Printable View
It would be heavier if fitted with a more robust suspension and stronger components (wheels, say) - so maybe the very good driver is benefiting from that and is actually around the same level as Neuville and Ogier?Quote:
Originally Posted by steve.mandzij
Only 10km footprint for the signal so if a car is not within that they don't have the feed from itQuote:
Originally Posted by Allez Andruet
Sure, but the Toyota in 2017 was an absolute tank and still managed to take maximum points in it's second rally. Toyota must have really overdone it in the diet department, but considering how well the car looks to handle, and how strong their engine is, I reckon they could take the extra weight penatly of donning it in some stronger armor.Quote:
Originally Posted by Mintexmemory
That said, I believe Tanak is something else. He's pulled times thought impossible on various occasions on single rallies, be it from the front of the starters or with a damaged power steering or whatever. He's really, really, reeeeeally good.
Really? The only one who you could rank as having a worse season is Suninen and even that is probably not right given the difference in experience between him and Latvala.Quote:
Originally Posted by cali
- Results are horrible there is no doubt about it, after Portugal (and exactly half the season) he will also be last placed driver that drove all rallies.
- Mistakes are also there: Sweden 2x, Corsica at least one puncture was his fault by his own words, Chile crashing out, Portugal don't know yet alllive mentioned heavy landing though.
- Speed is also often not there: Monte slowest Yaris and 5th, Mexico slowest Yaris even though he had best road position, Corsica one of the slowest WRCs whole rally
Ok a driver can have a bad period, but for Latvala this is like his 6th bad period (1st half of last year, whole 2016 etc etc. )
I'd say Neuville starts to laugh as well this season. He seems more and more in control with less reckless driving than we used to see. This season is everyone (top 3) to get in my opinion.Quote:
Originally Posted by Francis44
Performance or reliability, reliability or performance? The eternal question.Quote:
Originally Posted by steve.mandzij
'Scratching head'..Quote:
Originally Posted by spiderem
Not exactly an excuse.Quote:
Originally Posted by SubaruNorway
Maybe not, but I would blame the one who gives them a budget, not the production team itself.Quote:
Originally Posted by Allez Andruet
Neuville/Hyundai are outdoing Ogier in that way here. Everything has been turned their way despite two of their cars breaking down yesterday.Quote:
Originally Posted by spiderem
Well, you could ask Jan VanVurpa. Even if theres a brand of suspension, there´s many way you could "manipulate" those suspension cylinders to get them lighter or whatever. don´t know if that´s what Tommis´team are doing but could be one reason for their suspension to break.
Anyway it´s not Tanaks or Latvalas fault.
Btw. Emil Bergkvist is now 2nd in WRC2. Just to let you know. Proud of him. Hope it goes all the way...
That's the whole point you're missing: he's quick and somewhat consistent, but terribly unlucky. In Corsica, yes, he was really terrible, but from Argentina onwards he's been very quick. Chile was bad luck again, hitting a rock just right to break the driveshaft.Quote:
Originally Posted by mknight
His only real mistake of the season so far was in Sweden, and maybe one of the cuts in Corsica, but he's really not been worse than Suninen, or Evans, or Lappi...
...or Mikkelsen.
Yes, very clever.Quote:
Originally Posted by Googol
holy sh*t how big the damper actually is
Tänak saying in media zone that the damper was gone already 25kms before the end :eek:
Latvala wan't doing anything remarkable in first part of the last season either. Finland was some kind of turning point, not only for him but also for Toyota's run in winning the title.
Tanak somehow survived the last stage, it should be much easier tomorrow and hopefully for Tanak, Meeke will stay ahead of Neuville. Fingers crossed for Ogier's and Citroen's mistake finally, it's about time.
He was close but not as good as ogier when they both had the same car. The only thing that's changed since then is the car they drive.Quote:
Originally Posted by steve.mandzij
I know some people like to believe in fairy tales, but we all know that he would not be as dominant in an other car.
We've all seen what happened with the dominant ogier as soon as he wasn't driving that vw anymore.
Current championship standing without PS:
Ogier: 134
Tanak: 137
Neuville: 125
He do this trick 3 year in a row so farQuote:
Originally Posted by Francis44
Didn’t Latvala have a bad landing from a jump which broke his damper?
Anyway, I don’t know who you would replace him with at this stage unless Tommi/Toyota are willing to put up with a year or two of ‘learning’ for Kalle.
Lol.Quote:
Originally Posted by denkimi
Take Tänak away from Toyota and you wouldn’t talk this car thing
Speed wise he was faster than Ogier in 2017 and don’t you think he could have progressed since 2017?
