[WRC] Rally Finland 2023

[mknight]

Salty. Let's see what Hyundai bosses say.

According to rumors he got some drives already before the rally. Great job from Jouhki in that case. Let's see if the deals are as flexible as in Adamos times.

[Sulland]

Amazing to first see the rally2 cars suspension in the downhill places in the latter part of the powerstage, and then see the difference to the rally1 cars.
An ocean of difference! The R1 cars swallow all that it is thrown on it, the R2 cars get much more of the bumpy road transferred into the body.

[Fast Eddie WRC]

I think Suninen's 5th & 4th places in his first two events in a Rally1 car aren't bad at all. They are very different and take a lot to get used to. He was never going to challenge for a win or even a podium vs the guys who have been in the cars for 18 months. Pushing Katsuta was good considering Taka is also very experienced in Finland and loves the rally.

BTW, how did golden boy Mikkelsen get on ? 5th in Rally2 Class, getting his set-up wrong in a car he helped develop...

[doubled1978]

I actually enjoyed this rally surprisingly given the attrition rate, the deep and competitive Rally2 field helps a lot I suppose, but that it is no way to hide the painfully thin Rally1 field.
I enjoyed listening to the extra co-drivers in the commentary box, Kennard, Ingrassia, Millener, good to hear different peoples perspectives. It was particularly interesting listening to Millener try not to say too much when they discussed the regs moving forward. I just hope someone sees sense and whatever they do it’s an affordable formula that entices manufacturers and allows genuine privateers to be competitive with good cars.

[becher]

He was supposed to be going for the win according to some people and at least for podium according to himself. Had Estonia and a test rally in Rally1, won here in Rally2 last two years.

Ended as last professional WRC. On the rally that according to himself is his best in the calendar and surviving two big moments on pure luck.

That can be called all sorts of things, very good job is not one of them.

As a thought experiment, what would be your reaction if Mikkelsen finished 4th and 5th respectively?

[mknight]

Suninen expectations:

https://dirtfish.com/rally/david-eva...teemu-suninen/

Reality... slowest WRC bar a hobby driver 4 years out.

4th as a result doesn't sound bad. Until you look on who was running.

Suninen was hired to do a better job than Sordo. In Estonia he did that. In Finland it is rather debatable.

[mknight]

As a thought experiment, what would be your reaction if Mikkelsen finished 4th and 5th respectively?

It is really funny how some people troll me with Mikkelsen no matter what the topic is.

But w/e:

I wrote in Estonia that Suninen did good job ending "just as expected" (and commented that the 8/10 he got from Clark was spot on). If Mikkelsen did that there I would comment the same.

Finland was different. As in Suninens own words it is supposed to be his best rally. His pace went downwards from Estonia. For Mikkelsen Finland is historically his worst rally (no podium) that he last drove in 2019. So ending like Suninen did would be about as expected.

[Eli]

It is really funny how some people troll me with Mikkelsen no matter what the topic is.

But w/e:

I wrote in Estonia that Suninen did good job ending "just as expected" (and commented that the 8/10 he got from Clark was spot on). If Mikkelsen did that there I would comment the same.

Finland was different. As in Suninens own words it is supposed to be his best rally. His pace went downwards from Estonia. For Mikkelsen Finland is historically his worst rally (no podium) that he last drove in 2019. So ending like Suninen did would be about as expected.

I know he’s been even longer away from the top category, but I’m curious how Paddon would’ve managed both rallies.

[Eli]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mBnlOP2doT8

Post-Event Press Conference

[trykmann]

It is really funny how some people troll me with Mikkelsen no matter what the topic is.

But w/e:

I wrote in Estonia that Suninen did good job ending "just as expected" (and commented that the 8/10 he got from Clark was spot on). If Mikkelsen did that there I would comment the same.

Finland was different. As in Suninens own words it is supposed to be his best rally. His pace went downwards from Estonia. For Mikkelsen Finland is historically his worst rally (no podium) that he last drove in 2019. So ending like Suninen did would be about as expected.

You have to consider the fact he got to the end without any serious problems, while Lappi and Rovanperä crashed.

His speed wasn't as good as many of us hoped, but still he did a clean rally and was able to compete with Katsuta, who has a lot more experience with Rally1 and probably a better car.

If he would have had similar pave as Loubet, then it would have been a dead end.

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