Ott fastest on first run but barely anything to separate all the drivers
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Ott fastest on first run but barely anything to separate all the drivers
What happened to Kris?
He took it easy deliberately. But why??
Maybe think about it for a second What James has been through and what emotions it can bring out for him if Kris decided to go Flat out immediatelyQuote:
Originally Posted by Rallyper
heard Ott say to Martin after the stage that the car is like an wooden horse
So that´s the reason for all the recce talks, then...Quote:
Originally Posted by Rallyest
When will he go flat out?
He went slow to save tyres I imagine? Molly asked him about the slow time as the interview cut away, Meeke said if they make stupid rules that's what happens
That must of been Kris Meekes slowest shakedown stage ever 🤣
Ewrc has wrong time for Meeke. I thought something happened as the time is 10.00min there, but actually it was 3.35.8 +40s to Tanak.
Lol but still fastest on first and second run so farQuote:
Originally Posted by Rallyest
+ Meeke hasn’t been competing for years and we saw couple of guys making mistakes on shakedownQuote:
Originally Posted by Rallyest
Tänak fastest on second run also, Neuville and Kalle to come though, good time from Katsuta
He's done 3 runs now so all must be ok.Quote:
Originally Posted by Rallyper
I would say Kris was saving tyres. I think this is about article 13-2-5 of the sporting regs, where you get 4 extra 'other compound' tyres if you use that compound for shakedown.
In this case, it's the hards - since they're expecting a dry rally, it makes sense to have as many good hard tyres as possible available. By doing your first run of shakedown on hards, you are allowed 4 more for the rally.
I guess what Kris is referring to by 'stupid rules' is the fact that you are allowed more first-choice tyres (in Rally2 the maximum you can use in total is 26 here in Portugal, so 12x can be hard, 14x must be soft) which wouldn't really be anyone's first choice...
Rules are different this year. This 4 extra tyres for shakedown is "quite" nonsense when there is new rule that each P2 participant must do shakedown at least once. And as the total number of tyres for the whole event is counted WITH shakedown, it has no sense to destroy the tyres on shakedown and it is better to save them for race. I am saying for longer time - keep the tyres for shakedown out of limit for the race. Then it has sense...Quote:
Originally Posted by ouvreur
Yeah, that's why many WRC2 drivers opt to do just one run of shakedown, to save the tyres.
And we've seen punctures for Gus, Fourmaux and Zalvidar....
Meeke drove at a snails pace because of the current rules
Mikkelsen, Solberg, Greensmith, Suninen, Fourmaux, Meeke ...
What has been the longest list of ex-WRC-drivers competing in a WRC event but not in the main category?
More interviews including Meeke / Fulton at the end...
https://youtu.be/-vOn9vFteKw
Most have done two runs now.Quote:
Originally Posted by AnttiL
Yes, I know that I should not get excited from shakedown results, but Virves is showing matching pace with Fourmaux (both Ford Fiesta Rally2)
Still Friday will be mainly about surviving...
Yes, I fear Friday especially for rally2 and the lower classes will be carnage.
Kalle Rovanpera
Shakedown done and dusted ! 7th fastest in the end.
We saved our tyres on the 2 final runs as we will need them later on this weekend!
Friday is going to be interesting.
Ironic how WRC are basically sprint events now so everyone goes flat out, but at the same time they stopped mid-day service...Quote:
Originally Posted by PLuto
Pre-Event Press Conference.Quote:
Originally Posted by Andre Oliveira
Meeke: “I will concentrate mainly on the first day, because I race for Hyundai Portugal and the Portuguese championship is only on Friday”.
more shakedown vids including Evans onboard
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XmhBKRaKyWk
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IuLE2qbOipM
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9h6LgDDh1-0
I wouldn't expect many heroics from Meeke. Not just due to the circumstances and how close Kris and James were to Craig and the Breen family, but then you have the fact Meeke hasn't had a competitive outing at a good level since 2019. It's a new car and new Co driver, while all the other drivers are match fit and/or are used to their cars.
It's still great to see him back, but I can't see past Mikkelsen or Solberg for the rally2 honours. Solberg has shown some real strong pace, but still not sure he can manage a rally like Andreas can. Hopefully Suninen can be involved at the front as well, he has gone well in Portugal in the past and he will be wanting to make up for last years power stage drama. And it's also Greensmiths favourite rally, so it's all set for an intriguing battle.
Hopefully AllLive let's us follow the rally2 action properly, and the rally isn't ruined by puncture after puncture
Meeke just 2 weeks ago: https://www.ewrc-results.com/eventst...oboreira-2023/Quote:
Originally Posted by er88
With (ex)WRC level guys, they don't forget how to drive overnight. This rally requires some experience how to survive on rough situations and it's not for pure speed. I don't expect any heroics from him as well, but I don't count him down before the rally starts. He is competitor (it's a diagnose :))
... everyone talked how much they are afraid of punctures and now most of them go with 1 spare.Quote:
Originally Posted by EstWRC
The talk was about second passes when it gets very roughQuote:
Originally Posted by meh
IMO it’s logical to go with one spare for the first pass. Especially first runners, Sordo starts from far back and we can see he has taken 2 spares
Here we go, mates.
(don´t be scared, but one Toyota already retired...) :) :)
here we go, looking forward to the WRC2 fightmaybe more than WRC.
Only Sordo going with 2 spares out of Rally 1 it seems.
WRC2 should be epic.
here we go indeed, another 3 days of rally-slavery :)
4min gaps but still a bit dust issue, maybe more problematic for Rally2 guys
Very tight gaps so far like yesterday on shakedown
I was already thinking that cleaning effect is not that bad this time, but now looking Sordo and Loubet, it's proper friday heroes day :)