There is need for them anyway in competitive cars for the series and also championshipQuote:
Originally Posted by meh
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There is need for them anyway in competitive cars for the series and also championshipQuote:
Originally Posted by meh
"holy shit" and "fuck up" from Taka stage end interview... some side-effect from phone calls with Tänak? :D
Solberg safely to the end. He needed that big time.
Congrats to Hyundai!
And quite a respect for Neuville as well. I guess there was some pressure from a PS mistake from the last rally, but he delivered it well.
Chapeau to Neuville for pressing on through the PS with no fear.
Wow. Hyundai winning a rally this season
Didn’t see this coming
Solberg did a jump-start on the podium
(started to celebrate with champagne too early)
What Hyundai actually changed that they were so competitive this weekend? In service park I heard something about engine upgrade. Have you heard some details?
I don't think they changed anything fundamentally to be good on gravel, they just have a fundamental problem with the car being good on tarmac. The head of Hyundai pointed out many times that Japan will be difficult again and they hope to be better after that.Quote:
Originally Posted by Gonek
finally a win for hyundai, and not even just because all toyota's crashed out.
I hadn't even noticed the date for japan was moved and we end the year with 7 gravel rallies in a row. It will be difficult for evans to keep the lead.Quote:
Originally Posted by meh
Good job by Neuville, this time he didn't put a wheel wrong for the whole weekend. And this time also the pace was good, too bad it's a rare occurance that he finds decent balance with this i20.
Solberg can be happy with 2nd, after off, punctures and spin. Expected a bit more pace from Evans on the slippery, but he finished ahead of Ogier, that's what matters for the championship.
Good rally, very enjoyable.
Tough for Ogier, he deserved it, but I suspect he will win a few in the summer starting further back. I have nothing against him, but I don’t want him to win the championship again not doing the full season as it makes a mockery of it.
Neuville, redemption for Croatia. Solid performance.
Solberg, a bit up and down…probably had to fight the urge to drive flat out after the last two rallies. Lucky with the off on day 2.
Evans. Decent run from first on the road.
Fourmaux. Pretty good really, but somehow it doesn’t come together. He’s been faster than Neuville on every rally this year, yet Neuville should have won 2 rallies. Both lucky and unlucky with the off in the same place as Solberg, lucky he didn’t crash, unlucky that Oliver went off worse and had no damage and he got two punctures.
Katsuta. very steady, bit disappointing actually
Pajari. Unlucky, good performance this weekend.
Sordo. Pace wasn’t there. Shame
MSport lot. Flashes of speed, but they always manage to find a way to tread on their own dick when they have a chance.
Both Neuville and Oliver was under big pressure, especially last day. Today it is. And they managed it very well. Big congrats to both.
My pickems looked quite good until the second last stage….
Solberg is so lucky, same off as Fourmaux. No damage vs. Double puncture
Yeah. same luck as Ogier during the years. A master must have luck. Apply to all sorts of sports.Quote:
Originally Posted by COD
Well done Neuville.
Such wonderful atmosphere with the team, seeing Neuville and team members at the podium. A finally, well deserved win and mix in the championship!!
... and I got a DNS because the forum was down when it was time to enter those.Quote:
Originally Posted by COD
https://www.upload.ee/image/19334683/wrc.png
I’m not the original author, but a good joke deserves to be shared.
Good interview with Solberg after the rally shows how tough it was for him here after the two previous events...
https://rallyjournal.com/oliver-solb...t-been-myself/
I heard a towing truck had a puncture, so he let Evans passQuote:
Originally Posted by flat_right
Strange statement from Neuville at dirtfish, to be honest. This win doesn’t suddenly erase the fact that Toyota looked faster for most of the rally, and Hyundai has struggled badly almost all season. A victory is a victory, but the underlying performance gap still seems pretty obvious.
At least they were finally back in the same ballpark as Toyota with some fastest times and placed in the top 4 overall.Quote:
Originally Posted by spyros
I did not realy follow the rally, only checking times.Quote:
Originally Posted by Fast Eddie WRC
Better to have the Hyundai's fighting on the top this way! Toyota dominance is not good for the sport, people loosing interest.
(not Toyota's foult, and thak god they are still there).
I stil hope to see the Fords a little in the mix also on some rally's.
I did not realy follow the rally, only checking times.Quote:
Originally Posted by Fast Eddie WRC
Better to have the Hyundai's fighting on the top this way! Toyota dominance is not good for the sport, people loosing interest.
(not Toyota's foult, and thank god they are still there).
I stil hope to see the Fords a little in the mix also on some rally's.
They were also fast last year at Portugal, Tänak was fighting with Ogier on pure pace and only the slow puncture robbed the victory from him.
Seems they have definitely made a step forward with the upgrades they brought to Portugal but yeah funny that they are talking now like they have closed the gap.
Japan will be embarassing again i suppose.
Andrew Wheatley believes Hyundai can be competitive in the upcoming gravel rallies – and still challenge for the championship as well.
“Absolutely. We always knew that from this point onwards we would have the opportunity to be competitive. The next rally will be difficult, but from Greece onwards I believe we will be full power.,” Wheatley assessed.
https://rallyjournal.com/bold-messag...p-title-fight/
No Power Steering, not a punc
I watched the 1-hour highlights of Rally Portugal the other day, something I never normally do.
Watching this it struck me what a great event this was... full of action and drama. There was the improved pace of the Hyundai's, crashes by the MSports, weather affecting the stages and times, lucky escapes and dramatic punctures.
You couldnt really ask for more. And yet there was hardly any real posting on this forum thread. Sad.
Mostly because the forum is up and down constantly and people stop bothering. Even posting sometimes is complete pain in the ass.
Exactly. I gave up of post a lot of times. Pitty, sad, but true.