You do realise that without mechanical problems we would have had a complete and dominant toyota podium tomorrow?Quote:
Originally Posted by EstWRC
That toyota is as dominant as the vw was, it also makes latvala look like a outstanding driver. The only thing stopping them from winning almost every rally is their unreliability.
Where is N.O.T. ? He knows all about village teams... (joke)
But a more reliable Toyota may also be a slower one. We’ll see at the end of the year whether they got the balance right.Quote:
Originally Posted by denkimi
No he wasn't. Ogier got 34 power stage points in 2017, tanak got 22.Quote:
Originally Posted by EstWRC
Tanak has beaten ogier in the powerstage 7 times in 26 rally's.
Tanak is fast, i rate hem pretty much equal to ogier. But the dominant speed he shows since he's driving the toyota comes from the car, not from him. And you know that just as well as me or anybody else.
Pietarinen should be leading WRC2 till penultimate split. And than got probably a puncture, lost more than 1min and drops to 4thQuote:
Originally Posted by Rallyper
Pity (
Actually the person to who you are replying is blabbering constantly here but always missing the point. I do not even bother myself with him.Quote:
Originally Posted by steve.mandzij
And I'll stand on what I said. Not half a bad season for Latvala, just he's been unlucky quite often. By his standards he has been very consistent actually. Shame that he was robbed again...
Kaj Lindström was just on sports news on Finnish TV regarding Latvala's retirement and he said that as they have to do Sardegna with the same car, the risks would have been too high to let JML do today's final stage. Without specifying it in details, he said that there were that kind of things broken that they had no option.
Everyone is talking how unreliable car Yaris is
but
-Hyundai of Sordo
-Hyundai of Loeb
-Ford of Evans
-Ford of Suninen
so only reliable car is Citroen which is not fast.
JML should meet the wizard who would expel the evil spirits riding along in his car (not talking about Anttila). Otherwise Japanese might start to believe there is something that came along with Latvala ;)
Can`t compare it that way, because:Quote:
Originally Posted by denkimi
A) Toyota with Tänak is mighty everywhere, Toyota with others not so much...
B) When you have Ogier in the team, you are his second, in any way. In some teams, even more. M-Sport had new upgrades put on Ogier`s car first, in 2017 and 2018. And team orders.
It`s the whole package for sure, in Toyota, but it works like VW and Ogier...or Loeb and Citroen.
Some thoughts on Latvala...
I'm a Meeke fan. Evans is Meeke's main rival in the championship, but Latvala is his main rival in remaining employed. The latter is far more important.
Latvala has been quite fast several times, and he has been unlucky several times.
I think the bad luck and bad results has given Latvala good road position, which makes him look a little faster than he really is. Would he have led Meeke in this rally if they'd started one position apart? I have my doubts.
He is not a bad driver, but not one of the big 3 championship contenders either.
If he has a downside it's the emotional rollercoaster, which could be bad for the atmosphere in a team.
Who could Toyota hire who is substantially better than Latvala? Breen, Paddon, Ostberg, Tidemund... none of them scream "substantially better than JML". They're all second level WRC drivers like him. If Ogier or Neuville came free they'd be clear choices, so long as hiring them didn't mean losing Tanak. I guess Rovanpera might make sense as a long term investment, but that seems like a thing for 2021.
I don't think he's going anywhere. Maybe in another year.
I just wonder, Ogier in VW, very rare mechanical issues, in M-Sport - I don't remember some major mechanical issues, probably they're very few, but the car clearly wasn't the fastest, in Citroen, also not the fastest car, but this season they have not single mechanical failure, unlike previous years.
Just thinking out loud...
My two cents, but anyway... If it wasn't for Tänak, JML would be right there in the mix for the title this year, just like he would've been in 2018 as well. Latvala's issues (if you wanna call them that) are not related to driving fast, that part he knows. It's no coincidence, that JML was strong in 2017, when he was the clear #1 at TGR and basically had his friend supporting him in that title quest. If Tänak was to leave, I'd say replicating that scenario in 2020 would still be Toyota's best scenario for the title bid.Quote:
Originally Posted by Morte66
Something changed with Tänak once he got his first win in Sardegna 2017. That's when he became a championship contender.Quote:
Originally Posted by denkimi
It's also important to remember that motorsport (in other than one make series's) is always half the vehicle, half the driver. And to mix that equation you need to combine the right driver with the right vehicle. And Tänak seems to mix well with the Yaris.
Double puncture 😄Quote:
Originally Posted by dimviii