Lindholm can still get 30 points from two rallies? Only the 3 points from Sweden would be nullified as worst result. 146 best possible result?
If he doesn’t go to Japan, 119 is best possible
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Lindholm can still get 30 points from two rallies? Only the 3 points from Sweden would be nullified as worst result. 146 best possible result?
If he doesn’t go to Japan, 119 is best possible
What a generous gift it was for Kajto from Mikkelsen (crashed on the first stage) and Rossel (crashed on the last stage)!
But I think that Lindholm is still in the game. He wasn't bad in Catalunya last year.
P.S. Current standings have already been calculated at https://www.wrc.com/en/results-stand...tandings/wrc2/
You all forgetting it was Reeta who won WRC3 and was 4th in Rally2 in Catalunya last year. Who knows how fast Emil is? :D
Anyway 4th behind Suninen and Gryazin who likely both drive this year as well + probably at least one of Rossel/Camilli, so it might be difficult.
He was above Suninen before last day and maybe scaled back a bit because of the WRC2/WRC3 division (also not sure Hyundai worked a lot on tarmac for the Rally2 this year). And as he improved a bit this year, Gryazin may be affordable also.
For Rossel, he never did Catalunya and has dropped in form since Sardinia and even in Belgium he was disappointing so let’s see (but as I said before, maybe Citroen will back Camilli now that Rossel is out for the title).
So he is a contender for the class win.
Anyway, the road is really narrow for Lindholm as, even with a 28-point win (and not sure he will push to the maximum, even in PS, with Junior title also at stake for a very hypothetical WRC-2 title), Kajto would only need 42 points in NZ+Japan (meaning two 2nd positions + 2 PS win).
Clearly, it is at least 75% probability for Kajto.
Well, anyway, the moral winner will be decided in Catalunya (and especially it will give RC1 teams a last update about the drivers); then, I think no one cares about Kajto being titled this year meaning nobody will think he is the best Rally2 driver of the season (except if he does a great performance in Catalunya, and in that case, his season would have another view).
Moral winner is already Mikkelsen with 2 retirements from big leads with same technical issue that was traced to bad parts and 3 rally wins that nobody can match any more. (obviously we agree that Lindholm didn't really win Finland).
Call me biased, but these are facts.
EDIT: Well Lindholm can get 3 wins if he goes to Japan.
Anyway as you say if Katjo wins by avoiding competition it's not like it shows how good driver he is.
I think we can be pretty sure, that Lindholm will be in Japan.
Q:
What’s the plan for the rest of the season? Which other events are you doing?
EL:
We are allowed to collect points from two more events. I hope to be in two more events let’s say. For now it’s not sure but we will try to decide and see what happens quite soon after this.
Maybe he will decide not to go when having no chance after Spain. But in that moment you have to have all prepared to be there anyway.
Do you actually need to be entered (and cargo send) to Japan before end of Catalunya or not?
That's relevant for both Katjo and Lindholm.
They need to be entered - closing date is 10th of October. And transport? Depends. If you choose ship it needs probably leave early. But you can also do it by plane, and send it after Catalunya. On the other hand, when cargo worldwide is an issue, you probably need to have booked a plane transport in advance. Rally Japan is 10-13 of November. Unpacking, monday test etc, so I think car needs to be there on Sunday 6th at least
Thanks. At least they will know how NZ went.
I was assuming Linholm is somehow partly paid by Skoda (or maybe that's only for the testing of the new car), and for Skoda it likely doesn't matter which Skoda wins the title. Therefore I though Lindholm would have to pay Japan himself.
But Mikkelsen lost two scores due to engine (and crashed in Greece). Lindholm went in the snowbank in Sweden. So if you want to compare on similar grounds it's the standing right now that is comparable.
Anyway guess we both agree that it is a bit pointless comparison.
Lindholm says that it is his time now. He's planning Rally de España in October and he’d like to go to Japan in November:
https://www.wrc.com/en/news/2022/wrc...tRkItsS-r2uNsk
Lindholm also now leads WRC2 Junior after overtaking Ingram who crashed in Greece.
Both are in the Toksport team so it'll be interesting to see how they compete and on which events.
In terms of vacant/future WRC1 drives then obviously the likes of Mikkelsen, Lindholm, maybe Rossel & Suninen are where manufacturers are going to be looking and it’s fair to say Andreas has more than proved his speed this year (in fact much more impressive than last year).. I saw the footage from Greece on his Youtube channel and he looked really quick.
But it is a shame that a FIA title comes down to tactics regarding which events to enter and pages of theoretical points calculations on this forum instead of battles on the stages. Kajetanowicz is a good and reliable driver who at times over the last year or two has impressed me with his speed too but if he wins the title I think it’s fair to say it doesn’t really represent the hierarchy in WRC2.
Hopefully the FIA will come up with a better structure for this championship in the future.
