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Ogier is very lucky with his speeding ticket... In other countries he would be dsq'ed. He should be smarter than that after his warning last year when he speeded on recce, his punishment there should be also on road section.. He would be suspended for how many rallies then!?
Whatever excuses as there are only two major who masters all surfaces in wrc and it is Ogier and Mikkelsen during an entire season.
Well, that was an eventful first day, puh!
Predicted it to be a carnage, but this was maybe even more than expected.
First I must say that I am deeply impressed by the organizers! The amount of work they have put down to make this rally is incredible, and what a rally it is!
WRC
Impressed by:
Paddon: Off cource its a lot down to conditions, but You still have to drive it, so Paddon 2nd overall after the first day is really good. Had him down as a podium fighter. Now we will see if he can control the horns growing out of his helmet:) My current "star of the rally" . And when we hear that he was part in boycotting the boycott, and we know that he is giving back to his local rally community, he stands out as more and more of a really good unique individual.
Tänak: The current second place holder in my WRC "Star of the rally". Very impressed by his times. Have kept it together to end the first day in 4th - very good!
DMack Tires: I must say that I tought the DMacks should fear worst when it came to these conditions, but Tänak shows that this is not the case. Very, very impressive!
Sordo: Had him down as a dark horse, and he steadily delivers.
Meeke: Drives like a man much more experienced than he really is. Very fast, a true challenger for rally wins on every surface, and this bodes well for the future.
FX: Not only has he engineered the fastest rally car, but also the most tank-like. The shunt Mikkelsen got way with is just incredible. When they got the speed they wanted from the Polo, they said that they were going to lighten it in all areas possible to have the possibility to build strenght (and weight) in other areas. Volkswagen has off cource also Dakar Experience, which helps, but FK has taken the Citroën-tank philosophy to a whole new level.
Ogiers small off was also quite brutal, but almoast nothing can stop this car, except Latvala.
Impressed me - not so much:
Andreas Mikkelsen: Should be fighting for a victory, but a silly mistake cost him that fight, and "should" have cost him the rally. He owes FX a beer!
With a solid 2nd here, he could really have started a campaign for that second factory seat in VW, but even if this ends up as a second place, more stability under pressure is wanted. We have seen this many times from Andreas, that when there is pressure in the air he makes mistakes. Off cource there is a lot of pressure for him to perform on home soil, and when the first stages were so positive, this could build up. An amazing driver, but needs to tidy up his "loose back end-style" wich he has developed, and his frame of mind.
Mads Østberg: As predicted, he struggles on the first stages with set up. He has driven a WRC Fiesta more than anyone else, and still he needs to learn how it acts on different surfaces. My toughts is that he needs another PET strategy. He is 3rd, and thats obviously good, but its frustrating, because if he had learned a way to be more in the game from the first metre, he could have challenged for a victory, or at least a solid second. Because when he builds up steam, he is that fast.
Eric Camilli: I knew this was going to be a rally for experience, but started out much slower than I expected. Has shown steady progression, and has still the possibility to impress further on in the rally, but would like to see more speed.
I could only imagine the mind games going on in MSport at the moment.
We have Evans with a newly lighted fire in his belly, looking at that WRC Fiesta feeling it should be him in that seat. He is the attacker. Then we have Camilli, who needs to run his own race, needs to gather experience, needs to let Evans be faster than him in an R5, and needs to be unfaced by this.
Not an easy challenge for any of them, but both of them will grow by this experience, and both of them has M Wilson to thank for it.
As expected:
Latvala..... I dont believe in bad luck.
If the drive shaft or diff broke in that jump, this is not a coincidence. Before i learned to take the foot of the throttle when landing after big jumps, i once broke four drive shafts simultaneously on a Polaris RZR 1000.
My guess is that throttle input, steering input, and a hevy landing together caused this faliure.
Meeke.... I dont believe in bad luck.
When You encounter a big rock in the racing line for the second rally in a row, You should have learned to take evasive action. He hits the rock in the absolute worst way possible, by letting the most vulnerable part of the car, the suspension, take the hit. One learn quite early in rallying that these thing You perferably hit with Your sump guard, or Your tire.
But Meekes all out driving style makes it more difficult to correct the lines when You first commit to them.
Meeke is one of my absolute favorites, and I really like the guy, but I am not a big believer in bad luck.
Neuville... I dont believe in bad luck. But I dont know what happened.
