Hyundai WRT

[mknight]

A bit of a gravedig but I haven't seen this before

I got that from watching it live and the day highlights . They showed a small spin in SS6 (maybe spin is the wrong word, more like a half spin and slide wide) and a problem with second gear after that, then a spin again in SS7 and got stuck in reverse up against the bales.

I just watched the WRC+ in-car as well now to check - the one in SS6 is around 4:30, its not much of an impact (not one you would normally expect to break things) but it is enough to stall the car when it hits the berm so its possible the gearbox was weakened then. You don't hear the gear problem until later in the stage.

I can't tell from the in-car if the SS7 spin was stuck in gear or just that he was distracted by the problem and having trouble driving the car without second gear. It obviously wasn't completely broken/stuck because he could select reverse and back up to the bales.

I didn't say it was definitely the spins that damaged the gearbox, just meant that it might have been a factor. I agree that only the team will know what went wrong with it.

I watched SS6 some 2 months ago and it never would have occurred me to call that thing on SS6 a spin. The car is always pointing the right direction. He is a bit longer on the breaking and then the car stalls (without any audible throttle input) in ruts on the outside of the corner in like 5 kph.

In SS7 you hear for some 2 mins before the corner in 3-4-5th gear massive rattling from the gearbox (much louder than engine noise), which is not there at the start of the stage. At that point pieces of 2nd gear are likely getting everywhere in the gearbox. That he can select reverse after stopping in the corner only means the pieces were not blocking reverse at that moment.

To recap your original comment:

In Sardegna the car broke after he had spun it twice and backed it into the bales, so that breakage might have been his fault. Can't say for sure though, maybe it would have happened anyway.

The first highlighted part is not correct, first one wasn't a spin. In the "final" spin he is on throttle and the car doesn't drive ( and spins out due to momentum), so gearbox is completely broken.
The second highlighted part is quite a statement to suggest based on the only visible incident with 5kph stall with little throttle. A bit like saying Latvala broke his car in Germany by pissing next to it.

[Mk2 RS2000]

Just a small correction to this article It is all 100% New Zealand designed and made by Hayden and his team

[mknight]

https://parcferme.no/rally/andreas-s...an-sliter-med/

""We knew in January that the car was not good enough for you on asphalt. Now we are in October. Why did not something happen?

"First of all, there are not so many asphalt runs on the calendar, and we have had very few tests on asphalt. I push on for changes, but it takes time before things come. Things that came two weeks ago I asked for a year ago. And some of the changes are still improving, even for me. You see, the other two get it. They have been closer. But I do not have that. So there I still have to figure out something, says Mikkelsen."

....
"I just have to figure out the driving style with the car, so. I'm still trying to drive a car, which I think is best driving a car and the way I've been driving for years, "says Mikkelsen.

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Well it's true that Neuville and Sordo were seemingly closer to the top (then again there were only 3-4 dry stages).

Rest kinda supports what was said around here before. Adapting the car to Mikkelsen is not a priority at all, neither are tarmac tests and due to that he seems to be giving up and trying to drive differently.

While the first part is kinda understandable since he is not fighting for championship (though that wasn't clear before Corsica when he was 3rd in standings) and they have Sordo as a tarmac driver, it still hurts them in manu champs when Sordo does not get points (like in Germany). But as I wrote already in april after a while becomes a bit too many rallies where the car(s) have issues (Finland, tarmac -Corsica and Germany for all, Spain for Mikkelsen) and it the end, that's why they will loose manu champ imo.

Have to wonder about how universal the 2017/2018 I20 really is. The only driver that drives it consistently fast is Neuville.

Sordo was also minutes behind in Finland and GB last year (didn't start this year). Mikkelsen struggles on tarmac and also in Finland. Paddon has been struggling on gravel on basically all rallies except Finland (certainly relative to 2016 where he had same speed as Neuville and also compared with some 2017 drives (Sardinia).

