Yes, Rossel defeats the Skoda army in Croatia! Congratulations!
https://www.ewrc-results.com/results...13824&sct=1682
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Yes, Rossel defeats the Skoda army in Croatia! Congratulations!
https://www.ewrc-results.com/results...13824&sct=1682
This is definitely good for competition. Skoda army with tons of good drivers and money for car development could possibly kill the Rally2, good we are not there (yet?).
Notably both C3, Polo and Fiesta won stages. As he says Fourmaux actually had quite good speed when you look on Saturday and Sunday.
Already after Monte we discussed that Croatia will be a real test of where the new Fabia might struggle on bumpy/tricky tarmac and it seems it did. Maybe not stuggle, but at least not dominate like on some other rallies. Kopecky also seems a bit slower than before in Czech championship.
i think the speed was there for the Fabia RS in Croatia, but their fastest drivers also had various problems (Solberg setup, Lindholm gear linkage, Greensmith punctures etc) but it’s also clear the Citroen was more competitive than Monte and Rossel did a perfect job too.
Meeke driving an i20 Rally2 in WRC Rally Portugal could be interesting. Will it let him compete with the Skodas et al and will he help develop it.
His feedback if nothing else can be valuable. I have heard that the new i20 is more of a neutral and driver friendly car than the previous one, dont know if that is correct though. Having a high profile driver showcasing the cars abilities can be good for the category, to have an option besides the usual "Fabia is the best" motto.
Something i need to understand.
Solberg said during Croatia that he had gambeled on more wet condition, and had a wrong setup, and could not change it to suite the current condition.
Are there something in the regulations preventing them, or did they not have the correct parts present for the car?
There is nothing in regulations and also nothing with missing parts. I think he had no chance to change it between the stages as he was out of the service. In service area, there is no problem to do it. To change some things on setup of the car is not so easy, so needs proper work and time in service area.
Fourmaux praises Fiesta development...
https://www.wrc.com/en/news/2023/wrc...-developments/