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It may be a problem for Norwegians to swallow but JML is team leader and still has a chance (however slim) of being Champ. If he is faster than Petter then it is Petter who needs to hold station! Winning the power stage is a small demonstration to Malcolm of that fact.Quote:
Originally Posted by SubaruNorway
Good one! :DQuote:
Originally Posted by Mintexmemory
The only one who has title chances is Hirvonen, if Loeb doesn't compete in the last 4 rounds! :D
The WRC is going to be a rather empty place when Loeb retires....
The rest compared to him look like stray dogs in the woods...
Tanak once more made a mistake... he has the pace for sure and lets hope he has the backing as well, because his performace overall is very very dissapointing.
Great result for Novikov !!!!! once again...
Now Finland is next... lets see is Loeb has any mercy left for those little finish kids and doesn't treat them like sick dogs in their home rally.
Tanak exit in this video
World Rally Championship - Video - Browse All - New Zealand 2012: Sunday Evening Wrap
That would be amazing because even in the C4 he could never make the Finns look like sick dogs in Finland. (Never hugely dominant as he was in NZ)Quote:
Originally Posted by N.O.T
really ??Quote:
Originally Posted by Mintexmemory
you've probably missed it, but latvala screwed up in 6 of the 7 rally's so far. therefore PS was promoted to nr.1 some rally's ago.Quote:
Originally Posted by Mintexmemory
but apparently wilson hasn't learned anything from the last 5 years or so, or he just doesn't want one of his drivers to become champion.
So this year at least 8 wins for Loeb (3 tarmac rallies left).
blaa blaa blaa... :oQuote:
Originally Posted by N.O.T
Loeb and C4 2007-2010 in FINLANDQuote:
Originally Posted by N.O.T
2007: 3rd Loeb + 1m09,9 (1st Grönholm and 2nd Hirvonen)
2008: 1st Loeb (2nd Hirvonen +9,0s)
2009: 2nd Loeb +25,1s (1st Hirvonen)
2010: 3rd Loeb+26,0s (1st Latvala)
Loeb was just once 9s faster and other years he was lost in finnish forrest and looooooosing a lot.
310km stages/26sec=0,08 sec/kmQuote:
Originally Posted by tommeke_B
345 km stages/25sec=0,08sec/km
doesn t seem to me ''a loooooot' too
Ha Ha Ha ...Quote:
Originally Posted by T.Maanteiden kuningas
the pain is evident...
once finish drivers had all podium places.... the last few years they are happy if they have 1 driver on it...
LAL
25s in Finland is a decade. Really, without any joking.
And that's TRUE what N.O.T says pain is there. Pain is horrible if we don't win and have multiple podium.
Allready I'm sleeping quite bad :D
Quote:
Originally Posted by T.Maanteiden kuningas
^This. 25 seconds on 1,000 Lakes is an eternity.
Regarding this weekend, yet another totally predictable borefest. Roll on 2013.
On a somewhat related note, really, how long has Malcolm got left as the Ford boss? If he was a football manager, he would have been sacked a long time ago.
Until he becomes Hyundai manager after Ford withdraw end of 2013. It wont suit Ford to be in WRC with VW and Toyota. Its ok coming second the money keeps flowing in.Quote:
Originally Posted by RAS007
Congratulations to Marcos Ligato incidentally, who won the PWRC! It's been a "looooooooooooong" time comin'. :D
I think I'm gonna celebrate with a big slab of steak. I'm thinking of throwing a meat party come to think of it. :)
Most people nowadays are past caring. I wasnt shocked in the slightest after latvala went off (I was even more shocked that his off was caused by sheer bad luck and not insane driving), it is almost to be expected.Quote:
Originally Posted by N.O.T
You may mock the Finnish and talk about their supposed pain but the real pain rests in the state of WRC and what single driver dominance is doing to it, and, no matter how many times dedicated Loeb-fans tell themselves that domination is good for the sport....It really is not.
Fair play, he is the best. He is fastest and makes the least mistakes, but we already know this and every championship he wins drives another nail into WRC's coffin.
IMO ;)
Or makes competitive people more determined to beat him.Quote:
Originally Posted by tfp
it is about excellence rising to the top of the heap and if you want to be the best then you have to beat the person currently considered to hold that position. This is a World championship not a school playground
I am quite excited by the potential that I see in some of the younger drivers making their way onto the world stage
Maybe Latvala will go off in Finland also.
LAL... i hope notQuote:
Originally Posted by Barreis
I would like Hirvonen to win though.
you are probably correct.....Quote:
Originally Posted by Barreis
NZ video - shows the different lines through a corner.
WRC Rally NZ Ahuroa - YouTube
Reading an article on the roads in the Raglan area. A few of the old gravel stages have been tar sealed. e.g Mangatawhiri Road
Finally home, NZ is an amazing rally, with top notch stages. The new service park is very modern, but is difficult to get in to with limited room. The organisiners are pushing for an annual event, which will be interesting given that Aus is doing the same.
