Rally Portugal 2022

[dimviii]

but not mentioning at all his Spa 2022 WEC race last week

probably he was expecting more.

[focus206]

I think a driver like Ogier won't have problems getting used to the car and being at the top after few SS.
Maybe he does feel disappointed with how tough Spa was for him. In other disciplines he's certainly more "human" than in rallying.

[Sergiow]

Seems like he has trouble adapting to WEC, here is a link to interview of Ogier with Belgian RTBF during the Spa WEC weekend where he goes in great detail about the difference between WEC and WRC

What's the most difficult?

"The use of tires is something very sensitive, even more so than with us in rallying. I don't have the experience, so I don't have the understanding yet. I had made a visualization of the car perhaps even better than it is, I tend to expect a little too much from the car and therefore over-drive it. It's one of the things in which I'm improving and where I still have to improve with the short time I have on the track. This is clearly a parameter that I had not anticipated."
www.rtbf.be/article/sebastien-ogier-un-homme-heureux-10990222

[dimviii]

Oliver livery

[TypeR]

Found out today, that there is no service on Friday.
Another great idea, first proper gravel rally on rough Portugal roads with new cars and let's gamble again..

[AnttiL]

Found out today, that there is no service on Friday.
Another great idea, first proper gravel rally on rough Portugal roads with new cars and let's gamble again..

It’s a quite short day…same route as last year

[EstWRC]

It’s a quite short day…same route as last year

route can be same but cars are different, and Fridays stages are rougher than on Saturday if im not mistaken.

Anyway, finally back on gravel, crazy to think the last time we had gravel rally was last years Rally Finland in October! The absence of Mexico and Argentina definitely hurts in that sense.

In my eyes the favourites for the win are Ogier and Tänak, both with good starting positions, we know Ogiers record here, although he won last time in 2017. Tänak won in 2019 and was leading last year by 22 secs before the suspension failure. Loeb and Kalle are dark horses for the win, Loebs gravel form is kinda unknown at this point and Kalle is gonna struggle on first day but the question is how much? The guy is in such a form that i think even if he looses like 25 secs after Friday he can take it back with Saturday, depends of starting position again.

Breen is gonna struggle again i think, like in Monte he doesnt have the experience. Gus said he wants his first podium from here but i think he chose completely wrong event for that with Loeb, Ogier, Sordo in the list amongst regulars + Tänak and Evans having good starting positions. Evans is another big question mark, what can he do? Last year he won but he isnt in good shape this year.

And the class of WRC2, man thats gonna be interesting as hell too.

We're gonna have an amazing rally i think.

[er88]

If Evans wants the championship he has to win I'm afraid. For the pts first and foremost (as there's potentially a fair few drivers that can get inbetween him and Kalle, what with Loeb, Ogier, Tanak, Sordo, and even drivers like Greensmith fancying their chances). But also for his own confidence...., Croatia was a strange rally for him but he was on the pace in Monte and Sweden.

However I can't see past Ogier. He's waited to start this far back for years and is looking to make a statement

[AnttiL]

route can be same but cars are different, and Fridays stages are rougher than on Saturday if im not mistaken.

My point was that it's not "another great idea", they had the same route base already in 2019. The Coimbra area stages are too far from the service park, they can't have a midday service. And otherwise we would have to drop Arganil and the other great stages from that area and redesign the route. But yeah, 121 km with no service is a long way to go. On Saturday you have then two 80 km loops, so this is quite an endurance rally by today's standards!

I agree with the rest of your post. Ogier, Evans, Tänak and Sordo are my favourites for the win. It could be down to luck who wins. I think Rovanperä will struggle, Loeb will not be as strong as in Monte. Difficult to say for the youngsters like Greensmith and Katsuta, who have promised to show some pace. We could see strong stage times but also crashes.

Breen hasn't started a technical gravel rally with WRC since Catalunya 2018 so he's totally down on experience. The other drivers have done the new Friday stages twice, but for him they are completely new. And even his starting position doesn't give that much advantage.

[wyler]

Found out today, that there is no service on Friday.
Another great idea, first proper gravel rally on rough Portugal roads with new cars and let's gamble again..

seems to be quite usual nowadays, Sardegna also has a day with remote service only...