this.
i expected ogier to back off and go for 2nd place and win the powerstage. but it seems he tried to go for the win and destroyed his tyres while doing so.
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HAKA welcomes back Hayden today in New Zealand airport => http://goo.gl/ABAoqO
Until Portugal, some will give microscopic analysis of Ogier's loss. Others will simply accept that Paddon has gotten closer to his wrc champ target.
Most of us will not recognize that in 24Apr2016, rallying changed forever. Ole Martin Lundefaret finally proved that a scientific approach to driving means faster times.
Rallying will never be the same.
If I remember right, the drivers were on soft tyres at Sunday stages. Ogier can easily destroy them for ~40kms. IMO slower stage time than Sordo's means his tyres were shot, no sense to make stunning times at 2 stages and blew it on the PS.
Why do we discuss this in Paddon's thread?
Could we maybe be happy about what happened, and agree it was the most important thing for the WRC in many years happening in Argentina. Paddon will progress for sure, but in a way I can agree with Mozesii that from now rallying maybe changes a bit, becoming more computerised in preparations...
However Paddons win was truly important for the sport even if only lasts until next event in Portugal.
Paddon interview
https://www.tvnz.co.nz/one-news/spor...-nz-homecoming
At just two and a bit seconds in arrears of Paddon - after starting the day ~30 seconds behind - it's not credible to assume that he wasn't trying on the power stage. That's not in Ogier's DNA. He pushed hard enough, he thought, to take the win. Why it wasn't sufficiently quick to beat Sordo isn't clear. But given the big win on the previous stage, then yes, it's possible his tyres were no longer up to it, or some other car-related malady restricted his performance.
But I have yet to see or hear anything that confirms such a scenario. Maybe Dani did a blinder himself? Maybe Seb made an error somewhere. Who knows? But Ogier himself credits Hayden's drive for his power stage win, not some outside agent that caused the Frenchman an issue. He thought he'd done enough and he was wrong.
That in itself tells me that Paddon has him rattled, and that the scale of the win was utterly unexpected. Without the road-sweeping excuse, the champ has had to face the fact that there's somebody out there who, head to head, can be more than his equal.
It's been a long time coming.
This.... Ogier will also recognise that HP does not have the mental fragility of Latvala nor the gung ho style of Meeke (always on the edge). Controlled speed and mentally tough - I hope it gives us some great fights - at least Haydon can rely on his road sweeper for the next 3-4 rallies!!
I am sure that Ogier wanted to win but he also have to think more long time then just this rally. For Ogier, too much or too aggressive attack on the final stage
might cause him to have an off or hit a rock or something. So for Ogier settling for second might be a better idea then to try to get a few extra points.
Winning the wch title isn't about winning every rally and every stage, it is about being consistent and to know when it
is appropriate to back off. Ogier was about 30 points ahead of the nearest competitor in the standings before Argentina
but he is almost 40 points ahead after Argentina.No need to risk having an off when you have such a big lead so dropping
a few points is beneficial for the greater good.