's speed on the deep gravel in Portugl, and probably that's the way in Sardinia will be, but after that things may turn in different direction.

Again with the percentages and on and over the limit talk. Most of the time drivers themselves don`t know but online-racers know the truth.:D
When in a good position, all of them tend to say that there`s room but they take it safe...or when make a massive time, they say they thought they were slow, can go faster and also when someone is not doing so great they are surprised, how this is possible. Mind games yes, but still...not so simple. When watching onboards and other videos you can see quite big mistakes from everyone in the front. Some have luck, some don`t but this is top-level rallying.

What do we call identical...each driver can have his own setup and has to use those details in different linked events. The difference can be quite big...

Ok guys - enough of the 'how much is Ogier's mental game stillaffecting the opposition' debate - this is the crystal balls thread wheras Ogier's are couilles d'acien. If someone would like to take this up as a new thread, be my guest. One last parting shot. Does anyone think that if there was a Polo 17 team that the WRC leader would be any different?