WRC Testing

**Fast Eddie WRC** · 4th May 2022, 17:23

Originally Posted by ouvreur

I'm not sure how much of an impact this actually had... and how much of an 'insight' this is from Dirtfish...

Why would any team be testing in Finland, and on those sorts of roads, in preparation for Portugal?

They can save their development days (and avoid upsetting the locals and destroying the roads) for when they'll be useful, ahead of Estonia, Finland and NZ.

The smart move, as at least Hyundai seem to have done and Toyota will probably copy, has been to double up the Portugal / Kenya PETs in Portugal. Even if had been bone dry, clear of snow and 15 degrees in Finland, Hyundai and Toyota would still have been busy in south Europe.

Read the article. Latvala makes it clear the conditions are worse this year...

“[We are] lucky we’re not developing the new car now. If this situation had happened last year, we’d have been in trouble actually."

Testing abroad is limited so a lot has to be done near the team base.

**EstWRC** · 4th May 2022, 18:36

Loeb https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=43T7SkeZOOE

**EstWRC** · 5th May 2022, 05:06

Loeb https://youtu.be/aOnPxf122oM

https://youtu.be/b-Aipc4E2Kg
Kalle https://youtu.be/mImr88TsdCk

https://youtu.be/WacZm3cj3BE

https://youtu.be/vh9vMLRty4Q

**ouvreur** · 5th May 2022, 06:16

Originally Posted by Fast Eddie WRC

Read the article. Latvala makes it clear the conditions are worse this year...

“[We are] lucky we’re not developing the new car now. If this situation had happened last year, we’d have been in trouble actually."

Testing abroad is limited so a lot has to be done near the team base.

I read it. The point Latvala is making, is not the apparent overall point of the article.

As he says, they're not developing the car now, they're preparing for Portugal. Hence the title 'The unexpected element affecting Rally Portugal preparation'.

I would bet my life that neither Hyundai nor Toyota would have even turned a wheel in central Finland, even if the weather had been unseasonably warm. The fact it's a bit colder than usual won't have changed a thing. You don't prepare for Portuguese / Kenyan stages in Finland - end of.

The claim that either team has been 'hamstrung' by the weather is a bit insulting to both of them. The gap in the Finnish rally calendar won't have been a surprise to them, and they both work with test organisers with decades of experience on those roads.

Rather than being an 'unexpected element', this will have been planned into the schedule. It has zero impact.

**er88** · 5th May 2022, 07:59

It's just a bad headline by Dirtfish.

But if the conditions were suitable for rallying, you can bet your life Hyundai would've been running the car in Finland as a development test. Don't see why Toyota wouldn't have as well. And these tests would've been on top of the rally Portugal set-up tests.

**AnttiL** · 5th May 2022, 08:35

Originally Posted by er88

It's just a bad headline by Dirtfish.

But if the conditions were suitable for rallying, you can bet your life Hyundai would've been running the car in Finland as a development test. Don't see why Toyota wouldn't have as well. And these tests would've been on top of the rally Portugal set-up tests.

For sure. And like we know Hyundai is a bit behind in testing days, especially on gravel, and are looking forward to homologating new parts so they would desperately need these roads soon.

**Fast Eddie WRC** · 5th May 2022, 11:16

Exactly.

You dont rely just on a PET to test and develop a car as each driver needs his day just for set-up and his own practice. Hyundai especially need testing on gravel as they've done little and prioritized tarmac testing for Monte and Croatia at the start of the season.