[WRC] Vodafone Rally de Portugal 2021

[mknight]

Before the rally (and SD). There are a few drivers that I'm really unsure about and wonder how they handle the pressure:
Fourmaux - doesn't really have much gravel results or experience, after Croatia there suddenly are high expectations

Solberg- not much slower gravel experience or results either, very good speed last year on Sardinia, but in a very different car. Kinda expected to fight for win.

Lappi vs Suninen - there certainly is both pressure and rivalry included. Suninen is historically comparable to Lappi on slow gravel so this might be his best shot. But how is the Fiesta Rally2 now on slow gravel? Lappi for sure has to push given he has no clear program planned.

[AnttiL]

Any speculation? Portugal has often been filled with drama, crashes, punctures and technical faults, so it could be a surprising result.

I think Tänak is the favourite for having a decent starting position. In all of the three technical gravel rallies with Hyundai he's been unlucky, but also shown good pace.

Likely Ogier will suffer from the road position, but if he keeps it together, will be on the podium. On the contrary, Sordo could be very strong on the first day.

Will be interesting to see Fourmaux's pace. We consider him a tarmac specialist but he's had good pace on gravel as well. A decent starting position could award him with his first stage win on the opening day.

Also there's two new forest stages (one of them driven only once, other twice), and the Friday stages are only familiar from 2019 so that could also mix it up a bit.

WRC2 will be decided on punctures. I expect Lappi to have the best outright pace, but it's a different thing who is first in finish on Sunday. It could be even Bulacia.

[mknight]

One guy that doesn't even get mentioned is Rovanpera. In all of the slower gravel rallies last year he was clearly slower than the other 5 (4+Sordo). Will he be able to compete with any of them this year?

[AnttiL]

One guy that doesn't even get mentioned is Rovanpera. In all of the slower gravel rallies last year he was clearly slower than the other 5 (4+Sordo). Will he be able to compete with any of them this year?

Yes, definitely seems that faster rallies are more natural to him and the technical stuff needs still learning to do. But interesting to see what they can do after the Croatia crash (and a similarly bad weekend in the previous gravel rally in Sardegna).

[mknight]

It's not big problem for Rovanpera since it's still very early (see for example Ogier in his first full year) but it's nevertheless interesting to follow.

Bad for him is that there on slower gravel often is quite a big gap between the top 5 and the "others" and he ends in between with nobody to fight. Kind of easier for Fourmaux who has 3 drivers to compare with.

We'll see if this kind of "class division" also happens here.

[Rallyper]

Hey you guys!
Don´t forget Pickems! Less than 24 hours before closing.

[Rallyper]

And now live on WRC+, Shake Down.

[TypeR]

SD looks like tarmac smooth..

[mknight]

Well dunno if SD is exactly same as in 2019 (same length) but Ogier is now slower than the slowest first WRC pass in 2019.(3:11 vs 3:09)

[EstWRC]

great to see cars back on gravel after such a long time, cant believe we have had such a long break from the main surface