you are probably correct.....Quote:
Originally Posted by Barreis
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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.