Loeb https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=43T7SkeZOOE
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I read it. The point Latvala is making, is not the apparent overall point of the article.
As he says, they're not developing the car now, they're preparing for Portugal. Hence the title 'The unexpected element affecting Rally Portugal preparation'.
I would bet my life that neither Hyundai nor Toyota would have even turned a wheel in central Finland, even if the weather had been unseasonably warm. The fact it's a bit colder than usual won't have changed a thing. You don't prepare for Portuguese / Kenyan stages in Finland - end of.
The claim that either team has been 'hamstrung' by the weather is a bit insulting to both of them. The gap in the Finnish rally calendar won't have been a surprise to them, and they both work with test organisers with decades of experience on those roads.
Rather than being an 'unexpected element', this will have been planned into the schedule. It has zero impact.
It's just a bad headline by Dirtfish.
But if the conditions were suitable for rallying, you can bet your life Hyundai would've been running the car in Finland as a development test. Don't see why Toyota wouldn't have as well. And these tests would've been on top of the rally Portugal set-up tests.
Exactly.
You dont rely just on a PET to test and develop a car as each driver needs his day just for set-up and his own practice. Hyundai especially need testing on gravel as they've done little and prioritized tarmac testing for Monte and Croatia at the start of the season.
Couple of pics https://twitter.com/rallydeportugal/...BGrva7OWLWzdpg