Rally Portugal 2016

[dimviii]

[stefanvv]

I hope Dmack has some very good tires for this weekend (if we judge by Tänaks "poker face" it is going to be interesting.)

Regarding Paddon:
The original plan was to do A LOT of work towards Portugal, especially since the stages are the same which makes it easier to compare, but everything went a bit crazy after the victory - with him even meeting the prime minister - so the time we had planned to use for preperations was taken up by PR assignments etc. The same went for Rally Whangarei which we were going to use as preperation for Portugal, but you cant really complain about these things when the cause is Hayden Paddons and New Zealands first WRC victory.
Regarding Hayden in Portugal the aim is to continue to improve. He lost a lot of time on almost every stage here last year, but a lot has happened since then, and it will be interesting to see how the general work on the "base line" will affect his performance.
Hayden is an amazing driver in many respects, and his ability to take theoretical information and turn it in to changes in practice is amazing, so tough the preparations towards Portugal has been "hampered by success", it will be very interesting to see what kind of progress he will make compared to last year.

I think and hope this rally will be very interesting, with several drivers charging for victory. Regarding Argentina I am off course biased, but I think every rally fan loved that it was a duell all the way to the end, so lets hope that Ogier will have his work cut out on this event too!

Do You think Paddon will face new challenge cleaning the road (after Ogier of course)? Was that part of Yours development program?

[seb_sh]

I hope Dmack has some very good tires for this weekend (if we judge by Tänaks "poker face" it is going to be interesting.)

Regarding Paddon:
The original plan was to do A LOT of work towards Portugal, especially since the stages are the same which makes it easier to compare, but everything went a bit crazy after the victory - with him even meeting the prime minister - so the time we had planned to use for preperations was taken up by PR assignments etc. The same went for Rally Whangarei which we were going to use as preperation for Portugal, but you cant really complain about these things when the cause is Hayden Paddons and New Zealands first WRC victory.
Regarding Hayden in Portugal the aim is to continue to improve. He lost a lot of time on almost every stage here last year, but a lot has happened since then, and it will be interesting to see how the general work on the "base line" will affect his performance.
Hayden is an amazing driver in many respects, and his ability to take theoretical information and turn it in to changes in practice is amazing, so tough the preparations towards Portugal has been "hampered by success", it will be very interesting to see what kind of progress he will make compared to last year.

I think and hope this rally will be very interesting, with several drivers charging for victory. Regarding Argentina I am off course biased, but I think every rally fan loved that it was a duell all the way to the end, so lets hope that Ogier will have his work cut out on this event too!

It will certainly be interesting to see what happens. I've followed your posts on this forums and I think you have the right idea regarding driver development. About Paddon I also have a good opinion, but in the end I still think Ogier is better still, I think at the moment he is faster than Paddon, but that could change.

Also I want to mention my username is derived from my own name not Ogier or Loeb. I used to be a McRae then Solberg fan but over time then have grown to appreciate and support Loeb.

[Lundefaret]

Do You think Paddon will face new challenge cleaning the road (after Ogier of course)? Was that part of Yours development program?

It was not part of the "program" to get up to second in the championship this quick. But when he is there, its off course essential to learn as much as possible from it. When you are starting to reach the top, you are going to face challenges as sweeping the road etc, and you need to see this as opportunities to learn, rather than a hindrance towards achieving the optimum result. Both sweeping experience and also being able to see Ogiers lines is off course something that should be put to the best use possible.
Unless something really special happens Hayden is not going to challenge for the world title this year, so then its off course important to use every rally and every experience as a tool to learn for the future - for when it really is going to count.
I think - and that is in many sports - that already at a very young age athletes are to focused on results compared to learning, and this hampers progression. Winning a national championship at 19 doesn't matter, its winning the World Championship at 30, so to speak. And to do that, its a lot of things you have to prepare for. Sweeping the road definitely a part of that.
And in regards to Haydens potential, he is the type of driver that can develop to be able to fight for the win on every stage of every rally. He has just impressed me immensely. I can for obvious reasons not say exactly what we have done, but the speed he can make progression is just incredible, and so far (we haven't settled for the future yet, so we will see what happens) I have had to adjust my "plan" many times, because things have just speed up all the time.
I had some parameters on feedback before Argentina, and when he exceeded them, and also set a very good time on the shakedown, which was a really technical stage (remember, Hayden is the guy who didn't like technical stages at all), I had to reprogram for a possible fight for the victory. This ment a lot of mental adjustments on my own part, and it has been that way from the start. He has great potential, and is definitely a VERY strong candidate to take away the throne from the French Sebastiens

[stefanvv]

It was not part of the "program" to get up to second in the championship this quick. But when he is there, its off course essential to learn as much as possible from it. When you are starting to reach the top, you are going to face challenges as sweeping the road etc, and you need to see this as opportunities to learn, rather than a hindrance towards achieving the optimum result. Both sweeping experience and also being able to see Ogiers lines is off course something that should be put to the best use possible.
Unless something really special happens Hayden is not going to challenge for the world title this year, so then its off course important to use every rally and every experience as a tool to learn for the future - for when it really is going to count.
I think - and that is in many sports - that already at a very young age athletes are to focused on results compared to learning, and this hampers progression. Winning a national championship at 19 doesn't matter, its winning the World Championship at 30, so to speak. And to do that, its a lot of things you have to prepare for. Sweeping the road definitely a part of that.
And in regards to Haydens potential, he is the type of driver that can develop to be able to fight for the win on every stage of every rally. He has just impressed me immensely. I can for obvious reasons not say exactly what we have done, but the speed he can make progression is just incredible, and so far (we haven't settled for the future yet, so we will see what happens) I have had to adjust my "plan" many times, because things have just speed up all the time.
I had some parameters on feedback before Argentina, and when he exceeded them, and also set a very good time on the shakedown, which was a really technical stage (remember, Hayden is the guy who didn't like technical stages at all), I had to reprogram for a possible fight for the victory. This ment a lot of mental adjustments on my own part, and it has been that way from the start. He has great potential, and is definitely a VERY strong candidate to take away the throne from the French Sebastiens

Yeah, Paddon is interesting driver and we follow his progress with interest. For sure he shouldn't aim the title this year and focus on improvements as You say. I just hope he won't "spin his head" with the victory in Argentina and stays humble and determined professional as he seem to be so far. Probably he shouldn't "attack" Ogier "out of the track" though. Every driver has his opinion, and what are the results is that matters. I like the ones who are doing "their" job, besides what others are doing and saying.

[Kielder]

For romantics, tomorrow's start list:
https://t.co/3eFdAwhV0m

[N.O.T]

With all the rain the previous days what is the road situation like ? Will Ogier cry again ? or he has an advantage this time ?

[danon]

[AL14]

For god sakes someone take Photoshop licence away from this guy.

[GravelBen]

With regards to Paddon sweeping - its probably worth remembering that he's had his fair share of time running first on the road in NZRC, while that obviously isn't the same level of competition as WRC it's not like the road position is a new thing for him.