Originally Posted by
BlueStrike
Well, the Fourmaux stuff made me annoyed enough to finally create an account here after years of lurking in the event threads.
Evening, everyone.
To the issue at hand: Maybe instead of chasing brownie points for performative puritanism, MBS & Co. should focus on making the series under their remit objectively better. Given how woefully they have failed at that with WRC – despite that being one of the more explicit talking points of his and Reid‘s campaign – I hope the voting members let someone else give it a go next time.
Given the larger realities at play in FIA politics, though, I know it‘s not going to happen unless Verstappen quits F1 over the swearing ban or something equally ridiculous derails the reelection bid.
On the rally: Genuinely floored by Elfyn for the first time in a long time. Overcame adversity this morning and was great throughout the event, although I would‘ve wanted Taka to win a bit more. Rovanperä will likely come around, although if he struggles on gravel as well the speed of his adaption to the tyres will likely decide the strength of his title challenge.
The Hyundais were… underwhelming overall. Neuville had a mostly clean event and finished as top Hyundai, but his result and points total may have been flattered by Tänak‘s issues and, once again, underwhelming Power Stage. Credit for what was still quite a good performance, though – he was there when it counted the most.
Tänak likely could‘ve won on speed and have had more stage wins on Saturday. That doesn’t detract from the fact that his PS performance was weak, as mentioned, given that the stage was clearly not getting slower, as evidenced by the three guys behind him. Dropping important points on Sunday has become a theme for him over the last months. I am unsure if there were aftereffects of the engine situation – going off the telemetry from the broadcast, top speed wasn’t an issue at least. Let’s see if we are allowed to know more over the next few days.
Fourmaux was the architect of his own downfall. He had many moments on the Monte, small and big, while pushing the car to and perhaps over the maximum. Now a stupid mistake and another moment as a reaction to that caught up to him. He‘s clearly adapted well to the Hyundai and the Hankooks, but may still require a lesson or two in risk management before he‘s championship-ready.
The Fords were also there, I guess. McErlean is growing on me, he showed quite competitive speed and was already a match for Munster. Definitely a more promising event than his Monte in terms of raw performance. Sesks was about where I would‘ve expected him to be. Shame that the guy who looks like the quickest man to drive a Puma this year will only be on half the rallies.
Finally, I‘m allowing myself a bit of national pride seeing that Claire Schönborn won the ticket for the full Junior WRC season. Let‘s see if it leads anywhere, but it‘s a nice story for German rallying at the World Championship level. There are few enough of those going around as it is.
Looking ahead, the Hyundai drivers already need a massively positive event in Kenya to stay in touch with Evans. Based on the previous reliability of the car, that seems unlikely to happen, although Evans also has unfortunate incidents in his Safari past. Predicting this rally is near impossible, anyways, maybe even the Toyotas will finally show some weaknesses.
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