Hyundai WRT

[AL14]

I remember the last time I saw Paddon on tarmac, it was Catalunya 2016. I think his pace was good there, too good to call him "historically slow on tarmac".

It's clear that when I say "slow", I mean it in comparison to the top guys like Ogier, Tanak etc.... not in general...

[GravelBen]

I remember the last time I saw Paddon on tarmac, it was Catalunya 2016. I think his pace was good there, too good to call him "historically slow on tarmac".

Most of his WRC tarmac results have been 5th-6th, so not competing for wins but still collecting points. Which I think isn't bad considering you can almost count on your fingers the number of tarmac rallies he has done in his whole career (total over all classes not just WRC, NZ doesn't really have any tarmac rallies so he had done no tarmac before PWRC etc). Think he just needs more tarmac experience and seat time to move from that level to challenging for podiums.

[AnttiL]

Most of his WRC tarmac results have been 5th-6th, so not competing for wins but still collecting points. Which I think isn't bad considering you can almost count on your fingers the number of tarmac rallies he has done in his whole career (total over all classes not just WRC, NZ doesn't really have any tarmac rallies so he had done no tarmac before PWRC etc). Think he just needs more tarmac experience and seat time to move from that level to challenging for podiums.

Let's look closer:

Deutschland 2017: 8th overall. 0.88s/km from the winner, slowest works WRC, two punctures
Corsica 2017: 6th overall. 0.43s/km from the winner, slowest works WRC, an overshoot on the last stage, no other issues.

and compare to Mikkelsen:

Deutschland 2018: 6th overall. 0.44s/km from the winner, only faster than Breen out of works WRC and only thanks to Breen's mistake. No issues.
Corsica 2018: 7th overall. 0.49s/km from the winner, slowest works WRC. A brief excursion into a ditch, no other issues.

[tommeke_B]

This comparison is just ridiculous and pointless...

[Fast Eddie WRC]

In this instance I agree with Penasse. There's no point having 3 horses in the race and only feeding one.

When that one is the 5-time Champion and the team-mates only gained places only by virtue of their start position then its different. Evans and Suninen were never faster on an equal road.

M-Sport were smarter and that's also part of motorsport. They knew defending the Manu's title was impossible so gave Ogier full assistance.

Hyundai need to learn if they ever want to win a title.

[racerx1979]

It was more an act of desperation maybe. Malcom knows the team will be crap in 2019 unless they get a top driver. It will be a boring year for MSport fans unless they get Loeb which will not happen. I can already hear the tone of the WRC commentators... Sad bunch

[denkimi]

Most of his WRC tarmac results have been 5th-6th, so not competing for wins but still collecting points. Which I think isn't bad considering you can almost count on your fingers the number of tarmac rallies he has done in his whole career (total over all classes not just WRC, NZ doesn't really have any tarmac rallies so he had done no tarmac before PWRC etc). Think he just needs more tarmac experience and seat time to move from that level to challenging for podiums.

Say there are 10 or 11 factory drivers, and about half of them runs into mayor issues each rally.

[AnttiL]

This comparison is just ridiculous and pointless...

why?

[tommeke_B]

why?

Why would it make sense in your opinion? You include what fits you to prove what? Mikkelsen is at a later stage in his career, with far more experience than Paddon, and even then you compare Mikkelsen'18 to Paddon'17, which adds another year to the difference in experience. Oh, by the way, you didn't include the tarmac-stages from Catalunya this year, where Mikkelsen lost +-0,75s/km.

If you really want to play with numbers and figures, Paddon ended up with 73 points doing only 7 events, while Mikkelsen scored 84 points doing 13 rallies.... Mikkelsen's season was a huge disappointment.

[AnttiL]

Why would it make sense in your opinion? You include what fits you to prove what?'

Oh, by the way, you didn't include the tarmac-stages from Catalunya this year, where Mikkelsen lost +-0,75s/km.

I only wanted to compare the rallies both did in the same cars. My point wasn't to say that Paddon sucks or Mikkelsen sucks, but to just say the tarmac levels of these drivers in this car are surprisingly similar. Another point in the numbers was to show that the overall result in a rally doesn't give everything about your pace. You could end 5th or 10th being as slow in relative to the winner.

Mikkelsen is at a later stage in his career, with far more experience than Paddon, and even then you compare Mikkelsen'18 to Paddon'17, which adds another year to the difference in experience.

This is just nonsense (although Mikkelsen has more WRC starts), but Paddon isn't a rookie really...

EDIT: Especially in terms of WRC2017 cars, Paddon has more starts.

If you really want to play with numbers and figures, Paddon ended up with 73 points doing only 7 events, while Mikkelsen scored 84 points doing 13 rallies.... Mikkelsen's season was a huge disappointment.

I know. Mikkelsen retired from good positions in Argentina, Portugal and Sardegna, and suffered of the tractor in Australia, whereas Paddon had a good starting position at each gravel rally and didn't have to do the tarmac rallies where he's not so good at. But it was not my point to compare their performances this year.