Mikkelsen is good driver, but I would be extremely surprised to see him in factory rally 1 ever again.
But yeah the points system here make it possible that the fastest will not win when some drivers with more money can play "games" and take easy points. Not the best stuff but it is what it is. Hope they change it somehow though.
I would love to see one more shot for Mikkelsen in WRC1 car. But one and only realistic chance is if Tanak leaves Hyundai and that opens a spot for him. There is no way Toyota or Msport will sign him. He could be good second driver in Hyundai.
In his youtube channel Mikkelsen said that Greece accident was all his fault. Cold tryes and came to fast over the jump.
Acropolis Rally 2022 Highlights of Rally2 cars
https://youtu.be/nj-19qySBVI
Rally 3 class Highlights from Acropolis Rally
https://youtu.be/6Q0BN-CpTtI
Well, for sure, the comparison has no big interest when the gap are quite small considering how particular is this championship with guys not always competing against each other.
+ a lot of what if: would Mikkelsen have did it to the end without engine-related retirements in Sardinia and Portugal? Maybe he would have made a mistake and Suninen could have beaten him in Portugal. What Lindholm would have done in other rallies? And we can ask a lot of questions like this.
The only thing we can do is looking at the global picture and here, there are 3/4 main points:
- Mikkelsen is probably the more versatile driver of the season in Rally2 but as he has some Rally1 experience and was already in this serie last year, he does not give him a big upside to come back for an official manufacturer
- 3 youngsters in the range of 4-6 years of Rally2 experience are better than the rest of the crowd with one having been a bit more efficient so far: Rossel, Gryazin and Lindholm a bit better than the two others this season. They’re not no-brainer talents (so not sure they will ever reach Rally1) but for me, the only one credible to be promoted in Rally1, and in reality, it’s more Lindholm than the 2 others; maybe a question mark on Huttunen with the Fiesta being less efficient than the other cars.
- Other than that, no no-brainer early talent having shown something consistent to be promoted in Rally2 very soon even if Jan Solans or Pajari has made some interesting outings (but they have to confirm next year).
- Let’s recognize than with his results in Europe, Kajto still is a top 5 Rally2 driver at the international level (with Mikkelsen, Lindholm, Rossel, Gryazin). But clearly he is only the big contender because of his abroad rallies + Mikkelsen engine-related retirements.
Other possibility not to skip would be to rent a RC2 car from a Japanese team or a closer country than Europe.
Well, there are very few RC2 cars in Japan: one to the guy who was in Croatia so almost impossible but the other one is used by Kovalainen usually this season; maybe possible to find a deal between Finnish guys even if Kovalainen wanted to make the rally.
Or to ship the car from a closer country (there are at least some RC2 cars in China or Indonesia from ewrc informations).
Kajto doesn't agree. He says it is HIS time now ;)
“This is our time, and I want to enjoy this as much as I can.”
A very interesting article about Kajto's WRC2 masterplan, and why he'll make no apologies for it. I have to say I like this Dirtfish website more and more.
https://dirtfish.com/rally/wrc/kajet...y-to-win-wrc2/
Interesting story. One of the WRC2 competitors in Rally New Zealand is a racing driver Shane Van Gisbergen. He is a double Supercars race champion who decided to try rallying. He normally drives such cars:
https://www.wrc.com/images/redaktion...z_1400x788.jpg
but for this event he switched to such one:
https://imageresizer.static9.net.au/...0-54a36c366f89
More about it here:
https://wwos.nine.com.au/motorsport/...7-baec22cb2676
WRC2 Rally Highlights from Friday:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8eJvgjPOD6s
WRC2 Rally Highlights from Saturday:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BVsdh7u62AA
Pajari and Lindholm will start in Japan. That's interesting for the WRC2 championship..
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Interview with Sami Pajari about his win in Lithuania
http://rally-week.com/s-pajari-j-hus...ally-utena-22/
https://twitter.com/Emil_Lindholm/st...q4sjTI2RkALWcA
Emil Lindholm's WRC2 Junior title confirmed
17 entries in the WRC2 field. Not bad for a country like Japan!
https://www.wrc.com/en/news/2022/wrc...n-japan-entry/
One favourite for the win down in Rally Catalunya. Nil Solans crashed already on a test session, damaged his Hyundai and injured his spine. He is out of the rally. You can see his damaged car here:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i1WoYJuhhQU
He's in hospital...
https://www.instagram.com/p/Cj2WraIs...d=YmMyMTA2M2Y=
What a disastrous season he has!
Kowax team boss Martin Vlček said that him and also Kristensson both prefer driving old i20 R5 as it is much more comfortable to be quick with it, in comparison to new i20 rally2. Sure he is basically gentleman driver nowadays, but it makes you think whether this old spec is actually that big disadvantage.
Didn't look like such a hard hit, no neck support?
Kajto down in 8th in WRC2 in Spain. Has he backed off with Lindholm having lost time ?