When people get problems with drive shafts braking, diffs mail functioning etc, its often down to hitting something, or excessive cutting and the likes. I dont know the details of each technical mishap here, but I would not be surprised if it is after effects of driver errors.
WRC 2:
Impressed:
Evans: WOW - EVANS GO!!! Did not see him as a real challenger for the Skoda guys, and especially Tideman, but he has surprised me a lot - and I am starting to believe in him again (maybe Malcolm is too). I still mean that this R5 adventure is the best thing that could happen to him, and I have written earlier that I hoped this would light a fire in his belly, and it obviously has!
A very mature effort today, over very difficult conditions. Very, very impressed!
Suninen: I have seen that he is a real talent, but WOW! I would have expected him to nibble at the heals of Grøndal and Åhlin, but to set these times is incredible. Just incredible! It should really put a dent in a couple of egoes when a Young guy like this, with such limited experience in rallying on this level, sets these kind of times. This is really starting to look good, and I expect Tommi Mäkinen to put in a phone call to Harri Juki, and start discussing details.
Åhlin: I had Åhlin and Grøndal down as the closest challengers to the factory guys, but he has still out driven my expectations. Some very good stage times, and a very mature drive.
He seems calm, cool, and collected, and has a very sound mind and strategy.
He is off cource from a legendary motorsport family, so a lot is expected, but this drive should be noted as a break trough against very stiff competition.
Bergqvist: The Citroën DS3 R5 is not as competitive as the Ford and Skoda, and Bergqvist has very limited 4WD experience, so he impresses with his drive. A lot faster than I would expect, and great to see. Even if he have been plagued with stummac flue.
Sweden is once again a hot bed for rally talent, and that is so deserved! Sweden has maybe the worlds best local rally scene, but it has been a struggle to get local talent up in the international scene. Now things are starting to look very good. And behind the likes of Tideman, Åhlin and Bergqvist, they also have the fast youngster Pelle Wilén, also a name to take note of.
Impressed - not so much:
Lappi: Well, as I have written earlier, I have let Lappis management know that I see a driving trait with him which highly increases his chances of going of, but I had expected more of him. I would have him down in a close fight with Tideman for the win... Not so...
Tideman: My clear favorite for the rally. The question is if the drive shaft issue was an after effect of something. Drive shafts dont have a tendency to break? So what was the cause? I was expecting him to put the other R5 guys in their places on his home event.
Brynildsen: I was hoping he would be The surprise of the rally, and I was expecting him to fly the Ford flag, but mechanical issues have prevented him from doing that. How and why these issues have appared, I dont know.
A very exiting event put toghether by an incredible rally organizer that have given everything to put on this show for us. Wow!
Hej Lundis, what makes you say Swedish local scene? And why is it better than Finland's local scene?
Latvala:
We have to put this difficult day behind us. Sometimes, things are just not going the right way... It's time to look ahead and believe that the sun will shine again soon #NotGivingUp #RallySweden #WRC
:heart:
Completely agree with you. Paddon and Tänak for me too. I even said after two stages that Paddon isnt doing great but what a turnaround later on! Yeah the conditions helped but still!
There's and interview with Tänak in the newspaper after day 1 and he says this about Dmack tyres:
"It has a wider pattern than Michelin and therefore it suits more on snow than ice, on gravel we also loose a lot. But then again, torsby2 had a lot of snow but it was so light that the studds still didnt hook in gravel"
He was positively surprised by the second passing, he feared it wont be good.
He tries to stay with the fast group of drivers tomorrow but says that it will be very hard because he gave all today and tomorrow's stages should suit Michelin tyres because of the frozen gravel.
Bertelli "Retires"....
Really?
No bad words but I'd really like to know why...
http://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/2016...406cc11a29.jpg
Lol, what a crybaby again. Is it too cold for him?
Probably nobody even cares if he drives or not.
http://www.imgdumper.nl/uploads9/56b...213_060557.jpg
Can the rally go on without Bertelli? The organisers might as well cancel the rest of the stages, as surely all the fans will go home now the star of the show and his mother have left?
Must be nice for Bertelli to spend all that family money and pick and choose when he wants to drive. Not a choice most people have. I'd guess there are a lot of people in the service park shaking their heads - especially at M-Sport.
He can make all these actions and say they are for the greater good. In two years no one will remember this guy.
If all the drivers had been listened to and not just told to 'get on with it' - we probably wouldn't be having a rally right now when conditions look good.