2008 Rally New Zealand - official thread

[Dingardo]

some of my day 2 pics are up.

http://gallery.wrcfm.com/main.php?cm...008%2FDay+2%2F

all of SS8 and all of the WRCar's on SS11 (using the original stage names, not the revised WRC.com ones)

[jparker]

I hate the FIA! If they dont change the rule for next year i wont follow any gravel events!
I dont know who's the idiot that though this year running order was a good idea, but the guy should be nailed to tommorow's front runner car bumper and use as a sweeper!

I like and enjoy the new rules, far better then knowing your oponents times and drive acordinglly.

[dimviii]

@Dingardo
have you got any fotos of Mason/Mason?

[c4]

Great website you got there. Keep up the good work

Thanks for that A.F.F. and I do intend to keep at it

[jparker]

Hmmm, I have to admit I didn't expect Loeb to play tactics, but still don't mind the outcome so far. There is great amount of risk involved in this kind of games, and nothing can be certan. I hope JML takes that one and make everyone think about it in the future.

[COD]

More Bull from the man from Denmark!!

Denmark, even more famous rally country than Greece

[N.O.T]

Denmark, even more famous rally country than Greece

No they are not....

Tommorow wiull be interesting day to see....with Latvala not having any racing lines to follow i don;t expect him to win, especially when the manyfacturer battle is also close...4 seconds i think its a small gap between Hirvonen and Loeb so i expect Loeb to be ahead by around 4-5 before the start of the repeated stages...certainly all leading crews must try to their limit and when this happens things hardly go smooth for all of them.

[Finni]

That's pure naivety to think Ford forced Citroen to do tactics. Citroen is shrewd winning team and they of course uses tactics when beneficial. At least if Loeb and Citroen had the position of Ford drivers (=underdogs) they would certainly use everything possible tactic. We know that Loeb even had unofficial crew from Citroen to searching stages in Finland few years ago. Citroen is far from sentimental "soft-boys-team".

[Simmi]

Exactly right Finni - you dont become the best team in rallying without having a ruthless streak!

[Daniel]

That's pure naivety to think Ford forced Citroen to do tactics. Citroen is shrewd winning team and they of course uses tactics when beneficial. At least if Loeb and Citroen had the position of Ford drivers (=underdogs) they would certainly use everything possible tactic. We know that Loeb even had unofficial crew from Citroen to searching stages in Finland few years ago. Citroen is far from sentimental "soft-boys-team".

I'll say it again. No one is really whinging about the Ford Abu Scooby Dooby Doo team using tactics but about Wilson using cars from a satellite team as if they were part of his team. Team orders are fine. But using another team is not. Imagine the outcry if Ferrari got another team to impede McLaren or someone in a race or qualifying session?

Telling your own drivers to slow down is fine and well within the rules and I accept that even if I don't like it. But using Henning and Galli is something that should really be looked at. If Malcolm wants to run a 4 car team then he should. He shouldn't however use drivers from another supposedly independant team. You either have a 4 car team or two 2 car teams.... not both.

These rules have this year and in previous years made for some of the worst rallying ever. People will point to the margins the rallies are won by but it's all so artificial and carefully orchestrated that unless you're one of these people who just supports a team or a driver it's boring from a sporting point of view. It's not even clever..... F1 pit strategies can be clever but telling your drivers to fall back behind the leader so they get a better road position? Any 5 year old could work that one out.