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They weren't first on the road either.Quote:
Originally Posted by AnttiL
If none of the others have issues on Friday the top 3 can end in 4th-7th place. With normal road cleaning and reverse order they will again be at some disadvantge the following days.
The start list for Saturday and Sunday had Lappi, Latvala, Neuville and Ogier as cars 5-8. Neuville and Ogier, especially Neuville were just on another planet.Quote:
Originally Posted by mknight
Too bad it was the last time he was like that in the whole season. Just shows us how leveled the trio is in this season, Tanak was waay behind the two after Sardinia last season.Quote:
Originally Posted by AnttiL
In Portugal, Tanak did incredible job on Friday despite being 2nd on the road, there is no reason why he wouldn't do it again on Sardinia.
Don't forget that Ogier was almost minute slower than Tanak in Portugal although he didnt have problems at all and Tanak did. Also, it is about time for him to have some issues, last year in Sardinia he survived that huge rock on the road, this time he shouldn't be so lucky.
The weather which looked uncertain for Wednesday next week (beach and beer day!!) is now showing some light cloud for Weds / Thurs then high temperatures / full sun for the rest of the weekend. Road position in Sardinia is useful for the Friday morning. Expect Ogier to be 5th or 6th at midday. However this is a big field so there will be a lot of ruts and rocks for the second loop. This is a rally that often throws up a surprise and I'd say Neuville is perfectly placed. I'll be going for Neuville, Tanak, Ogier in that order. The pressure on the first 2 may cause cutting errors etc, something that rarely happens with Ogier
Toyota video preview with Juho https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Uq9TVQsef3A
well, it was dry in 2017 and the podium in the end was 1. Tänak 2. Latvala 3. Neuville, who all were first starters. After Friday Paddon was leading, Latvala second, Neuville third and Tänak fourth, all within 10 secs from Paddon.Quote:
Originally Posted by mknight
While looking at the past results, the thoughest part for the frontrunners is friday morning, this is where they lose a lot, they just have to survive that and the evening is already much better.
In that sense i agree with AnttiL that most likely the TOP3 will be on the podium again, out of those 3 Neuville has to be the favourite, won it in 2016 and 2018, on the podium in 2015 and 2017, very good record in last 4 years.
But in the same time, Latvala has shown good speed on past 2 events and he has excellent starting position, but the question is will he and his Toyota avoid the troubles, Lappi was on podium last year and also showed good speed in 2017.
Reading user racerx1979 comments on Toyotas damper issues in rally portugal thread, and that they could be even worse in sardegna, well, doesnt sound good and it seems you can already write 3 super rallies for them :D. Car and tyre management will be crucial like always at this rally.
The back starters definitely must take maximum out of friday, if not, then in the end the TOP3 will share the podium again.
For me it seems like the Big 3 is only expanding the gap to everyone else, so I wouldn't be one bit surprised if the podium in Sardegna will be Ogier-Tänak-Neuville in whichever order (Neuville maybe being the slight favorite though, based on his Sardegna record and road position). As ridicilous it may seem, I'd still pick JML - if anyone - to upset the odds and mix it up with the title contenders. If (and that's a big if) the Yaris would hold up and Latvala for once would have lady luck on his side everything's possible.
M-Sport preview, plus Teemu Suninen has a new co-driver next week as Jarmo Lehtinen is back calling the notes in Sardinia.
https://www.m-sport.co.uk/single-pos...AY-TO-SARDINIA
With this rate, Suninen is running out of credible Finnish co-drivers before the end of the season...
Just a pure quess, but maybe he needs the co-driver to be sort of a mentor as well, and for that role Lehtinen should fit in. The same could have been said about Markkula though, we'll see how this plays out.
That's what he said he wanted, someone with more experience.
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