Mexico 2012

In all fairness, the difference between Vatanen at the 83' 1000 lakes, and Latvala at 12' Mexico is that Vatanen wasn't in contention - that i know of - to begin with, he had nothing to lose. Latvala was running strong to start, had issues, then fought back again with a comfortable podium finish spot, with no chance of catching Mikko, unless it was handed to him with drama.

Yeah, every time I see a vid or photo of JML after a fumble I feel bad for him. The kid has wicked heart and puts a lot of pressure on himself to succeed. Definitely world champ one day.

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Originally Posted by tolis

http://distilleryimage4.instagram.co...3817987b_7.jpg

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With all the bits missing they might save some money on the return airfreight bill.

external view.....

quite a crash...

i apologise if they have the video in wrc.com i cannot view wrc.com videos..

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j0H7Q3pZics

Ahaa..that is why his GPS dot litterally disappeared from the map. Seems that the GPS transmitter was practically destroyed.

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Originally Posted by Francis44

I think there is not much difference in the cars as some think. Hirvonnen finished very well but his pace isn't much improved from last year, perhaps it's just Latvala who can't control himself.

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I agree on the car thing. EVERY single part must be shown on the Homologation forms. Dimensions, sizes, lengths, weights.... And so many parts or modifications are very strictly limited t.ex, wheelhousing dimensions, wheel size/width, and more than that, EVERYBODY probably has a very good idea of the set ups---you boys don't think that they don't study and analyze the others? I was only local clubbie type guy in rally and I looked at everything I could on "works" cars, still do to this day .
In any case the differences after 4 hours are mere hundredths of 1 % between the drivers who are real drivers (and not tourists, or Inter-net Stars).

Think what you're saying when you say "The Citroen IS SOOOOOOOOOOOOO Much better!
And yet Seb Baby only beats everybody by less than 1%??

No no no. Pobrecito por pobre Latvala today. He went a little crazy. It happens.... He knows how to go fast and has to ---sheet I don't know the word in my own mother tongue...hålla i eller behärska sig lite....

I really don't think you guys who have never been really high level drivers ---or riders---know how hard it is to hold back...
Self consciousness/awareness----when driving really hard or focusing really hard, can break the concentration.. We've all seen people make mistakes too, even when cruising.. (I cannot say how many times I had fingers, toes, teeth, nose etc broken from rocks or impact when I was a high level racers (moto-cross) and not even been aware till I pull up to the service rig and somebody points out blood on my shirt or gloves...then its "Oh, that's odd...."

"everybody knows how they could have saved the ship.......
once it sank" old Italian Proverb.

Novikov had broken the roof went completely earlier on the stage and the car was full of dust, maybe he was distracted because of that.

There was no triangle or warning when Latvala arrived to the place... Well, I haven't seen the onboards of the seven cars which passed the place prior to Latvala, maybe they also didn't have warning and had no problems. JM just happened to get scared because of Novikov's car, braked which caused him to slide off the line and we all know what then happened.

I would never do group Lotto with JM... :D

sunday pics:
rallysport.hu - Rally Guanajuato Mexico 2012 - Vasárnap

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Originally Posted by BDunnell

Nothing? What about competing? On the 1983 1000 Lakes, Vatanen and Toivonen knew they couldn't really win in Manta 400s against the Quattros and 037s, yet they put on one of the most spectacular, exciting displays you could ever imagine. Both cars broke. By your reasoning, they should have just cruised round for a finish. Motorsport — sport in general — would be little without people giving it their all for, in the end, no reward.

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Sure if it was the start of the rally i would agree with you, but not when there is only three stages remaning. If Loeb or Hirvononen would suffer a break down or
a flat, i am sure that Latvala would be able to catch them anyway.

But do you consider it worth risking everything for such small difference in points. If JML had secured 3rd he would mist likely
have won the ps and in that case scored the same points as 2nd place would have given him.

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Originally Posted by Psycho!

“I saw from far away Novikov’s car and I was very confused,” said the Finn. “I first thought the car was on the road and I made a movement to avoid it and my car went off and rolled. It took a lot to get it back on the road.”

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You get wrong picture from this quote. It wasn't that "far away". The second you see Novikov's car from the onboard video, the next second Latvala's car had hit the bank and rolled. There really wasn't time for pondering the options, yet I'm not saying that it wasn't JML's fault he ended with zero points. Many cars had passed Novikov's car before JML. Though, hitting a car on the road is something every competitor wants to avoid. Latvala hardly saw Novikov's car when he approached, but only a car. Still - no need to explain when the **** had already hit the fan (both proverbial and literal).

Looks like Latvala is now making a record in a sequence of DNFs and wins. Bring on Portugal!

Amateur shots of Novikov's and Latvala's crashes

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HPLU20C05Tc

Both lost the rear to the same place, hit the bank and rolled. He didn't need or have to take avoiding action, because he hadn't even got out of the fast corner in shape to reach the next left corner which was Novikov's car on the sideroad.

The main thing of course, is that if he was warned by Giraudet earlier because it seems he was still going quite fast. Although if you sum-up all the quotes after Latvala probably got panicked.