Loeb was just perfect all weekend, with Mikko driving a lot straighter than what I have seen previously. Novikov, Neuville and Tanak all showed promise, with nice driving and some at times crazy lines. Tanak needs to try and straighten his style out a bit, he's finding corners that other guys aren't. Block was actually quite impressive with his lines, driving a lot better than what he was in Aus last year. To borrow a phrase from NOT, the 'works' Minis of Nobre and Araujo are sick dogs. I know Ketomaa copped some flack on here for being slow, but I'm putting that down to the tyres and set up et al, because he was driving the wheels off the car, up there with Novikov imo. Protons sounds and look great when they manage to make it to your prectator point. Hayden Paddon is driving really well in the Skoda, I went to a drivers forum with himself and Ken Block. Paddon is talking about a private WRC entry next year (no mention on car make), that would be interesting!!
Heard some rumours, no idea how true they are but - Apparently there is a new Peugeot WRC somewhere with the intention of swapping involvement by Citroen for Peugeot. People in Ford are not sure about their involvement next year and the hard tyre decision was MW's.
My pics can be found here: Flickr: JamesHunterWRC's Photostream
http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7273/7...d67da651_b.jpg
http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8165/7...4301abb7_b.jpg
http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8151/7...afb85e2b_b.jpg
http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8015/7...60d013f7_b.jpg
http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7247/7...64f89209_b.jpg
Peugeot back?????Please God make this happen!!!
My guess is Citroen and Loeb leave together and allowing Nueville and Peugeot to be PSA representative and facing VW / Toyota etc.Quote:
Originally Posted by 6789
Quote:
Originally Posted by MJW
I hope you are wrong. Next year could be shaping up to be the first year Loeb has actually had some competition in a looooong time.
Loeb will get proper competition if he leaves and does GT/Sportscars..... ;)Quote:
Originally Posted by RAS007
That doesn't necessarily mean 2013, my guess is probably 2014.Quote:
Originally Posted by RAS007
I forgot to congratulate block, he may not be a winner, but he had a consistant performance all weekend and did well to fend off stohl and get into the top ten, hats off to him!
Well that was an interesting rally, I competed in the 2nd day as part of the regional event, but had issues with the car so was never able to complete a stage at full throttle. However we finished the rally anyway, so that was a bonus.
We spectated the last day at the tarmac super special and also the 2nd running of the 17km stage (SS20). The tarmac was interesting to watch, Richard Mason (NZ Group N driver) managed 9th overall, a particularly impressive feat beating a number of WRC cars! Sordo looked super quick and smooth and proved it by winning the stage. The Citroen drivers all looked well controlled, and Manfred Stohl also looked very tidy. The S2000s were definitely the most entertaining to watch however.
The 17km stage (SS20) was the second running of the stage and was a very interesting comparison. We were in a place that attracted half a dozen helicopters, with a 200m straight into a 6R over a small crest, onto a 120m straight into a 5L tightening to a blind 4L and dropping downhill, which was about half way through the stage. So a good spot for seeing both the high speed commitment over the 6R and the lower speed commitment to the note as the 2nd corner was completely blind and somewhat off camber. Ken Block was the standout, he made corners where there wasn't any! He was incredibly sideways and was taking unnecessary risks, not suprisingly his time was quite poor too. But I bet everyone who watched him will remember him either way, as he sure was spectacular!
Mikko looked comfortably the fastest, very smooth and tidy and carried a lot of corner speed. Unusually Loeb looked unhappy, but I think he may have been on hard tyres and struggling to get them hot enough, as he took two goes at the braking for the 5L into 4L and generally looked ill at ease. Although Thierry won the stage he didn't stand out as anything special at our point of the stage, but he certainly wasn't slow. The two factory Fords looked good, with plenty of corner speed and some smooth lines, but nothing spectacular to watch. Tanak was already off by our point and Paddon in SWRC was going slowly due to recovering from his puncture earlier in the stage.
PG Anderson was very committed and also carried a lot of corner speed, and the Mentos guy - Valeriy Gorban was the standout in Group N with massive commitment which showed in his stage time (8th overall!).
The rest of the PWRC field were rather disappointing, with some rather gentle driving going on - however it was the last day with only 2 more stages to go, so not worth risking it all!
All in all, given how late in the rally the stage was, I was well impressed with the speed and commitment shown by the top 6 or so WRC drivers.
Short video of ours of the Block spin in free practice
http://youtu.be/7St65UDDrLE
Rally NZ was Nobre's first time he didn't use restart rules during a rally! When he returned to final service before podium, he was so happy and so were the team!
6789, I was very near you where Ken did the turn around by the trucks. I thought Ken had a good event. Also it was nice that all 3 Minis finished for once. Armindo did not look good though, breaking very early and not going fast at all. It was quite easy to tell when Nobre was coming at you as he constantly lifted and buried the throttle pedal. He seemed very nervous out there!
Was a fantastic rally. First blog of the event can be found on my homepage and a few sporadic photos including the PWRC Ramona & Miriam Evo X on my other photography page.
WRC New Zealand : the gravel GP | Maiham media > Film & Photo
https://www.facebook.com/AaronMaiPhotography
A very enjoyable event as always. Interesting to see how many people captured the Block spin, here is another angle https://vimeo.com/44790597
I will post some of my favourite shots here https://www.facebook.com/motorsportphotography
lololol the guy with the camera is bound with a rope!Quote:
Originally Posted by MSP AU
Yes, interesting concept. Not sure I would be hanging that close to the road.
Stops you falling down the bank and you keep your footing as you pivot to follow the car in your shotQuote:
Originally Posted by dimviii
Is that you Carlo?
It's nice to see a Mini WRC as a zero car... ;)Quote:
Originally Posted by Humber