[WRC] Rallye Monte Carlo 2024

[CeskyOndra]

The 3 lads at the top of WRC2 have been mega, flat out the whole rally pretty much and only a few seconds in it. They are 4 minutes ahead of the rest.

Ogier was surprised at Neuvilles pace on the first stage today, and other people are right, he isn’t interested in the points for today.
I agree with others, what were Hyundai thinking putting Mikkelsen in for this rally instead of Sordo?
Let’s see how his season unfolds, but I can’t help thinking he would have been better having a full season in the Puma, despite it not being as good a car as the Hyundai. At least he would have had maximum seat time and good chance at some good results later in the season on gravel. Even if he goes well later in the year, he will be asked to step aside for the other guys surely?

Maybe he will do some rough gravel If Sordo retires in Portugal

[Morte66]

For me just because a driver says at the end that he is pushing to get sunday points is a bit meaningless if I don't get the context, is he succeeding, is he fighting anybody?

I got the same sense.

I think the object of the change was to stop drivers coasting on Sunday morning, not to make the scoring system fun for viewers. I'm cautiously optimistic that it has had some success -- Tanak and Evans would probably have saved it for the power stage on the old system, but now they're going for "Sunday points". Of course, as you said earlier, we will need to see more rallies.

However, the law of unintended consequences has produced a mighty annoying system for serious fans trying to understand what's happening. I can't imagine it will suck in casual fans, either.

They need to sort out the data, graphics and commentary to present this in a way that makes the scoring system interesting instead of irritating. Sports like baseball can do this, so WRC should be able to.

[EstWRC]

I agree with others, what were Hyundai thinking putting Mikkelsen in for this rally instead of Sordo?

what on earth is Hyundai thinking over all putting him only on tarmac rounds?

very weird decision. Next round for him now is Croatia in April and then he will have a 6 month gap basically until Central Europe. He wont develop or get used to the car at all with this rate

[jonkka]

what on earth is Hyundai thinking over all putting him only on tarmac rounds?

Because Lappi is better on gravel anyway and having four cars yields nothing pointswise, just little testing.

[Eli]

what on earth is Hyundai thinking over all putting him only on tarmac rounds?

very weird decision. Next round for him now is Croatia in April and then he will have a 6 month gap basically until Central Europe. He wont develop or get used to the car at all with this rate

Again, I’d change strategy and put him in Kenya instead, it isn’t a rally Sordo nor Lappi have enjoyed too much success since the event’s inception in ‘21. He’d also be benefiting from a lower starting order and since that’s a rally that’s more about endurance rather than speed, he could go along like he did here and still finish 5th~ (assuming he himself doesn’t run into technical or mechanical issues); after that let him have a go in Poland, which is a rally that he likes and after experiencing the car in Kenya, he’ll have a better understanding of it on gravel.

[EstWRC]

Agreed. I would definitely give him some gravel rounds

[deephouse]

About Mikkelsen. He isn't fighting for the drivers championship. Two best Hyundais are in front of him for the matter of manufacturer championship. And I think that he is only one with almost no seat time at all. Munster did it before and Adrien too. All other have few years already. We saw Evans yesterday without hybrid. He was slow as f***. He just needs to adapt to aero & hybrid. He is actual WRC2 champion and two time monte carlo winner in Rally2 category. And obviously wants to stay on the road. I'm very impressed with Adrien. Really down to earth. Neuville flying this weekend.

What I really like is their after stage commentary. First they ask about their feeling and then reveal splits. That way we see their real reactions and not pre-scripted (Evans' ''to be honest'') interviews.

[Kras]

Do you actually enjoy writing comments like this? Quite an attitude definition.

Feels like some yellow newspaper commentarium vibes here...

Do you actually enjoy being the grumpiest forum user?

[meh]

Do you actually enjoy being the grumpiest forum user?

A bit childish response, but ok, I answer for that.

Our style and view of the valuable content is different for sure. I get more and more, why guys like AnttiL left the forum and we lose valuable content when this happens.

Sometimes it feels like there is some blame competition - like who can say the more interesting way that all-live is a group of amateurs, or whatever. This is usually a symptom for a group of teenagers.

Yes, there is room for improvements, they don't cover the new points system in an understandable way, etc, but as you can see from different forum posts, it is possible to say it out in a different way.

[Mirek]

It would be interesting to know not only what tyre type each driver selected but also what is the state of them. At this moment everyone is using somewhat used tyres and what may look like someone's resignation on fight can also be his worn tyres. I have noticed only Lopéz commenting on his tyres being pretty worn and likely worse than those of Rossel but it may be similar for some of the big boys (and the statement can be also a psychological play from him of course).