Vodafone Rally de Portugal 2014

[Karukera]

8! With @SebOgier’s win @rallydeportugal, #Volkswagen equal a #Citroën record with 8 #WRC victories in a row. #proud #PoloRWRC

I think VW will do at least twice of this, what do you think?

Ogier will like Loeb did in a top car.
Put Ogier in either a Fiesta RS or in a DS3 and the streak of wins would be the same as in the Polo.
Neuville and Loeb proved it fairly and clearly last year.

[Lundefaret]

What you forget is the most important besides all you counted up:

MONEY!!! (Or sponsors with money regardless you crash all the time) Without that all above isn´t counted for anything but maybe your home village rally once a year.

Ogier have used the amount of 150 EUR during his whole career, that is not too much is it?
But off cource you are right, money not only plays a big part, it plays to big a part.
Rallycars in all classes should and could be made A LOT cheaper.

[Lundefaret]

Yes, good for him realizes that on-time. In this way he can avoid mistakes (also improve himself, sure), like fresh example lets take JML's off.
Don't agree car development is responsibility of the engineers at all. Actually a driver dezines the car behaviour, the quality is then responsibility of the engineers. Sr. Sainz dezined Polo R WRC's behaviour (later Ogier - as fresh example, Loeb & Citroen are different "beers" from near past).

It is the engineers that have studied engineering, and the laws of physics, and it is the responsibility of the engineer to make a good rally car.

The problem is: The engineers can engineer a theoretically perfect rally car, but no driver would be able to drive it, beqause no driver has that amount of ability to drive theoretically perfect over every metre.
The only thing a driver can do, including Sr. Sainz and Ogier, is to make compromises to get the car drivable.

FX designed the VW rallycar, Sr. Sainz and Ogier helped make the compromises in set up needed to make it drivable.

The driver who can drive with the least amount of compromises in the set up has the theoretically fastest rallycar. And the driver who can use this set up and drive the most theoretically perfect is the fastest driver.

When Sebastien Loeb famously drove faster up the Pikes Peak Hill Climb than the computers of Peugeot predicted, it wasnt beqause Loeb have found a way tho cheat physics, or that Loeb is faster than a computer, it is only the proof of a small computer error putting Peugeots estimates off by a small margin.

[stefanvv]

It is the engineers that have studied engineering, and the laws of physics, and it is the responsibility of the engineer to make a good rally car.

The problem is: The engineers can engineer a theoretically perfect rally car, but no driver would be able to drive it, beqause no driver has that amount of ability to drive theoretically perfect over every metre.
The only thing a driver can do, including Sr. Sainz and Ogier, is to make compromises to get the car drivable.

FX designed the VW rallycar, Sr. Sainz and Ogier helped make the compromises in set up needed to make it drivable.

The driver who can drive with the least amount of compromises in the set up has the theoretically fastest rallycar. And the driver who can use this set up and drive the most theoretically perfect is the fastest driver.

When Sebastien Loeb famously drove faster up the Pikes Peak Hill Climb than the computers of Peugeot predicted, it wasnt beqause Loeb have found a way tho cheat physics, or that Loeb is faster than a computer, it is only the proof of a small computer error putting Peugeots estimates off by a small margin.

What you talk about is called car set-up and every driver must do this at every Rally. I was talking about decisions engineers must make, based on output from a Driver, that involves mostly drivetrain, can't tell You much details about the exact parts what will impact in particular, I'm not that familiar, and also very important - the weight distribution. I'll give you not that fresh example of.... AUDI. In "Sport" evolution of Quattro they made shorter wheel base, also put oil coolers and stuff on the back of the car to achive more oversteer and weight distribution. All that is based on Driver experience with the car. Same would happen with 200 Quattro '87 and further if AUDI decided to continue this project (well not "the same" things per ce), but the car needed urgenty of some weight reduction on the front, based on the impressions Herr Rohrl had in Monte '87.

[GallardoGT]

I like Ogier, and I like the fact that a guy like him exists after Loeb, so the drivers dont forget that there is another way of doing things. He stretches the bar, but sadly out of reach of everybody else...

I actually wonder what Ogier thinks about this. If he goes to bed each night reading another chapter in the Black Book he recieved from Loeb, and goes to sleep with a smile on his face safely aware of the fact that the only other person in the world aware of this "secret" driving technique called "Nose End First" have switched to circuit racing, and will never again be back to challenge him.
Then falling to sleep dreaming happy dreams of easy tasks like stealing candy from little children, or winning rounds in the WRC championship?

Maybe it is time for the other drivers to wake up?

The commentator of the livestream mentioned twice after the Power stage the importance of pacenotes, imo too there is the key for their succes. Pacenotes is a tricky multitasking thing (just try Richard Burns Rally and rely on the pacenotes). Did you thoroughly thought about that?

[chosse_1]

Here is my recap of the rally! I hope you like it!!
Like and share!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N3hJWF15XhU

[Lundefaret]

The commentator of the livestream mentioned twice after the Power stage the importance of pacenotes, imo too there is the key for their succes. Pacenotes is a tricky multitasking thing (just try Richard Burns Rally and rely on the pacenotes). Did you thoroughly thought about that?

Off cource the pace notes are important, but we also have to remeber what the pace notes is:
They are not only a "cheat cheet" telling you where, and how sharply the road turns after the blind crests, but they are also where all your knowledge of risk management, physics, strategy, driving technique should be reflected.
Your pace notes should be looked upon as a "mirror that reflects your own knowledge about what it takes to win rallies."

What you leave in the pacenotes off corect and vital information will help you win rallies, what you leave out will help you loose them.

[Lundefaret]

Here is my recap of the rally! I hope you like it!!
Like and share!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N3hJWF15XhU

Cool video, shows off how b@d a$$ rally really is!

[dimviii]

[GallardoGT]

Off cource the pace notes are important, but we also have to remeber what the pace notes is:
They are not only a "cheat cheet" telling you where, and how sharply the road turns after the blind crests, but they are also where all your knowledge of risk management, physics, strategy, driving technique should be reflected.
Your pace notes should be looked upon as a "mirror that reflects your own knowledge about what it takes to win rallies."

What you leave in the pacenotes off corect and vital information will help you win rallies, what you leave out will help you loose them.

So that's too your advice for the competitors to focus more on their pacenotes