So if you were Paddon/Breen/Evans would you go for part-time seat at Hyundai knowing this or part-time seat at Citroen (which obviously was also temperamental but now seems to be improving) or to full-time at MSport where you risk that car will start falling behind. Hard pick.

[AnttiL]

Paddon has been struggling on gravel on basically all rallies except Finland (certainly relative to 2016 where he had same speed as Neuville and also compared with some 2017 drives (Sardinia).

Paddon was leading Portugal before his crash, and subsequently had to take Sardegna easier because another heavy crash would have been dangerous to the sustained injuries. To me it seems he has been playing tactics of trying to secure points by not taking risks, especially in Turkey. And in a way, it has paid off.

[mknight]

Last year he led/was in the top on multiple gravel rallies before technical issues or mistakes. This year it was only portugal with lotsof road cleaning and not by much.
IMO it's clear that he is slower this year relative to last.

[GravelBen]

Paddon was leading Portugal before his crash, and subsequently had to take Sardegna easier because another heavy crash would have been dangerous to the sustained injuries. To me it seems he has been playing tactics of trying to secure points by not taking risks, especially in Turkey. And in a way, it has paid off.

My thoughts too. Leading Portugal before crashing (which from memory was quite unlucky dodging a big rock on the line), taking it easy in Sardegna due to injuries (and terrible road position for the day 1 mudbath), fast in Finland despite playing it safe for team points, strategic drive protecting the car in Turkey (with podium result). GB was the only rally he seemed a bit off pace, and team orders/strategy may have been a factor there too - though its never been one of his best rallies, he doesn't seem to like the mud as much as more consistent gravel.

Of course none of us are unbiased when it comes to supporting drivers/teams, but mknight's status as Mikkelsen no.1 cheerleader does seem to result in some very selective memory at times.

[AnttiL]

Last year he led/was in the top on multiple gravel rallies before technical issues or mistakes. This year it was only portugal with lotsof road cleaning and not by much.
IMO it's clear that he is slower this year relative to last.

If we look at the 2017 season, Sardegna was a good pace until the two crashes. In Portugal he was interrupted three times with technical problems. When the car worked, he made four stage wins but also a similar number of off-pace stages. In other rallies he was never fighting for the lead.

[mknight]

How do you compare Paddon overall performance in 2016-2017-2018 then? In short.
For me it's 2016>>2017>2018.

In any case that wasn't the main point. Main point was that the only one delivering consistent top 5 performance in the 2017+ i20 is Neuville. All the other drivers have rallies where they used to be fast and now aren't, not necessarily that the car is slow, but setup seems tricky.

[GravelBen]

Main point was that the only one delivering consistent top 5 performance in the 2017+ i20 is Neuville.

2017 was a nightmare year for Paddon with all sorts of sh!t going on, thats public knowledge now and no secret.

5th-Ret(from 1st)-4th-4th-3rd-7th in 2018 is pretty consistent top 5 performance isn't it, especially for a driver thats only getting half the seat time compared to most of the guys he is competing against. I remember Colin McRae once saying that the difference between the top 5 or so drivers in the world on any given day is mostly just confidence. And without the time in the car its very hard to build that confidence. Hopefully they let him have a charge in Australia instead of driving risk-free for points, but it will probably depend what the others do early on.

The car definitely seems to suit Neuville better than anyone else though, I do agree with you in that regard.

[Rally Power]

Main point was that the only one delivering consistent top 5 performance in the 2017+ i20 is Neuville. All the other drivers have rallies where they used to be fast and now aren't, not necessarily that the car is slow, but setup seems tricky.

You’re forgetting Sordo; he fought for the lead, or podium places, in MC, Mexico, Portugal, Argentina, Germany and Catalunya! Corsica was the only rally he was off the pace, still he managed to end fourth. I’m amazed Hyundai management isn’t pushing him to do a full season next year, although this part time drive seems to suit him and the team.