Rally Sweden 2012

Great win by Latvala...he is back in the game now...very solid win.

Hirvonen did a good job...after all this year his job is to be ahead of Solberg, Latvala is Loebs business.

Dissapointed by solberg he did not show at any time he can compete with the rest works drivers...

Ostberg seems that he has reached his maximum potential...now driving for fun until he gets bored and waves goodbye.

Loeb could be the winner here, but too many mistakes... maybe next year, he now has 2 out of 2 power stage wins...heavy favourite for the title still.

Novikov impressed me....maybe finally he started to listen to Denis...he promised good things in Mexico...i cannot wait.

Ogier easily handling the ladycup champion... more stage wins, overall win and he just lost the lead once...in an event where the ladycup champion had many advantages... the overglorified (by some) ladycup competitors like Mikkelsen and Neuville must evolve into WRC class drivers or else back to local village events to be cheered by their yes men....they have time as their ally but they must start getting WRC class mentality, Loix is not competiting here to have someone to beat.

To be honest i was never fan of the Monte and the Sweden rallies, they are exciting since they offer something different but are rallies that are too specialised and no real conclusions can be made...glad we are done with them..

The real season starts in Mexico...there we can see better who is who.

So it should be ...

Loeb 39
Hirvonen 32
Solberg P 29
Latvala 27
Novikov 21
Sordo 18

Standings after Sweden:

Loeb 39
Hirvonen 32
P.Solberg 29
Latvala 26
Novikov 21
Sordo 18
Østberg 15
Delecour 8
Campana 6
H.Solberg 6
Tanak 4
Sandell 4
Prokop 3
Araujo 2
Brynildsen 1

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Originally Posted by N.O.T

To be honest i was never fan of the Monte and the Sweden rallies, they are exciting since they offer something different but are rallies that are too specialised and no real conclusions can be made...glad we are done with them..

The real season starts in Mexico...there we can see better who is who.

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IMHO the ideal state would be to have all events being something special. Than it makes things much more interesting. Another one of that kind used to be Sanremo with an army of asphalt specialists.

Blue and white...colours of victory! Our flag is so victorious!!

Quote:

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Originally Posted by T.Maanteiden kuningas

Blue and white...colousr of victory! Our flag is so victorious!!

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6-1 :D

Quote:

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Originally Posted by a.f.f.

6-1 :d

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hell yeah!

As a big Loeb's fan I must congratulate to Jarri M.Latavla, he was clearly the fastest all weekend and therefore he will take home deserved 25 ponits.
Second place driver Mikko: more than solide performance from him, no mistakes, car was perfect, probably first and last time this season in front of Loeb.
Third position: M.Ostberg, for me still very good result as this year he did not gain nothing with his start position on the first day compare to other top drivers. And to be beaten on snow by JML and Mikko is nothing to be ashamed of.
Fourt place: Peter, well this is maximum what can we expect of him. He did have some unluck with flat tyre on the last day, but to be honest, he was all three days fighting with Mads. Still, on some gravel events Peter can reach podium (especially if JML would hit troubles).
Novikov : more and more (positive) surprises from this guy. Apparantely he put in order his head, he listens his co-driver, the speed was no problem anytime....
And Mr.Loeb: he will walk away from Sweden with his head down, he and his fans expected more from him-and with his constant speed he was able to be on two, maybe three positions higher, but he made mistakes and he was punsihed for this. This is not a tragedy, alreday in Mexico the French flag will be on the first position. I have no worries or doubts about that...And thanks god for a win on the Power Stage.
SWRC: for me the real winner is PG, do not forget his unluck on Monte. Ogier did not convince me, he beat Mikkelsen yust for a lousy few seconds.
So, champagne for JML&Ford&Malcom, enjoy, as this year (again) there is much more reserved champagne for Loeb&Citroen...

Congratulations to Jari-Matti Latvala !!!! Even when we support other driver we must stay "sporty minded" :cool:

Well I am really satisfied, it was a thrilling rally with big suspense to the end and both nice and disappointing surprises.

IMO if Loeb just cruised through he would have stepped on the third place, but now its a little more interesting and he will be champion however.

Dont like Latvala but congrats to him raising a good enough margin with only a small fail at the end.

Repeat that Hirvonen is a coward and lost his maybe only chance for victory this year but his job is manu points and gathered good score.

Petter performed as usual, I said enough for him these days.

Mads achieved the best he could with his privateer fiesta against factory drivers.

Novikov made me happy again, he said he wants a podium this season and I kindly wish it! And hope Wilson Sr support him more with upgrades and discounts.

Pleasant surprises were: Prokop, Brynildsen, Tidemand, Al-Rajhi; and Breen, Paddon, Ogier, Neuville - quite good and deserved results for these youngsters.

Slightly disappointed / expected more from: Sandell, Araujo, PG, McRae, Attiyah, Oleksovich.

Now I can't wait for the tricky rally of Mexico with much better entries than previous seasons :)